4. Drug Monkeys Sent To Drug Paradise
Name a better band in the Britain of the late 80's and early 90's than Happy Mondays. I'll give you The Stone Roses at a push, as I believe them to be on a par with each other, but otherwise the Mondays were simply peerless pioneers of the rock/baggy crossover of that era. Founded by drug dealers, it is little surprise to learn that the members had pharmaceutical hobbies and that this informed their work. What does come as a surprise, however, is the sheer stupidity of Factory records in accidentally enabling an escalation in their drug use that bankrupted the label. 1990's Thrills, Pills and Bellyaches was quickly seen upon release as the album that would catapult the Mondays to the major league of rock music. Fusing soul, house and rock, the record was a magnificent achievement which should have had Tony Wilson salivating with anticipation for the follow-up. The Factory supremo was a instead a worried man. Paul and Shaun Ryder had acquired a damaging heroin habit over the late 80's, and it was threatening to overwhelm them. Wilson had the ideal solution to safeguard his charges-send them to the paradise isle of Barbados for the sessions for 'Yes, Please!' What Wilson hadn't taken into account was the fact that Barbados is infamous for its densely available crack cocaine. Cue the most baffling and misguided attempt at rehab this side of Pete Doherty. The sessions were a disastrous mess. Shaun Ryder found himself hooked on crack almost immediately and became a swivel-eyed loon. Holed up at Eddy Grant's home studio, the band fashioned a crack den at his swimming pool and sold the hapless superstar's furniture for drug money. Dancing chemical toilet Bez broke an arm flipping a car and, upon the Mondays' return to Britain, Ryder ransomed the master tapes for the record. After paying the princely sum of £50 to get them back, Wilson was less than amused to discover that there were no vocals on account of Ryder having been too addled to record anything. His embarrassment was the least of his problems-the recording cost so much, and the dreadful resulting album sold so little, that Factory were officially declared bankrupt after the release.