Released on 5 November 1990 "Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches" was the 3rd., studio album by the English rock band Happy Mondays. Disc jockey Paul Oakenfold and collaborator Steve Osborne were previously enlisted by the band for remixes. The success of these led to the pair producing "Step On", a cover of the John Kongos song, for Happy Mondays. The album also spawned the singles "Kinky Afro, "Loose Fit" & "Bob's Yer Uncle".
The band went on a tour of the United States, and by the end of which, had started recording their next album with Oakenfold and Osborne at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, California. They returned to the United Kingdom, where further recording took place at Eden Studios in London until September 1990.
Described as a Madchester album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches saw substantial input from Oakenfold and Osborne, with the former making loops while the latter handled song arrangements. The release of Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was aided by a distribution and licensing deal between Factory Records and major label London Recordings.
The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, several of whom considered it the band's creative peak. It peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, as well as charting in Austria, New Zealand, and Sweden. The album went on to sell 400,000 copies in the UK, where it was certified platinum. "Step On" reached the top five in the UK (where it would be certified gold) and appeared on several Billboard charts in the US. "Kinky Afro" had similar success, also reaching the top five in the UK (where it would be certified silver). "Loose Fit" charted in the UK top 20; "Bob's Yer Uncle" peaked within the top 30 on two US charts.
Oakenfold and Osborne were enlisted again to create remixes, which were successful commercially and critically. Around this time, the band appeared on Top of the Pops with the Stone Roses, which acted as a catalyst for the Madchester scene. Relationships between band members became strained, while manager Nathan McGough spent more time partying than assisting them. Frontman Shaun Ryder was especially disconnected from the others, using heroin as a crutch. In February 1990, Happy Mondays' label in the United States, Elektra Records, picked them to contribute a cover for a 40th anniversary compilation album. Happy Mondays initially considered doing a Tom Waits track, until someone suggested John Kongos; they recorded Kongos' "He's Gonna Step on You Again" (1971) at Eden Studios in London. At the suggestion of McGough, Oakenfold and Osborne produced the song, marking the first time either of them did so.
Oakenfold and Osborne added vocals from session vocalist Rowetta, who had met McGough some weeks earlier at the Haçienda in Manchester. As the band thought their cover would be wasted on the Elektra compilation, they gave the label a rendition of another Kongos song, "Tokoloshe Man" (1971). In March 1990, they embarked on a tour of mainland Europe, leading into two headlining shows at the GMEX Centre in Manchester. The band's version of Kongos' track, shortened to "Step On", was released as a single on 26 March 1990. The song's music video was filmed while in Barcelona on the roof of a hotel with directors the Bailey Brothers. The band set up in a rehearsal room in Stretford to write material for their next album.
Due to the success of "Step On", Oakenfold and Osborne had been earmarked to produce Happy Mondays' next release sometime prior. Elektra and Factory Records, the band's UK label, booked the band to record at Capitol Studios. Upon entering it, the band had a week's time to record the seven new songs they had; they convinced both labels to extend recording by three weeks. Oakenfold and Osborne sorted through the various demos the band had given the pair, picking the ones that would work well and those that would not.
As the band would hang out with Mancunian and Liverpudlian people from acid house club nights in the area, the strained relationships were sedated. They stayed at the Oakwood Apartments with their girlfriends and wives. Recording started on 23 July 1990; the sessions would begin at midday and conclude by midnight, lasting for six days per week, with engineer Ray Blair and studio assistant Cameron. Bassist Paul Ryder and drummer Gary Whelan would record their parts together, while the others would record theirs separately to avoid cabin fever. The first track they recorded was "Kinky Afro", with bass and drums that Osborne laboured over to get a certain baggy sound. Whelan would often record drum loops and record new parts on top of them. A similar instance saw Whelan play over loops that Oakenfold made by scratching his records on "God's Cop". Due to band member Bez's lacklustre skills as a percussionist, session musician Tony Castro was brought in by Blair to contribute to "Loose Fit" and "Bob's Yer Uncle".
Spurred on by the laidback nature of the sessions, the band attempted a cover of "Everybody's Talkin'" (1966) by Fred Neil. With the guidance of Oakenfold, they kept the feel of the song while scrapping everything else, eventually causing the band to write "Bob's Yer Uncle". Shaun Ryder would attempt to get out of recording vocals frequently, claiming he was not in the right mood. Osborne had to talk him into the idea. As Osbourne learned from working on "Step On", Ryder was "not somebody who is a super-confident vocalist. Ryder would subsequently only do vocals when Osborne was in the control room, aside from the occasional visit from Whelan. Factory founder Tony Wilson visited the band, fearing they would have spent the entirety of recording partying instead of working. Upon hearing a version of "Bob's Yer Uncle", he exclaimed that the band's next release would be "one of the great British albums of the age". The band flew home on 25 August 1990; one-by-one, each member did further work on the songs at Eden Studios, where Rowetta did guest vocals. Recording concluded by September 1990; Oakenfold and Osborne mixed the final tracks with assistant engineer Dave Burnham.
Musically, the sound of Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches has been described as Madchester. Shaun Ryder said the band wanted a "mature, a rock classic title, but we thought fuck it, just give it something that everyone's expecting". Oakenfold and Osborne had more input into the music than other people would, as the band trusted them. Oakenfold said Osborne had a bigger role in the overall sound of the album due to being a multi-instrumentalist. The former focused on making loops, while the latter tackled song arrangements with synthesisers and keyboards. All of the songs' sound is buoyed by Paul Ryder's bass parts, which Osborne felt were important to the band's dynamic. He had a laissez-faire attitude to his performances, even letting Osborne play bass on one track. Osborne felt guitarist Mark Day's parts anchored a lot of the songs, often setting the tone for them.
Shaun Ryder wrote the lyrics to the songs while in his apartment in Los Angeles, fuelled by opium. The album opens with "Kinky Afro", an ode to fatherhood and Ryder's father, Derek. The song's music is partially influenced by Paul Ryder listening to Hot Chocolate, namely their song "Brother Louie". Shaun Ryder took one of its lines for "Kinky Afro"; despite comparisons to "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle, he claimed the song's vocal hook was taken from the film Die Hard . The song was initially called "Groovy Afro", but was changed after "Groovy Train" by the Farm was released sometime prior. "God's Cop" is inspired by James Anderton, the chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, who claimed God was speaking to him. It opens with a slide guitar part, leading into a delta blues riff that is heard throughout the rest of the track; it is backed by a drum loop of "Me Myself and I" by De La Soul. "Donovan", which musically retreads "Mad Cyril" from Bummed, was written after the band was listening to Donovan's back catalogue while touring the US.
"Loose Fit" was the result of jamming between Paul Ryder and Oakenfold; the song describes how one approaches life. In addition to this, some of the lyrics talk about the Gulf War and its events being reported on TV. "Grandbag's Funeral" is centred around a guitar riff, reminiscent of the one heard in "Diamond Dogs" by David Bowie. "Dennis and Lois" is named after a couple the band befriended upon visiting New York City for the first time. It includes a reference to The Profession of Violence by John Pearson, a book about the Kray twins. The music was influenced by "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder. "Bob's Yer Uncle" is about dirty talking during sex, the music of which was influenced by the theme song to Daktari, according to Ryder. It included a line from "Why Did You Do It?" by Stretch and samples a clarinet part from a Michael Nyman composition.
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