Bez (dancer)

Bez
Bez performing in December 2007
Background information
Birth name	Mark Berry
Born	18 April 1964 (1964-04-18) (age 49) Salford, Lancashire, England
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Dance Alternative rock Madchester
Occupations	Media personality, author, dancer
Instruments	Maracas
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Happy Mondays Shaun Ryder

Mark Berry (born 18 April 1964 in Salford, England), commonly known as Bez (and occasionally credited as Bez "Bez" Bez), is a British dancer, percussionist, author and media personality. He is best known as a member of the bands Happy Mondays and Black Grape.

Career

He is the son of a police Detective Inspector. He was a maraca player, dancer and the mascot of Salford band Happy Mondays, having been invited in by lead singer Shaun Ryder shortly after the band was formed. He is chiefly remembered for his bizarre style of dancing, and use of the maracas. The band's second single was called "Freaky Dancin'", and is rumored to be a tribute to Bez, although Happy Mondays vocalist Shaun William Ryder claims that this is not the case in his autobiography "Twistin' My Melon".

After the Happy Mondays broke up, Bez became a member of Black Grape, a group founded by Mondays band-mate Shaun Ryder, but he left in 1997 over artistic differences. In 1997, he had a feature on the BBC Two television programme The Sunday Show called Science with Bez. When both faced large tax bills, he and Ryder reconciled and reformed the Happy Mondays in 1998, but the reformed band was short-lived.

A book about his experiences in both bands, Freaky Dancin' (ISBN 0-330-48197-5), was published by Pan MacMillan in 1998. In the opening chapter Bez detailed a revealing incident during a Happy Mondays gig at Manchester's The Haçienda nightclub in 1986. In the middle of the set he fell off the stage and cut his forehead. In the book he writes: "The doc tells me to take it easy and put my feet up. I thought, 'I'm not fucking havin' that'. I got some of [lead guitarist] Moose's acid, dripped it in the cut and ran back out with me shakers. Fuckin' raz!"

He appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK in 2005, in order to pay off his outstanding tax bills, and was voted as the winner of the series. He was formally bankrupt at the time under his real name. He used some of his winnings to improve the engine of his London black cab; the television show Pimp My Ride UK customised it to make it suit him. After the cab was "pimped", it had twenty speakers, eight amps, two DVD players, fifteen TV screens and a camera on the grill linked to one of the screens, the sign saying TAXI on the top was changed to PIMP, and it had purple paint on the outside.

Bez introducing Ziggy Marley at Guilfest 2011

Bez has now split with Domino Bones, that had Monica Ward. On guitar is Wags of Black Grape and Paris Angels fame with Rob from the Boo Radleys on drums and the Bodines Winker on bass. Their single "Rattle My Head" was produced and guested on by Shaun Ryder. They were the first unsigned band to be shown on and supported by VH2 and MTV2.^{[citation needed]}

The British popular music newspaper the New Musical Express (NME) carried a series of articles about famous members of bands whose musical contribution to their bandmates' success was negligible. The newspaper used the name "Bez" as a generic label for the likes of Chas Smash of Madness, Andrew Ridgely of Wham!, Paul Morley of Art of Noise, Linda McCartney of Wings, and Paul Rutherford of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Bez lived for some time next to Shaun Ryder in Padfield, Derbyshire and in 2006 was promoting a compilation album called Bez's Madchester Anthems: Sorted Tunes from Back in the Day.

The Happy Mondays have again reformed: the 3rd incarnation of the group has Bez touring with them. On 2 July 2007, they released their first studio album in 15 years entitled Uncle Dysfunktional.

On 4 September 2007, Bez went head-to-head with royal correspondent James Whitaker on ITV television programme Don't Call Me Stupid and beat him. Bez and James taught each other about their respective specialist subjects: the Manchester music scene and royal etiquette, and then they were quizzed on what they had learnt. This was followed by a general knowledge round. Despite not knowing that the Queen has two birthdays, Bez still managed to win. His prize, as selected by James, was a bottle of posh red wine and a decanter so he didn't have to drink any cheap "poor person's" supermarket plonk.

Bez was again declared bankrupt on 31 March 2008.

He took part in Series 4 of Adrenaline Junkie (aired on 1 October 2008 on ITV2), the tasks involved taking on the world's biggest bungee down the front of the dam which featured in GoldenEye, building his very own ice hotel in the mountains, and undertook a terrifying mid-air jump from one cable car to another.

Bez now travels the country appearing at music events and festivals with Manchester DJ Vince Vega.

On 29 January 2012, Shaun Ryder exclusively announced on radio station Xfm that the band would return with the original and definitive line up of himself, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, Gary Whelan on drums, Rowetta as backing vocalist, Mark Day on guitar, Paul Davis on keyboards and dancer Mark "Bez" Berry. They appeared on ITV's This Morning, and were interviewed by Philip Schofield. Shaun Ryder pronounced that amends had been made, friendships reinstated, and that it was just like the old days, but without the madness.

The band announced in September 2012 that they were writing their first album with the original line-up in more than 20 years. The band are currently in the studio writing the new album which is scheduled for release in early 2013.

A UK and European tour has been announced for December 2012 including dates in Brighton, two nights at The Roundhouse, Camden, Manchester, Paris, Oslo, Berlin and Eindhoven. A US tour is planned for 2013 as well as dates in Australia and Asia.

Assault

In August 2010 he was convicted of physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Monica Ward with whom Berry has a son, by throttling and threatening to kill her. He was sentenced to four weeks in prison after having first received a community service sentence but refusing to co-operate. He was arrested at Euston Station in London in November 2010 for breaching a restraining order Ward was granted following the prior assault, and escorted back to the North West to appear before magistrates in Manchester.

On 23 December 2010, the Sun newspaper published an article complete with photographs of Berry in an organised bare-knuckle brawl in a scrap-yard office with Dom Morrison, bass player with Manchester band Space Monkeys. The accompanying article claims the brawl was organised as a 'straightener' between love rivals; Morrison is reported to be in a relationship with Ward. The Brawl was ended by a referee after 15 minutes with both men walking away. The photographs show Berry bleeding from the eye and mouth.

Personal life

Berry currently resides in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 4 miles away from Manchester City Centre. He is a fan of Manchester United F.C. He is also a fan of magic as seen in 'TV's 50 Greatest Magic Tricks'.

Fictional portrayals

In the film 24 Hour Party People, named after the Happy Mondays song, Bez is played by actor Chris Coghill.

References

General

• BBC News – Bez Dances His Way To Win

External links

• Bez at the Internet Movie Database

Preceded by Mark Owen

Celebrity Big Brother UK Winner Series 3 (2005)

Succeeded by Chantelle Houghton