Bummed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bummed
Bummed cover
Studio album by Happy Mondays
Released November ?, 1988
Recorded August 1988
Genre Madchester
Length 45:49
Label Factory - FACT 220
Producer Martin Hannett
Professional reviews
Happy Mondays chronology
Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)
(1987)		 Bummed
(1988)		 Hallelujah
(1989)

Bummed was the second album by British band Happy Mondays. It was released in November 1988.

Warner later released a 2CD Collector's Edition on November 5, 2007 (2007-11-05). This release collected the original 1988 album with a second disc of remixes from the era.

Contents

[edit] Lyrical and Musical Themes

The album's lyrics are characterised by cartoon scenes such as the Chicken licken gang [: "Henny penny, Cocky locky, Goosey loosey, Turkey lurkey" from "Moving In With"), dark character stories, and references to drug use. The dark aspect of the lyrics are frequently matched by the music; this is especially evident in the Joy Division-inspired "Brain Dead," a song which combines gloomy keyboards with the music found elsewhere on the album. The bleak music is complimented by lyrics telling of a "Grass-eyed, Slash-eyed brain dead fucker" who "rips off himself" and "steals from his brother." Also, before the band were forced to change the title, the opening track "Country Song" was called "Some Cunt From Preston", the original title arising from a joke about two deaf people in a bar mishearing that the live act on stage is playing country and western. "Bring A Friend", a song about porn films, includes the notorious line "Well I might be a honky/But I'm hung like a donkey".

However, it should not be misunderstood that the album is a particularly gloomy one. Many of the songs have cheerful melodies and similar lyrics. This is best illustrated by "Lazyitis" (which borrows a melody from the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride") and the energetic "Do It Better" which famously includes the lyrics "Good good good good, Good good good good, Good good good good, Double double good, double double good." These lyrical themes were later explored in the film 24 Hour Party People, which satirizes both the critical acclaim and disdain for the band's lyrics.

The inside sleeve of the record features a naked busty readhead with a shaven haven. Bring a friend.

"Country Song" opens with Shaun Ryder high on marijuana, stereo up, tv on with the sound down, "checking out the late night fight night". "Moving in with" opens the vault on some classic Ryder surrealism, the "two bent pigs in the flat downstairs below/ chewing at the door asking why you're so slow", while the chicken licken gang run away cos the sky is falling in.

The cult 1970 movie Performance is sampled on "Mad Cyril", a song about house raids, and forms the twisted basis for the song "Performance". These songs sandwich some more classic psycho-babble, or is that bullshit, from the twisted Ryder brain: "Fat lady wrestlers/Germans in trenches/teachers who speak to theirself".

The album was recorded in Preston, where soldiers from the army barracks turned from wanting to fight the band to loving them all because of Es. Es were a big influence on the record (see the lyric "do one do one have one"). In the latest Q magazine, Paul Ryder says Bummed was all recorded while under the influence of the drug, although the songs were already written.

Dance anthem "Wrote For Luck" took it's lead from "24 Hour Party People" and advanced the Mondays mastering of the merging of dance and indie music to create the tribal rythmns and words for the jilted generation to rave on to. It was this song that Paul Oakenfold first remixed, that made it onto club dancefloors at the forefront of the dance/indie/rave explosion.

The song was a precursor to "Rave On" and the partnership with Oakenfold led to him porducing the Mondays third album, "Pills, Thrills n' Bellyaches".

[edit] Production

The album's sound is noticeably different from any preceding or succeeding albums in the Madchester genre. This can be explained by the producer, Martin Hannett, who was notable for pioneering use of electronics in music. What is most noticeable production-wise on this album is the use of echo and reverb on the drum sound; whilst some may appreciate this production work for being somewhat groundbreaking and unique, others criticise it for the almost claustrophobic effects it renders on the music.

[edit] Remixes

Several of the songs on this album were later remixed. These included "Mad Cyril," "Wrote For Luck," and "Lazyitis." "Mad Cyril" was remixed into "Mad Cyril (Hello Girls Mix)," "Wrote For Luck" was remixed twice, firstly into "WFL" and then "Wrote For Luck (Think About The Future Mix);" Vince Clarke remixed the former, Paul Oakenfold the latter. "Lazyitis" was remixed into "Lazyitis (One-Armed Boxer Remix)" which featured Country legend Karl Denver on guest vocals. Paul Oakenfold would become vastly important to The Happy Mondays when he produced their 1990 opus "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches." These remixes are significant as they were a sign that The Happy Mondays were beginning to embrace the burgeoning rave scene, then taking place in the UK.

[edit] Cultural impact

This album arrived at a time when the Madchester genre was only beginning to formulate into what could be termed a "scene," closely connected to acid house. However, on this album The Happy Mondays played mostly pure rock music, with funk rhythms played on the drums and bass guitar and electronic flourishes showcased by the keyboard melodies. The real dance influence shone through when the songs were remixed by people such as Paul Oakenfold, as described above. This was when the band first made a cultural impact on a regional and national level.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original Release

All tracks written by The Happy Mondays except 10 & 11 (Happy Mondays/Lennon/McCartney)

  1. "Country Song" – 3:24
  2. "Moving in With" – 3:36
  3. "Mad Cyril" – 4:36
  4. "Fat Lady Wrestlers" – 3:25
  5. "Performance" – 4:09
  6. "Brain Dead" – 3:10
  7. "Wrote for Luck" – 6:05
  8. "Bring a Friend" – 3:45
  9. "Do It Better" – 2:29
  10. "Lazyitis" – 2:48
  11. "Lazyitis" [*/mix] – 2:44
  12. "W.F.L." [*/mix] – 5:47

[edit] 2007 Collector's Edition

CD1

  1. "Country Song" – 3:24
  2. "Moving in With" – 3:36
  3. "Mad Cyril" – 4:36
  4. "Fat Lady Wrestlers" – 3:25
  5. "Performance" – 4:09
  6. "Brain Dead" – 3:10
  7. "Wrote for Luck" – 6:05
  8. "Bring a Friend" – 3:45
  9. "Do It Better" – 2:29
  10. "Lazyitis" – 2:48
  11. "Lazyitis" [*/mix] – 2:44
  12. "W.F.L." [*/mix] – 5:47

CD2

  1. "Wrote For Luck" (7" Version)
  2. "Hallelujah" (Club Mix)
  3. "Wrote For Luck" (12" Version)
  4. "Hallelujah" (MacColl Mix)
  5. "Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)" (Feat. Karl Denver)
  6. "WFL" (Think About The Future)
  7. "Hallelujah" (12" version)
  8. "Kilamenjaro" (aka `Rave On')
  9. "WFL" (Vince Clarke 12" Mix)
  10. "Hallelujah" (Deadstock Mix)

[edit] Credits

[edit] Band

[edit] Recorded

  • August 1988
  • At the Slaughterhouse, Great Driffeld, East Yorkshire

[edit] Mixdown

  • September 1988
  • At Strawberry Studio, Stockport, Cheshire

[edit] Engineering Credits

  • The Slaughterhouse
  • Colin Richardson
  • John Spence
  • John Pennington.
  • Strawberry
  • Laurence Diana

[edit] Special Credits To

  • Dave Hassall - Percussion
  • Steve Hopkins - Piano
  • Horseman - Banjo

[edit] Artwork

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Happy Mondays
Shaun Ryder · Bez · Gary Whelan · Kav Sandhu
Mark Day · Paul Ryder · Paul Davis
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations