happy mondays

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can it really be true that there hasnt been a happy mondays thread? i just looked in archve and couldnt see

so, i think they're the best band britains ever had, certainly with wider public appeal at least.

ah, i havent really got anything to say about them at the minute! i was only looking for a thread to see if anyone had either of the first 2 albums or 3 singles on slsk, i'm trying to avoid bringing down any more vinyl from my parents to mp3 as its tricky.

i think they may be the only band with a sizeable back catalogue, which i actually own everything of.

anyway, over to you...

― gareth (gareth), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 13:49 (twenty-three years ago)

Bez.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 13:51 (twenty-three years ago)

The first Black Grape album is better than any of the Mondays' stuff.

― Nick H, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 14:23 (twenty-three years ago)

I always believe shaun to be the finest example of "do not judge a book by the cover", truely a great lyricist but the shabbiest s.o.b. ever. I guess Gareth, without me ever really thinking about it before, you could be right, off hand i cannot think of a band who evidently threw there net of influences so wide and as a result came up with music that was both genre and cultural boundary crossing.

Any opinions on black Grape though - saw them live and thoroughly enjoyed myself but i feel this was more to do with Shaun and Bez's antics.

(wrote for luck will be dug out when i get home i think)

― james (james), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 14:24 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.ultimanet.com/~cymru/bez.jpg

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

never liked black grape. the magic was gone, it was just cartoons by then

― gareth (gareth), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 14:27 (twenty-three years ago)

dunno i thought kermit added something - dunno what but an x factor maybe

― james (james), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 14:28 (twenty-three years ago)

x factor = token rapper. kermit was ok tho

imo only the first 2 black grape singles are good whereas everything else is dud (unless you count the Goldie mix of 'Fatneck') - whereas the Mondays have at least two generally good albums and even what i heard from 'Yes Please' doesnt sound THAT bad (i like Stinkin Thinkin) but this could be just rose-tinted romantic nostalgia creeping thru

― stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 15:28 (twenty-three years ago)

True the first Black Grape album is good but the Mondays were truly great. There was a surprising amount of nuance in Ryder's vocals back then that just got blunted over time. Also, I'm the only person in the world who likes the 'Bummed' versh of 'WFL' over every other. Also I think "Grandbag" and "God's Cop" are as good as anything on 'No New York' and better than anything on 'Disco not Disco'. I also admit that once I was tripping on 4 hits of California Sunshine when I heard "Bob's Your Uncle" and started feeling horny but then "Love Will Tear us Apart" came on so I started giggling

― dave q, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 17:57 (twenty-three years ago)

They were horrid. I hated them.

― the pinefox, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:29 (twenty-three years ago)

black grape were rubbish. i like the mondays more now than i did at the time. shouts for 'bob's yer uncle' and 'lazyitis'.

― michael wells (michael w.), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 20:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I never cottoned to them at the time (because, I guess, their guitars weren't noisy enough for my tastes then) but I have to admit that there are some moments of unalloyed genius amongst their catalog. I am currently addicted to the version of WFL on their live album, which seems to capture the mass free-associative turmoil of their group mind and communicate it in a purely musical fashion. Awesome.

In response to the original "question," I do think the Primals would probably take #1 in that regards.

― R. Lim, Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:41 (twenty-three years ago)

The Madchester EP is just the sloppiest played but still funky record ever. Also, the bright tones all over that and Pills Thrills... make me smile.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:50 (twenty-three years ago)

Janitor! Yay!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 21:57 (twenty-three years ago)

the best stuff is everything up to and not including Madchester Rave On. I recently got hold of the Freaky Dancing 12" and I think it's probably my fave thing of theirs now.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Tuesday, 11 March 2003 22:52 (twenty-three years ago)

They were a superb band live. Apparently they were extremely erratic in that regard (I find that so hard to believe) but the two times I saw them they created a sound that seemed genuinely new, a better hybrid of rock and dance than I'd heard at that stage. But it didn't sound like 2 styles just lumped together - it was more organic than that.

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:11 (twenty-three years ago)

I think they were fantastic. Pills'n'Thrills'n'Bellyaches especially but the other records too, though like almost everyone I didn't bother with Yes Please (should I Gareth?) The songs on P'n'T'n'B have everything: hooks, groove, more hooks, great lines, charisma, lovely sounds, a sense of location and event, pathos, joy, even more hooks, etc etc.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:17 (twenty-three years ago)

yes please? no, not really. its ok, but when you consider the giddy heights of the entire back catalogue up till then it no way matches. stinkin thinking and theme from netto are great, sunshine and love is alright too, but after that it is pretty so so. do you have everything else tom?

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:22 (twenty-three years ago)

I have the first three albums, plus the Hallelujah! EP and its remixes (somewhere, anyway), plus a Step On 12", plus a CD-R of early singles compiled for me by Mr Hopkins.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I do not have "The Boys Are Back In Town".

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:25 (twenty-three years ago)

hahaha

me either

― gareth (gareth), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Jody Beth Rosen to thread.

― stevo (stevo), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 14:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Like far too many bands, I only have their greatest hits but it is very good. Shaun's voice and lyrics are such a grower - so much so that I almost hated the whole album first listen and now I love most of it. I have the first Black Grape album too and it's not bad.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 20:37 (twenty-three years ago)

I've got the live video at G-Mex which is amazing. a terrific show.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 12 March 2003 20:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Happy Mondays were overrated. Stone Roses, Charlatans, Jesus Jones and early Blur were all better, because they never lost sight of good pop songs despite the dance beat at the bottom.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 13 March 2003 00:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Jesus Jones? meep?

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 13 March 2003 00:27 (twenty-three years ago)

the gmex video is good yea, i also have a vinyl bootleg of them live at bradford st georges hall in 89, which i am hoping to mp3 soon. it is a lot better than the official live album which was a bit poor really

― gareth, still waiting for mary to get ready:( (Mary), Thursday, 13 March 2003 16:22 (twenty-three years ago)

but there was the unofficial/official baby big head bootleg that was (factory ?) released to record shops. kinda like 'santa monica 72' was bowie style. also 'bummed' is f*ckin ace. unlike any album ever produced before or since. all trax so different but all have that *amazing* woozy M. HANNET production sound.

'well i'm a simple city boy with stu-pid country taste...'

― piscesboy, Thursday, 13 March 2003 17:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked the Jesus Jones albums more than the Happy Mondays albums, but the Happy Mondays singles were much better (from that era/genre, I think only The Charlatans can compete, along with "I Wanna Be Adored").

