Bummed
Bummed is the second studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 21 November 1988 on Factory Records. During 1987 and early 1988, the band discovered house music and the rave drug ecstasy. Factory producer Martin Hannett was subsequently enlisted to produce the band's next album. Sessions were held at The Slaughterhouse recording studio in Driffield over three weeks. The period was noted for heavy drug use by the band and Hannett, with their manager later calling it the first "ecstasy-fuelled" album. Hannett moved recording to Strawberry Studios, where extra instrumentation was added. Bummed is a Madchester-style psychedelic funk album, where much of the lyrical content was influenced by the 1970 film Performance, with dialogue from the film sampled throughout.
Bummed
Happy Mondays toured the United Kingdom supporting James in late 1988, which coincided with the release of the lead single from Bummed, "Wrote for Luck", on 31 October 1988. Happy Mondays played a series of headlining shows to close out the year; stints in mainland Europe and the UK followed in the first half of 1989. "Lazyitis – One Armed Boxer", an alternative version of the closing track "Lazy Itis", was released as the second single from the album on 6 May 1989. Following this, the band embarked on a North American tour, supporting labelmates Pixies. At the suggestion of their manager, remixes of "Wrote for Luck" – retitled "W.F.L." – were made by Paul Oakenfold and Vince Clarke of Erasure. These versions were released together as part of a reissued "W.F.L." single in September 1989.
Bummed received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom praised Hannett's production work. It peaked at number 59 on the UK Albums Chart, though it was initially seen as a disappointing seller by Factory Records. The original version of "Wrote for Luck" reached number seven on the UK Independent Singles Chart. "Lazyitis – One Armed Boxer" charted at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart, followed by the remixed "W.F.L." at number 68. Bummed appeared on album of the year and best of decade lists by NME, Sounds, and Q. "Wrote for Luck" and Bummed have been viewed as defining releases of the acid house era and the Second Summer of Love.
Background[edit]
Happy Mondays released their debut studio album, Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), in April 1987 through Factory Records.[1] The album had to be reissued due to the track "Desmond" sharing the same melody with "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1968) by the Beatles. They were threatened with legal action over this; it was replaced on subsequent copies with the hastily recorded "24 Hour Party People". During the session for it, the band also worked on several new tracks for their next album.[2] The lead single from Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), "Tart Tart", earned Happy Mondays national exposure for the first time when its music video was played on Channel 4's The Chart Show.[3]
In the first half of 1987 (between recording and the release of their debut), Factory A&R member and DJ Mike Pickering was introducing house music at the label's Haçienda club.[4] The members of Happy Mondays would visit the venue to immerse themselves in Pickering's selections. It would prove to have an influence on the members, as it served as a bridge between the music they heard in their heads and what they wrote.[5] The band at this point did not fit into any particular music scene; grebo was establishing itself, a new wave of gothic rock was being ushered in, and American indie bands were rising to prominence.[6] In October 1987, the band embarked on their first headlining tour of the United Kingdom, which saw the debut of new songs "Fat Lady Wrestlers" and "Moving in With".[7]
Shortly before Christmas 1987, Happy Mondays dancer Bez was introduced to the rave drug ecstasy and quickly introduced it to the other members.[8] Frontman Shaun Ryder grew tired of their manager, Phil Saxe, wanting someone who was more in tune with the scene at the Haçienda.[9] In early 1988, Saxe left his role, citing that he could not devote enough time to it.[10] He was replaced by Nathan McGough, who took on the role full-time at his suggestion. McGough had been a member of Factory band The Royal Family and the Poor and previously managed Factory act Kalima.[11] McGough's first measure was getting the band legally signed to Factory, who had no formal contracts with their artists up to that point.[12] Around this time, the members had a lucrative business selling ecstasy; through various people, they had accumulated 15,000 pills of the drug.[13]
Recording and production[edit]
Demos[edit]
McGough organised Happy Mondays to record demos of their new material at Out of the Blue Studios in Ancoats.[14] Factory became aware that the band were known around London as being a difficult act to record with, not helped by the poor reception to the production of their debut album.[15] Ryder was impressed with the self-produced material at Out of the Blue and asked if they could self-produce their next album, only to be told that they needed a known, popular producer.[16] Factory director Alan Erasmus suggested Martin Hannett; he worked with the label in their early years and split following the construction of the Haçienda, which he was opposed to.[15][16]
McGough liked the idea of having Hannett, as did Ryder, who learned of him through New Order frontman Bernard Sumner and his work on Unknown Pleasures (1979) by Joy Division.[17][18] Factory Records co-founder Tony Wilson was hesitant about the idea before realising it would work well for both Hannett and the band.[17] Hannett had been struggling financially at the time, stemming from a prior lawsuit with Factory.[19] Bassist Paul Ryder and drummer Gary Whelan drove to pick Hannett up from Chorlton to take him to the studio.[19] Happy Mondays and Hannett decamped to Strawberry Studios in Stockport with the intent to record demos; however, Hannett and the members instead spent session time in separate pubs.[20] They ended up only recording an early version of "Wrote for Luck".[21]
