Happy Mondays: How Thieves, Drug Dealers, and Would-Be Kidnappers Took Over Madchester’s Music Scene

Explores the influential Madchester group's influence on UK culture and transgressive behavior involving the planned kidnappings of Donovan and the Smith's Johnny Marr. To see the full list of contributors, see the show notes at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.disgracelandpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://cms.megaphone.fm/organizations/c83125d2-8508-11ed-bd28-ff0aff7ee233/podcasts/efca2ef8-85f9-11ed-8fe3-bb208936046f/episodes/29bc673e-85fa-11ed-9d9c-cffe44583488/www.disgracelandpod.com. To listen to Disgraceland ad free and get access to exclusive bonus content and more, become a Disgraceland All Access member at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠disgracelandpod.com/membership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. disgracelandpod.com/membership Sign up for our newsletter and get the inside dirt on events, merch and other awesomeness - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GET THE NEWSLETTER⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://mailchi.mp/doubleelvis/disgraceland-email-newsletter Follow Jake and DISGRACELAND: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/disgracelandpod/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/@disgracelandpod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://twitter.com/disgracelandpod (formerly Twitter) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook Fan Group⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.facebook.com/groups/491024204626127/ See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This is exactly right.

• 0:17Speaker 01

  She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard, but then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.

• 0:32Speaker 02

  Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one? It could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti, Rexiprazole 2mg, the first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.

• 1:07Speaker 01

  I'm glad I asked for help.

• 1:09Speaker 02

  Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.

• 1:13Speaker 03

  Cash Flow Crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:43Jake Brennan?

  I like a story with a twist as much as anyone, but some of the best traditions don't have one. They just started and kept going. That's something that's great about Chateau St. Michelle. They've been leading Washington wines since 1967 with wines that are balanced, expressive, and easy to enjoy. Choosing the right bottle shouldn't feel complicated. It should be something you open with confidence every time. So for once, here's a story with no twist, just a good bottle. Redefine your rituals with Chateau St. Michelle. Disgrace Land is a production of Double Elvis.

• 2:27Jake Brennan?

  The story about Happy Mondays might be one of the most transgressive rock and roll stories that I've ever told. The group was started by a teenage thief who, if you can believe this, once bit a dog while completely high on acid. The bandmates were nearly killed trying to score crack in Harlem in New York. They introduced ecstasy to Manchester, England, and ran the small army of dealers who sold it at the legendary Hacienda nightclub. These guys stole their own records from their record label so that they could sell them and support their drug habit. And of course, they tried to kidnap both Donovan and Johnny Marr. Happy Mondays

• 3:10Jake Brennan?

  did all of this while making great music. Music that would come to define an era known as Madchester. Now, unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show, that was not great music. That was a preset loop from my Mellotron called "Salford Slow Dance MK2." I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette. And why would I play you that specific slice of Pretty Woman's "Soundtracking Cheese"? Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on June 22, 1990. And that was the day that Happy Mondays arrived at Glastonbury for the biggest show of their

• 3:52Jake Brennan?

  career, bringing with them a level of criminality and chaos so problematic that it would literally shut down the esteemed festival for a year. On this episode, thieves, dealers, kidnappings, crack, ecstasy, transgression galore, and Happy Mondays. I'm Jake Brennan, and this is DisgraceLand.

• 4:35Jake Brennan?

  There wasn't an art to the thieving. It was never meant to be this graceful poetic thing. It was all action and adrenaline. It was smash, grab, take whatever you could sell. Here in the dirty old town of 1970s Salford, that's the city directly next to Manchester, England. Easy targets for thieving were easy to find. One of the pubs kept its overstock of booze unguarded in a garage next door. So when no one was looking, you went ahead and got access to the garage by hook or by crook, whatever was needed. And you took as many bottles as you could fit into your sticky fingers. And then you hauled ass down the cobbled street. Not just booze, though, clothes, bikes, whatever you could get your hands on, you would steal and you would sell.

• 5:19Jake Brennan?

  But you didn't do it just for the money. You did it because you might get caught. And that made your heart pound and your blood pump. And that gave the whole enterprise meaning. Thinking that you could get caught? That gave you life.

• 5:35Jake Brennan?

  Sean Ryder had been a thieving little Salford punk ever since he was a kid. And as anyone worth their salt from Salford will tell you, that's an even tougher breed of thieving little punk than they raise across the river in Manchester. Sean's delinquent interests went beyond stealing, though. He started fires, he set off smoke bombs, he dropped bricks from highway overpasses. And he imagined that he looked cool doing it as well. As cool, perhaps, as Steve Marriott of The Small Faces or David Bowie on Top of the Pops. Even cooler was David Essex. Now, David Essex oozed that blue jean baby queen rock and roll rebellion in the film That'll Be The Day and its sequel Stardust. David Excess rocked on.

• 6:19Jake Brennan?

