小简介
1999年3月,曼彻斯特,Happy Mondays(快乐星期一)乐队重现江湖。6年前Happy Mo ndays的解散是件令人不愉快的事。在乐队前任音乐会代理人SJM的撮合下,原先四分五裂的Happy Monda ys的成员又走到了一起。即使是在舞曲音乐大行其道的今天,Happy Mondays仍能带给人们以强烈的听觉冲击力。作为Acid House(迷幻库房)音乐的始作俑者,他们在舞曲音乐和摇滚乐这两个领域内所做的对话,使他们跻身于摇滚乐史上重要乐队的行列,成为了摇滚乐史不可删节的一部分。与其他重组的经典乐队相同,他们只是杀回乐坛猛捞一票的投机分子,是简单的玩票性质。
奇怪的是,这次的重组许多老成员都作壁上观。乐队的前吉他手Mark “Moose”Day和键盘手Paul “PD/Knobhead”Davis的缺席就很引人注目。而Mark “Bez”Berry是被三顾茅庐后才同意出山。在Happy Mondays解散后组建了Black Grape(黑葡萄)的Shaun Ryder更是反复强调这次的重组只是临时性的。但乐队将要在日本开演唱会和将在夏季音乐节上演出的消息不胫而走,乐队翻唱Thin Li zzy(瘦莉兹)的新单曲“The Boys Are Back In Town”(男孩们回城了)也似乎成绩不错。只是乐队到现在都还不清楚自己是否还能做满一张新专辑。
作为一支具有划时代意义的乐队,Happy Mondays如今的处境很滑稽。这晚乐队成员在他们Stock port排练厅附近的酒吧里喝酒,Whelan和Paul Ryder在,拥有铁肺之称的女歌手Rowetta也在,还有一些新面孔如Black Grape乐队的吉他手Paul “Wags”Wagstaff,曾在The Farm 乐队司键盘的Ben Leach,他现在在Happy Mondays里负责电子乐部分,以及Shaun的朋友“Nu ts”。
Shaun Ryder坐在角落里,穿着运动服,看起来和早先一样瘦,兀自出神。他在考虑如何才能领导好这支乐队。
Happy Mondays和邮局颇有一番渊源。邮差Derek Ryder曾是60年代曼彻斯特民谣运动的活跃分子,频频在俱乐部里自弹自唱。他将自己的音乐天赋遗传给了两个儿子——Shaun Ryder和Paul Ry der。两个小家伙打小就离经叛道,后来曾子承父业做了一段时间的邮递员,又一起宣布组建一支乐队。在80和82年间,他俩的旧时同学也被鼓动进了他们的乐队——Gaz Whelan加入了,因为他有一套自己的架子鼓;Paul Da vis加入了,成了键盘手,因为他有毅力也很有趣;Mark Day也加入了,因为他演奏乐器有模有样。他们的演出和他们的服装一样有趣得惹眼。一次在一家名叫Arndale的百货商店旁演出时,被这家商店老板Phil Saxe相中,主动要求做他们的经纪人。渐渐地,乐队开始靠做黑市生意添加了乐器和设备,Derek Ryder也慷慨解囊相助。他们拼命吸烟,一头扎进父母们的唱片收藏里,不断学习Joy Division(快乐分裂)乐队和Clash(冲撞) 乐队的音乐,Mark Day则对重金属情有独钟。他们在曼彻斯特作了一些正规的演出后,便正式给自己起了Happy Mondays的名字,旨在调侃New Order(新秩序)的歌迷会Blue Monday(忧伤星期一)。
Happy Mondays的噪音深受曼彻斯特英雄A Certain Ratio(某种比率)乐队和Jam es(詹姆士)乐队的影响,显得刺激和喧闹,完美贯彻了DIY的Funk精神,然而当你逾越了痛苦后,又会发现它是具有催眠作用的。Ryder开始写歌词,他混合进了Happy Mondays当时的生活,盗贼的故事和糟糕的旅行经历。他开始吸食海洛因以汲取灵感。
1985年底,Happy Mondays在Factory旗下发行了由Mike Pichering(后来成为M People的制作人)和Bernard Sumner制作的两支单曲“Delightful”(逾越)和“ Freaky Dancin”(幻舞)。后来公司决定让John Cale来做Happy Mondays处女专辑的制作人。他当时也是个瘾君子,每天吃60个橘子和4大包薄荷。