Main sessions[edit]
Bummed was recorded in August 1988 at The Slaughterhouse in Driffield with engineers Colin Richardson and John Spence.[22] It was a residential studio with a state-of-the-art 36-track recording console.[19] The location was picked as it was a large distance from the Haçienda, in an attempt to cut Happy Mondays from their ecstasy supply.[23] Upon arriving, they found that the living quarters had no food and the rooms were astray. They instead lived in a terrace house that previously contained the studio. Hannett stayed at another house in the nearby town, which allowed for visits from his family.[24] Within two days of visiting a local pub, the band became aware of a nearby army base, where they befriended various personnel. The band started selling the servicemen ecstasy; rave culture subsequently broke out at the pub, which caught the attention of the local press.[23]
Describing the drug's impact on the recording, McGough recalled that the members of the band were consuming it daily and added they brought 200 pills of it with them, "but they ran out after ten days so I had to go back to Manchester and collect another hundred. Bummed is definitely an E album, perhaps the first full album ever made on that drug."[25] Bez was arrested while in Manchester for stealing a car and possessing marijuana. He also had 500 ecstasy pills, but the police were not aware of what they were at the time; he had to sit out of the remainder of the sessions.[26] Ryder also noted the influence of LSD on the sessions.[25] The band provided the alcoholic Hannett with large amounts of ecstasy to keep him from drinking during the recording.[27]
Hannett would have the band perform the songs over and over for several hours at a time and, as such, would record the majority of the album live.[24] Due to his previous experience as a bass player, Hannett spent time alone with Paul Ryder working on a specific sound.[24] Hannett ran the instrument through a multitude of digital filters, time modulation, and effects pedals.[28] In addition to using his own guitar on the album, guitarist Mark Day used one of Hannett's. Aware of Hannett's financial issues, Shaun Ryder bought the guitar from him for £300.[29] On one occasion, Wilson visited the band during the sessions. Upon entering the studio, he found it dark and filled with smoke, as the floor was completely covered in house records.[30]
Wilson brought with him a film crew to shoot part of the sessions for a TV programme he was involved in about working environments.[31] As the band returned to Manchester, Hannett continued experimenting with the master tapes at Strawberry Studios with engineer Laurence Diana.[22][32] He brought in additional musicians to enhance the tracks: percussion from drum teacher Dave Hassell, piano from his friend Steve Hopkins, and banjo from Derek "Horseman" Ryder (father of Shaun and Paul Ryder).[32] Hannett saturated the recordings with effects such as reverb and echo.[27] The sessions lasted for three weeks in total, costing £50,000; the final recordings were mixed at Strawberry Studios in September 1988.[22][33][34]
Composition and lyrics[edit]
Overview[edit]
Musically, the sound of Bummed has been described as Madchester[35] and psychedelic funk.[36] Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), said it sounded like the "missing link between post-punk and the burgeoning baggy scene"; he compared Ryder's vocals to that of Fall frontman Mark E. Smith, recommended that Day should audition for Siouxsie and the Banshees, and suggested Bez and Wheelan "send their résumés to Adam Ant".[37] Ryder said it had a fuller sound when compared to Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), building off the progression from "24 Hour Party People".[38][39] Referring to the origin of the album's name, Whelan recalled that "'Bummed', was a saying at the time. Shaun used to say he was out all night and he bummed her all night long, a slang word for sex. I didn't even know what the album was called until it came out."[40] Ryder said he used the term for the album intentionally to be "offensive and we thought loads of people would take it the wrong way".[41]
In his biography of the band, Shaun Ryder: Happy Mondays, Black Grape & Other Traumas, author Mick Middles said the public overlooked its intent, theorising that it could be used in varying contexts: "from the more obvious cadging (e.g. he bummed a fag from his mate) to scrounging a room for the night (e.g. he bummed a carpet)".[42] The 1970 film Performance became a big influence on the band, with Ryder directly lifting lines of dialogue for lyrics or being inspired by some of the scenes in it. He would mix in slang words he had heard while shifting ecstasy.[38] Ryder was expected to have finished writing the lyrics to the songs in the months prior to recording; by the time recording was nearly done, he had lyrics for less than half of the album. It prompted him to finish the other half in the final few days of the sessions.[43]
Songs[edit]
"Country Song", the opening track on Bummed, was originally known as "Some Cunt from Preston", acting as rhyming slang for country and western. John Wilde of Melody Maker described it as "the world's first psycho-reggae-country-western number".[44] It was written before the band had figured out their sound; while rehearsing at The Boardwalk, they came up with what Ryder called the "Salford version of a country song".[45] Its title changed from "Some Cunt from Preston" to "Redneck" before ending up at "Country Song".[46] "Moving in With" is about the place Ryder lived while in Boothstown, Salford.[47] An earlier version of it was recorded during the same session as "24 Hour Party People". With the song, Paul Ryder attempted to emulate the bass part in "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" (1983) by Talking Heads. Whelan's drum part was inspired by the one in "Running Up That Hill" (1985) by Kate Bush. Shaun Ryder's lyrics were influenced by the folk tale Henny Penny and namecheck several of its characters.[48]
