Happy Mondays are an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

formed in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in 1980. The original line-up was

Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer/songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed Bla ...

(vocals), his brother

Paul Ryder Paul Anthony Ryder (24 April 1964 – 15 July 2022) was an English musician. He was a bass player and a founding member of the Manchester band Happy Mondays with his brother Shaun Ryder. Early life Paul and Shaun are the two sons of Derek Ryd ...

( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined the band onstage as a dancer/percussionist.

Rowetta Rowetta Idah (born 5 January 1966, in Manchester), also known as Rowetta or Rowetta Satchell, is a British singer. She is best known for her work with the Happy Mondays, recording and touring with the band from 1990 and recently reforming with th ...

joined as a second vocalist in 1990. They were initially signed to

Tony Wilson Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager, impresario and a journalist for Granada Television, the BBC and Channel 4. As a co-founder o ...

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

label. The group's work bridged the Manchester

independent rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...

music of the 1980s and the emerging UK

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene, drawing influence from

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, and

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

to pioneer the

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie music w ...

sound. They experienced their commercial peak with the releases ''

Bummed ''Bummed'' is the second studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released in November 1988 on Factory Records. During 1987 and early 1988, the band discovered house music and the rave drug ecstasy. Factory producer Martin Hannett was s ...

'' (1988), ''

Madchester Rave On ''Madchester Rave On'' is the second EP by Happy Mondays. It was released in November 1989 on Factory Records. The track "Hallelujah" became the band's breakthrough release, reaching the top twenty in the UK and leading to the band's first ''Top ...

'' (1989), and ''

Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches ''Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches'' is the third studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 5 November 1990 by Factory Records. DJ Paul Oakenfold and collaborator Steve Osbourne were previously enlisted by the band for remixe ...

'' (1990), with the last going platinum in the UK. They disbanded in 1993, and have reformed several times in subsequent decades.

History

First incarnation

The band were signed to

after passing a demo tape to Phil Saxe, a trader at

Manchester Arndale Manchester Arndale (one of a number of shopping centres in the UK by the same developers, also known simply as the Arndale Centre or the Arndale) is a large shopping centre in Manchester, England. It was constructed in phases between 1972 and 19 ...

who was on friendly terms with

Mike Pickering Mike Pickering (born 21 February 1954) is an English musician and DJ. Career Pickering was a DJ at The Haçienda's Nude and Hot nights, and later Shine. He worked for Factory Records, where he signed Happy Mondays, To Hell with Burgundy and ...

, a DJ at the Haçienda nightclub. Saxe became the band's manager. Their first release was the "Forty Five EP", often called the "Delightful EP" after its first track. It was released on

in September 1985. Their first album, ''

Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) ''Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays. It was released in mid-April 1987 through Factory Records. After finalising their line-up, t ...

'', was released in 1987 and was produced by

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

. This was followed by two further albums: ''

'', in 1988, produced by

Martin Hannett James Martin Hannett (31 May 1948 – 18 April 1991), initially credited as Martin Zero, was an English record producer, musician and an original partner/director at Tony Wilson's Factory Records. Hannett produced music by artists including Joy ...

, and ''

'', in 1990, produced by

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mass ...

and

Steve Osborne Stephen John "Steve" Osborne (born 1963) is a British record producer, living in Bath, England. He has worked with a wide variety of musicians, including Suede, the B-52s, A-ha, New Order, Elbow, U2, Happy Mondays, Placebo, Gregory Porter, Do ...

. The latter, recorded at

Capitol Studios Capitol Studios are recording studios located at the landmark Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California. The studios, which opened in 1956, were initially the primary recording studios for the American record label Capitol Records. While t ...

in Los Angeles, went platinum in the UK, selling more than 350,000 copies. Singles "

Step On "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (also known as "Step On") is a song originally performed by John Kongos, co-written by Kongos and Christos Demetriou, and first released in 1971 by Fly Records. It entered the UK Singles Chart on 22 May 1971 and sp ...