当他们录完一整张专辑后,Cale抹去了录音,让乐队在3天内再录一遍。他唯一的指导便是要他们“动作快点” 。结果这张专辑只有半个小时长,充满了大音量的无调性短音,隐隐约约的伴有Shaun的吼叫。歌词部分就更令人咋舌了,以一首名叫“Russell”的歌为例,Shaun直接照搬了Russell Grant的占星术小册子的跋。他们给这张专辑起名叫《Squirrel And G-Man Twenty four Hour Part Peopl e Plastic Face Carnt Smile(White Out)》[在松鼠和G-人俱乐部里跳了24小时舞的人们的塑料脸孔微笑不起来(苍白)]。
87年88年间,评论界开始对这支乐队有了极强的兴趣,被他们耸人听闻的关于抢劫和药物的歌词所吸引。正是在这段时间Happy Mondays开始拥有了自己的镇山法宝。他们当时很喜欢去Factory公司经营的一家俱乐部 ——The Hacienda(种植园),这是一家很纽约化的俱乐部,那儿有许多女学生,经常播放进口的舞曲音乐CD 。Mike Pichering和他的搭档Greame Park成了当时的驻店DJ。The Hcienda俱乐部对他们的影响很大,他们成了George Clinton和Sly Stone的乐迷,一门心思研究起了House音乐。他们在Shaun和Bez的公寓里通宵放四四拍的节奏,这些狂欢者累倒的时候,再换个E调接着放。这时Happy Mondays发表了他们第二张专辑,Shaun暂时放弃了毒品并与Joy Division乐队的制作人Marti n Hannett合作。Hannett制作了和他们第一张专辑同样出色的《Bummed》(废人)。它保留了乐队一贯的引发人癫痫的Funk手法并加入了Mike Pickering的电子手段。其中的一曲“Wrote For Luck”(为幸运而写)成了未来主义的赞歌。
Shaun Ryder说:“这整张专辑是纯粹的E调架构。我认为我当时是正常的,但不是。如果有灵感来了,我会翻过吧台吻吧台后的老女人,在红绿灯下拦下汽车或者是围着汽车跳舞。我们按自己的进度录音,每天工作半小时。Ma rtin真是贴心。我们怎么喜欢,他就让我们怎么来。真可惜他死了。”
很快Happy Mondays成了新音乐的翘楚,他们痞子般的气质和舞曲感觉把他们送进了大明星的行列。新经纪人Nathan McGough请人重新混录“Wrote For Luck”。在加进了Paul Ryder的贝司和Whelan对NWA的“Express Yourself”(表达自己)的采样后,它成了舞厅的热门舞曲。当他们来到美国作巡演时,所带去的“锐舞”精神横扫美国大大小小的劲舞俱乐部。当他们回英国时,他们86年就不穿了的服装,竟成了一时的时尚。
1990年2月,Elektra公司决定由他们来翻唱John Kongos一曲“He's Gonna S tep On You Again”(他又要踩你了),用来收录进公司40周庆的纪念专辑中。这首歌攀升到了排行榜的第五,据这首曲子的制作人之一Steve Osborne说:“这是我的得意之作。当时录音室里只有几个人,我们录了鼓和贝司部分,把它做得很舞曲化。当Shaun走进来时,我们就要他直接跟着唱。出人意料的是,他竟一个劲地哼哼。太奇妙了,我们知道Elektra不会将这样一首歌收录进一张纪念专辑里去的。它可以成为一支单曲。”后来Happy Mondays另选了一首John Kongos的歌交给了Elektra。
Happy Mondays的事业继续如日中天。但正当他们在洛杉矶录制第三张专辑的时候,Shaun的毒瘾加重了。新闻官员Jayne Houghton说:“媒体都知道了Happy Mondays吸毒。一次Jackie 杂志的记者采访Shaun,他竟然拿着锡纸在他面前晃来晃去。曼彻斯特晚报的记者每隔一天就打电话给我,问我Shau n是否死了。”在新单曲“Pills'n'Thrills And Bellyaches”(药片、刺激和胃疼)冲上了排行榜头名时,报纸都发现了Shaun的毒瘾以及和乐队成员关系的恶化。
Tony Wilson(Factory公司老板)承认公司当时拒绝给Happy Mondays钱,以避免他们买毒品。但乐队则认为,公司要倒闭了,没钱给他们。Shaun曾经威胁公司说,如果再不汇款来,他就要烧掉已录好的母带。人们不难发现,正是毒品毁掉了这支乐队的生命!