  But Sean Ryder was no matinee idol like David Essex. And he wasn't a rock star with a stylish mod haircut like Steve Marriott. He couldn't even play an instrument. At 15 years old, he was just a high school dropout who barely knew the alphabet. He was a dropout who needed a job. A real job, because petty thievery wasn't going to cut it anymore. So Sean Ryder found work at the postal service like his father before him. It was all so predictable, so boring. And a job this boring required a little outside influence to make it more tolerable, which is how Sean Ryder wound up delivering the Royal Mail as a teenager while tripping

• 7:01Jake Brennan?

  his brains out on LSD. The acid kicked in a little earlier than usual, not that he was complaining. LSD made his soul-sucking postal route that much more bearable. Some people got paranoid on acid, not Sean. And he had plenty to be paranoid about. The scam he'd been running with those Yellow Pages, the ones he got paid extra to deliver, the thousands that he said he delivered, even though he never delivered a single one? It put him under the microscope. And now some internal affairs division, or whatever the Royal Mail called it, was watching him every step of the way. He was walking his route and doing his best to remain upright while a row of houses began

• 7:45Jake Brennan?

  to droop to the ground like he was in a Salvador Dali painting. Can you imagine delivering the mail on acid, trying to stuff letters through a slot in the door while the door is talking to you? Even worse, delivering the mail high on LSD was when that dog started barking at you. It was the same thing every day, that dog yapping and snarling at Sean like it wanted to kill him. He could picture the headline, "Dog Bites Mailman." What a cliche. But that wasn't going to happen today. Because as Sean got closer and the dog got louder, Sean, in his highly altered state, he got himself a better idea. He reached down and took the dog in his hands. And as he did so, the dog didn't bite him as you would think, given how this has all played out.

• 8:30Jake Brennan?

  Instead, Sean Ryder bit the dog. Yes, a teenage mailman, high on acid, bit the dog that had been harassing him every day on his mail route. And so Sean Ryder's career in the Royal Mail ended.

• 8:48Jake Brennan?

  So now, at age 18, Sean Ryder was on the dole on employment. Sitting around bored and pretending to be depressed so that his doctor would prescribe him meds that he could use to get high. Even at this young age, Sean knew he was not cut out for a regular day job. On the other hand, he couldn't sink into a life of total criminality because that was just another kind of dead end. Sean Ryder required an outlet where he could exercise his long-held criminal impulses, but do so in a socially acceptable way. And you can't do that if you're working for the postal service. But you can do that if you're in a rock band. And I'm not talking about David Essex or David Bowie.

• 9:32Jake Brennan?

  I'm talking about something more attainable, like the local bands who had begun to make a go of it in Southford and Manchester, like Joy Division, who had recently made themselves into new order following the sudden death of their lead singer, Ian Curtis. It didn't matter that Sean and his friends didn't own any instruments, they could steal those. And it didn't matter that Sean couldn't even play an instrument. His friend Bez, Mark Berry, he couldn't play for shit. Bez couldn't write his way out of a paper bag either. But Bez, like Sean, was rock and roll to his core. In his autobiography, Twisting My Melon, Sean Ryan wrote, "Bez was actually pretty talentless at anything apart from being Bez, but he was really fucking good at that. Me and Bez were always rock and roll.

• 10:15Jake Brennan?

  We were rock and roll long before we were in a band. It just came naturally." So the musically challenged Bez would become a member of the new band that Sean Ryder was creating, playing a role that only Bez could play, the guy who dances wildly and erratically onstage while shaking the maracas. And that band, Happy Mondays, came together as naturally as rock and roll came to Sean Ryder, with Sean's brother Paul on bass, Gaz Whalen on drums, Mark Day on guitar, and Paul Davis on keyboards. Happy Mondays, with Sean Ryder as their unlikely lead singer, began rehearsing in an old mill that doubled as the site of illegal bare-knuckle fighting competitions.

• 10:57Jake Brennan?

  Much later, in hindsight, Happy Mondays would be praised for how they'd been ahead of the curve, for how they took the acid house music soundtrack in the underground in Detroit and Chicago and applied it to the British post-punk of the time. But honestly, I don't think it was that calculated at all. I think you had a group of guys who were unemployed, and some of whom had zero musical skill, but all of whom had the attitude with no other prospects and no goals beyond their stated goals of, one, getting high, two, getting weighed, three, partying all night, and four, making music inspired by a lifetime spent listening to everything from reggae and northern soul to Led Zeppelin and James Brown.

• 11:40Jake Brennan?

  The whole affair was kind of halfway between survival instinct and doing something "on a lark," but I don't think innovation was ever part of the equation for Happy Mondays. Even the name Happy Mondays was, in Sean's words, "kind of a shit name," and that was intentional. I don't agree. I think it's an awesome name. But anyways, all of this is not to say that Happy Mondays didn't have ambition, because they did. And that ambition soon had them pursuing the hottest spot in town.

