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Black Grape are an English rock band, featuring former members of
Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...
and
Ruthless Rap Assassins The Ruthless Rap Assassins were a British hip hop group from Hulme, Manchester, England. The group was formed by MC Kermit La Freak (later simply Kermit - real name Paul Leveridge) and brothers Dangerous Hinds (real name Anderson Hinds) and Dangero ...
. Their musical style fuses funk and electronic rock with electronic programming and samples.


History


Formation, first two albums and break up (1993–1998)

The band was formed in 1993 by former
Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...
members
Shaun Ryder Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer/songwriter and poet. As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1993, he formed B ...
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 band members. The formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited
rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
s Paul "Kermit" Leveridge and Carl "Psycho" McCarthy, drummer
Ged Lynch Ged Lynch (born 19 July 1968, Blackburn, England) is an English percussionist and composer. Lynch had early commercial success drumming with the Ruthless Rap Assassins. In 1989 he joined The Icicle Works. He joined Shaun Ryder and Bez in Bla ...
(like Leveridge, a former member of
Ruthless Rap Assassins The Ruthless Rap Assassins were a British hip hop group from Hulme, Manchester, England. The group was formed by MC Kermit La Freak (later simply Kermit - real name Paul Leveridge) and brothers Dangerous Hinds (real name Anderson Hinds) and Dangero ...
), and guitarist Wags (formerly of the
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
-based group the
Paris Angels Paris Angels were an English seven piece band, hailing from Guide Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, associated with the Madchester scene of 1989 -1991. Their music fused indie guitars with electronic dance music. The b ...
) and Oli "Dirtycash" Dillon on
ocarina The ocarina is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body. It is traditionally made from cl ...
. Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under
contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
. 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''. The album debuted at number one in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, and spawned three top 20
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
. The album was certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...
in the UK in April 1996. 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". Another song on the album, "Temazi Party", mocked the then-current craze for abusing
temazepam Temazepam (sold under the brand names Restoril among others) is a medication of the benzodiazepine class which is generally used to treat severe or debilitating insomnia. It is taken by mouth. Temazepam is rapidly absorbed, and significant hyp ...
sleeping pills (a.k.a. 'jellies'), but was deliberately misspelt on the album sleeve as 'Tramazi' instead of 'Temazi' to forestall any legal injunction against the album's release. The subsequent album ''
Stupid Stupid Stupid ''Stupid Stupid Stupid'' is the second studio album by British rock band Black Grape, released on 10 November 1997 through Radioactive Records. While touring in support of their debut studio album '' It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah'' (1995 ...
'' was less commercially successful, but was certified gold in the UK in January 1998. The group split in 1998 after Ryder fired the rest of the band while touring, starting with Kermit (who was suffering from
septicaemia Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...
) and ending with Bez (who was unsatisfied with his financial situation). Lynch went on to play drums and percussion on many other musical works, becoming a noted session musician.


Reunion (2010–present)

On 1 April 2010, Ryder briefly reformed Black Grape with producer
Danny Saber Danny Saber (born 1966) is a musician in Los Angeles. He is an audio engineer, record producer, and remixer as well. He is a former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur. He plays organ, and keyboards, and is a prominent Los Angeles DJ. S ...
for a concert as part of the 'Get Loaded in the Dark' gig series at The Coronet in London. In 2015, Black Grape reunited for a gig in April at the Old Granada Studios in Manchester. The gig was a benefit for Bez's political party, We Are The Reality Party, which coincided with his bid for Parliament in the upcoming general election. Although Ryder and Kermit took to the stage, Bez joined them on stage towards the end of the gig. Soon after, it was announced that Black Grape had signed to Creation Management run by
Alan McGee Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...
and Simon Fletcher and announced a reunion tour to coincide with 20 years of the '' It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah'' album. Although an original member, Bez did not rejoin the band. Black Grape recorded and released a song "We are England" in support of the
England national football team The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...
for the
UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...
football competition, in collaboration with DJ
Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...
and singer
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in ...
, under the name 4 Lions. It was released by the management label Fletcher McGee Ltd under license to
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold i ...
. On 4 May 2017, it was announced that the group's next album, ''Pop Voodoo'' would be released on 7 July. On the same day, "Everything You Know Is Wrong" was released. The album was eventually released on 4 August. '' Louder Than War'' listed the album as one of its top 100 albums of 2017, placing it high at #23. In September 2021, Black Grape went on the road to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album - originally planned for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic saw the original shows rescheduled


Discography


Studio albums


Singles


Promotional singles

* 1997 - "Dadi Waz a Badi"


Film

* ''The Grape Tapes'' (1997)


References


External links

*
Allmusic referenceNME report on Black Grape Reforming Black Grape Discography in Discogs
{{Authority control Alternative dance musical groups English dance music groups English rock music groups Madchester groups Britpop groups Music in Salford Musical groups from Greater Manchester Musical groups established in 1993 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical groups reestablished in 2010 Musical groups reestablished in 2015 1993 establishments in England