" and " Kinky Afro" from this album both reached number 5 in the UK singles chart. By the late 1980s, the Happy Mondays were an important part of the Manchester music scene and personified

culture. Numerous world tours meant the band had international success as well as massive success in their home country. The line-up of the band during this first and most important ten-year phase never changed, and the six original members Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Gary Whelan, Paul Davis, Mark Day, and Mark "Bez" Berry remained a tight unit until the first incarnation came to an end in 1994. The band headlined the Friday night at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

1990. In November of that year,

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

commented in ''NME'': "I saw the Happy Mondays on TV, and they reminded me of the Beatles in their 'Strawberry Fields' phase." Musically, the band fused indie pop guitars with a rhythmic style that owed much to

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

Krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

, and northern soul. Much of their music was remixed by popular DJs, emphasising the dance influences even further. In style and dress, they crossed

hippy A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

fashion and ideals with 1970s glamour. Sartorially and musically, the band helped to encourage the

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

revival associated with

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

. One of their most popular songs is "Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)", featuring a surreal duet between Ryder and

Karl Denver Karl Denver (16 December 1931 – 21 December 1998) was a Scottish singer, who, with his trio had a series of UK hit singles in the early 1960s. Most famous of these was a 1961 version of " Wimoweh", which showed off Denver's falsetto yodel ...

. In February 1991, Happy Mondays played in Rock in Rio 2 at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and famously went to meet

Ronnie Biggs Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was an English criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 ye ...

in Brazil with

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

, who at the time was a writer for '' The Sun'' newspaper. The Mondays also influenced many bands around the Northwest and beyond, including

the Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, and the Charlatans. A multi-city US tour followed, with the group returning home early in May 1991. In 1991, they played to 30,000 people at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, said to be the Happy Mondays' own Spike Island. By July that year, they revealed details of a fourteen track 'official bootleg'

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''Baby Big Head'', recorded at the

concert. The official record label release, ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' followed later in the year. ''

Yes Please! ''Yes Please!'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Happy Mondays, released 22 September 1992 through Factory Records. Following the non-album single "Judge Fudge", Factory allotted the band a budget of £150,000 for their next alb ...

'' followed in 1992, produced by

Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...

and

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, Tal ...

, recorded at

Eddy Grant Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound; his music has blended elements of pop, British rock, soul, funk, reggae, electronic music, Af ...

's studio in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. The album was a commercial failure that bankrupted Factory Records.

Second incarnation

Happy Mondays disbanded in 1993, and Shaun Ryder and Bez formed

Black Grape Black Grape are an English rock band, featuring former members of Happy Mondays and Ruthless Rap Assassins. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples. History Formation, first two albums an ...

with ex- Paris Angels guitarist "Wags" (who would later go on to serve in the 1999–2000 reincarnation of the Mondays) and ex- Ruthless Rap Assassins star Kermit. Seven years passed, and in 1999 Happy Mondays re-formed, with founding members Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Gary Whelan and Bez but without Paul Davis and Mark Day. In the place of Day and Davis were Wags and a number of other session musicians including Ben Leach who had once been a member of The Farm, percussionist Lea Mullen, and rapper "Nuts". Also joining the new line-up was soul diva Rowetta Satchell (who sang back-up on Pills, Thrills, and Bellyaches, as well as Yes Please!, and who would go on to have solo success). The band toured extensively in the UK and internationally, selling out the 20,000 capacity

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

and two nights at

Brixton Academy Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...

, and released a new single, a cover version of the

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

hit "The Boys Are Back in Town". The single reached number 24 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. They provided support for

on their "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" arena tour, played at the

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japa ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, numerous European festivals including T in the Park and also toured Australia the same year. Although critically acclaimed and playing to sell-out crowds, the band once more ceased their activity in 2001 following the departure of bass player and founding member Paul Ryder. A fictionalised depiction of the band is featured in the 2002 film '' 24 Hour Party People'', with Danny Cunningham as Shaun Ryder and

Paul Popplewell Paul Popplewell (born 18 April 1977) is a British actor. He became a professional actor at 16, leaving college after gaining the lead role of Simon in the BBC television drama ''Criminal'', for which he won Best Actor at the Golden Chest Film Fe ...

as Paul Ryder. Paul Ryder himself had a cameo role in the film as a

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and

appeared in the film as herself.