• 12:15Jake Brennan?

  This is the legendary Hacienda nightclub in Manchester. And yes, it's always this loud in here. It was opened in 1982 by New Order and their manager, along with Tony Wilson, the British impresario and co-founder of New Order's label Factory Records. The Hacienda was modeled after Danzeteria in New York City. In addition to featuring seminal performances from Manchester bands like The Smiths, The Stone Roses, and Oasis, the Hacienda was also ground zero for house music in the UK, with DJs spitting wax from Chicago, Miami, and Detroit.

• 12:53Jake Brennan?

  The Hacienda was totally homegrown, just like Factory Records. In fact, when he started Factory, Tony Wilson established the record label as the antithesis of your standard label. The artists owned the music, the label owned nothing. They say Tony Wilson wrote that down in his own blood, on a napkin or some shit, rather than draw up evil corporate contracts with his band. Fucking crazy, I know. Anyway, Happy Mondays knew they wanted to leverage their own homegrown appeal to be a Factory band. And they also knew that their way to Factory was through the Hacienda.

• 13:34Jake Brennan?

  So, they slipped their demo to someone who was friends with one of the club's DJs up there in the booth. And that guy, the one with the headphones, that guy you see right there, that's Mike Piqueret. He DJed nude, naked, totally buck ass naked on Friday nights. Get your head out of the gutter, not nude in that way, it was just a night, a dance night called nude. Anyway, the DJ, Piqueret, he passed the tape along to Tony Wilson, and faster than the BPM of some acid house single at Hacienda Turntable, Happy Mondays were soon on their way to making their first album. Squirrel and G-Man, 24-hour party people, plastic face can't smile, whiteout.

• 14:18Jake Brennan?

  That was what Happy Mondays called their 1987 debut album on Factory Records. It was a title as cryptic and inside jokey as many of Sean's lyrics that were on that album. It was produced by John Cale of the Velvet Underground. And the record was a more jangly, danceable take on Joy Division. Post-punk meets post-funk. It also established Sean's inclination to steal not only physical things, but melodies as well. Future pressings of the album would not include the song "Desmond", which sounded way too familiar to The Beatles' "Oble de, oble da", and would earn them a cease and desist letter from an attorney representing Michael Jackson, who owned The Beatles' catalog at the time.

• 15:01Jake Brennan?

  But if this album riffed on the recent and distant past alike, nothing about it could have predicted the future. Happy Mondays were about to become not only the soundtrack to the scene that was emerging at the hacienda, they would become that scene's in-house drug dealers and its resident crooks as well. Because Sean Ryder may have now become the lead singer of a band, but that did not mean that he was no longer a thief.

• 15:52Speaker 01

  She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard, but then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.

• 16:08Speaker 02

  Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one? It could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti, Rexiprazole 2mg. The first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.

• 16:43Speaker 01

  I'm glad I asked for help.

• 16:45Speaker 02

  Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.

• 16:49Speaker 05

  Cash flow crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $200,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 17:19Jake Brennan?

  I like a story with a twist as much as anyone, but some of the best traditions don't have one. They just started and kept going. That's something that's great about Chateau St. Michelle. They've been leading Washington wine since 1967 with wines that are balanced, expressive, and easy to enjoy. Choosing the right bottle shouldn't feel complicated. It should be something you open with confidence every time. So for once, here's a story with no twist, just a good bottle. Redefine your rituals with Chateau St. Michelle.

• 17:52Jake Brennan?

  The druggiest bands in music history seem to defy the odds. Take the Rolling Stones, for example. Brian Jones was an early casualty, but his notorious bandmate Keith Richards was a longtime user and abuser turned survivor. What's the Dennis Leary line about Keith Richards? He's done all the drugs in the world, so now the rest of us have to wait and smoke his ashes when he dies? Something like that. In the 1980s, Happy Mondays were barely known outside of Manchester, and they were already defying the odds. According to Sean Ryder, by the time they visited New York City for the first time in 1987, they were dropping acid on a daily basis. But acid wasn't the only drug that interested them.

• 18:36Jake Brennan?

  They were self-proclaimed "garbage heads", and a garbage head did any and all illicit substances that were put in front of them. So when they landed at JFK Airport in 1987, shortly after the release of their debut album, what they wanted in front of them wasn't the Statue of Liberty or Central Park or CBGB or any other tourist trap destination of note. They wanted to go immediately to Harlem, where they could procure the drug that was currently all the rage in America: crack cocaine.

• 19:11Jake Brennan?

