HAPPY TO BE COMING TO AYR WITH THE MONDAYS
Gill Sherry
It was a happy Monday indeed when I heard that the Mancunian rock band was headlining at Pavilion Festival. And what would otherwise have been a fairly routine Monday morning improved even more when frontman, Shaun Ryder, agreed to an exclusive interview with Ayrshire Magazine.
He begins by confirming the band’s line-up for Sunday’s STREETrave performance: “Me, Bez, Gaz Whelan, Mark Day, Dan Broad, and Mikey Shine on bass.”
Rowetta won’t be with the band, Shaun tells me. Instead, Firouzeh Razavi, Bez’s wife, will be joining them as guest vocalist.
“We’ve had a year off with the Mondays… I’m really looking forward to getting back at it.”
So, what can he tell me about the set list?
“It’s what we call our Greatest Hit set!” he laughs, referring to the band’s only Top 10 album, Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches which reached No. 4 in the UK charts in 1990. “But pretty much everything,” he clarifies. “A couple from …Yes Please! A couple from Bummed…”
Festivalgoers can certainly expect to hear the two big songs from 1990, namely ’Step On’ and ‘Kinky Afro’ which remain fan favourites 35 years on.
Don’t expect to see Shaun playing any instruments, though.
“I can’t really play instruments,” he declares. “I can mess about on a keyboard and a bass to help write myself lyrics, but I would never play an instrument in front of anybody.”
Really?
“Well… okay, I did on that show with Jools Holland. I had to learn the saxophone for a thing on TV.”
He’s referring to the Sky TV series First Love where celebrities took the opportunity to fulfil their childhood musical ambitions, Shaun’s being to play the saxophone.
“I’ve still got that saxophone by the way!”
Whilst he may no longer be willing to play the sax on stage, or any instrument for that matter, his desire to entertain his audience remains strong. Ever the showman, viewers of Channel 4’s Celebrity Goggle Box will attest to his sense of humour and ability to surprise, or should I say shock? But does he enjoy taking part in the show as much as we enjoy watching it?
“Oh, yeah. If someone would have told me when I was at school that I’d get paid to watch telly with my best mate and get pi**ed, and they provide the cake, ice cream and booze, then yeah, great!”
He does, he says, watch the non-celebrity episodes of Goggle Box and I ask which of the participants are his favourites, because let’s face it, there are some that make us laugh more than others.
I hear him cringe on the other end of the line before he answers: “I don’t know the names of them… I’d struggle to tell you the names of even the celebrity ones! I have met a couple of them. And I did a TV show with one of them. She became a bit of a celebrity after she was on the normal Goggle Box. She was as mad as me – mad as a box of frogs! We did this show, 100 Years Younger, and we all went off to somewhere near Italy. We all got legless! She’s funny and proper mad, but I can’t remember her name.”
I would’ve loved to have put him out his misery, but I had no idea either. I did look her up later, though. He was referring to Sandra Martin, one of the original cast members from the very first series back in 2013.
It’s fair to say that Shaun Ryder has had a long and varied career since forming the Happy Mondays in 1980. The band was considered partly responsible for ‘Madchester’, a cultural and musical movement in Manchester in the 80s and 90s. Often referred to as ‘loose cannons’ they disbanded in 1993 at which point, Shaun and Bez (Mark Berry), formed Black Grape.
Away from music, he took part in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, finishing runner-up to Stacey Soloman. He also appeared in I’m a Celebrity All Stars in South Africa in 2023 but admits to finding it much more difficult with a false hip at the age of 60 than he did the first time in his late 40s.
This prompts me to ask what he would do differently if he could do it all again.
“Probably nothing. Obviously I wouldn’t go through 12 years of receivership, I would choose that different!”
This came about following a legal dispute with his former manager. Shaun lost the case but refused to pay the £150,000 awarded to the claimant.
“I ended up not being able to keep any of my income for over 12 years. You can’t go bankrupt because you lose all your royalties and your songwriting stuff, so I had 12 years of madness. Yeah, I’d probably do that differently.”
He takes a moment before adding: “I’m glad I don’t have to go back and do it all again. I enjoyed it then, but I enjoy it just as much now as a 63-year-old. In fact, I probably enjoy it a bit more now.”
That’s good to know, because Shaun has a busy year ahead. PavilionFest isn’t the only festival to boast Happy Mondays amongst its line-up in 2025.
“We’re doing loads of festivals,” he confirms, “and we’re back in Europe so that’s good. I love festivals. There’s no restrictions on age, is there? Our fan base now goes from about seven years old up to about 90, so it’s good.”
No doubt some of those fans will remember the band’s performance in Brazil in January 1991 at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Where does that stand in Shaun’s list of favourite venues?
“Yeah, it stands out. When we did Rock in Rio it was our first time in Brazil and first time playing to so many people. And I’ve never been back to Brazil so, yeah, it’s up there. But with our band, they’re all nutcases so they’ve all been good!”
For some reason, his words make me think of the band’s various album covers which, in my opinion, have all been good. Iconic, even. Which album cover does Shaun think of as iconic?
“A dead obvious one is Sgt Peppers. Maybe Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of The Moon. Also Funkadelic One Nation Under a Groove.”
I was only expecting one – three is a bonus! And there are certain other ‘favourites’ he discloses during our chat. His favourite stand-up comedian, I learn, is Jason Mumford. His favourite movie is The Apprentice which stars Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump. And he favours Chinese when it comes to takeaway food.
“I do about one a month – anything salt and pepper or chow mein – but there was a time in my life when I’d have it every day. I’m healthy now… just fish and vegetables. I had monkfish for my tea last night.”
This makes me smile. He sounds very proud of himself. As he does when he talks about skipping school. Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.
“I’m not dead sporty but I like playing darts. We used to play quite a lot in the teenage years. We used to wag school in the Miner’s Sports and Social Club to play darts.”
Well, skipping lessons doesn’t seem to have done him any harm.
Keen to return to the subject of Pavilion Festival, I ask if he has a message for the fans ahead of his performance on Sunday 4th May.
“Just turn up! And let yourself go, man!”
For tickets, visit www.skiddle.com/festivals/pavilion-festival/
