Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas

by Simon Spence

'Their story is a vindication for every northern hooligan rock band out there. Happy Mondays sparked a British guitar pop renaissance.'   Alan McGee


In 1985, when the Happy Mondays exploded onto the Manchester music scene like a Molotov cocktail, no one had heard anything like them before. As they developed into the face of the Acid House ‘Madchester’ movement, critics ranked them alongside The Velvet Underground and the Sex Pistols as cultural lightning rods, and that was just for the music.


The stories of their excesses are the stuff of rock ’n’ roll the overdoses, fights on stage, the death threats, the gangsters, the stabbings and shootings in the studio. Yet this seemingly unhinged and uncontrollable band – encouraged by their equally crazed benefactors at Factory Records – transformed British music forever, leaving behind five infectious albums of unparalleled dirt and delight.


Twenty-five years after their breakthrough appearance on Top of the Pops, in November 1989, Simon Spence, the acclaimed biographer of The Stone War and Peace, tells the story of how the Happy Mondays came to provide the soundtrack to Britain’s last great youth movement. Based on extensive interviews with the band and key associates, he reveals the truth behind the mythic stories that have ensured their outlaw reputation, and unravels the chaos that led to the group’s ultimate implosion and the tragic collapse of Factory Records.


A riotous mix of pills, thrills and joyous chart hits, this is the untold story of Britain’s greatest rock ’n’ roll gang.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Derek Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The truth behind the myths of the last great kick ass rock n roll band this country has produced. Spence strips away the lies and the constructed image to reveal what lay behind the chaos and mayhem that made The Happy Mondays what they were. How they came together, how they fell apart and how through it all they managed to soundtrack a generation and produce three superb albums (I'll beg to differ on number four - though will go back and reassess). All intertwined Factory Records, The Hacienda, the geniuses that were Martin Hannett and Tony Wilson, how Manchester went from the second summer of love through the ecstatic high of Madchester to Gunchester and the biggest of comedowns. The Mondays seemed to be at the centre of it all - the world orbiting around them as they brought the drugs and the music (a theme that is pretty much backed up by Peter Hook's book on The Hacienda) to a whole new scene that changed the face of the country and still resonates today in popular culture.

You might think you know the Mondays, the drug dealing violent criminals from Manchester's sink estates but think again. Spence takes us back to childhood and the formation of the band and shows us a different side of a group of complex characters and hard working professionals who toiled for years before becoming the media darlings almost overnight and crashing even quicker.

Spence takes us deep into the mayhem - the anxieties, the fights, the paranoia, the money (lack of) and of course the drugs, oh, the drugs, and boy are there copious amounts of them.


It's a great read about a great band.

[George Henry IV · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was wild af! Certain parts were hilarious. Hardest partying band I have ever read about by a long shot. I wouldn't suggest anyone try to look at these guys as role models or anything ha... Shaun Ryder is a genius lyricist and all the other band members are great musicians. Shaun has some great quote I read once that was like, "Pack everything you can into your life right now because you'll roll over in bed one day and you'll be 52". Their Pills, Thrills, and Bellyaches album is a certified classic it's still funky / relevant / slaps. Astonished that all the band members are still alive especially Shaun, Paul, and Bez. Also suggest checking out their short documentary on YouTube called The agony and the ecstasy, classic stuff.

[John Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to avoid greatness

An honest, almost brutal account of the remarkable rise and sickening fall of a potentially great band who got lost in all the hype and image making.
Well written and insightful.
There's little about post Yes Please years but that's ok because what greatness they had was gone by then.

[Tadhg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well chronicled back story on a band that produced one of the seminal albums of the 90's. Makes you wonder what they might have achieved if they could have reduced their appetite for destruction.

