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"Happy Mondays are as good as Mozart" - Tony Wilson 1990
If you've seen Amadeus, you'll know that Mozart was certainly one of the 24-hour party people; but he never had anything on Shaun William Ryder. The chemical-fuelled cartoon exploits of Shaun and his band of well-merry men have kept the papers in headlines for years. But the reason why they were newsworthy in the first place - their fantastic, funky, freaky music - has all too often been underrated, even ignored. Even Shaun himself said "I was right into sex, drugs and rock n' roll but, for me, the rock n' roll came last" well the Mondays made music so wild, so loose, so revolutionary, so trippy, so sexy, so thrilling that you can only speculate on the heights to which Shaun's pill-n-thrill-life soared. Their of-the-moment records gave a generation that combination in British rock music: something to believe in and something dance to; their inconsistent, incandescent live performances were compared to Paul McCartney to the Beatles in their Strawberry Fields period; their howled hooligan lyrics were inspired, hilarious, catch-phrase-catchy and dead clever' their don't-give-a-crappity smack messiness and crappity smack-you gang mentally were a call to arms for the next great leaders of British music, Oasis and The Verve. Happy Mondays are up there. Dirty as they comes and away with the angels. Their genius spark flickered, flared, roared, sputtered, but never went out.
In response to Tony Wilson's Mozart remarks, Shaun said: "I thought he was a prick for saying it. I can't be doing with all that bollocks". Here, then, is a list of the reasons why they aren't' as good as Mozart; and here's a rabid collection of their funky trouble music so that you can make your own mind up.
· The Mondays formed in the early 80's when Shaun, 19 and this 17 year old mate Mark Berry - Bez- felt that "we were getting older and we felt like we should have something more do more than just do drugs. We listened to music all the time, so starting a band seemed like an obvious idea"
· They roped Shaun's younger brother, Paul, who had a bass, and a handful of other lads who all knocked around their council estate in little Hulton, North Manchester: Gaz Whelan, then only 15, to play drums; 20 year old Mark Day on guitar; and Paul "PD" Davis, 15, who wanted to play bass or drums but was forced to be the keyboardist. He wrote the notes on the keys so he'd remember them.
· The were managed by Phil Saxe, who ran a Jean shop called Some Wear in the Arndale Centre. Later Phil bulk-brought cheap flares and kick-started baggy. He was replaced by Nathan McGough, a sharp minded hedonist who saw the Mondays through their high times and was kicked out when things got low.
· Legend has it that Happy Mondays were signed to Factory Records after playing only their second gig, at a Battle of the Bands contest in Hacienda. Legend also has it that they won the contest. In fact, they came last. But Factory signed them, nonetheless.
· Happy Mondays supported New Order on a few one-off gigs. Barney Sumner liked them because "like us, they weren't musos. The Mondays couldn't have cared less about writing proper songs or showing people how well they could play their instruments. All they really wanted to do was take loads of drugs, shag tons of girls and have a laugh. Hooky and I thought that was an admirable outlook on life". Barney produced their second single, the loose-limbed "Freaky Dancin, The Egg, after Mike Pickering produced their first, Forty Fives, a three-track EP: "Delightful", "This Feeling" and "Oasis". Pickering had been drafted in after Duritti Column's Vini Reilly had walked out after just two hours in the Monday's company.
· John Cale of the Velvet Underground produced their first LP, "Squirrel And G Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Faced Carnet Smile (Whit Out)" in 1986. "He got on our nerves a bit", said Shaun. There were rows in the studio. Shaun smashed bottles over Gaz's head. Maker said "This is romance, this is corruption, this is a terrible temptation." Shaun said: "There are a lot of spaces. At the time indie rock was more a tighter faster winkle pickered finger and we were putting things out, spacious things"
· 1987 saw Shaun and Bez in Ibiza. They brought back Ecstasy and gave it out at the Hacienda: "After two weeks, everyone wanted to buy E from us. We created a vibe that spread out across the dance floor from there. The Hacienda didn't change the Mondays. The Mondays changed the Hacienda.
