Whether lurching onstage like drugged-out goons, or driving around Jamaica in golf carts so high on crack they fail to realise that one of their number has a broken arm, the Happy Mondays have never been anything but entertaining. Formed in Manchester in 1985, they band was formed of brothers Shaun and Paul Ryder (vocals, bass), Bez ('vibes', or dancing and playing the maracas), Mark Day (guitars), Paul Davis (keyboards) and Gary Whelan (drums). They released their first album, 'Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)' on Factory in 1987. The band's music fused indie pop with acid house, techno and northern soul, spawning Britain's burgeoning, E-drenched 'Madchester' scene. The Mondays disbanded in 1992, and Shaun Ryder and Bez formed Black Grape. Subsequent Mondays reunions, (in 1999 and 2004) have thus far proven to be unsuccessful.
