Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined the band onstage as a dancer and maracas player. Rowetta began working with the band as guest second vocalist in 1990. They were originally signed to Tony Wilson's Factory Records label.
Mark Berry, better known as Bez, is an English percussionist, dancer, DJ and media personality. He is best known as a member of the rock bands Happy Mondays and Black Grape.
Shaun William George Ryder 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 Black Grape with former Happy Mondays dancer Bez. He was the runner-up on the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. Ryder collaborated with Gorillaz on "Dare", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in September 2005, becoming the band's only UK number one single. Ryder is known for his distinctive sprechgesang and lyricism.
Rogue Traders is an Australian electronic rock band formed in Melbourne, Victoria in 2002 by mainstay James Ash on keyboards. In 1989, Ash met fellow original member Steve Davis in London while both were working as DJs. Before forming Rogue Traders, the pair had worked together on many projects, including the dance music act Union State, which relocated to Melbourne in 1992. The group's name comes from the 1999 drama film, Rogue Trader. They were joined in 2004 by soap opera actress, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, on lead vocals, Cameron McGlinchey on drums and Tim Henwood on guitar. Davis continued as a behind-the-scenes member, contributing to the songwriting process but not making any public appearances with the group.
Yes Please! is the fourth studio album by British rock band Happy Mondays, released on 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 album. After settling on producers Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, both members of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, Happy Mondays decamped to Blue Wave Studio in Saint Philip, Barbados, in February 1992. The sessions were plagued by a variety of issues, such as frontman Shaun Ryder developing a crack habit and dancer Bez breaking his arm three times. With little finished material and a lack of lyrics, the band returned to the United Kingdom; Ryder was admitted into a detox centre. Recording continued for two weeks in May 1992 at Comfort's Place Studio in Lingfield, Surrey, where Ryder did his vocals. Yes Please! is a soul funk album with a bleak sound that earned it a comparison to Unknown Pleasures (1979) by Joy Division.
"Black Hole Sun" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released in 1994 by A&M Records as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, Superunknown (1994). Considered to be the band's signature song, it topped the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, where it spent a total of seven weeks at number one. Despite peaking at number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, "Black Hole Sun" finished as the number-one track of 1994 for that listing. Worldwide, the single reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, France, and Ireland, while in Iceland, it reached number one. The accompanying music video was directed by Howard Greenhalgh.
"Dare" is a song by English virtual band Gorillaz and is the second single from their second studio album, Demon Days (2005). The track features Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman Shaun Ryder, and is sung by Rosie Wilson as Noodle, with backing vocals from Damon Albarn. It peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in September 2005, becoming the band's only UK number one. "Dare" peaked at number 11 in Australia and Italy. It also reached the top 10 in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Iceland, Ireland, Poland, and New Zealand.
Babybird are an English rock band formed by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Jones, who has been releasing music since 1995. While Jones' early solo work was released under the "Baby Bird" name, the altered "Babybird" was first used to distinguish the full band line-up that has changed often over the years. However, in recent years, Jones has recorded many of the Babybird albums himself, in addition to recording as a solo artist, and under various aliases including Death of the Neighbourhood, Trucker, Black Reindeer, Deluder, Arthritis Kid and others.
"Here Come the Drums" is the second studio album by Australian band Rogue Traders, released in Australia on 23 October 2005 by Columbia Records. The album features the band with the then-new vocalist Natalie Bassingthwaighte, and songs primarily in the genre of dance-pop, written by Jamie Appleby, Steven Davis, and Melinda Appleby. "Here Come the Drums" debuted in the top ten on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart.
It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is the debut studio album by the English rock band Black Grape, released on 7 August 1995 through Radioactive Records. Following the breakup of Happy Mondays, frontman Shaun Ryder formed Black Grape with vocalist Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and dancer Bez. They were put in contact with management company Nicholl and Dime, who secured the band a recording contract with Radioactive Records. After demos and the band finalizing their line-up, Ryder met with producers Stephen Lironi and Danny Saber. Black Grape recorded their debut studio album in late 1994 and early 1995 at Rockfield Studios in Wales, Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, and Boundary Row in London. It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah is a dance-pop and pop funk album, with the word “straight” in its title referring to being sober from drugs.