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 13 March 2003 18:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Jesus Jones were really quite different from the baggy bands tho - why are they being lumped in with the Madchester lot?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 13 March 2003 18:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Because to many outside of the UK who weren't living the scene, they went along with the baggies (EMF and The Farm also fall into this group).

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 13 March 2003 18:28 (twenty-three years ago)

the idea of jesus jones being anywhere close (except, you know, geographical proximity) to the mondays gives me headache

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 13 March 2003 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

I hated Jesus Jones and am frankly mystified that they would be considered in the same breath as Happy Mondays. They were just bad.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 March 2003 19:09 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

the idea of jesus jones being anywhere close to the mondays still gives me a headache

also, junior senior ha ha

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:16 (twenty-two years ago)

dear lord

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

pills n thrills is just one of those records that keeps on giving as i and it age, respectively.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:27 (twenty-two years ago)

the jukebox at the bar I go to got pills n thrills on it a few months back and I wore it out. I still prefer bummed somehow though.

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

i haven't heard it in forever (my tape got eaten by my old car [RIP])...to slsk i'ma goin

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:30 (twenty-two years ago)

haha - embarassing moment of my adolescence #23781: my dad picking up me and a couple of friends after a movie, me putting this in the cassette player, and my dad going "is this eurythmics? this sounds like eurythmics"

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Friday, 15 August 2003 04:38 (twenty-two years ago)

At the moment I'm thinking the Madchester EP was the pinnacle of their bright, sloppy sound.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 15 August 2003 05:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I wish I knew where my Madchester EP was.

For some unknown fate-tempting reason Pills'N'Thrills... was the first record Isabel and I listened to after we decided to get married.

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 15 August 2003 06:24 (twenty-two years ago)

yall aren't honeymooning in barbados are ya?

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Friday, 15 August 2003 06:35 (twenty-two years ago)

When people say Shaun Ryder is a great lyricist, do they mean he writes great lyrics? Surely they mean something else?

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 21 August 2003 02:43 (twenty-two years ago)

great meaning large or immense! we mean it in the perjorative sense!

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Thursday, 21 August 2003 02:45 (twenty-two years ago)

is it true that Bez has been joining The Rapture onstage at recent UK gigs?

― heywood jablomi (heywood), Thursday, 21 August 2003 03:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Blount, that was funny.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 21 August 2003 03:04 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

madness!

CD80 'portable' Mondays go!

24 Hour Party People
Wrote for Luck
Mad Cyril
Brain Dead
Do It Better
Lazyitis
WFL (Oakenfold mix)
Hallelujah (radio mix)
Clap Your Hands
Holy Ghost
Rave On
Hallelujah (Oakenfold club mix)
Step On
Kinky Afro
God's Cop
Loose Fit
Bob's Yer Uncle
Stinkin' Thinkin'

(vaguely chronological, would like to have had 'Freaky Dancing' but it's just so cool to start it with 'Party People' and had to fit those remixes, 81:22 overburn!)

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 6 November 2003 22:00 (twenty-two years ago)

you could always jettison Clap Your Hands in favour of Freaky Dancing. and where's Tart Tart dude! oh man 80 minutes really is never enough sometimes

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 6 November 2003 22:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Spencer, you always pick a great closer! God bless you!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 6 November 2003 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Or maybe I just have a thing for the bloated, dodgy end of a band's career, I don't know.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Thursday, 6 November 2003 22:59 (twenty-two years ago)

i would lose 24 hour party people, one of their very few bad tracks

― charltonlido (gareth), Friday, 7 November 2003 01:48 (twenty-two years ago)

step on would make a great lead off if you dare to resequence.

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 7 November 2003 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

my 'portables' are meant to be generally chronological surveys of my favorite tracks by a single artist. I actually hate single artist compilations that aren't chronological! (nb - I majored in history...)

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 7 November 2003 02:06 (twenty-two years ago)

well... who else can we expect spencer?

― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 7 November 2003 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

more are on the way!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 7 November 2003 02:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Wrote For Luck and the Oakenfold mix of Write for Luck? Aren't those the same song? Which is the one on Bummed?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 7 November 2003 05:26 (twenty-two years ago)

depends on which Bummed you have... they're pretty different.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 7 November 2003 05:28 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

are the happy mondays going to be re-appraised through a post-punk filter? will this increase their stock in america? is squirrel and g-man a postpunk record? is 87 too late for that? ive always thought of it as an island apart, but perhaps it is closer to postpunk than i had thought, i dont know, i dont like postpunk very much (unless the fall count)

or, to put it another way, are the happy mondays poised to undergo a revival, but with angular punkfunk 86-88 incarnation being the feted?

― gareth (gareth), Sunday, 18 April 2004 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

The Mondays will almost certainly undergo a revival of some sort. They're too good and too weird not to. If you allow for the standard 20-year cycle, it'll come somewhere toward the end of this decade. (One interesting thing about the coverage of the 24 Hour... movie was that it tended to focus on the first half -- the Joy Division years -- with a lot of reviews I read positing Tony Wilson's enthusiasm for the Mondays as part of his drug-addled decline. Which is not at all how the movie plays it, really -- I mean, it's named after a Mondays song -- but it came out too early to be part of a Mondays reassessment.)

― spittle (spittle), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I was listening to 24 Hour (the album) the other week -- had forgotten how *short* it was!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:05 (twenty-two years ago)

That recent reformation wasn't too good for the mystique ('The Boys Are Back In Town', indeed). And the fashion - day-glo T-shirts, awful flares - is nowhere near as attractive to the hipster contingent as all the skinny-fit post-punk stuff. So I'd say no revival, at least not for the time being. Of course, there's always the possibility that the next Mondays retrospective could be of the post-mortem variety, and judging by the state of Shaun recently, that's sadly by no means a remote proposition.

― Jason J, Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

*correction*, upthread I mistakenly attribute a funny to Blount (who *is* usually funny), when in fact I meant esoj!!!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

xpost, there's something very un-ironic about the Mondays. I've always felt their music was part of the same high-modern project as New Order. Despite relying on old grooves, they were used, 'futuristically'.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:17 (twenty-two years ago)

xpost, esoj *is* usually funny too!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:18 (twenty-two years ago)

but they werent dayglo in 87. look at the photos from this era, and its murky mancunian rainy b&w, it could actually fit in very easily

― gareth (gareth), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I was re-reading Swells interview with them and thought that it made interesting reading. I think he pushed Shaun pretty hard on the gay question. At first Shaun says he's not homophobic/ meets and works with gay people etc and then after much pushing he says "look I'm not a rent boy and I find sucking dick disgusting". I'm not so sure what was so offensive about it to be honest, it's like Swells just wanted a story.

