Happy Mondays

  • Salford, England
    hometown
  • Alternative
    genre
  • 1980
    started
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    full story
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About Happy Mondays


Along with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays were the leaders of the late-'80s/early-'90s dance club-influenced Manchester scene, experiencing a brief moment in the spotlight before collapsing in 1992. While the Stone Roses were based in '60s pop, adding only a slight hint of dance music, Happy Mondays immersed themselves in the club and rave culture, eventually becoming the most recognizable band of that drug-fueled scene. The Mondays' music relied heavily on the sound and rhythm of house music, spiked with '70s soul licks and swirling '60s psychedelia. It was bright, colorful music that had fractured melodies that never quite gelled into cohesive songs.

Unwittingly or not, Happy Mondays personified the ugly side of rave culture. They were thugs, purely and simply -- they brought out the latent violence that lay beneath the surface of any drug culture, even one as seemingly beatific as England's late-'80s/early-'90s rave scene. Under the leadership of vocalist Shaun Ryder, the group sounded and acted like thugs, especially in comparison with their peace-loving peers, the Stone Roses. Ryder's lyrics were twisted and surrealistic, loaded with bizarre pop culture references, drug slang, and menacing sexuality. Appropriately, their music was as convoluted. Happy Mondays were one of the first rock bands to integrate hip-hop techniques into their music. They didn't sample, but they borrowed melodies and lyrics and, in the process, committed rock blasphemy. For a band that celebrated their vulgarity and excessiveness, Happy Mondays appropriately were undone by their addictions, but they left behind a surprisingly influential legacy, apparent in everyone from dance bands like the Chemical Brothers to rock & rollers like Oasis.

With their second album, 1988's Bummed, Happy Mondays became British superstars, particularly Ryder. Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, released in 1990, marked the height of the band's popularity, creativity, and influence; although the record made the Top 100 albums chart in America, it didn't establish them as stars in the U.S. After that, the fall was quick. By the time they released their next studio album, Yes, Please, Manchester had disappeared from public consciousness; it sold respectably, but the group didn't have the commercial impact that they had just two years before. Besides the lack of public interest, Shaun Ryder had become addicted to heroin, tearing the band apart in the process. At a high-level record contract meeting, Ryder walked out for some "Kentucky Fried Chicken," which was the band's slang for heroin. He never returned and the group quickly fell apart.

Ryder and the Mondays' full-time dancer, Bez, re-emerged in the mid-'90s with Black Grape. The band released its critically acclaimed debut, It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah, late in the summer of 1995. Black Grape's sound pursued the same direction as the Mondays, only with a harder, grittier edge to their sound and lyrics. In 2007, 15 years since their last record, the band (minus about half the original members, including guitarist Mark Day) released their fifth studio album, Uncle Dysfunktional. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

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Music

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  • Hallelujah
    happy-mondays
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    Hallelujah
  • Kinky Afro
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    Kinky Afro
  • Stinkin' Thinkin'
    happy-mondays
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    Stinkin' Thinkin'
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    • Step On
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    • Step On
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/5/1/1/7/0/216407115.mp3
    • Kinky Afro
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/3/1/6/5/9/106995613.mp3
    • W.F.L.
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    • The Boys Are Back In Town
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    • Donovan
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Photos

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  • Happy Mondays

News

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  • Happy Mondays
    Islands to Open for Psychedelic Furs and Happy Mondays This Fall
    www.pitchfork.com
    - Rhythm Room * 10-27 Austin, TX - Mohawk * 10-28 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves * 10-29 Memphis, TN - Hi Tone Cafe * 10-30 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Ca...
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  • Happy Mondays
    Happy Mondays' Bez Arrested
    prefixmag.com
    Aftera brief stint as a fugitive(which doesn't seem to have involved any change in location, altering of his appearance or difference in routine), Hap...
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  • Happy Mondays
    Happy Mondays Announce Reunion Tour
    Paste
    It's a happy Monday for the Happy Mondays. Lead singer Shaun Ryder has announced a reunion tour for the band. The spring return of Happy Mondays' orig...
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  • Happy Mondays
    Happy Mondays Announce (Another) Reunion | Prefix
    www.prefixmag.com
    Tweet Now that the Stone Roses have reunited, it's time for the other titan of the late '80s Madchester scene to reunite: Happy Mondays have announced...
    Read More

Tour Dates

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  • May 26 Sunday
    Brighton, UK Brighton Centre
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  • Jun 5 Wednesday
    Fremantle, WA, Australia Metropolis - Fremantle
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  • Jun 6 Thursday
    Melbourne, VIC, Australia Palace Theatre
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  • Jun 13 Thursday
    Newport, UK Seaclose Park
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  • Jun 22 Saturday
    Scarborough, UK Scarborough Open Air Theatre
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  • Jul 31 Wednesday
    Surrey, UK Sandown Park Racecourse
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  • Jul 31 Wednesday
    Esher, UK Sandown Park Racecourse
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  • Aug 11 Sunday
    Crewe, UK Betley Court Farm
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  • Aug 15 Thursday
    Dublin, Ireland Leopardstown Racecourse
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  • Nov 22 Friday
    London, UK The Forum
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  • Nov 22 Friday
    London, UK The Forum
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  • Nov 22 Friday
    London, UK The Forum
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  • Nov 30 Saturday
    Leeds, UK O2 Academy Leeds
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Discography

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  • Uncle Dysfunktional (2007)
    Happy Mondays
    Uncle Dysfunktional (2007)
    Sequel
  • Yes, Please (1992)
    Happy Mondays
    Yes, Please (1992)
    Elektra Entertainment
  • Live (1991)
    Happy Mondays
    Live (1991)
    Elektra Entertainment
  • Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
    Happy Mondays
    Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990)
    Elektra Entertainment
  • Bummed (1988)
    Happy Mondays
    Bummed (1988)
    Elektra
  • Squirrel & G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (1987)
    Happy Mondays
    Squirrel & G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (1987)
    Sony Music Distribution
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