Shaun住在伦敦的时候,为专辑重写了歌词,和Rowetta一起录完了人声部分。这是乐队最后一张专辑,名叫《Yes Please!》(好,请吧!)。其中最棒的一首曲子叫“Stinkin'Thinkin' and Angel”(发臭、思考和天使),听起来像是在致歉。为他的行为,为他的欲望,为他所搞糟的一切致歉。乐队最后一张照片是在Factory公司的会议室里照的,几周后Factory公司便宣告破产了。1993年初,Shaun获得了 EMI公司价值170万英镑的合约,解散了问题成堆的Happy Mondays。
Mark Day:“我没有理由反对Happy Mondays重组。我不想加入,但我对问也不问我一声感到很恼火。”
Paul Davis:“祝他们好运。如果他们要再回到公众面前来,那很好。我会盯着的,他们不能落下我的版税。”
Paul“Horse”Ryder:“我们乐队有人说他需要钱来交拖欠的税款,这是他自己的事。我已经交了1 0块钱的税了。Gaz也交了。我重组乐队是因为我热爱我们的音乐。现在,乐队又启动了,我们就象刚放了6年的长假。我很喜欢这种感觉,伙伴又回来了。”
Tony Wilson:“Happy Mondays回来赚钱,我对此没有疑义。这是他们应得的。没了PD 和Moose这已经不是以前的那支乐队了,但有可能会有新东西产生。Frank Sinatra有如此长的生命,我相信Shaun的天才也能做到。”
1999年3月,Happy Mondays的排练厅墙上贴满了老歌的和弦谱。Ben Leach手指一按, “Wrote For Luck”便从扩音器里冲了出来,尽管乐队其他成员都不在这儿。一般说来,Leach在排练厅里整天练这些歌,晚上Shaun、Nuts和Rowetta才进来录人声。Gaz则总在调节话筒的高度。时隔6年,如今Shaun的嗓音像是老爷爷和Bob Dylan的混响。当一曲终了时,他脸上露出了微笑。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Along with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays were the leaders of the late-80s/early-90s dance club-influenced Manchester scene, experiencing a brief moment in the spotlight before collapsing in 1992. While the Stone Roses were based in 60s pop, adding only a slight hint of dance music, Happy Mondays immersed themselves in the club and rave culture, eventually becoming the most recognizable band of that drug-fueled scene. The Mondays music relied heavily on the sound and rhythm of house music, spiked with 70s soul licks and swirling 60s psychedelia. It was bright, colorful music that had fractured melodies that never quite gelled into cohesive songs.
Unwittingly or not, Happy Mondays personified the ugly side of rave culture. They were thugs, purely and simply — they brought out the latent violence that lay beneath the surface of any drug culture, even one as seemingly beatific as Englands late-80s/early-90s rave scene. Under the leadership of vocalist Shaun Ryder, the group sounded and acted like thugs, especially in comparison with their peace-loving peers, the Stone Roses. Ryders lyrics were twisted and surrealistic, loaded with bizarre pop culture references, drug slang, and menacing sexuality. Appropriately, their music was as convoluted. Happy Mondays were one of the first rock bands to integrate hip-hop techniques into their music. They didnt sample, but they borrowed melodies and lyrics and, in the process, committed rock blasphemy. For a band that celebrated their vulgarity and excessiveness, Happy Mondays appropriately were undone by their addictions, but they left behind a surprisingly influential legacy, apparent in everyone from dance bands like the Chemical Brothers to rock & rollers like Oasis.
With their second album, 1988s Bummed, Happy Mondays became British superstars, particularly Ryder. Pills n Thrills and Bellyaches, released in 1990, marked the height of the bands popularity, creativity, and influence; although the record made the Top 100 albums chart in America, it didnt establish them as stars in the U.S. After that, the fall was quick. By the time they released their next studio album, Yes, Please, Manchester had disappeared from public consciousness; it sold respectably, but the group didnt have the commercial impact that they had just two years before. Besides the lack of public interest, Shaun Ryder had become addicted to heroin, tearing the band apart in the process. At a high-level record contract meeting, Ryder walked out for some Kentucky Fried Chicken, which was the bands slang for heroin. He never returned and the group quickly fell apart.
Ryder and the Mondays full-time dancer, Bez, re-emerged in the mid-90s with Black Grape. The band released its critically acclaimed debut, Its Great When Youre Straight...Yeah, late in the summer of 1995. Black Grapes sound pursued the same direction as the Mondays, only with a harder, grittier edge to their sound and lyrics. In 2007, 15 years since their last record, the band (minus about half the original members, including guitarist Mark Day) released their fifth studio album, Uncle Dysfunktional.