His attempts at making him look evil for editing Penthouse seem a bit misguided too. Especially considering the fact Swells was last seen drooling over Daphne and Celeste.

― CRW (CRW), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:24 (twenty-two years ago)

but they werent dayglo in 87. look at the photos from this era, and its murky mancunian rainy b&w, it could actually fit in very easily

Granted - I mean, you can totally hear the Hannett production on Squirrel and G-Man, and consequently it's not so hard to trace back a thread to, say, early New Order or the Stockholm Monsters or whatever. But I think it's very much *because* the Mondays were very forward-thinking - that even on their early records they quite clearly pre-empted the spirit of acid-house (intentionally or not) - that they don't really fit too comfortably into the retrospective post-punk package.

Also, I don't think they've really dated that well.

― Jason J, Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought Squirrel and G-Man was produced by John Cale. I've never owned it, for some reason.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought Squirrel and G-Man was produced by John Cale.

Doh, you're right. It was Hallelujah and Bummed wot were done by Hannett. So what was Cale's production like? I'll have to dig the record out and listen.

― Jason J, Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i think they have dated very well indeed, though the earlier stuff better than the later (the production on pills'n'thrills sounds very dated, though the album is still good)

i think cales production was sort of scratchy and light, compared to the dense foggyness of hannetts bummed

― gareth (gareth), Sunday, 18 April 2004 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i've been listening to lots of pre-Bummed HMs lately and enjoying it way more than i did at the time. "kuff dam" is sounding remarkably fresh to me right now.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 18 April 2004 22:10 (twenty-two years ago)

at the time of release, that is

― the surface noise (electricsound), Sunday, 18 April 2004 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Speaking as a Hannett fanatic, and also as a Mondays fan, it's strange that the combination of the two on Bummed really didn't work very well, IMO. I'll take the first album and Pills n Thrills. When the first album came out, I thought they sounded a lot like The Fall!

― bimble (bimble), Monday, 19 April 2004 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

you don't like the production? curious indeed.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 19 April 2004 06:17 (twenty-two years ago)

i listened to 'Bummed' for the first time ever the other week

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 19 April 2004 08:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The Egg 12" is the best HM ever - a pity that it's never been dug out for CD. I agree with Bimble - despite my love for all things Hannett, I just don't like the *sound* of Bummed. There are some great tracks - WFL, Movin In With, Performance that seem to be fighting to get through the mix. However - I haven't given up all hope of one day realizing that it is, in fact, a work of genius and I've been missing something all along.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 19 April 2004 09:45 (twenty-two years ago)

It is really hard to find the Mondays stuff in the US. I can't locate a copy of Squirrel and G-Man at all. Bummed I managed to get thru mail order. But my cassette copy of Pills n Thrills is almost dead and finding a vinyl copy of that is proving pretty difficult.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 19 April 2004 16:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Yo, Shakey.

― N. (nickdastoor), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:02 (twenty-two years ago)

"Kuff Dam" is the only HM song worth sparing from the fiery furnace

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Yesss!! Thank you!!

x-post

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 19 April 2004 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

"The Egg 12" is the best HM ever "

probably true but it's a secret. i feel like early mondays is holy grail-ish, and i actually find myself wanting to hear them pilloried and dismissed so as to insure their/its special-ness. stop this thread now!

― duke kongos, Monday, 19 April 2004 18:19 (twenty-two years ago)

What the hell is the Egg 12"?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:22 (twenty-two years ago)

i think they've actually undergone a bit of revival within the past few years, in new york. rock scenester kids, especially as they dip toes into house music, tend to see them as an effortless mix of dance and the beloved post-punk and have started the rehabilitation process. also, there's a sizable brit-pop contingent, sort of dormant for a while but regaining strength, who claim them by virtue of their nationality. add together these two factions, and you get perhaps three or four parties per week that will play a happy mondays track.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:24 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah but you can always count on some jackass replacements fan claiming it's crap. but that's what i want to encourage. "step off" is more like it. go back to your eternal barstool, there's nothing for you to see here

― duke tuesday, Monday, 19 April 2004 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

It's on the other side of Freaky Dancing, Mr Snrub.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I had never heard them before seeing 24 Hour Party People, which prompted me to proclaim their genius. I've been trying to start the revival ever since.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Monday, 19 April 2004 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

despite my love for all things Hannett, I just don't
like the *sound* of Bummed.

I have to agree. Besides 24HPP, I also relistened to Bummed recently and it didn't leave as much of an impact. Felt like a great EP that led into a great album, or rather it felt like that's what should have happened.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 April 2004 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

The Egg 12" is the best HM ever - a pity that it's never been dug out for CD.

this was a BeMusic production, right? perhaps it will be appearing on the next LTM BeMusic compilation.. (i don't know if it is, but i guess it's entirely possible)

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 19 April 2004 22:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Bummed could really use a remaster

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 19 April 2004 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

These guys' songs only really make sense to me when I see Bez or an actor playing Bez dancing to it.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 19 April 2004 22:28 (twenty-two years ago)

but you can always count on some jackass replacements fan claiming it's crap

Hey now. In college, my Mondays and Replacements albums coexisted quite happily in my record crate. We played "Hallelujah" at parties, and "Here Comes a Regular" at the end of the night. Corny as fuck, OK, but there you go.

― spittle (spittle), Tuesday, 20 April 2004 05:19 (twenty-two years ago)

that's unusual i think. that song in particular used to bum me out, man. i first heard the mondays and stone roses and the early 90's british stuff i love(d) on this radio show late sunday nites in houston where i grew up. he would be playing all this stuff that was new and awesome to me (incl. U.S. stuff like pixies) and then throw that in there and my heart would sink. like "that's the stuff people like along with this?!" i would just swear up and down i never would get into it because it seemed so cliched and ridiculous to me. so it goes back almost fifteen years now, my hatred of them. not that i'm justifying it, i'm only being honest about what their work engenders for me and always has. they are a (perhaps unfair) but very real scapegoat (of sorts) for me.

― duke gone, Tuesday, 20 April 2004 05:35 (twenty-two years ago)

huzzah! My vinyl copy of Pill n Thrills arrived today! I am excited. I can feel the US baggy revival comin on... (okay maybe not)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 28 April 2004 21:03 (twenty-two years ago)

double huzzah! Today I received my copy of "Squirrel and G-Man". So which song on here has the "24-hour party people" lyric refrain...? Cuz I don't see no song called "24 Hour Party People" on the sleeve.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

it ain't on that one. I think it was a b-side of "Wrote for Luck" but if anyone knows different/more step in (or step on, hahahah)

― Donna Brown (Donna Brown), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:18 (twenty-two years ago)

You have the original version of the lp. 'Desmond' was replaced by '24 Hour Party People' on later copies.

