There are several theories about why the Happy Mondays are called what they are. One is that the band's name refers to what Manchester's unemployed population called the day that welfare checks were issued, or that simply they didn't have to go back to work on Mondays unlike the poor working sods. However, Shaun Ryder did remark in an interview with drug smuggler Howard Marks that the name Happy Mondays was merely a quick solution to naming the band and bears no real relevance at all. Despite fan speculation, he name has no connection with the song "Blue Monday" by synthpop band New Order, as the Mondays were together and had named the band before this song was released.
First incarnation
Manchester pop impresario Tony Wilson discovered the Mondays at a battle of the bands contest held at his Hacienda nightclub. The story goes that Wilson signed them to his label, Factory Records, even though they came in last. Their first album, Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), debuted in 1987. A number of other albums followed, most of which were released in the United States on the Elektra Records label. By the late 1980s, the Happy Mondays were an important part of the Madchester music scene and personified rave culture. By this time frontman Ryder was fighting a serious drug problem and the band's productivity plummeted.
Musically, the band fused indie pop guitars with a rhythmic style that owed much to house music, techno and northern soul. Much of their music was remixed by popular DJs, emphasizing the dance influences even further. In terms of style and dress, they crossed hippy fashion and ideals with 1970s glamour. Sartorially and musically, the band helped to encourage the psychedelic revival associated with acid house. One of their most popular songs was Lazyitis, featuring a surreal duet between Ryder and country music legend Karl Denver.
The Mondays disbanded in 1992, and Shaun Ryder and Bez formed Black Grape with ex-Paris Angels guitarist, Paul Wagstaff a.k.a."Wags" and ex-Ruthless Rap Assassins star, Paul Leveridge a.k.a. "Kermit".
Second incarnation
Seven years passed, but in 1999 Happy Mondays reformed, minus Paul Davis and Mark Day. In their place were Wags and a number of other musicians close to Shaun Ryder. However, the reunion with a world tour and the release of a new single, The Boys Are Back In Town, was to be short-lived. The single sunk in the charts, reaching only number 30 in the UK singles chart. It was also dropped from the live set after proving difficult for the band to perform live. In 2000 the band called it a day after providing support for Oasis on their "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" tour.
The band is featured in the 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People, with Danny Cunningham as Shaun Ryder. Paul Ryder had a cameo role as a gangster and Rowetta (who sang for the band on Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches and Yes, Please!) appeared in the film as herself.
Third incarnation
2004 saw another reformation, comprising Bez, Gary Whelan and Shaun Ryder, following the latter's unsuccessful solo career. The musicians released a live DVD that year of a show in Barcelona, and rumours abounded that the band was recording a new album. The Mondays played a variety of festival dates in 2005 (including Glastonbury), capping it off with a concert at the Manchester Evening News Arena in their hometown.
In June 2006 the Mondays performed another one-off gig in Liverpool, although Paul Ryder was not present - having sworn to never perform with his brother again following the 2000 break-up. On Sunday 30th July 2006 the Mondays were special guests at The Fuji Rock Festival - a 3 day festival held at the Naeba Ski Resort in Japan. They performed a 60 minute set - starting with Loose Fit and ending with 24 Hour Party People. Only Shaun, Bez and Gaz Whelan were present from the original lineup.
In early August of 2006, the band announced that they had completed their first album in 14 years with producers Sunny Levine and Howie B, and have recently signed to Sanctuary Records. A new single, "Playground Superstar" from the soundtrack for the football film "Goal!" was released a few months prior to completion of the new album, titled Uncle Dysfunctional and released in Summer 2007.
Happy Mondays performed before another reformed act, Rage Against the Machine, to put the finishing touches at the venerated 2007 Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California on April 27, 2007. The band then toured medium-sized venues in England in May 2007, playing old and new material. Various festival dates in the UK and New York City were performed throughout Summer 2007.
Fourth incarnation
On 29 January 2012, Shaun Ryder announced on radio station Xfm that the band would return with the original and definitive lineup of himself, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, Gary Whelan on drums, Rowetta as female vocalist, Mark Day on guitar, Paul Davis on keyboards and dancer Mark Berry. They appeared on ITV's This Morning, and were interviewed by Philip Schofield. Shaun Ryder pronounced that amends had been made, friendships reinstated and that it was just like the old days, but without the madness. They did a 13-date UK tour in May 2012, most of which were sold out, and an extra date was added at London's Brixton Academy due to the demand for tickets.[26] The tour included other shows at the Manchester Arena, plus other dates in Bournemouth, Glasgow, Dublin, Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham. To coincide with the band's reformation tour a best of album, Double Double Good was released in July 2012, as well as a live recording of the band's May 2012 gig in Brixton. The band went on to play gigs in Chile and Argentina in May 2012 and then a number of European festivals in the summer of 2012, including Ireland's Sea Sessions, Scotland's T in the Park, the band were headliners at Camp Bestival in Dorset in July 2012 and they performed at the V Festivals in August 2012. They then travelled to Majorca and Ibiza to play the Ibiza and Majorca Rocks events.
The band announced in September 2012 that they were writing their first album with the original lineup in more than 20 years.[citation needed]
The band played two nights at the Roundhouse, London and in Manchester in December 2012. They travelled to Dubai in April 2013 to perform and in May 2013 played gigs at Bristol's Vegfest and one in Brighton. June 2013 brought gigs at the Isle of Wight Festival and Scarborough, then in July 2013 they played at the Warrington Music Festival and at Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, Surrey. They played dates in Belfast, Crewe and Dublin in August 2013. In October 2013 they travelled to Spain to do gigs in Barcelona and Madrid then in November 2013 they kicked off a 16 date UK tour to celebrate 25 years since their second critically acclaimed album Bummed was released, and the band plan to play most of the songs from that infamous album. The band signed to Creation Management in 2015. They have announced an international tour to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches.
