Happy Mondays: The Peel Sessions 1986/1989 [ROOM ON FIRE]

Why you'll love it

Cut at 45 RPM, this record pairs two complete sessions three years apart. You hear the band go from Factory newcomers to the full Madchester groove in seven songs.

This edition

• Cut at 45 RPM
• Stereo mix

About the album

Getting a Peel session in the 1980s was the indie equivalent of being knighted, though with worse catering. Happy Mondays got two, and this record puts them side by side: four songs taped on April 1, 1986, and three more on February 21, 1989. John Peel championed the band early, and these sessions show why.

The 1986 side catches Shaun Ryder and co. as a scrappy Salford outfit fresh to Factory Records, rattling through "Kuff Dam," "Freaky Dancin," "Olive Oil" and "Cob 20" with all the wonky funk that would become their trademark, Shaun's brother Paul Ryder holding down the bass. By 1989 the groove has thickened and the swagger has arrived; "Tart Tart," "Mad Cyril" and "Do It Better" show the band right on the edge of Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches territory. The 1986 songs pointed toward their debut album, and the 1989 set came hot on the heels of their second.

Played back to back, the two sessions sound like a band learning to dance in public, and taking the whole of Manchester with them.

Also at Kops: more Happy Mondays on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Room On Fire (cat# ROOM197).