· Their second LP, the exceptional "Bummed" was produced by the late Martin Hannet, Shaun shovelled him full of E "Because it stopped him getting too bladdered' and finally, the band were able to get down the sounds they had in their heads. Before then, it was "like when you can see something but when you come to draw it on a piece of paper you can't"
· "Bummed" spawned the brilliant "Wrote For Luck" - "You Used To Speak The Truth But Now You're Clever" - accompanied by the equally superb video, shot in Legends, a Manchester night club. Dark and dangerous, filled with dancing madness, Shaun slumping on the, Bez's eyes like blazing holes, it was everything the Mondays were about. A nation awoke.
· Two more singles, a new version of "Lazyus", with Karl Denver, and "WFL", Paul Oaken fold and Steve Osbournes' stunning remix of "Wrote For Luck" formed a bridge between "Bummed" and the Monday's first hit single: "Manchester Rave On" EP. By this time, Shaun and Bez knew most of the people on the London Acid House Scene.
· Paul Oakenfold: "For me they were the first group from a guitar background that the new youth could relate to. The Mondays acted like any bunch of normal lads rather than some stuck-up popstars, which was exactly what house music was trying to stamp out at the time. The track (WFL) basically created a new form of music and kick-started the whole indie-dance scene."
· November 1989. Happy Mondays, playing "Hallelujah" from the "Rave On" EP and the Stone Roses, playing "Fools Gold", appear on Top Of The Pops. Manchester is Born. It is nurtured by 1990's "Step On" which made the Top Five. The Mondays played Glastonbury. Manchester Vibes were in the area.
· "Pills N Thrills And Bellyaches" was recorded in LA, with Oakenfold and Osbourne. Oakey: "Being in LA had a huge influence. Shaun soaks in his surroundings. If he's sitting at home watching a TV documentary when he should be writing, then you have a good idea of what you're going to get." "You're Twisting My Melons" came from a Steve McQueen film. "Son I'm Thirty/I Only Went With Your Mother Cos She's Dirty" came from Shaun's filthy consciousness, and gave them their second Top Five, "Kinky Afro".
· "Pills N Thrills" realised the Mondays, so-called ambitions; artistically and commercially. Shaun: "Our sound's all sorts really. Funkadelic, "One Nation Under A Groove", being eaten by a giant sandwich, that were crappity smack'in, tops, Northern Soul, punk rock, Jimi Hendrix, crappity smackin, Captain Beffheart, and lots of drugs on the top of that. It was through Bez with E. Get 'Em Down Your Neck Son, Go On, Throw 'Em Down Your Neck! You've Just Got To Pelt It Down Yer." It sold 150,000 copies in the first week of release.
· The Manchester stars blazed bright and hard for two years. But by 1992, media attention had moved to Seattle grunge, and press had smudged the Mondays, crappity smacked up hooligan genius image with accusations of sexism and homophobia. They were sent away to Barbados to make a "summery" LP, with Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads.
· Despite the lovely weather, "…Yes Please" was recorded in a resentful atmosphere, with band in-fighting and numerous, now-legendary mishaps: Bez broke his arm twice, Shaun acquired a crack habit and several hire cars were lost to mayhem. "I got totally crappity smackin, kettled," said Shaun. Tina Weymouth: "We have met and worked with all kinds of freaks and weirdos. But always, when it came down to it, turned out to be pretty normal people underneath. But when we met and worked with the Mondays, I realised that they were different. They were for real. They lived it every day. I never knew that people like that existed."
· Factory was struggling, and London Records agreed to buy the Label, on the condition that it delivered a New Order and a Happy Mondays LP for 150,000 pounds each. "….Yes Please" cost around 400 grand. It spawned "Stinkin, Thinkin" (a reference to Shaun 12-step rehab attempts: "You aren't supposed to think any bad thoughts when you're getting straight") and "Sunshine and Love." But by the time the second single came out, Factory and the Mondays were on their knees. The 24 hour ten year party was finally finished. This record is a testament to all its kinky chaos.
· Twinkle Twinkle little star. Mozart wrote that, you know. Maybe he was thinking of the Mondays……….
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