Stupid Stupid Stupid is the second studio album by British rock band Black Grape, released on 10 November 1997 through Radioactive Records. While touring in support of their debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah (1995), vocalist Paul "Kermit" Leveridge was diagnosed with sepsis. Carl "Psycho" McCarthy temporarily filled in Kermit's role before being added to the line-up permanently. Though he was too ill to tour, Kermit joined the band in Hollywood to work on songs for their next album, which continued throughout 1996. They recorded their second album at Real World Studios in Bath and Westlake Audio in Los Angeles, California, over eight weeks with Danny Saber, John X Volaitis, and frontman Shaun Ryder as producers. Stupid Stupid Stupid is a dance-rock album that continues the party atmosphere of It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah while toning down that album's religious references.
The Coronas are an Irish rock band that originated in Dublin. They release their music by their own independent record label, 3ú Records, and are based between Dublin and London. They have released seven studio albums, Heroes or Ghosts (2007), Tony Was an Ex-Con (2009), Closer to You (2011) The Long Way (2014), Trust The Wire (2017), True Love Waits (2020) Time Stopped (2022).
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 Levine. Initial sessions were held at The Studiosound in Rochdale and Make It Nice Studio in Leicester with Dave Parkinson, before moving to Moolah Rogue Studios in Stockport with Levine. Uncle Dysfunktional is an electro-funk record, with influences from country and hip hop.
CDB are an Australian R&B, dance and vocal harmony quartet formed in 1991 with Andrew De Silva, Brad Pinto and his brother Gary Pinto, as well as Danny Williams. CDB is an initialism which stands for Central Dandenong Boys. Their highest charting single was a cover version of Earth, Wind & Fire's "Let's Groove", which peaked at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and number one on the New Zealand Singles Chart. "Hey Girl " also reached number one in New Zealand. Their debut studio album, Glide with Me was released in November 1995. The group disbanded in 1999.
"Reverend Black Grape" is a song which was released in May 1995 by the English rock band Black Grape. It was the first single to be taken from their debut studio album It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah and peaked at #9 on the UK Singles Chart.
Ged Lynch is an English percussionist and composer.
American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released five studio albums, one compilation album, four extended plays, 15 singles, two video albums, and 15 music videos. The band formed in New York City in 2000, and consists of lead singer Karen O, drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner.
Parquet Courts is an American rock band from New York City. The band consists of Andrew Savage, Austin Brown, Sean Yeaton, and Max Savage (drums).
Picture This are an Irish pop rock musical band based in Athy, County Kildare, Ireland, comprising Ryan Hennessy, Jimmy Rainsford, Owen Cardiff and Cliff Deane. In 2017, they released their eponymous debut album, which entered atop the Irish Albums Chart. In early 2019, they released their follow up album Mdrn Lv. Their third studio album Life in Colour was released in June 2021. On 26 April 2024 they released their fourth, Parked Car Conversations.
Pop Voodoo is the third studio album of the British band Black Grape that was released on 4 August 2017 through UMC. After a one-off show in 2010, Black Grape reunited in April 2015 to play a show; a this time, Alan McGee was the band's manager. Following a tour of the United Kingdom and a collaboration with Paul Oakenfold, Black Grape worked on ideas for new songs. In September 2016, the band travelled to Spain, initially as a writing trip, during which they recorded sessions for their next album. Pop Voodoo was recorded at Martin "Youth" Glover's residential studio in Sierra Nevada, Spain, and in London. Pop Voodoo is a funk, pop and trip hop album on which Youth, alongside session musicians, plays many instruments.
