Get ready for An Evening with Shaun Ryder as he continues his extensive UK Q&A tour in parallel with the Happy Mondays Greatest Hits tour. The events with the frontman of Happy Mondays and Black Grape features an in-depth interview with SWR plus an opportunity to ask your own questions too.

Shaun promises to talk frankly about any subject, whether it be Madchester, drug-addled gigs, tours with Happy Mondays, the Haçienda or I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

"Whatever anybody wants to ask I will answer, I've been doing it for over a year now and I don't think I've ever been stumped by anybody's questions, I think I've managed to answer them all".

The tour continues through the autumn and winter and tickets are available now.

November

6 - The Apex, Bury St Edmunds + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
19 - The Villa Marina Promenade Suite, Douglas, Isle of Man [Buy Tickets]

December

22 - The Bread Shed, Manchester + The Jade Assembly [Buy Tickets]

2020

January

11 - Sugar Club, Dublin, Ireland + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
17 - The Cheese and Grain, Frome + Penny Eyes [Buy Tickets]
24 - Penny Cars Stadium, Airdrie - with Ross Owen [Buy Tickets]

February

1 - The Tivoli, Buckley [Buy Tickets]
2 - The Factory Venue, Barnstaple + Alan McGee + The Hideaways [Buy Tickets]
7 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
8 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
9 - The Constitutional, Farsley SOLD OUT
21 - The Water Rats, London + The Magic Mod + The Gulps [Buy Tickets]
28 - Leaf, Liverpool + Stone [Buy Tickets]

March

6 - Savoy Theatre, Monmouth + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
7 - Chesterfield FC Proact Stadium + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
20 - The Benn Hall, Rugby + Brody Swain + The Estates [Buy Tickets]
27 - The Parish, Huddersfield + Special guests [Buy Tickets]
28 - Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury + Special guests [Buy Tickets]

April

10 - The Layton Club, Blackpool + Special guests
17 - Rialto Plaza, Coventry + Special guests [Buy Tickets]

Labels: Alan_McGee, events, gig, interview, Shaun_Ryder

The recent announcement that a movie is to be made based on Shaun Ryder's Twisting My Melon autobiography has prompted the following compilation of all things literary and indeed Happy Mondays...

An early entry in the biographical stakes was 'Shaun Ryder: Happy Mondays, Black Grape and Other Traumas' by Mick Middles published in April 1997.



Three years later, Bez put his unique twist on the autobiography genre with 'Freaky Dancin' Me and the Mondays' which was published in September 2000 by Pan. There's a been one or two reprints since then but the original with the Central Station Design cover is the one to look out for.



John Warburton brought us 'Hallelujah!: The extraordinary story of Shaun Ryder and Happy Mondays' in May 2003 via Virgin Books.



Currently pushing for the title of best all-round Mondays biography is Simon Spence's 'Happy Mondays: Excess All Areas: The definitive biography' published in June 2015 by Aurum Press. This currently radiates in the luxury of a 4.9/5 rating on Amazon.



It's back to Shaun Ryder for the last two entries in our short Happy Mondays reading round-up.

'What Planet Am I On?' by Shaun Ryder from 2014 is essentially a tie-in to Shaun's stint presenting 'Shaun Ryder on UFOs'.



Finally, bringing things right up to date, 'Wrote for Luck - Selected Lyrics' by Shaun Ryder (Faber and Faber, 2019) collects together the very best of this generation's Keats's lyrics in one handy brightly coloured hardback.



(Enough Happy Mondays books already, Ed.)

Labels: book, Happy_Mondays, Shaun_Ryder

Jack O'Connell (Skins) is in advanced stages of negotiations to play Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder in new biopic Twisting My Melon based on Ryder's autobiography of the same title.

The independent AGC Studios will fully finance and co-produce Twisting My Melon their CEO Stuart Ford announced on Friday 6 September 2019 at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Jack O’Connell to star as @Happy_Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder (@officialswr) in musical biopic for AGC Studios (exclusive) #TIFF19 https://t.co/2AJT8pJFAD pic.twitter.com/8r7Ns9imWl

— Screen International (@Screendaily) September 6, 2019

Jason Isaacs (The OA, Hotel Mumbai) is being lined up to play Derek "Horseman" Ryder with Holliday Grainger (Patrick Melrose) as Ryder's girlfriend and Maxine Peake as his mother.

Matt Greenhalgh (the writer of Control) co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Knott and William Ash and will direct and produce the film.

The film is scheduled to go into production in January 2020.

--

Synopsis

"Brother. Son. Poet. Film Star. Rock 'n' Roll Legend. Since childhood, all Shaun Ryder ever wanted to do was play in a rock band like his father, a local working-class guitar hero dubbed the "Horseman". Soon his drive and one-of-a-kind songwriting skills catapulted him to front man of Happy Mondays, the iconic 90s British rock band that would come to define a new cultural era. But success challenged Shaun and his relationship with his father in a riotous cautionary rock fable, set against a musical and cultural revolution whose impact can still be felt today."

Labels: film, Happy_Mondays, Shaun_Ryder, Toronto_Film_Festival

'What Planet Am I On?' is the new book by Shaun Ryder to accompanying the previously-announced 'Shaun Ryder on UFOs' television programme programme starting soon on History UK.