  The driver would only take them so far. The car came to a stop. Sean and Bez got out. They traveled the remaining distance on foot. The dealer was waiting, as advertised. And the crack was cheap: thirty, forty American dollars for a fistful. They returned to their hotel room at the Hotel Chelsea, where, nine years prior, the blade of Sid Vicious's knife—or someone's knife—found its way into the abdomen of Sid's girlfriend, Nancy Sponging. Now, being garbage heads and being defiers of the odds—unlike Nancy and unlike Sid—God rest their souls, Sean and Bez wanted more crack as soon as they smoked it. So, it was back out onto the mean streets of Fierce City.

• 19:56Jake Brennan?

  This time, however, they were on their own. There was no one to drive them. High on crack and taking swigs from forty-ounce bottles of malt liquor, they stumbled around from corner to corner. And they came to a spot that looked familiar. In fact, they were in a completely different neighborhood than before. Standing before them was a different dealer, but that didn't matter. This guy had the crack, and they had the cash, and so the deal went down. And that's when they heard a voice from behind them. "Hey, you!" "Hey!" Six teenage boys emerged confidently from the shadows. Sean and Bez were surrounded. The lead kid doing the talking was bug-eyed, as bug-eyed as Bez was when he was onstage,

• 20:40Jake Brennan?

  dancing like a lunatic with his maracas. But this kid wasn't holding maracas. He was holding a pistol. And Bez frantically said something to try to break the ice. He was fucked up and drunk. He basically spat his words at the kid with a gun. And this pissed the kid off. No one likes to be spit on, even by accident. So the kid raised his gun. And Sean and Bez were both panicking now. Sean gripped the forty-ounce tightly and did the math in his crack-addled brain to figure out where and how hard to swing the bottle at this kid's head. Thankfully, he didn't have to. The dealer was suddenly back, making the peace, telling everyone to chill out. The standoff was bad for business.

• 21:21Jake Brennan?

  Soon, Sean and Bez were back to the safety of their room at the Chelsea, and shortly thereafter, back on a plane home to Manchester, where they sought out another drug they'd yet to try. But this one wouldn't nearly end their lives. This one would change their lives.

• 21:41Jake Brennan?

  In 1988, Happy Mondays recorded new songs with Factory Records esteemed producer Martin Hannett. And the album that came out of those sessions, "Bummed," was released on Factory in November of that year. It was a major step forward for the band. The Happy Mondays were no longer replicating their influences. They were now using those influences to create a new sound. "Bummed" was an early example of what would become known as the "baggy sound", which is to say indie dance music characterized by an intoxicating mixture of psychedelia and acid house. And if their label mates, New Order, were tight as a metronome, Happy Mondays were the opposite. They were as loose as those clothes that people were now wearing while dancing to this so-called "baggy sound."

• 22:25Jake Brennan?

  "Bummed," in particular, was heavily influenced by the American house music being spun regularly at the Hacienda nightclub, as well as the music of Talking Heads, pornographic magazines, porno music from Amsterdam, and crime films, and specifically the 1970 film "Performance" starring Mick Jagger. But most of all, the new album was influenced by the drug ecstasy. Ecstasy, or E. as it was known, found its way into Manchester via Amsterdam. Happy Mondays were not only the first ones in town to do this drug, they were also the ones dealing it at the Hacienda. And if you partied at the Hacienda Club back around 1987 or 88, and someone slipped you some ecstasy,

• 23:09Jake Brennan?

  that someone was most likely Sean Ryder, or Bez, or another member of the Happy Mondays' small army of dealers. And the Happy Mondays were fiends for E. They ate it round the clock, and they sold it for 25 pounds a pop. And when money got tight, Sean stole copies of his own band's records from the Factory Records label offices, and sold them to local stores, and used the money to buy more ecstasy. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say this, but without Happy Mondays acting as Manchester's unofficial ecstasy supply, the sweaty, baggy, era-defining scene at the heart of the Hacienda would not have been the same. Plain and simple. Even if some of their contemporaries, like New Order's Peter Hook, regarded them

• 23:52Jake Brennan?

  as shifty-eyed street punks who would just as soon steal from your wallet as they would get you high, and Peter Hook wasn't wrong, that's exactly what they were. The confluence of psychedelic rave music with the Happy Mondays' non-stop supply of ecstasy was clutch. And the Happy Mondays were so crucial to this whole thing that when the hacienda shut down at 2:00 in the morning every night, Sean Ryder would return home to his flat only to find a line of people at his door stretching around the block waiting to buy more ecstasy. Eventually, Sean Ryder had assembled a crew of 12 people to move the drug in the club and keep Manchester rolling. And when the cops got wind of what he was doing and tried to crack down because club

• 24:36Jake Brennan?

  owners had complained about the drop in alcohol sales, because people who were high on ecstasy only drank water, not booze, Sean Ryder kept rolling, kept dealing, kept slinging that ecstasy, even when a 16-year-old girl named Claire Layton collapsed on the floor at the hacienda and died because of a rare reaction to the drug. None of this dampened attendance at the hacienda, nor did news of Sean Ryder's bust on the island of Jersey when customs found cocaine in his luggage. It was all part of an outlaw culture that was growing in and around Manchester, an outlaw culture that in the fall of 1989 was finally given a name.

