90s Music Monday

In the great pantheon of British Indie, possibly in the whole of the music as a whole, the Happy Mondays are probably one of the more confusing bands.

Confusing is possibly the wrong word. Baffling might be better. Baffled might be even better. Completely fucked up on drugs is probably the ultimate.

So this is the paradox - this is a band who presented as incompetent, narcohazed wasters whose music was, on the one hand, incredibly simple but on careful listening turned out to actually be beautifully sliding, layered and nuanced.

Originating in the Northern Soul tinge Factory Records/Hacienda/Madchester scene you can see their rise and fall in the film "24 Hour Party People" (about the aformntioned Factory Records but named for the 'Monday's first album "Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)") which includes scenes of singer Shaun Ryder holding the master tapes for their 4th album hostage only for the entire album turn out to be instrumental due to Ryder's inability to write any lyrics.

Happy Mondays - Step On

They disbanded in 1993 and Ryder formed Black Grape along with band 'dancer'; grinning buffoon Mark "Bez" Berry. Despite all odds "It's Great When You're Straight, Yeah" is an outright work of genius containing tracks like

Black Grape - In the name of the father

 

which just sounded incredibly fresh at the time - mostly because of Ryder's ability to effortlessly blend and assimilate multiple influences both contemporary and historical; taking elements of 70s glamour, Manchester, baggy, hippy fashion, reggae, rap, gospel and even Indian Sitar and smooshing them into a melange that should fail horribly but somehow works.

They even managed to ride the rise of New Laddism with football anthem "England's Irie"

Black Grape - England's Irie

featuring Keith "My daughter's Lily" Allen and the casual (in some ways, in both senses of the world), burgeoning non-skinhead nationalism that seemed to sweep the country in the mid 90s (of which more later).

Ryder later turned up as a surreal giant singing head in the Gorillaz's "挑戦 DARE" - allegedly originally called "It's There" but changed because his his slurred out, strong Mancunian accent made it sound like he was singing "It's dare".

So now you know.

Comments

[Billy Abbott]

And Black Grape look like they're reforming. Although, there's no mention of Bez in that article, maybe Big Brother has made him too hot a property...