In September 2015, a special programme on Watch called Singing in the Rainforest followed the band as they travelled to Panama to record a new song with an isolated tribe called the Embera. The band composed a track with members of the tribe for a performance, penning the track "Ooo La La to Panama". Although billed as the first original line-up recording since 1992, Paul Davis was not present, and no mention of him was made. Gaz Whelan confirmed via the Happy Mondays Twitter account (in answer to a question from a Twitter user named ormi_shinobi) that Davis had left the band.
The band toured New Zealand and Australia in February and March 2019, performing their 1990 album Pills 'N' Thrills And Bellyaches.
On 15 July 2022, the band announced via their Facebook page that Bassist and original member Paul Ryder had died in the early hours of that morning. He was 58 years old.
Happy Mondays have continued to perform live after Ryders death.
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Discography
Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) (1987)
Bummed (1988)
Hallelujah (1989)
The Peel Sessions 1989 (1990) #79 UK
Madchester Rave On EP (1989) #19 UK
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990) #4 UK, #89 US
Live (1991) #21 UK
Yes Please (1992) #14 UK
Loads (1994) #41 UK
Greatest Hits (1999) #11 UK
Step On - Live In Barcelona (recorded Dec. 2004) (2005) #194 UK
The Platinum Collection (2005) #19 UK
Uncle Dysfunktional (2007) #73 UK
Oasis
Happy Mondays Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In a dream of the place that you met
And a lonely feel
And a little emotion
But all those childish things
But all those childish things that you said
When you were young in your head
And if you say that it's ok
Then it's ok for you to do, now
And if you say that it's all right
Then it's all right for me
And if you say that it's ok
Then it's ok for me to do
You know it must be all right
You know it must be all right
But you went too far
And it's gone all the wrong way
But you went too fast and now the only thing that you ever...
Well it's not there
It's all gone
And if you say that it's ok
Then it's ok for me to do now
And if you say that it's all right
Then it's all right for you
And if you say that it's ok
Then it's ok for us to do
You know it must be all right
You know it must be all right
It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to be fucked by everybody
It's not unusual to spend some time on yourself
Gonna make it all right
Say we'll make it all right
It's all right!
It's all right!
Fuck
The lyrics to Happy Mondays' song Oasis are poetic and introspective, ridden with messages of pain and regret mixed with a yearning for acceptance and forgiveness. The first verse talks about a perfect place and a dream of where the singer and his lover first met, but with a lonely feel and little emotion, it's clear that this dream has long since faded away. The second verse speaks to the childish things the singer said in his youth while in bed with his lover, and while she might say it's okay now, it's too late and everything has gone all wrong. The chorus repeats the sentiment that if the lover says everything is okay, then it must be, even though the reality is far from it. Finally, the song concludes with the repeated phrase "It's all right," as if trying to convince oneself of a lie.
Line by Line Meaning
In that perfect place
In the ideal location
In a dream of the place that you met
Imagining the spot where you met
And a lonely feel
Feeling alone
And a little emotion
Feeling slightly emotional
But all those childish things
Those immature actions
But all those childish things that you said
The immature words that were spoken
When you were young in your head
When you were youthful mentally
When you were in our bed
When you were in our shared bed
And if you say that it's ok
If you accept the situation
Then it's ok for you to do, now
It's permissible for you to take action now
And if you say that it's all right
If you approve of the situation
Then it's all right for me
It's acceptable for me as well
And if you say that it's ok
If you are fine with it
Then it's ok for me to do
It's permissible for me to proceed
You know it must be all right
You understand that it's acceptable
You know it must be all right
You realize it's all good
But you went too far
You went beyond what was reasonable
And it's gone all the wrong way
The situation has taken a turn for the worse
But you went too fast and now the only thing that you ever...
You acted hastily and the only thing that you ever...
Well it's not there
It no longer exists
It's all gone
Everything has disappeared
And if you say that it's ok
If you agree that everything is fine
Then it's ok for me to do now
I can proceed with this course of action
And if you say that it's all right
If you approve of this
Then it's all right for you
It's acceptable for you as well
And if you say that it's ok
If you grant permission for this
Then it's ok for us to do
We can move forward with this together
You know it must be all right
You understand that everything is acceptable
You know it must be all right
You realize everything is good
It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's common to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to be fucked by everybody
It's typical to be taken advantage of by everyone
It's not unusual to spend some time on yourself
It's normal to focus on yourself for a while
Gonna make it all right
We will make everything better
Say we'll make it all right
Affirming that we will improve things
It's all right!
Everything is fine!
It's all right!
Everything is good!
Fuck
Exclamation of frustration or anger
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PAUL ANTHONY RYDER, GARY KENNETH WHELAN, MARK PHILIP DAY, PAUL RICHARD DAVIS, SHAUN WILLIAM RYDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ukulelelab
Paul Ryder's bass on the whole album is so good
Carl Potts
their best album by a country mile IMO
MATRIX.
@Carl Potts.
Sarah W
This is the best song they ever did. Brilliant bass line. Thanks for uploading!
barrytimothy
Wicked bass line. One of their best!
GriefTourist
They had a unique sound. RIP Paul Ryder.
Strappa Plank
very early Bunnymen but made it there own
Matt MacNeil
in my opinion this is by far their best song. way better than anything off 'pills, thrills...' really an incredible song
Anna Smith
I say deffo
Yellow Jackboots
Squirrel and G-Man is their best album, no doubt