Third incarnation

2004 saw another re-formation, comprising original members Bez, Whelan and Shaun Ryder along with another group of musicians. Shaun Ryder recruited

Kav Sandhu KAV (Kavin Sandhu) is a British musician from Leicester, England, now based in Los Angeles. Sandhu played guitar with British band Happy Mondays for four years after helping reform the band with frontman Shaun Ryder in 2004. He launched his sol ...

to join on guitar & bring in a new group of musicians. Kav brought on-board bassist Mikey Shine, keyboard player Dave Parkinson & guitarist Jonn Dunn. Dave Parkinson was later replaced by Dan Broad. Backing singers on the first tour were

Angie Brown Angie Brown (born 13 June 1963) is a British singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. She is a co-artist on the hit single " I'm Gonna Get You" (1992) by Bizarre Inc and performed on a number of recordings with them as lead vocalist in ...

and

Ron Carroll Ronald Michael Carroll is an American DJ, singer, songwriter and producer. He is primarily known in the house music circuit. Carroll has worked with many of house's most famous producers, including E-Smoove, Maurice Joshua and Bob Sinclar. H ...

. from 2004 to 2006 the band were managed by Danny Newman, MD at London Club

Turnmills The Turnmills building was a warehouse originally on the corner of Turnmill Street and Clerkenwell Road in the London Borough of Islington. It became a bar in the 1980s, then a nightclub. The club closed in 2008 and the building was later demol ...

brother of London Club DJ Tall Paul. Rowetta's backing vocal role was now being performed by Julie E. Gordon who toured with the band until 2010. Paul Ryder was not present, having sworn to never perform with his brother again following the 2000 break-up, and formed his own band Big Arm. That year, the Mondays released a live DVD of a show in Barcelona. The Mondays played a variety of festival dates in 2005 (including

Global Gathering Global Gathering was an annual dance music festival by Angel Festivals Limited. Festivals are held in countries such as the UK, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and feature leading electronic music artists from around the globe. The festival ran ...

), capping it off with a concert at the Manchester Arena. In June 2006, Happy Mondays performed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and on 30 July 2006 they were special guests at the Fuji Rock Festival. In August 2006, the band announced that they had completed their first album in fourteen years, with producers Sunny Levine and

Howie B Howard Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland), professionally known as Howie B, is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including: Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbi ...

, and had signed to

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

. A single "Playground Superstar", from the soundtrack for the football film '' Goal!'', was released a few months prior to completion of the new album, ''

Uncle Dysfunktional ''Uncle Dysfunktional'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays. It was released by Sequel Records on 2 July 2007. After the band reunited in 2004, they toured into 2005; by 2006, a new album was recorded with producer Sunny ...

'' released in mid 2007. on Noel Gallaghers label Big Brother Records. Happy Mondays performed before another re-formed act,

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

, at the 2007

Coachella Music Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...

. They were introduced by Tony Wilson. Bez missed the show because he could not get into the US due to "passport issues". The band then toured throughout the summer of 2007 including a trip to th
Numusic Festival
in Norway. They played

Splendour in the Grass Splendour in the Grass (commonly referred to as Splendour) is an annual Australian music festival held at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales. Since its inauguration, the festival has also been held in various locations near ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in July 2009, and the UK V Festival in August 2009. Happy Mondays toured the US and Canada with

The Psychedelic Furs The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene ...

in late 2009 with Paul Ryder's son and Shaun Ryder's nephew Jake Ryder filling in for Gaz Whelan on drums. Happy Mondays appeared at the Wizard Festival in North-East Scotland in August 2010. This version of the band continued until 2010. Members Mikey Shine, Jonn Dunn & Dan Broad continued to back Shaun Ryder for his solo tour until 2011, surrounding the release of his autobiography.

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

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 Phillip Bryan Schofield (born 1 April 1962) is an English television presenter who works for ITV (TV network), ITV. He is currently the co-presenter of ITV's ''This Morning (TV programme), This Morning'' (2002–present) and ''Dancing on Ice'' ...

. 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. The tour included other shows at the Manchester Arena, plus other dates in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. To coincide with the band's reformation tour a

best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

album, ''Double Double Good'' was released in July 2012, as well as a live recording of the band's May 2012 gig in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...

. The band went on to play gigs in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

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 Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

in July 2012 and they performed at the V Festivals in August 2012. They then travelled to

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

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. The band played two nights at the Roundhouse, London and in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in December 2012. They travelled to

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in April 2013 to perform and in May 2013 played gigs at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

's Vegfest and one in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. June 2013 brought gigs at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, then in July 2013 they played at the

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Music Festival and at

Sandown Park Racecourse Sandown Park is a horse racing course and leisure venue in Esher, Surrey, England, located in the outer suburbs of London. It hosts 5 Grade One National Hunt races and one Group 1 flat race, the Eclipse Stakes. It regularly has horse rac ...

