Freaky Wakeboarding

Bless Bez, I cannot stop giggling.

An interesting combination

Petula Clark and PAUL RYDER?????? Oh my...

NOW here's an unlikely duet. Former Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder, brother of Shaun and now frontman of his own band Big Arm, is set to team up with Downtown singing legend Petula Clark.

Believe it or not, Paul's the looker in the Ryder clan.

Lazyitis- Happy Mondays

Too cool

Manchester never knew how much it would miss Tony Wilson. Yesterday, beneath a grey northern sky, the city's sense of loss for the man who had been the life and soul of its party for so many years was clear.

Family and friends of the man known as "Mr Manchester" attended a private funeral ceremony at St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, known as the Hidden Gem, in the city centre.

Fans gathered outside the church to pay their final respects to the founder of Factory Records and the Haçienda nightclub.

A roll call of famous Mancunians turned out to remember Wilson, a champion of the city, who died earlier this month, aged 57, after a prolonged battle with kidney cancer. They included the Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder and New Order and Joy Division bassist Peter Hook, whose bands were key to the Factory Records success story.

Peter Saville, who co-founded the iconic record label with Wilson, gave a reading during the mass. So too did Richard Madeley, who worked alongside Wilson at Granada Television, and arrived at the service with his wife Judy Finnigan.

After the service, which included the hymns "Hail Queen of Heaven" and "To Be A Pilgrim", six pallbearers, including Wilson's son, carried the coffin out of the church to the sound of the Happy Monday's track "Bob's Your Uncle".

Mondays!

Shaun, Bez and Co. are back in fighting form. Seriously, they look good.

And this quote from Tony is so funny-

"I think people are genuinely excited that they are not dead...."

We are, Mr. Wilson. We are.

Hooky and Rowetta

Now this is interesting.....

MANCHESTER music stars Rowetta and Peter Hook are joining forces to raise money for Cancer Research.

The Former Happy Mondays singer and New Order's bassist Hooky are to perform reworkings of classic New Order and Joy Division tracks at the huge Impossible Dream Project gig at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff this December.

The pair came up with the idea after they played a few Joy Division classics together at a small private gig in Manchester and the reaction was very positive.

Rowetta, partying at trendy new Altrincham bar Opulence, told me: "I know that certain Joy Division fans are quite protective of the legacy of singer Ian Curtis.

"I can totally understand that.

"So I was really pleased when me and Hooky played a few tracks together that we got such a good reaction. It was lovely to see."

Step On

Since Mr. Mark Berry wasn't allowed into the US for Coachella, the Mondays obviously needed a freaky dancer to perform onstage with the Rev. Shaun William Ryder and company.

I'm not sure how it came to pass, but Dan Martin from the NME is shaking the Mancunian maracas tonight.

The following is from the NME's Coachella blog-

So I'm sat behind the Sahara Stage where the Happy Mondays are currently getting it on, and where stunt Bez for the night Dan Martin is warming up his repertoire of moves. He couldn't be more excited if he was a Frenchman with a pair of self-removing trousers. Check back in a bit to see how he got on!

"Stunt Bez." BWAHAHAHAHA!

But can he offer anyone "like the best drug experience they ever had?"

I like the way that the NME is working with the whole instant gratification thing that blogs provide with their festival and awards show temporary sites.

Most of the content winds up in the print edition, but it's just nice to know what is happening, when it's happening, rather than waiting a week for the magazine to hit the stands.

What kind of fuckery is this?

Ooooo, the nasty-ass visa persons strike again. For GOD'S sake, what harm is the Freaky Dancer from the Mondays going to do? Have a maraca fly out of his hand and bean someone? Oh, but we're SAFER now. Whatevs.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR......

Bez has been barred entry to America and will not be allowed to play with Happy Mondays in California this weekend, it has been announced.

The famed dancer with the Madchester icons was scheduled to appear at the Coachella Festival on Sunday but has not been granted a visa.

I did find this hilarious, though-

The band released a statement today, commenting: "Due to tightening immigration and working visa legislation, Bez was not, unfortunately, able to secure a visa to perform at Coachella this weekend.