Broadly mirroring the series it tells the story of Shaun's obsession with UFOs from an early age and he gets to explore various famous sites from around the world during the course of his investigations.

Available from Amazon.co.uk and other booksellers.

What Planet Am I On?
Published by: Constable
Hardcover
208 pages

Labels: books, Shaun_Ryder, UFO

Coming to a UK television screen near you this autumn: 'Shaun Ryder on UFOs' via the History UK cable/satellite channel. The series sees Shaun jetting off around the world to various locations of UFO-sighting fame including the mountains of Chile and the fields and forests of England and on the way he speaks to experts, witnesses, academics, abductees, sceptics and believers (of which one the Mondays man ranks himself following an early close encounter in Salford).

Shaun Ryder on UFOs lands on Sunday 10 November at 8pm.

History UK is available on Sky 529/530(+1), Virgin Media 234 and BT 886.

Labels: Happy_Mondays, Shaun_Ryder, TV, UFO

The ultra-rare Happy Mondays Shaun On One T-Shirt was assigned the Factory Records catalogue number FAC 288. However, the evidence would seem to point to them not being actually made by Factory. Fiona Allen, who ran Factory merchandising at the time, has no recollection of them and Kevin Cummins (whose photo it is) says no-one ever asked him for permission.

So it would seem these were made unofficially. As to how they came to be assigned the FAC number we can only assume that Tony Wilson saw one, liked it and decided to give a FAC number.

Of course if anyone has any information which contradicts this version of events then we would very much like to hear from them.

Labels: Fiona_Allen, Happy_Mondays, Kevin_Cummins, Shaun_Ryder, T-Shirt

Peter J Walsh rose to prominence during the late Eighties by capturing many iconic images of the chief protagonists of the Madchester era including Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans and many more. He also became a regular at FAC 51 The Hacienda and documented the sights, sounds and smells of many a night at the legendary club.

Peter has just launched an online shop for the sale of exhibition quality inkjet prints of a selection of his work. Prints are available in A5, A4 and A3 sizes in limited editions of 250 and prices start at 25 pounds.

To celebrate the launch, Cerysmatic Factory is proud to present a competition to win an A3-sized exhibition inkjet print (regular price £100) of a Walsh original photo of the late Tony Wilson. Peter has set the question which is:

Which group of people from the Sixties was Tony inspired by?

Was it:

A. The Situation Room
B. The Situationists
C. The Stipulation

And now the small print: Answers by email please. One entry per person. Closing date Friday 15 July 22:00 BST. By entering you agree to be added to the email newsletter that Peter will send out at occasional intervals to notify interested parties about updates to his site. The winner will be selected at random out of the Cerysmatic hat soon after the closing date.

Good luck!

Labels: Bez, competition, Happy_Mondays, Peter_J_Walsh, photography, Shaun_Ryder, Tony_Wilson

Shaun William Ryder has just announced a series of live dates for February 2011 with support on most dates from The Twang.

February 2011

Wed 16 - Birmingham O2 Academy at 7:00pm
Thu 17 - Nottingham Rock City Thursday at 7:00pm
Fri 18 - Sheffield O2 Academy Sheffield at 6:00pm
Sat 19 - Manchester Academy Saturday at 7:30pm
Mon 21 - Newcastle O2 Academy Newcastle at 7:30pm
Tue 22 - Leeds O2 Academy Leeds Tuesday at 7:00pm
Fri 25 - London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire Friday at 7:30pm
Sun 27 - Cambridge Junction 1 Sunday at 7:00pm [SWR only]

Tickets available from SEE and other outlets.

Labels: events, gigs, Shaun_Ryder

A full line-up of Factoryesque live shows has been confirmed at The Factory over the coming months, starting tomorrow with Shaun Ryder's Full Live Show (please note that the running time for this is now 10pm to 4am):

Sun 4 April - Shaun Ryder Full Live Show [featuring Happy Mondays / Black Grape / SWR]
Tue 18 May - Unknown Pleasures live with Hooky and Friends [on the 30th Anniversary of Ian Curtis's death, Hooky and Friends play Unknown Pleasures in its entirety]
Wed 2 June - Freebass [the Manchester debut of Hooky's new supergroup]
Sat 3 July - A Certain Ratio
Sat 1 Oct - Northside

Tickets available via factorymanchester.com.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, Black_Grape, FAC251_The_Factory, Freebass, Happy_Mondays, Northside, Peter_Hook, Shaun_Ryder, Unknown_Pleasures

FAC 51 The Hacienda presents:
Easter Bank Holiday Sunday

4 April 2010 at The Factory, Manchester
8-11pm

SWR: The Very Best of Shaun Ryder
Full Live Show

Shaun Ryder and a full live band performing the hits of Happy Mondays, Black Grape and the World Premiere of his new solo work!

