FLASHBACK: Happy Mondays

In 1980, HAPPY MONDAYS were fronted by the Ryder brothers Shaun and Paul, and they bloody rocked. The boys from Salford in the UK recruited their friends Mark Day, Paul Davis, and Gary Whelan to form their new band and they took the alternative rock boys of their time buy storm.

HAPPY MONDAYS released their first EP in 1985, which most of us wouldn’t really remember since we were either babies or not even born yet, and throughout out their formative years, people started to notice how good HAPPY MONDAYS actually were, PAUL MCARTNEY even said, “I saw the Happy Mondays on TV, and they reminded me of the Beatles in their 'Strawberry Fields' phase.” Awesome much? Now, HAPPY MONDAYS have been on many a hiatus but here I shall show you the best that British band has to offer!

STEP ON

Remember how I said that HAPPY MONDAYS formed in the 1980s? well in ‘Step On’, you can hear many elements of their era. The intro of light poppy synths and a catchy drum beat sound just like the decade of metallic and fluro, but the wonderfully accented vocals of Shaun Ryder breaks up the nostalgic sound bringing in a different element. An element of rock that is probably only represented today by fellow Brit Alex Turner.

Twangy guitars add an alternative touch to the track making the HAPPY MONDAYS sound slightly different to your regular 1980s band which of course makes them so great in the first place. The synths are ditched later on in the track, and replaced with some keyboard/piano pieces, when it finally comes into its own and the HAPPY MONDAYS  rock your world the only way they know how, through music.

KINKY AFRO

Now you know if you release a track called ‘Kinky Afro’, it’s gonna get a lot of attention! But besides having the most amazing title ever, ‘Kinky Afro’ is also one of HAPPY MONDAYS best tracks. Opening with some smooth synths, ‘Kinky Afro’ sounds even less like an 80s track than ‘Step On’. The drums push the track alongside the distorted guitars giving ‘Kinky Afro’ a slight psychedelic feel to mix with the summer vibes it produces.

The lyrics in the chorus are quite interesting, “yippee yippee yaya yay, I need to crucify somebody today,” it’s catchy, but also a little off beat and dark which HAPPY MONDAYS have hidden in some relaxing melodies very successfully. Without the melodies, that chorus would sound like it had been extracted from a JOY DIVISION album. ‘Kinky Afro’ is one of the most well-known HAPPY MONDAYS tracks – between everyone I know anyway – and you can see why as it has all the right elements thrown into one track, the chilled out vibes mixed with a steady beat and lyrics that are easy to remember. The girls in the clip would have probably helped as well.

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE

For those of you who haven’t heard the song OR seen the movie, I shall explain to you what each of these, is all about. First the film, 24 Hour Party People was a film made in 2002 starring comedian Steve Coogan, which highlighted the music scene in Manchester, England in the late 1970s. The film features iconic bands of the era such as JOY DIVISION and even HAPPY MONDAYS themselves, but the film is related more so to HAPPY MONDAYS than any of the other bands involved, because they actually wrote and performed the movie’s title track.

’24 Hour Party People’ is playing during the opening credits of the film, and so it is actually also one of the first tracks you hear in the film. Okay so the track itself opens with some pretty groovy drums and a riff that will stick in your head for days. Shaun Ryder’s vocals are probably one of the hooks of this track because they are so raw and his slightly aggressive tone makes you pay attention to it no matter how hard you try. Towards the end of the track, the synths begin to shine through and put the cherry on top of a great sundae of a song.

LAZYITIS

Now this is a song that everyone can get into, and even if you have someone trying to sing along but just cannot stay in time with the rest of the gang, it’ll still sound right because ‘Lazyitis’ actually has a double vocal track, in the video you will see Shaun singing alongside an older man and their voices seem to work together and create a slight echo effect. The keys in this track stand out over the drums and the guitars tend to lag behind just following the keyboard in whatever direction they decide to go in.

‘Lazyitis’ is a very casual song, but you are best to listen to it when you’re in a singing mood because it is definitely a song you’re going to want to sing along to, sober or not. The track was released in 1987, but although that was almost 30 years ago, it still has the same effect on people. The track puts the listener in a lazy mood, and why wouldn’t a track called ‘Lazyitis’ do that? The whole vibe of the track is cruisey and you feel compelled to crack open a cold drink, sit back, relax and scream ‘Lazyitis’ from your chair.

Words by Lauren Payne

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