Black Grape
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| Black Grape | |
|---|---|
| Origin | England |
| Genre(s) | Alternative dance Britpop |
| Years active | 1993-1998 |
| Former members | |
| Shaun Ryder Bez Kermit Jed Lynch Danny Saber Psycho |
|
Black Grape was a rock band from England.
Black Grape's music is funky and eclectic, using varied instrumentation and samples. Ryder's lyrics seemed to derive mainly from nonsense rhymes and humorous catch phrases.
Contents |
[edit] History
The band was formed in 1993 by former Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez. It was Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays due both to his multiple drug addictions and to disagreements about revenues with other bandmembers. It formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited rappers Kermit and Psycho, drummer Jed Lynch, and guitarist Wags (formerly of the Manchester-based group the Paris Angels). Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under contract.
In 1995 Black Grape was signed by Radioactive Records (an imprint of major label BMG) and released its debut album It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah. It immediately charted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned three Top Twenty singles.
The first single "Reverend Black Grape" managed to outsell the Happy Mondays cover of John Kongos "(He's Gonna) Step On (You Again)". This was despite attempts by the Catholic Church to have the record banned for repeating long-held accusations that it had helped Nazi war criminals escape after World War II in exchange for gold and works of art looted throughout Europe.
The third single, "Kelly's Heroes" - a song lampooning society's obsession with celebrities and idols that had much to do with Ryder's own previous hero worship of people he now saw as wastrels - had its opening lyric changed before recording from "Don't talk to me about heroes - Most of these guys snort cocaine," to "Don't talk to me about heroes - most of these men sing like serfs." (Ryder initially intended it to be 'Smurfs', but feared he could be breaching copyright). Another song on the album, "Temazi Party", mocked the then-current craze for abusing Temazepam sleeping pills (a.k.a. 'jellies'), but was deliberately misspelt on the album sleeve as 'Tramazi' instead of 'Temazi' in order to forestall any legal injunction against the album's release.
It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah received critical acclaim in the UK, but the group made little impact in the U.S.. However, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich listed it as his favourite album of 1996.[1] The album cover featured a picture of then-recently-imprisoned terrorist Carlos The Jackal.
The subsequent album Stupid Stupid Stupid was less favoured. The group split in 1998 after Ryder fired the rest of the band while touring, starting with Kermit (who was suffering from septicemia and ending with Bez (who was unsatisfied with his financial situation).
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah (1995) #1 UK
- Stupid Stupid Stupid (1997) #11 UK
[edit] Singles
- "Reverend Black Grape" (1995) #9 UK
- "In the Name of the Father" (1995) #8 UK
- "Kelly's Heroes" (1995) #17 UK
- "Fat Neck" (1996) #10 UK
- "England's Irie" (1996) #6 UK
- "Get Higher" (1997) #24 UK
- "Marbles" (1998) - #46 UK