― rw, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:26 (twenty-two years ago)

say what? I feel cheated.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:30 (twenty-two years ago)

It looks like 24 Hour Party People was issued as its own single. I guess I have something else to hunt down now.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

the song's also on the film soundtrack, slightly remixed

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

"carnt smile"

― duke union, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)

What's the title of the last song? "Cobalt"? That's one of my favorite songs ever

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

24 hour party people is on the "Loads" compilation that was released about 10 years ago. It was limited edition; however, it seems to be limited to anyone who wants one.

― Keith Watson (kmw), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The double CD was limited edition, the single was more widely available.

― kit brash (kit brash), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

that song is also on the palatine box

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 21:46 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

http://www.norfolkwindmills.com/sleeves/smileitsmonday.jpg

http://www.norfolkwindmills.com/sleeves/smileitsmonday2.jpg

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 12 June 2004 08:15 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

I am "feeling" them again at the moment. Great.

― adam. (nordicskilla), Thursday, 16 September 2004 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I might go back to the "Time Machine" thread and change my answer. This is the band I probably would have liked to have seen the most. Their shows must have been a complete mess.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Thursday, 16 September 2004 04:34 (twenty-one years ago)

The G-Mex video is a riot. Soaked in MDMA. Bez is enjoyable to watch.

― mentalist (mentalist), Thursday, 16 September 2004 04:37 (twenty-one years ago)

they are horrible

― gaz (gaz), Thursday, 16 September 2004 04:43 (twenty-one years ago)

well i wouldn't invite them over to mum's

― mentalist (mentalist), Thursday, 16 September 2004 05:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Rowetta has just auditioned for the X factor! And she's through!

― Madchen (Madchen), Saturday, 25 September 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, that was truly mad! It was weird that no-one involved in the programme made that connection...

― M Carty (mj_c), Saturday, 25 September 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

The book of 24 Hour Party People by Tony Wilson goes to great lengths to talk about Bernard Sumner's production on the first album without ever explicitly denying the John Cale credit. Maybe the John Cale credit was a joke? It doesn't sound like an oversight/fabulation on Tony's part - he talks about how Bernard was the secret great producer of the 80s, inheritor to Hannet's mantle on his Bemusic stuff yadda yadda, but that with the Happy Mondays he was dumbfounded by their sloppy genius and just recorded them straight.

The book also suggests that the group were taking Es and listening to house when Tony first met them, which may owe a bit more to creative license.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 26 September 2004 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

Does anybody have a reasonably accurate Bemusic discography - I know the obvious, but..

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Sunday, 26 September 2004 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe the John Cale credit was a joke?

i can remember reading an interview with cale where he mentioned recording the mondays. he said something about how he was trying to get straight and hid in the control booth cos they were running around like maniacs and offering him all sorts of temptations in the chemical department.
i think barney produced the 'freaky dancing/ the egg' single though.

― zappi (joni), Sunday, 26 September 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The "can I get an 'E'" line from the movie was cheap but hilarious.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 26 September 2004 23:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, I remember Uncut's New Order history which described Bernard high on acid in the studio with a lab coat on. I think he's an amazing producer.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 26 September 2004 23:54 (twenty-one years ago)

My friends and I covered "Bob's Yer Uncle" for our high-school talent show! It was a combination of the album version and the remix with the synth-line. We even had a Bez and a Rowetta - and we won!!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 27 September 2004 00:13 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, Barney produced first Mondays single, Cale first Mondays album. Wilson confused? someone please publish book in Australia and reveal.

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 00:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Jedmond - try here for a start: http://www.ltmpub.freeserve.co.uk/bemusicnotes.html

― Bill E (bill_e), Monday, 27 September 2004 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

It's published in Australia Kit - someone gave it to me for my birthday this year.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 27 September 2004 07:07 (twenty-one years ago)

little matchstick owen.. genius

― nick.K (nick.K), Monday, 27 September 2004 08:25 (twenty-one years ago)

woo!

though I've been looking in Kinokuniya for a year and it wasn't on Chaos when they had a book department :(

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 27 September 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Tim, you really have to get 'Twice As Nice' if you enjoyed CAI.

http://home.wxs.nl/~frankbri/ltm2398.html

Absolutely worth the price for the staggering version of Shark Vegas's 'You Hurt Me' [Could still be a massive hit if rereleased], and 52nd Street's ultra-funky 'Look Into My Eyes'. Even the Royal Family and The Poor track is good.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 27 September 2004 13:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Bill E - thanks for the info (it's safely fallen into the must aquire section)

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Monday, 27 September 2004 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

The Peel Sessions are not to be sneered at, yo. In fact, I'll go as far as saying the Peel versions of "Freaky Dancin'" and "Cob 20" are the equivalent of aural heroin.

― Dare Of The Hog (Bimble...), Sunday, 24 September 2006 10:10 (nineteen years ago)

Also "Olive Oil", too.

― Dare Of The Hog (Bimble...), Sunday, 24 September 2006 10:11 (nineteen years ago)

more leik aural kfc amirite

― EsteBAN LOUIS JAGGER (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Sunday, 24 September 2006 10:34 (nineteen years ago)

Heavens, no. I'm a vegetarian.

― Dare Of The Hog (Bimble...), Sunday, 24 September 2006 10:50 (nineteen years ago)

wouldn't stop you "going for a kentucky"

― kit brash (kit brash), Monday, 25 September 2006 00:05 (nineteen years ago)

Hahaha! Okay I totally get the joke now, thanks guys.

― Dare Of The Hog (Bimble...), Monday, 25 September 2006 09:45 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

tart tart a lost classic too.

i just found out : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GktTYL7FO4E

― pisces (piscesx), Wednesday, 17 January 2007 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

love the delightful 12"

― PAUL FUCKING ROBINSON (electricsound), Thursday, 18 January 2007 00:11 (nineteen years ago)

You fuckin' betcha! I just put that in a podcast I did...