• 25:17Jake Brennan?

  With the release of their Madchester Rave On EP, Happy Mondays unwittingly coined the Madchester term, though no one in that scene at that time ever called it that. The Madchester EP contained the excellent track "Hallelujah," which became the Mondays' biggest hit to date, cracking the top 20 in the UK and landing them an appearance on top of the pops, where Sean Ryder had watched David Bowie perform all those years ago. Soon, the group was no longer playing smaller venues like the hacienda. By 1990, Happy Mondays were performing to sold-out crowds at Wembley Arena and even headlining the Glastonbury Festival, all of which coincided with Sean Ryder's first

• 26:00Jake Brennan?

  foray into heroin. Sean Ryder, Bez, and the entire Madchester movement was high as fuck and about to get even higher.

• 26:14Speaker 06

  We'll be right back after this.

• 26:24Speaker 01

  She'd throw things, wander, and started hoarding. Mom's Alzheimer's was already so hard, but then we found out she had agitation that may happen with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. And that was a different kind of difficult. So we asked her doctor for more help.

• 26:39Speaker 02

  Seeing symptoms like these in a loved one, it could be time to ask their doctor about Rexulti. Rexiprazole 2mg, the first FDA-approved treatment for this condition. Rexulti is proven to reduce agitation symptoms. Rexulti should not be used as an as-needed treatment. Elderly people with dementia-related psychosis have increased risk of death or stroke. Report fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, which can be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar can lead to coma or death. Weight gain, increased cholesterol, unusual urges, dizziness on standing, falls, seizures, trouble swallowing, or sleepiness may occur. Learn more about these and other side effects at rexulti.com. Tap ad for PI.

• 27:14Speaker 01

  I'm glad I asked for help.

• 27:16Speaker 02

  Ask your loved one's doctor about Rexulti.

• 27:20Speaker 03

  Cash Flow Crunch? OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds, up to $200,000, right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing, and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at ondeck.com. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 27:50Jake Brennan?

  I like a story with a twist as much as anyone, but some of the best traditions don't have one. They just started and kept going. That's something that's great about Chateau St. Michelle. They've been leading Washington wine since 1967 with wines that are balanced, expressive, and easy to enjoy. Choosing the right bottle shouldn't feel complicated. It should be something you open with confidence every time. So for once, here's a story with no twist, just a good bottle. Redefine your rituals with Chateau St. Michelle.

• 28:26Jake Brennan?

  There was always a scheme. There was the pub hopping scheme. That was a pre-fame scheme. One that took place during the eight mile walk Sean and Bez made from their place to the hacienda every day. They would stop at pubs along the route and inside each pub, they'd locate a single woman nursing her drink. Bez would then talk her ear off while Sean rooted around in her purse and took whatever cash he could find. And there was the kidnapped Donovan scheme. That was a post-fame scheme. That was done because, well, I don't know what to tell you. Sean Ryder and the guys in Happy Mondays just really loved Donovan and wanted to, in their words, capture him and take him to the hacienda party. This is how it went down.

• 29:14Jake Brennan?

  The tour manager pokes his head into Donovan's dressing room. And the tour manager says, "Excuse me, Donovan? There's some guys from Manchester who just watched your show and they wanted me to tell you they're waiting for you out back with a van." "A van?" Donovan asks. "What is it that they want?" The tour manager explains that "They'd like to capture you and take you to the hacienda nightclub in Manchester." "Capture?" The tour manager says, "Well, that was the word they used, yes." Donovan wants to know why, so the tour manager explains, "They didn't give a reason." "Good lord," Donovan says, "is there another way out of this place?"

• 29:55Jake Brennan?

  Okay, so that scheme didn't go quite as planned. The Happy Mondays were not able to successfully kidnap Donovan. They did name a song after him, though. And obviously, their failure to lure an aging folk star into their van did not dampen their spirits because they soon rebounded with their epic Glastonbury scheme.

• 30:14Jake Brennan?

  And this is actually a multi-layered scheme, which handsomely demonstrates just how dangerous, reckless, and transgressive Happy Mondays had become by 1990. Now, first, you gotta remember, for a band like Happy Mondays, Glastonbury was a huge deal. Seventy thousand people. It was the biggest show of their career to date. So naturally, Happy Mondays wanted their friends there with them to celebrate. So they requested over 200 complimentary passes for friends from Manchester. But even that wasn't enough. So they packed a computer printer along with all of their instruments and all of their drug paraphernalia, and then they used that printer to print out extra complimentary passes on-site. We're talking like another thousand passes.

• 30:59Jake Brennan?

