Happy Mondays

United Kingdom, 1980–1993

Manchester band led by Shaun Ryder, formed in 1980. Their combination of rock instrumentation with dance rhythm and acid-house production was central to the Madchester scene.

MusicRoots documents 5 artists who influenced Happy Mondays and 1 artist Happy Mondays influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Happy Mondays?

• Sly and the Family Stone — Sly Stone's funk groove was the rhythmic foundation Happy Mondays laid beneath their rock guitars.
• George Clinton — George Clinton's P-Funk psychedelic carnival shaped the freakish stage aesthetic of Happy Mondays.
• Can — Krautrock's hypnotic repetition — Can above all — was woven into the Happy Mondays' groove, the motorik pulse beneath their funk-dance fusion.
• The Rolling Stones — The Rolling Stones' rock-and-roll swagger was the guitar-driven foundation onto which Happy Mondays layered dance rhythms.
• Martin Hannett — Hannett's last major work was with the Happy Mondays, whose Bummed he produced.

Which artists did Happy Mondays influence?

• Kasabian — Kasabian's baggy, druggy dance-rock reaches straight back to Madchester and the Happy Mondays' hedonistic groove.