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Thursday, 18 January 2007 05:07 (nineteen years ago)

The Happy Mondays' reputation seems to describe a great divide between American and UK pop aesthetics. In the US, they're just another early-90s cutout bin band, like EMF or Jesus Jones, as some of the comments above attest. I was an American living in England as they emerged, and they utterly baffled me. I remember a NME review of the time describing how they were the summation of all that was great about Manchester from the Buzzcocks to the Fall to New Order to the Stone Roses. But to my ears, they took the weakest elements of all those bands. I appreciate the looseness, the regular guy appeal, but for me the beats don't gel and the songs seem hook-free. My English bandmate was shocked and gleeful that I was looking to unload my copy of Bummed.

― bendy (bendy), Thursday, 18 January 2007 13:28 (nineteen years ago)

yer bonkers

― pisces (piscesx), Thursday, 18 January 2007 13:37 (nineteen years ago)

Heresy it may be but I don't like Bummed much either. 1st album and Pills & Thrills I do like though.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 18 January 2007 14:01 (nineteen years ago)

Absolutely OTM.

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Thursday, 18 January 2007 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

In the US, they're just another early-90s cutout bin band, like EMF or Jesus Jones

no people actually remember who Jesus Jones and EMF were and could name a song by each.

― M@tt He1g3s0n: oh u mad cuz im stylin on u (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 18 January 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

yep. i like a few songs a lot but overall they just don't connect w/my merkin sensibilities.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Thursday, 18 January 2007 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

I listened 'Bummed' years after I'd got and liked 'Pills N Thrills...', and it was a disappointment for me too. Most of the songs on 'Bummed' are not loose, just terribly boring. But persuade me to make another try with this album, because I like the singles, and 'Pills'.

― zeus (zeus), Thursday, 18 January 2007 23:33 (nineteen years ago)

They are either sublime or horrible. Bummed is horrible.

― everything (everything), Thursday, 18 January 2007 23:47 (nineteen years ago)

bummed is great! however i prefer the single versions of lazyitis and wrote for luck, and the first album is more fun. don't dig pills & thrills much these days

― jimbo (electricsound), Friday, 19 January 2007 00:00 (nineteen years ago)

Bummed plays as more of a cohesive album than the others, the result of a distinct period of creative energy and the influence of Hannett. They could play/play together better by this time (and it's largely the last time they would do so), and Shaun had developed his authorial voice in a way that marks the songs as being of a piece. It's no surprise that it took re-recordings of two songs to actually make an impact as singles, but listen to it as its own piece of work, not a bunch of songs by a band that sometimes managed hits. The inner sleeve, presumably deliberately on the Carrolls' part, sets the tone of awkward distasteful material that becomes compelling based on its textures.

― nu-mongrel (kit brash), Friday, 19 January 2007 02:19 (nineteen years ago)

Bummed is the sound of Krautrock recorded at the back of a blazing barn, the funk that dare not speak its name. Unfriendly and muddy, as if the band that recorded it were more interested in doing Cacktory proud than unscratchin their pretence that the Kuff-Dammers were invisible. Queue righteous indignation as some middle class cunt pretends that going to East Leicester Academy of Tossery makes you a Prophet of sjarevestetey/

― God Bows to Meth (noodle vague), Friday, 19 January 2007 02:59 (nineteen years ago)

Survey says no. Sorry.

― everything (everything), Friday, 19 January 2007 03:59 (nineteen years ago)

i love them (i was also a yank abroad at the time of their eminence, in my case in manchester). when "step on" came out you pretty much couldn't walk a block without hearing it. my favorite thing is that "hallelujah" ep that i think was a u.s.-only release, collecting a handful of singles (including the bummed remixes and "clap your hands," plus of course two mixes of "hallelujah"). but i like the first 3 albums all to varying degrees; "bummed" is kind of a downer, but it's a deliberate downer (and the most likely of theirs to at some point be hailed as a "lost classic").

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 19 January 2007 05:10 (nineteen years ago)

Hahaha...good lord Noodle, what are you on about? Whatever it is, by all means, keep going! ;)

xxpost

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Friday, 19 January 2007 06:08 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno Bimb, I've lost myself at the end of that sentence. Bummed is wonderful tho, thick, muddy, mostly songless gloopy riffola that sounds the best of all their records, even though it mightn't be the best. I have a hell of a lot of time for Yes Please too. I think the neglected albums help you to hear their virtues without the dazzle of poptastic hits. Lumping them in with the Stone Roses and the Mock Turtles seems more ridiculous with each passing year. They're totally Factory, post-punk cracked funk angular nihilst Manchester death disco.

― God Bows to Meth (noodle vague), Friday, 19 January 2007 09:01 (nineteen years ago)

I like both Bummed and Pills..., but they're very different records. I think their best record is the Madchester Rave on EP, which is a bridge between the two- the dayglo funk of Pills..., crossed with the murky locked grooves of Bummed.

Noodle OTM as well- the Mondays were in a totally different place to nearly all the other baggy scene bands.

― Neil Stewart (Neil Stewart), Friday, 19 January 2007 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

noodle vague is doing a better job of describing this band's genius than anyone in the past 10 years. sure, they lost it at the end ("yes please!" is, in parts, excruciatingly bad) but "bummed" and "pills ..." are hewn-from-stone classix. even at the time, i couldn't understand why more people didn't realise this. with the passing of years, it seems even more obvious.

wrecked, wracked, rotten fucking genius. GOD, i loved that band.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 19 January 2007 11:24 (nineteen years ago)

Achh, I think I only ever loved their first album and today, I'd probably only listen to "Cob 20"

― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Friday, 19 January 2007 11:39 (nineteen years ago)

double double good

― vita susicivus (blueski), Friday, 19 January 2007 11:48 (nineteen years ago)

Nice one, top one, sorted!

― Neil Stewart (Neil Stewart), Friday, 19 January 2007 11:50 (nineteen years ago)

I much prefer the first Black Grape album to any Happy Mondays LP.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 19 January 2007 11:58 (nineteen years ago)

You've said this before Nick, I think, but I can't agree. It's a better Pop record for sure, but it's the bleakness under the smiley that I love the most and Black Grape never got that down.

― God Bows to Meth (noodle vague), Friday, 19 January 2007 12:00 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

little matchstick owen.. genius

I agree, but does anyone know what the fuck he's singing at the start?

― Sir Tehrance HoBB (the pirate king), Monday, 5 February 2007 23:44 (nineteen years ago)

Listened to "Bummed" for the first time in ages the other day. It was a proletarian experience akin to watching a Vauxhall Conference match, or riding in a car where everyone is smoking but you.

Hannett's attempts to thin the gruel with little sonic touches sound oddly out of place these days, like the manager of a dog track attempting to brighten up the Tote with a few Mondrians.