Followed by a Club Event from 11pm-4am

Hacienda: Past, Present & Future

Room 1 – 808 State (DJ set) and Jon Dasilva
Room 2 – Justin Robertson / Jon Carter
Room 3 – Murkage Cartel vs Jay 'Backchat' Fontaine

Advance tickets

£26.50 - SWR Live Show plus Club Event (8pm-4am)
£15.00 - Club Event only (valid from 11pm only)
24 hr ticket hotline: 08444 771000

Tickets available from factorymanchester.com on sale midday Friday 19 March 2010.

Labels: FAC251_The_Factory, FAC51_The_Hacienda, Happy_Mondays, Shaun_Ryder

The August issue of MOJO magazine includes the MOJO Awards and guests none other than Shaun Ryder and Bez presenting Mark E Smith with an award for The Fall's Peel Sessions Box Set and a great photo of Bez with Slash out of Velvet Revolver.

Labels: Bez, Shaun_Ryder

The NME is reporting that Channel 4 are considering a new reality show featuring Bez, who recently won the same channel's Celebrity Big Brother show. Bez's next door neighbour Shaun Ryder may also feature in the show which sounds like it would be similar to The Osbournes. Is there life in the Reality TV genre after all?

Labels: Bez, Shaun_Ryder, television

Get Loaded at Turnmills tonight features Shaun Ryder, Terry Hall and a live set from Silent Partners (on stage at 9.30pm) plus much more. Doors open at 9pm and it's only 5 quid to get in. Happy Birthday Dermo!

Get Loaded

Labels: Shaun_Ryder, Silent_Partners

Tony Wilson DJ's for the first time with Shaun Ryder at Get Loaded, 1 July 2004 at Turnmills. For more info check out the message board at www.get-loaded.co.uk.

Labels: Shaun_Ryder, Tony_Wilson

Adelle Stripe went to see Shaun and Hooky on one at Get Loaded on Thursday 6 May:

"I saw Shaun DJing at Turnmills on Thursday with Peter Hook, he was doing a karaoke version of Wrote For Luck, but forgot the words whilst the crowd sang to him ... hilarious! He resembled a Kosovan binman on crack, but made some choice selections of northern soul and funk, top night!"

Thanks Adelle!

Labels: Peter_Hook, Shaun_Ryder

"For eight years, London-based award-winning photographer Amelia Troubridge has been shooting men who walk the line - from Bill Clinton to Howard Marks, Fidel Castro to Hugh Hefner. Here is her take on their world."

The Trouble With Amelia contains a great picture of Tony Wilson standing in the ruins of Fac 51 The Hacienda, New Order, Shaun Ryder and Bez 'Bez' Bez. About the only thing it doesn't have is anything from 24 Hour Party People on which Amelia was the official photographer.

The details: hardcover 192 pp (April 2004) :: Publisher: Booth-Clibborn Editions :: ISBN: 1861542674

Thanks to Adelle at Vibe Bar.

Labels: FAC51_The_Hacienda, New_Order, Shaun_Ryder, Tony_Wilson

This Thursday 6 May, Turnmills in Clerkenwell, London hosts another of its occasional 'Get Loaded' night. Shaun Ryder will be MC-ing over classic Happy Mondays and Black Grape and New Order's Hooky will spin some top tunes.

If that's not your scene and maybe you're in the Midlands then why not get down to the Shrewsbury Buttermarket for the latest gig by new rock gods (shurely shome mishtake, Ed) The Durutti Column.

Labels: Happy_Mondays, New_Order, Peter_Hook, Shaun_Ryder, The_Durutti_Column

It appears that the Shaun Ryder documentary 'The Ecstasy and the Agony' was a one-off despite earlier indications that it was a series. If you didn't catch it first time round it's repeated on BBC Three in the evening on Monday 23 February. The director Richard Macer also did a similar documentary on Jordan (who can give Shaun a run for his money in the potty-mouth stakes) and followed it up with further shows. So maybe it's not the end of the story.

Labels: Shaun_Ryder

The Shaun Ryder documentary 'The Ecstasy and the Agony' debuted on BBC3 on Sunday night (9pm, repeated at 1:55am). There's also an article in the Guardian on Saturday by the filmmaker Richard Macer entitled 'Straight But Not Great' (a reference to Ryder's current delicate predicament) which includes the classic line about Bez: "Shaun confided in me that most people can't understand a word his friend says and that I might want to consider subtitling him in the film."(!) We should remember that Bez is the man who wrote his autobiography 'Freaky Dancin: Me and the Mondays' in his own phonetic Mancunian patois. But that's why we like him!

Addendum: There's a not-so-complimentary review of The Ecstasy and the Agony in tonight's Evening Standard.

Labels: Shaun_Ryder

The first episode in the new Shaun Ryder fly on the wall documentary screens on BBC Three on Sunday 15 February at 9pm. The full title is 'Shaun Ryder: The Ecstasy and the Agony' whereas it was known in development as 'Shaun Ryder Comes Clean'. From the BBC Three website:

"Shaun Ryder is one of the most iconic and controversial musicians of the last twenty years. He's lived a hell raising life so extreme it's a wonder to many that he hasn't died. But despite having huge success with his bands The Happy Mondays and Black Grape, the wild frontman is living in poverty."

If the preview is anything to go by this should be an outstanding piece of television.

Labels: Shaun_Ryder

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