  Many of the holders of these passes were, like Happy Mondays themselves, living completely outside the law. So when they got to Glastonbury, they did what criminals do. They robbed tents on-site. They sold drugs. They shook down vendors to collect some bogus tax as though they were mafia members, which I guess in a way they kinda were. But this whole thing, all this activity, it would directly result in a record 235 arrests at Glastonbury, 50,000 pounds in damages, and to Glastonbury getting canceled the following year. Let me say that again. Happy Mondays were the reason that there was no Glastonbury Festival in 1991. And when it did return in 1992, a 10-foot fence had been built around the entire festival

• 31:44Jake Brennan?

  site. Thank you, Happy Mondays. But back to 1990. The next part of Happy Mondays' multi-layered Glastonbury scheme was selling counterfeit merchandise. Yes. In addition to selling shirts at official merch stations on the festival grounds, the Happy Mondays had their people out there slinging bootleg goods as well. One of their promoters, this guy they called John the Phone, was in charge of the bootleg merch money. He kept it stashed safely out of sight. A biker crew caught wind of this buried treasure, and they kidnapped John the Phone to find out where the money was hidden. They took John to a dilapidated farmhouse. They tied John up, and they tried to beat it out of him. But John the Phone wasn't talking. John the Phone held the line all weekend long.

• 32:31Jake Brennan?

  Shawn Ryder was unaware of John the Phone's dire situation because Shawn Ryder spent the majority of the Glastonbury weekend lying in the luggage compartment of the Happy Mondays tour bus, smoking heroin. He had started using the drug back when he got a brutal sunburn at a gig in Spain. The pain was unbearable, so someone suggested he smoke some heroin. And now here he was, a so-called garbage head, an indiscriminate drug user who does everything yet gets addicted to nothing, slowly but surely getting addicted to heroin. Shawn Ryder was using dope when Happy Mondays made their next record, Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches, with English DJ Paul Oakenfold producing. With songs like Kinky Afro,

• 33:15Jake Brennan?

  Bob's Your Uncle, and Step On, the album was Happy Mondays' most assured and musically rich to date. It was also their first to feature backing vocals by new member Rowetta, who brought a classic soul vibe that perfectly complemented Shawn's untrained everyman vocal cadence. The album peaked at number four on the UK album chart, where it was certified platinum. In the United States, it broke into the top 100 of the Billboard album chart. The Happy Mondays' decision to work with Oakenfold would reportedly inspire U2 to incorporate electronic music into Ok Tong Baby the following year, and likewise for Blur to work with electronic producer William Orbit for their album 13.

• 34:00Jake Brennan?

  Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches was released on Factory Records in November of 1990, and with it, the legend of Happy Mondays, those chaotic thugs who literally shut down Glastonbury, was exploding. This meant an appearance on MTV, in which Shawn Ryder joked that he used to make money working as a male prostitute. It was typical rock and roll fuckery, but the British tabloid news of the world ran with it as if it were actually true. Shawn was so pissed off that he showed up to a Manchester bar wielding a .357 Magnum. His intention had been to shoot a hole in the roof in order to fully demonstrate his anger. Instead, a cooler had prevailed, and he simply smashed a mirror with a bottle instead. The violent outburst only made what should have been a celebratory time more tense.

• 34:46Jake Brennan?

  Shawn's brother Paul, along with the other guys in the band, were finding it difficult to enjoy their newfound success. Because the press only cared about Shawn and Bez. And in fact, their guitarist Mark Day was ready to quit altogether. Factory Records meanwhile, a label built on idealism rather than capitalism, was hemorrhaging money, as was the hacienda, the club that Factory had a stake in. Too much cash wasted on drugs and frivolous things, like the infamous boardroom table that was suspended from the ceiling of Factory's offices. And because of this, Factory desperately needed Happy Mondays to record their next album as soon as possible in order to leverage the group's current success and help keep the whole operation afloat.

• 35:33Jake Brennan?

  But there was the little issue of Shawn's heroin habit. One concern was that the album would never get made if he wasn't moved far away from where he could score that particular drug. And this is why a plan was put into motion for Happy Mondays to travel to Barbados, where they would record their fourth album at Blue Wave, a studio owned by Eddie Grant from The Equals, Eddie Grant, the guy with the Electric Avenue hit. Chris Franz and Tina Waymoth from Talking Heads, they were going to produce the Happy Mondays' next record at Eddie Grant's place. And the group's outgoing guitar player, Mark Day, would be replaced by Johnny Marr from The Smiths?

• 36:16Jake Brennan?