"Happy Mondays apologies to all their US fans that they will not, on this occasion, be able to enjoy the spectacle of Bez shaking his stuff for them at Coachella."

Wildest pop stars

The Independent's list of the 'wildest pop stars' include such luminaries as Stevie Nicks, Led Zeppelin, The Winehouse, The Doherty, The Killer, Keith Moon, Grace Slick and Ozzy, but the following are my favorites:

Happy Mondays

The story goes that Tony Wilson signed the Happy Mondays to his Factory label after watching them come last in a battle of the bands competition at the Hacienda. If he'd known they would later come close to ruining him, he might have had second thoughts. Shaun Ryder, Bez (right) and their tribe's increasingly drug-addled antics during the Madchester years had a destructive effect not only on their own minds, but on the health of their management. Wilson gave the Mondays £200,000 to record their masterpiece and, he hoped, throw the near-bankrupt record company a lifeline. Instead, Ryder and co blew the lot on a drugs binge in the Caribbean and produced an album with no vocals.

And don't forget Our Kid-

Liam Gallagher

The simian, truculent, fight-picking, paparazzi-baiting lead vocalist of Oasis spent 10 years drinking, drugging, punching his brother Noel*, bragging (absurdly) about eclipsing The Beatles, and getting into scrapes with the law. The most notorious was in December 2002, when Gallagher and two other band members began fighting each other in a Munich hotel nightclub. One fell into a table where five or six large Italians were sitting. They joined in. The band's security men came to help, attacking other club guests. The police arrived and, possibly in an attempt to restore calm, Gallagher kicked one in the chest. The fight continued outside, where Gallagher lost two front teeth. He narrowly escaped a GBH charge and a two-year prison sentence. The tour was cancelled. To date, he's been banned from an airline, four hotel chains and Channel ferries.

*the interview where Our Kid and Big Brother spend the whole time cursing & insulting each other? One of the most hysterical things I've ever heard. The word 'fuck' is used as an adjective, noun and a verb. They argue over if it's "rock and roll" to be thrown off ferries. It also contains my favorite bit of an interview ever.

Liam- "And I had a few drinks, because I like drinking."

Noel- (yelling from the bathroom) "You can't drink, you dick."

Available on iTunes.

Doesn't Shaun look good?

Yes, I realize that for most people, looking like this would cause major concern. However, this is the Rev. Ryder, and he does indeed, look well. Seriously.

This, kiddies? Is a cautionary tale.

Shaun's life so far

Born 23 August 1962, in Salford, Greater Manchester, eldest son of a postman and a nursery nurse. One brother, Paul.

Early Life Left school at 15 and, until the age of 28, could not get past the letter H in the alphabet. Sacked for stealing credit cards from his first and only non-music job as a messenger for the Post Office. Heroin-user since 18; moved on to crack but is now clean.

Career 1981 Formed Happy Mondays, a band at the forefront of the Madchester scene notorious for their heavy drug use.

1992 Happy Mondays split after four albums.

1995 Formed Black Grape with Mondays sidekick Bez and rapper Kermit.

1998 Black Grape split.

1999 Happy Mondays re-formed for one year.

2005 Co-wrote, with Damon Albarn, and rapped on Gorillaz' single 'DARE'.

Family Three children by three different women.

A little Rev. Ryder for your Saturday Night

Happy Mondays, originally uploaded by modena_musicrock.

King Monkey, a Smith and a Ryder walk into a bar...

Ian Brown has put together a Manchester super-group featuring Happy Mondays and The Smiths members for his new album.

Entitled ‘The World Is Yours’, the former Stone Roses singer is currently recording the new LP with bassist Andy Rourke and guitarist Paul Ryder.

via Rolling Stone



Hold on, Elroy. Paul Ryder plays BASS, not GUITAR. Jesus, can't anyone use the Google?

Madge at The Hacienda

Since this is at FAC 51, maybe I'm just hallucinating (how appropriate) Manc music-type people, but I swear that's the Reverend Shaun Ryder turning to the camera and waving about 35 seconds in.

Give me an E!

The Happy Mondays, Oct 05, originally uploaded by barney britton.

Bez sez, "Dance, you bastards!"