― Phil Knight (PhilK), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 00:16 (nineteen years ago)

The drums in particular are horrid.

― everything (everything), Tuesday, 6 February 2007 19:17 (nineteen years ago)

five months pass...

― admrl, Thursday, 12 July 2007 17:55 (eighteen years ago)

production is cool. But the songs are soo wack!

― joost666, Thursday, 12 July 2007 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

The new album you mean? There's a thread for that here somewhere. The lyrics for the first song were so bizarre. I haven't heard the rest yet.

― Bimble, Friday, 13 July 2007 03:53 (eighteen years ago)

According to the Guardian, they are paying for Tony Wilson's medication, because the NHS won't pay. Assuming this is true, I think it is very nice of them, and I might buy their album.

Perhaps this has already been discussed on the other thread.

― PJ Miller, Friday, 13 July 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)

five months pass...

Has anyone picked up the reissues? And a: are they at all worth it, b: does anyone know if there's any chance of a US release now that Rhino are putting out the Joy Division "Collector's Editions"?

― Telephone thing, Monday, 17 December 2007 04:38 (eighteen years ago)

i haven't heard them, but based on tracklisting alone the bummed disc seems worth it. is there no squirrel and g man 'collector's edition'? i would pay the full price and then some just for a cd with the first two singles on it

― electricsound, Monday, 17 December 2007 04:43 (eighteen years ago)

No S&GM sadly.

― Telephone thing, Monday, 17 December 2007 04:43 (eighteen years ago)

very disappointing. more lost master tapes maybe?

― electricsound, Monday, 17 December 2007 05:02 (eighteen years ago)

i bought them, $32 imports, i highly doubt there's plans to issue them domestically in the US (similar to the Orb's first two album reissues - no US plans yet). they're totally worth it. Pills comes with a bonus dvd with all their videos; both albums sound fantastic. i've been on a huge Mondays kick this year - i went out and bought all their UK-only videos on ebay, collected all the 12" singles i didn't have, and these two reissues compact all the best of those extraneous bits in one place. i'm stoked!

― BATTAGS, Monday, 17 December 2007 06:30 (eighteen years ago)

Okay, didn't know about the DVD...that's sorely tempting. What format (NTSC/PAL) and region is it?

― Telephone thing, Monday, 17 December 2007 06:41 (eighteen years ago)

Wilson confused? someone please publish book in Australia and reveal.

I finally got this, in England in October! Thanks to HMV buyout of Fopp, it was the Fac-style cover (wot I'd wanted all along), for 3 quid. Haven't read it yet.

― energy flash gordon, Monday, 17 December 2007 06:43 (eighteen years ago)

reissues are sadly/bafflingly incomplete and formatted. Bummed one probably worth it for the content but the mix of tracks across two discs is annoying and $40-50 is offputting. Same price for Pills is awful, given how much music is left off for the sake of having a DVD that doesn't relate to the period at all! Why not go for an all Oakenfold/Osborne period collection and make some thematic sense? (then again I think Judge Fudge and Stayin' Alive were both on the hits collection before last in 12" versions so at least they've been out in the last ten years)

― energy flash gordon, Monday, 17 December 2007 06:46 (eighteen years ago)

Telephone--it was released in the UK so it's pretty much guaranteed to be Region 2/PAL (could be R0, but is certainly not NTSC). However most DVD players sold these days seem to have undocumented support of both NTSC and PAL (you might need to find some special code though). Of course, any computer with a DVD-ROM drive will play them just fine in something like VLC.

Now if you ask me, the first Black Grape album seemed more accomplished than anything the Mondays ever put out...

― Stevie D, Monday, 17 December 2007 07:25 (eighteen years ago)

the 'bummed' reissue looks worth having if you can get it 4 cheap.

― That one guy that hit it and quit it, Monday, 17 December 2007 10:09 (eighteen years ago)

Telephone--it was released in the UK so it's pretty much guaranteed to be Region 2/PAL (could be R0, but is certainly not NTSC).

I'm guessing Region 0- that's become more and more common on DVDs packaged with CDs, to the point that it's almost certain. You never know about PAL/NTSC, though- the CD+DVD new Kylie album is NTSC despite being a UK product, and a lot of labels have been using double-sided discs with the content in both formats (like Air's Talkie Walkie).

― Telephone thing, Monday, 17 December 2007 20:52 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

Listening to Bummed, what a great record. Easily their best, and Hannett's production makes them sound super-dissipated.

― Beloved lightbulb (Neil S), Friday, 9 January 2009 20:33 (seventeen years ago)

And "Wrote For Luck" is their best track.

― Beloved lightbulb (Neil S), Friday, 9 January 2009 20:47 (seventeen years ago)

two weeks pass...

Thank You Mr. Wilson...

― leavethecapital, Tuesday, 27 January 2009 02:24 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TAS0WHWlOA

PRESS THE PAUSE OFF THE SELF-DESTRUCT

― I'll make you bang, combinating with smang (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 08:29 (fifteen years ago)

Bummed is the sound of Krautrock recorded at the back of a blazing barn, the funk that dare not speak its name. Unfriendly and muddy, as if the band that recorded it were more interested in doing Cacktory proud than unscratchin their pretence that the Kuff-Dammers were invisible. Queue righteous indignation as some middle class cunt pretends that going to East Leicester Academy of Tossery makes you a Prophet of sjarevestetey/

this guy was cock on tbh

― I'll make you bang, combinating with smang (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 08:32 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ysEoIwL1Xc

― I thought I lived in England (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 08:48 (fifteen years ago)

"Queue righteous indignation"!

Love "Bummed" album, finally got round to buying it a month ago, it still holds up. It's easily their best record IMO.

― Neil S, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 12:45 (fifteen years ago)

I want to say ^yes but have to read the thread first to make sure I haven't three times already

― basically just a 2/47 freak out (sic), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 13:04 (fifteen years ago)

ok, ^yes

also, Noodle OTM despite channelling The Wrekked Train. fuck knows what I was channeling above him.

btw

Wilson confused? someone please publish book in Australia and reveal.
― quote, Monday, 27 September 2004 10:43 (6 years ago)

I finally got this, in England in October! Haven't read it yet.
― and, Monday, 17 December 2007 17:43 (3 years ago)

still haven't read this!

― basically just a 2/47 freak out (sic), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 13:41 (fifteen years ago)

The reissues were some ridiculous price.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 14:06 (fifteen years ago)

I want to say ^yes but have to read the thread first to make sure I haven't three times already
― basically just a 2/47 freak out (sic), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 13:04 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

I now realise this is exactly what I've done myself!