  The Smiths had been broken up for about four years when Johnny Marr walked into Shawn Ryder's flat. He found himself face to face not just with Shawn, but with Happy Mondays' manager and the rest of the group as well, minus their guitarist Mark Day. Johnny Marr quickly learned he was there to be coerced into traveling to Barbados, where he would perform on the Mondays' new album in place of Mark. Wait, did I just say coerced? Actually, the word Johnny used when talking about this was kidnapped, just like Donovan. Because in addition to everyone standing in front of him making demands, behind him, flanking the single exit out of Sean Ryder's flat, were two very capable, very qualified,

• 37:00Jake Brennan?

  very large men. And no doubt, from Johnny Marr's estimation, their one job was to not let him leave until he agreed to go to Barbados. Johnny had to admit that Barbados sounded like a good time, but Barbados with Happy Mondays? The most transgressive rock and roll band on the planet at the moment? Will they even get out alive? It didn't matter, because Johnny's wife was about to give birth to their first child any day now, and he wasn't going anywhere. But Sean Ryder dug in. In the moment Johnny's wife went into labor, he said, they'd put Johnny on the first plane back to Manchester. In Sean's eyes, it really was that simple. Life really

• 37:43Jake Brennan?

  was that uncomplicated. You wanted something, you took it. You wanted money, drugs, you wanted Donovan to go party with you at the hacienda, you wanted Johnny Marr to become your guitar player. You just made it happen. But Johnny Marr wasn't going anywhere. Besides, Mark Day, their original guitarist, would quickly return to the fold, perhaps feeling threatened by the whole getting replaced by Johnny Marr thing. So Happy Mondays were soon on a plane without Johnny en route to Barbados, where they'd find no heroin, but where they would find plenty of crack cocaine, as well as the beginning of the end, a truly mad era.

• 38:47Jake Brennan?

  From the start, Happy Mondays, Factory Records, the Hacienda, Madchester, it was all supposed to be big fun. Even if Tony Wilson would tell you that there was, at one time, a larger goal of musical revolution with an impact that rivaled punk rock or hip-hop. For those on the front lines, however, like Sean Ryder, fun was the endgame. The more hedonistic and debauched, the better. Just earlier this year, 2026, in an interview with The Guardian, Sean Ryder said, quote, "My thought process when we started the Mondays was, I want to be in a band, I want to shag birds, I want to travel around the world, I want to party all night, and I want to take drugs," unquote. It's fair to say that he accomplished what he set out to do, and he was really good

• 39:32Jake Brennan?

  at it. Just like Bez was really good at being Bez. But on January 17, 1992, when a plane carrying Sean and the rest of Happy Mondays landed in Barbados to begin sessions for their fourth studio album, fun was at a premium. Everything was work. Everything was maximum effort. The blissed-out, baggy grooves that were the Monday's bread and butter refused to flow forth. Sean was too busy jonesing for a fix to focus on the music. And Bez's lack of musical talent disinterested the album's producers, Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth. So Sean and Bez struck out on their own. They scoured the island for drugs. First, they found weed.

• 40:17Jake Brennan?

  Then, they found crack. And since they required copious quantities of the stuff, the money quickly ran out. Buying drugs now became as much work as coming up with new songs. They traded Armani jeans and Hugo Boss shirts for crack. They rented multiple cars on Factory's dime, just so they could remove the batteries and trade those for crack. And while the rest of the band labored away with Chris and Tina in Eddie Grant's studio, Sean and Bez slipped outside to Eddie Grant's pool, stole a plastic sun lounger, carried it down to the street, and traded it for crack. Sean even lied to Tony Wilson and said he was gonna burn the master tapes from the sessions thus far if Tony didn't wire the money.

• 40:58Jake Brennan?

  The money Tony sent was for the band members' per diems, as well as some of Chris and Tina's producing fees. But according to Sean, it was Chris and Tina's idea to shake down Tony in the first place. They were worried about getting paid at all, knowing what they knew about Factory's financial troubles. It wasn't a big secret that they were all here at Barbados on some doomed Hail Mary mission to save the record label and the club. The very fate of Factory could well rest on how good this Happy Mondays album turned out to be and how it performed commercially. The writing was on the wall, but someone as impaired as Sean Ryder at the time simply

• 41:38Jake Brennan?

  couldn't read what the writing said. His girlfriend found him on the floor of his flat in burnage, lying in a pool of his own blood with an axe in his head. The papers called it "an axe-type hammer," a plasterer's hammer, which had been forcefully thrust into his head five times. Details aside, the fact remain: 34-year-old Dave Robotham, Manchester musician, Factory Records artist, member of the Dirty Column, and longtime friend of Happy Mondays, was dead. Like Sean Ryder, Dave Robotham had been using heroin, "on the brown," as Sean would say,

• 42:19Jake Brennan?

  a darker drug originating from some of the darker elements lurking in and around Manchester. This was becoming increasingly hard to avoid. The darkness was taking over. Gangsters were now running the hacienda. Knives and guns had replaced ecstasy on the dance floor. And Factory had extended their credits so far that they couldn't even afford to press any new singles. Whoever murdered Dave managed to slip back under the cover of that darkness. His killer was never found, and the case remains unsolved to this day. But the memory of Dave, and the memory of that dark time, was quickly immortalized in the song Cowboy Dave, the final track on Happy Mondays' fourth studio album, Yes, Please.