"Mad Cyril" is named after a character from Performance and includes a sample of a different character from the same film, Harry Flowers.[27][49] The song's lyrics describe a gangster having a trip.[50] "Fat Lady Wrestlers" is representative of the lifestyle the band had at the time, as Ryder explained: "We were very much living like crazy hustlers".[51] "Performance" is written from the perspective of Chas, another character from the film of the same name.[27] Similar to "Moving in With", it also references Ryder's place in Boothstown, where they would stash valuable items such as drugs or clothes.[52] "Brain Dead" opens with Ryder quoting a line from the film Gimme Shelter (1970): "You're rendering that scaffolding dangerous!"[46]
With "Wrote for Luck", the band tried to write a song that could be played at the Haçienda. Paul Ryder unsuccessfully tried to play sequenced basslines, which he heard in the Chicago house music that Pickering was playing at the club, on his bass guitar. Keyboardist Paul Davis tried to play the synth part from "Two Tribes" (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, while Whelan had a go at emulating "Running Up That Hill" again.[38] Day later contributed his guitar part, while Shaun Ryder added the song's hook, "Higher than high high", based on his mental state at the time.[9] It marked the first time Ryder attempted to write a song about the same topic, namely a heroin drug deal gone wrong. One of its lines is dialogue directly taken from the 1974 film Stardust.[33]
Ryder said "Bring a Friend" is the closest track to a love song on the album, with many of its lines taken from a pornographic magazine he had read while in Amsterdam.[39] "Do It Better" was initially called "E"; it is centred around a guitar part and Ryder ad-libbing around the phrase "on one", which referred to being high on ecstasy.[38] The album's closing track, "Lazy Itis", has Can-esque drumming patterns and borrows a lyric from "Ticket to Ride" (1965) by the Beatles, resulting in a writing credit between Happy Mondays and Lennon–McCartney.[22][27][46] Its title phrase was a word the Ryders' grandmother used to say.[33] For the single version of the track, Ryder decided to include lyrics from "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) by David Essex.[53]
Touring and live performances[edit]
In October 1988, Happy Mondays supported James on their tour of the UK.[62] Following this, the band played four headlining shows across November and December 1988, closing the year with a support slot for New Order at the G-Mex Centre.[90] Happy Mondays played "Performance" and "Do It Better", both of which Ryder picked, for Wilson's TV programme The Other Side of Midnight.[91] A launch party for the album was held on 28 November 1989 at the Heaven club in London.[92] Preceded by two UK shows, Happy Mondays embarked on a stint in mainland Europe in January and February 1989.[93] As the band had run out of money by the tour's end, a few shows were quickly arranged afterwards so that they had enough funds to return home.[60] A London show soon followed, where the members met Elektra A&R representative Howard Thompson.[94] On 21 February 1989, the band did a Peel session, where they played "Mad Cyril" and "Do It Better".[93]
Following this, Happy Mondays went on a UK tour until mid-March 1989. They supported the Shamen for two dates in Ireland before supporting My Bloody Valentine for three shows in France.[93] Prior to the Ireland shows, Bez was arrested by his father, who was a cop, for violating his bail conditions set during the making of Bummed. Bez's role was filled in by Andrew McKean, who previously worked with Saxe; Bez returned for the My Bloody Valentine shows.[95] Happy Mondays played three UK shows in May 1989.[71] Ryder and Bez flew to New York City, spending two days there drumming up publicity for a forthcoming tour.[96] Happy Mondays appeared on the final episode of The Other Side of Midnight, where they performed "Mad Cyril" (changing the lyrics to reference Wilson) and "Wrote for Luck".[97] In July and August 1989, the band toured across Canada and the US, supporting labelmates Pixies.[71]
Commercial performance and accolades[edit]
Bummed peaked at number 59 on the main UK Albums Chart and number two on the UK Independent Albums Chart.[108] Factory saw the album's initial sales as highly disappointing, though they were not concerned due to a large cash flow injection from the sales of New Order's Substance (1987) a year prior.[109] By early 1989, it had sold 15,000 copies.[75] Due to the success of the remixed "W.F.L.", the album's sales reached the threshold for gold certification in the UK.[110] "Lazyitis – One Armed Boxer" charted at number 46 on the main UK Singles Chart and number six on the UK Independent Singles Chart. The original version of "Wrote for Luck" peaked at number seven on the UK Independent Singles Chart. The remixed "W.F.L." peaked at number 68 on the main UK Singles Chart and number three on the UK Independent Singles Chart.[111][112]
Spence said "Wrote for Luck" became the defining track of the acid house era.[38] Scott Plagenhoef of Stylus Magazine considered Bummed the "perfect summation of the 1988 British Summer of Love".[104] It was included in the 2006 edition of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[113] In a piece for NME, journalist Mark Beaumont viewed the album as one of ten important releases that defined Factory Records' output.[114] Manic Street Preachers covered "Wrote for Luck" as a B-side to their single "Roses in the Hospital" (1993), while the Panics covered "Lazy Itis" for Cruel Guards (2007).[115][116]