― Neil S, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 14:33 (fifteen years ago)

I just finished my review page on them!

http://www.listology.com/jamool/story/happy-mondays

― frogbs, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 16:56 (fifteen years ago)

A few great and rather obscure picks:
"Oasis" - either from the Forty-Five EP or the debut album. The EP version is grittier and thrashes a little, overall it's one of their top 5 tunes
"Do It Better"
"Dennis and Lois" - why nobody talks about this song?? Such a great bliss-out house tune with some great vocal lines.
"Submarine" - rips off three different tunes in a pretty obvious way, but I can't help but love it
"Money Back Guaranteed" - very bright spot on an ok LP (Black Grape's 2nd)
"Scooter Girl" - from Shaun's solo album. Only bright spot on that one.
"In the Blood" - really kooky and bizarre, but also catchy and very memorable. One of the best of the new stuff (which isn't all that bad!!)

― frogbs, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 17:00 (fifteen years ago)

one year passes...

noticing a trend of recent indie remixes that basically sound like WFL

not a bad thing necessarily

― suburban buttshaven cannibal (electricsound), Monday, 30 April 2012 22:35 (fourteen years ago)

care to share the best?

― everything, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:01 (fourteen years ago)

http://soundcloud.com/mike-porter/black-in-bloom-the-porters
http://soundcloud.com/heavenlyrecordings/hvn233-toy-clock-chime-hardway

― suburban buttshaven cannibal (electricsound), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 02:04 (fourteen years ago)

two years pass...

Anyone seen this before? Turns out ITV Schools made an educational documentary on Happy Mondays while they were making Bummed. I can only think of the degree of editing which went into this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S1AbjIlDZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWcn6bJ_4l8

― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Monday, 6 April 2015 23:39 (eleven years ago)

My god, Martin Hannett looks terrible in this. He doesn't actually say anything, but given the way he apparently was at this time, he was probably encouraged not to.

― You’re being too simplistic and you’re insulting my poor heart (Turrican), Monday, 6 April 2015 23:42 (eleven years ago)

seven months pass...

there are so many great wrote for luck videos on youtube but this might be my fav

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PhALXW7Jsg

― dynamicinterface, Friday, 4 December 2015 05:20 (ten years ago)

bez was truly ahead of his time

― dynamicinterface, Friday, 4 December 2015 05:20 (ten years ago)

i got no interest in the chicken in a basket get me out of here nostalgia ex-student cuddle circuit but jay sometimes you still need to hear a little Bummed

― Sancho Panzer (Noodle Vague), Friday, 4 December 2015 07:01 (ten years ago)

ah I was listening to them yesterday for the first time in years.
I had forgotten how many great tracks they had.
pills & thrills is just hit after hit !

― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, 4 December 2015 09:38 (ten years ago)

Squirrel & Gman is the one I play most, but Bummed and Pills are both great.

― brotherlovesdub, Friday, 4 December 2015 18:58 (ten years ago)

I like Bummed because it seems like a pop album that got put through the washer and came out all smeared and bleary. And I like Pills because it's the pop album that didn't get put through the washer.

― something totally new, it’s the AOR of the twenty first century (tipsy mothra), Friday, 4 December 2015 20:54 (ten years ago)

i love all three. pills, especially dennis & lois is twistin' my melon today though

― dynamicinterface, Friday, 4 December 2015 20:54 (ten years ago)

two years pass...

Bez gets Happy Mondays disqualified from Bargain Hunt special

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/sep/28/stinking-thinking-bez-gets-happy-mondays-disqualified-from-bargain-hunt-special

― FRE SHA VAC ADO (jed_), Friday, 28 September 2018 14:08 (seven years ago)

Jarvis should've been disqualified for refusing to wear the BH fleece.

― Ward Fowler, Friday, 28 September 2018 14:10 (seven years ago)

truth

― FRE SHA VAC ADO (jed_), Friday, 28 September 2018 14:20 (seven years ago)

he looks a bit of a fiddy kiddler these days #curseofJacko

― calzino, Friday, 28 September 2018 14:26 (seven years ago)

those tinted lenses are an extremely bad idea.

― FRE SHA VAC ADO (jed_), Friday, 28 September 2018 14:28 (seven years ago)

as part of the BBC's Music Day, what a moving tribute

― Leon Carrotsky (Noodle Vague), Friday, 28 September 2018 15:04 (seven years ago)

“(pulp) attempted to claw back some cash by including a signed vinyl copy of their Different Class album with a vintage gramophone they were auctioning, but this also raised limited interest from bidders.”

Lololol

― calstars, Friday, 28 September 2018 15:07 (seven years ago)

and that wasn't considered cheating? Typical fucking BBC impartiality!

― calzino, Friday, 28 September 2018 15:13 (seven years ago)

Bargain Hunt is better than this

― Leon Carrotsky (Noodle Vague), Friday, 28 September 2018 15:14 (seven years ago)

"Since that glorious moment at the auction, we have discovered an IRREGULARITY..!" 😱😱

We are completely gagged by this shocking #BBCMusicDay Bargain Hunt plot twist!

CCing the red team to explain themselves: @Happy_Mondays & @Rowetta 😅😂 pic.twitter.com/5fjzSuwmUa
— BBC Music (@bbcmusic) September 28, 2018

― FRE SHA VAC ADO (jed_), Friday, 28 September 2018 16:31 (seven years ago)

ten months pass...

step

― calstars, Friday, 2 August 2019 01:39 (six years ago)

― calstars, Friday, 2 August 2019 02:04 (six years ago)

this description from upthread is spot on:

Listened to "Bummed" for the first time in ages the other day. It was a proletarian experience akin to watching a Vauxhall Conference match, or riding in a car where everyone is smoking but you.

― visiting, Friday, 2 August 2019 03:24 (six years ago)

two weeks pass...

Son, I'm 30
I only went with your mother 'cause she's dirty
And I don't have a decent bone in meh

― calstars, Sunday, 18 August 2019 02:32 (six years ago)

one year passes...

1 9 8 6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC-b2ZenkZg

my favorite band of the 80s? quite possibly. if it's not them, it's some other roughnecks from manchester.

― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 5 March 2021 21:27 (five years ago)

When I had covid earlier this year and was actually kinda worried that I could be facing the end of my days, the movie I turned to like, "welp better watch this one more time" was 24 Hour Party People. I don't know why that called out to me as the comfort food I should reach for, instead of something heartwarming or classic or, well, good. But 24 Hour Party People it was! And that prompted a pretty big Mondays kick. Tried to supplement that by listening to some other Madchester bands and like, Primal Scream, etc., but none of that stuff did it for me as good as Pills Thrills and Bellyaches or Bummed.