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. They played dates in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

and Dublin in August 2013. In October 2013 they travelled to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to do gigs in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

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 Creation Management was formed by Alan McGee and Simon Fletcher to manage global music artists, launched in Wales in April 2014. The first signing was The Jesus and Mary Chain. The current roster includes Wilko Johnson, Black Grape, Happy Mondays ...

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 A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

called ''Singing in the Rainforest'' followed the band as they travelled to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

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 Paul Ryder had died in the early hours of that morning. He was 58 years old.

Awards and nominations

{, class=wikitable , - ! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result , - , 1989 , rowspan="3" ,

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of ...

, " WFL" , Best Dance Record , , - , rowspan="4" , 1990 , ''

, Best LP , , - , rowspan="6" , Themselves , rowspan=2, Best Band , , - , rowspan=3,

Smash Hits Poll Winners Party The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 (as the Smash Hits Readers' Poll) to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the '' Smash Hits'' magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in F ...

, , - , Best New Act , , - , rowspan="3" , 1991 , Best Indie Group , , - , rowspan="2" ,

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, Best British Newcomer , , - , Best British Group , , - , 2013 ,

Q Awards The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...

, ''

'' , Q Classic Album , , - , 2016 ,

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, Themselves , The Ivor's Inspiration Award ,

Discography

*''

'' (1987) *''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1990) *''

'' (1992) *''

'' (2007)

Members

Current *

– lead vocals, guitar (1980–1993, 1999–2001, 2004–2010, 2012–present) * Gary Whelan – drums (1980–1993, 1999–2001, 2006-2008, 2012–present) * Mark "Bez" Berry – dancer, percussion (1980–1993, 1999–2001, 2004–2010, 2012–present) *

– vocals (1990–1993, 1999–2001, 2012–present) * Mark Day – guitar (1980–1993, 2004–2010, 2012–present) * Dan Broad – keyboards, samples, programming, musical director (2006-2010, 2016–present) Former * Paul Davis – keyboards, samples, programming (1980–1993, 2012–2015) *

– guitar, keyboards (2004–2008) *

– bass, keyboards (1980–1993, 1999–2001, 2012–2022) (died 2022)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1980 till:31/12/2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:bvox value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:dance value:yellow legend:Dancing id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1980 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1980 BarData = bar:Shaun text:Shaun Ryder bar:Rowetta text:Rowetta bar:Mark text:Mark Day bar:Kav text:Kav Sandhu bar:PaulD text:Paul Davis bar:Dan text:Dan Broad bar:PaulR text:Paul Ryder bar:Gary text:Gary Whelan bar:Bez text:Mark 'Bez' Berry PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Shaun from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Vocals bar:Shaun from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:Vocals bar:Shaun from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2010 color:Vocals bar:Shaun from:01/01/2012 till:end color:Vocals bar:Shaun from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Shaun from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Shaun from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2010 color:Guitar width:3 bar:Shaun from:01/01/2012 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:PaulR from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Bass bar:PaulR from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:Bass bar:PaulR from:01/01/2012 till:15/07/2022 color:Bass bar:PaulR from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:PaulR from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:PaulR from:01/01/2012 till:15/07/2022 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Bez from:start till:end color:Dance bar:Mark from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Guitar bar:Mark from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2010 color:Guitar bar:Mark from:01/01/2012 till:end color:Guitar bar:PaulD from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Keyboards bar:PaulD from:01/01/2012 till:01/09/2015 color:Keyboards bar:Dan from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2010 color:keyboards bar:Dan from:01/01/2016 till:end color:keyboards bar:Gary from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Drums bar:Gary from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:Drums bar:Gary from:01/01/2012 till:end color:drums bar:Kav from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2008 color:Guitar bar:Kav from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2008 color:Keyboards width:3 bar:Rowetta from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1993 color:bvox bar:Rowetta from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:bvox bar:Rowetta from:01/01/2012 till:end color:bvox LineData= layer:back color:studio at:01/04/1987 at:05/11/1988 at:27/11/1990 at:22/09/1992 at:02/07/2007

References

General * ''Vinylnet Record Label Discographies''
link
– Factory Catalogue Numbers.

External links

Official website
* * {{Authority control English alternative rock groups English electronic music groups Alternative dance musical groups Madchester groups English indie rock groups Neo-psychedelia groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups from Manchester Music in Salford Factory Records artists Elektra Records artists Sibling musical groups