[WIlliam Gerrard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Simon Spence book that I have read. He is a very talented music journalist from Manchester with a taste for documenting, wild, stylish cultural movements that have emerged from the Madchester craziness. Excess All Areas covers perhaps the most successful and innovative band to have ridden the early acid house craze that swept the nation in the mate 1980s. With the charismatic Shaun Ryder heading up the band, a true hedonist, a notorious substance abuser, it was always difficult for the true Happy Mondays to translate through the myriad web of journalists who tried to document them. Ryder, much to the annoyance of most of the musical backdrop of the band, Paul Ryder (Bass), Gary Whelan (Drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), Mark Day (Guitar), Mark 'Bez' Berry (dancer), got into a habit of blagging the press and feeding them over the top exaggerations of the band's history and exploits. In hindsight, this was pure marketing genius and led to much of the mystery and notoriety that paved the way for success. However, it sifting all the bullshit, has made the writing of this book that much more difficult for Simon Spence. The early days of a relatively privileged middle class upbringing contrasts with the bunch of Manchester council estate 'scallies' they tried to portray themselves as. Sure there was petty crime and shopflifting etc. but nothing serious, although perhaps the addition of Bez to the group was actually verging on real true life crime as he obviously was up to the neck in it as a youngster and quite obviously expanded his mini empire quite a lot under the guise of being part of the band.... Manchester Giants, Factory Records and Tony Wilson picked up the band and signed them which paved their way to success following the ilk of luminaries Joy Division and New Order and allowing them direct access to one of the UK's most influential music venues, the Haçienda. It all happened at just the right time for this band, as the cultural rebellion against failed Thatcherism took hold of the UK's disillusioned youth masses and expressed itself in the 'Acid House' movement. Ecstasy-fuelled, fashion shifts, mass movement and gathering of people in raves, parties and festivals, vast increase in polydrug clubbing and mainstream ending of anti-drug taboos. A lot of this movement was driven by DJs and the Mondays' uniqueness was that they became one of the first genuine rock/dance crossover groups, who embraced the lifestyle and tried their best to incorporate the new music technology into traditional guitar-based rock. They were definitely pioneers in this sense and for me their link up with Spectrum's Paul Oakenfold and his studio partner Steve Osbourne, was absolutely critical. Early days there was a struggle for financial success and Factory mismanagement of funds and artistic decadence led to much poverty. Heavy use of narcotics: cocaine, crack, heroin and ecstasy, was where a lot of the cash ended up. Bez and Shaun often boasted of being ecstasy dealers and there presence in the Hacienda's E corner was much felt. The struggles of professional music led to relationship breakdowns and the loneliness of single life manifested in some serious drug addictions, mainly Shaun's heroin addiction. This was all brutal and eyeopening to read. You always felt a little sorry for the band and as you read want to really have been giving them all a big cuddle, but maybe that's just the 'E' talking.... Success eventually came with four critically acclaimed studio albums. They threatened a US breakthrough but never managed to follow the likes of Depeche Mode in emulating this, often short, late bands sets and excessive tour partying contributed to this failure. However, in the UK they were a huge band and record sales were good. The music press looked after them very well. Melody Maker, NME et al supporting most of the early stuff and shooting them on many front covers. At one stage, after Princess Diana, Shaun Ryder was the second most publicised celebrity in the UK. The legendary Barbados crack cocaine binge / studio session is covered although I wanted to hear a more complete tale of the actual detailed goings on of this debacle. Ultimately the band fell apart due to the multitudinous variety of industry pressures. However, the positive note is that they continued to rock on and as I write this my tickets have just arrived for their Nov 29th gig on their latest Greatest hits tour, where they will be doing an event at my Student Union at Cardiff University. Can't wait for that, nor to get to grips with Simon Spence's next offering.

[Waveydavey001 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Many will know both the myths, mayhem and even the music surrounding the Mondays but this book pulls this together into a great narrative and sets it into the construct of both the music scene of the day and the state of the country, particularly Manchester that was going through a difficult creative rebirth.
Whilst for many the Mondays are seen as Shaun and Bez, and its inevitable that in some cases its all about them (particularly how Shaun is often the eye of the shitstorm), Factory, management and the rest of the band play much more than side characters in this book. This is particularly important I think for the musicianship of the Mondays, often forgotten. I am now re listening again to a band that promised so much, and actually delivered.

[Andy Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the few music bios I haven't wanted to go back and listen to the bad. Despite the author trying to make a case that they were deeply misunderstood and a very professional and hard working band this is undercut by page after page of the band acting like tedious morons. I never got much sense of the rest of the band apart from Shaun and Bez. An interesting overview of the music scene of the time though.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Nothing I really didn't know about the band, including their " decadent lifestyle ". A few odds and bits that were interesting.

[Jordan Stainer · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could go back in time I wouldn't do anything good, but I would go to the Hacienda in the 80s.

[Colm Mccrory · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to finally have a good book written about one of the 80s more interesting bands. It isn't just about the image peddled by Shaun and the press as them being drug addled scum that didn't care about the music. OK, that happened in the end to the Ryders, but the book tells of their middle class cosy upbringing and their earliest interviews with Shaun talking about Kabbalah, etc. a lot on the early days and albums and overall good stuff.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting biography of the band.

It shakes a few of the perceptions of the band , adds details that i didnt know and reminds you why they were so important as a band

recommended although if you are not in your late forties and a fan of the band then it may not really work for you.

[Andrew Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite good after all. Mainly told from the less prominent members point of view. Lots of amusing anecdotes. Nothing about the Preston guildhall gig in 1992.