― peace, man, Saturday, 6 March 2021 12:23 (five years ago)

At some point in my covid haze, I worked up a theory about them being England's Guns N Roses or something like that. I can't quite remember how I fleshed that theory out, but on a surface level it kinda makes sense.

― peace, man, Saturday, 6 March 2021 12:33 (five years ago)

I love that theory

24 Hour Party People is the best rock movie by far

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 6 March 2021 12:49 (five years ago)

drugs not being a bug but a feature.
& singer detailing the activity of underclass in a non judgmental way?
THink the Mondays may have had cooler references/influences though

― Stevolende, Saturday, 6 March 2021 13:27 (five years ago)

yeah, that sounds about right.

― peace, man, Saturday, 6 March 2021 16:29 (five years ago)

kinky afro is my shit these days, yippie yippie aye aye ay

― brimstead, Saturday, 6 March 2021 17:54 (five years ago)

How old are you

― calstars, Saturday, 6 March 2021 22:18 (five years ago)

xpost couple of the last two rock bands that seemed to have any kind of genuine swagger to compete w hip hop

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 6 March 2021 22:45 (five years ago)

Are you old enough

― calstars, Saturday, 6 March 2021 23:14 (five years ago)

Also both lead singers got deserved shit for anti-gay stupidity.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 6 March 2021 23:32 (five years ago)

Bez's autobiography "Freaky Dancin'" is a pretty worthwhile read, you come away from it marveling that none of them died or got arrested in the process. reminds me a bit of Trainspotting where it does kind of glamorize the fun bits & makes you understand *why* these guys fucked their brains up so often but ultimately it seemed to be a pretty miserable existence. Bez seems like a nice but super unreliable dude, Ryder on the other hand I wouldn't leave a pet goldfish with

― frogbs, Saturday, 6 March 2021 23:53 (five years ago)

one year passes...

R.I.P. Paul Ryder

The Ryder family and Happy Mondays band members are deeply saddened and shocked to say that Paul Ryder passed away this morning

A true pioneer and legend. He will be forever missed ❤️

We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.

Long live his funk x pic.twitter.com/E8e7x4Tvcw
— Shaun Ryder (@officialswr) July 15, 2022

― peace, man, Friday, 15 July 2022 14:58 (three years ago)

awful news, he was the backbone of the group (a cliché but a true one here)

― Sudden Birdnet Thus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 15 July 2022 15:03 (three years ago)

Oh no. His bass playing on the first album is soooooo good.

― Tom D: I was in the army (Tom D.), Friday, 15 July 2022 15:12 (three years ago)

listening to this again, the bassline is the song, everything else is dressing on top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zWpHxfQvtk

― Sudden Birdnet Thus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 15 July 2022 15:18 (three years ago)

ah damn RIP - completely makes that early sound, just keeps driving through the swamp

― woof, Friday, 15 July 2022 16:17 (three years ago)

well this sucks

― bury my heart in wounded kieth (Noodle Vague), Friday, 15 July 2022 16:21 (three years ago)

RIB

― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Friday, 15 July 2022 16:49 (three years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvQZ3rwvBho

"tart tart" (1987)

rest well. hope he found something better.

― "Why is the voice of reason treated as the unreliable narrator?", asked (Austin), Friday, 15 July 2022 18:59 (three years ago)

'Loose Fit' is the tune of theirs I have listened to a bunch in the past few years, such a hypnotic groove.

― earlnash, Friday, 15 July 2022 20:47 (three years ago)

RIP, for sure the engine of their whole sound and vibe.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 15 July 2022 23:05 (three years ago)

RIP and at first I thought it was Shaun but still sad nonetheless

― Bee OK, Friday, 15 July 2022 23:08 (three years ago)

so good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m79WvFAWOqw

― Bee OK, Saturday, 16 July 2022 00:53 (three years ago)

RIP.

Enjoyed this piece from last year on the Mondays and their reception/influence in the US:

https://zacharylipez.ghost.io/21st-century-party-people-whatever-the-opposite-of-anxiety-of-happy-mondays-influence-is/

― etc, Tuesday, 19 July 2022 21:32 (three years ago)

three months pass...

https://www.stereogum.com/2203860/happy-mondays-us-shows-pills-n-thrills-bellyaches/news/

Happy Mondays Announce First US Shows In 14 Years, Playing Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches In Full

One will take place at Terminal 5 in New York City on March 25, with a special guest that’s to be announced. And then on March 28, they’ll play at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles with special guest Paul Oakenfold.

― Bee OK, Tuesday, 25 October 2022 04:41 (three years ago)

I think I will need to go to the Los Angeles show.

― Bee OK, Tuesday, 25 October 2022 04:41 (three years ago)

When I saw this tour in 1990 at the Hollywood Palladium I took Ecstasy for the very first time. Not sure who was more fucked up, the band or me and my friends.

― Bee OK, Tuesday, 25 October 2022 04:52 (three years ago)

I also saw them on this tour, in Newark, and was on nothing but beer because we had to drive 5 hours back to State College afterward. It was an OK show, sort of sloppy and pretty short. They'll miss Paul this time around, but it's honestly pretty impressive that enough of them are still alive to reunite.

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 25 October 2022 12:30 (three years ago)

Some people are just hard to kill.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Tuesday, 25 October 2022 13:03 (three years ago)

ten months pass...

important new info re:melon twisting

💥 Ever wondered where Shaun got the lines “You’re Twistin’ My Melon Man” & “You know you talk so hip” for ‘Step On’ from???

🎥 Here’s a clip of the brilliant doc: ‘Steve McQueen: Man On The Edge’ | The Hollywood Collection#happymondays #stepon #stevemcqueen #melon pic.twitter.com/7LIApOJpwY
— Rowetta🎙 (@Rowetta) September 8, 2023

― the world is your octopus (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Saturday, 9 September 2023 16:56 (two years ago)

whoa

― brimstead, Saturday, 9 September 2023 17:01 (two years ago)

Awesome.

― Monthly Python (Tom D.), Saturday, 9 September 2023 17:03 (two years ago)

that's why I pay my internet provider

― fpsa, Saturday, 9 September 2023 18:45 (two years ago)

Call the cops!

― three of the doctor's valuable bats are now dead (broom air), Saturday, 9 September 2023 19:17 (two years ago)

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