• 43:04Jake Brennan?

  This was the album they tried to make in Barbados. The Mondays had returned from the island after five largely unproductive weeks with only one finished song. Upon their return, Sean checked into rehab. He stayed clean long enough to finish the album at a studio in Surrey. Yes, Please was released in September of 1992 to poor reviews. Just two months later, Factory declared bankruptcy. And the funny thing is that had Tony Wilson not done things the way he had, had the label own the music rather than the artist, Factory could have been saved at the last minute in an acquisition by another label, another label like London Records, but that's another story.

• 43:49Jake Brennan?

  In this story, Sean Ryder relapses. One night, he drinks a bottle of vodka and then decides it's time to go score some junk again. And he winds up crashing his car, and since he's not wearing a seatbelt, he's sent flying through the windshield. He flees the scene, but his car's license plate fell off in the crash, so the cops are led right back to his home. In this story, Happy Mondays break up just weeks after Factory goes under. Sean Ryder forms a new band, Black Great, which breaks up at the end of the 90s, paving the way for Happy Mondays to reform with a slightly altered lineup. In this story, the darkness at the end of the Madchester era, it never really goes away.

• 44:31Jake Brennan?

  In 2010, Bez is sentenced to four weeks in jail for assaulting an ex-girlfriend. And in 2025, Rowetta, The Mondays' longtime backing vocalist, takes to social media to accuse Sean Ryder of punching her on a ferry back in the year 2000. It was in the year 2000 that Sean Ryder was honored by the new Musical Express magazine, the NME, with one of its "Godlike Genius" awards. And it was at this awards ceremony that Sean Ryder ran into one of the first people he ever stole from, musically that is, Paul McCartney, author of "Obla de Obla Da", the song that Sean had cribbed from for the Happy Mondays song "Desmond", which had to be removed from their debut album.

• 45:16Jake Brennan?

  Paul McCartney stood next to Sean as the cameras flashed. A picture of the unlikely duo would grace the upcoming issue of NME. There was irony here, and it wasn't just about the stolen song. There was the added irony that Sean, who was born the year the Beatles released their first single, yet who remained at this time a heroin user, actually looked older and more haggard than Paul McCartney. And I think it's fair to say, as Paul McCartney, or Sean Ryder, or any true rock and roller will tell you, there's a fine line between godlike genius and disgrace.

• 45:56Jake Brennan?

  I'm J. Brennan, and this is Disgraceland.

• 46:14Jake Brennan?

  All right, guys, thanks for checking out this episode of Disgraceland on Happy Mondays. The rock star antics herein are just completely over the line, total debauchery, total hedonism. With that said, question of the week this week. What's the most rock star you've ever been? What's the most rock star activity you've ever taken part in? That you want to share, maybe? Yeah, I don't know, something maybe you got in trouble with? I don't know, something maybe you got away with? 617-906-6638. When did you act like a rock star? Leave me a voicemail, send me a text. At DisgracelandPod on the socials, [email protected] if you want to email me. Make sure you get those auto downloads turned on on Apple Podcasts. I'll see you later. Here comes some credits.

• 46:59Jake Brennan?

  Disgrace Land was created by yours truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis, The Exactly Right Network, and iHeart Podcasts. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page at disgracelandpod.com. If you're listening as a Disgrace Land All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to disgracelandpod.com/membership. Members can listen to every episode of Disgrace Land ad-free. Rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook @disgracelandpod and on YouTube at youtube.com/atdisgracelandpod. Rockerola.

• 47:44Jake Brennan?

  He's a bad, bad man. I like a story with a twist as much as anyone, but some of the best traditions don't have one. They just started and kept going. That's something that's great about Chateau St. Michelle. They've been leading Washington wine since 1967 with wines that are balanced, expressive, and easy to enjoy. Choosing the right bottle shouldn't feel complicated. It should be something you open with confidence every time. So for once, here's a story with no twist, just a good bottle. Redefine your rituals with Chateau St. Michelle. Hey guys, time to dust off your detective skills while unwinding in the Caribbean on Virgin Voyages' second true crime voyage. It's back by popular demand. This five-night,

• 48:28Jake Brennan?

  adults-only escape set sail March 20, 2027, to Grand Turk in the Beach Club at Bimini. The difference between this year and last will be that I will be on the cruise this year, along with Zeph, and he and I will be taping a live version of Disgrace Land, along with podcast hosts from Exactly Right's Buried Bones, Podcast of the Year Award winners, Wisecrack, and other fan favorites. Get on this cruise with us, guys, and enjoy live podcast recordings, behind-the-scenes storytelling, exclusive meet-and-greets, and immersive true crime programming throughout this one-of-a-kind voyage. Head over to www.virginvoyages.com/truecrime to secure your spot.

• 49:09Speaker 07

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