There was no lack of media interest in the post-Happy Mondays pursuits of singer Shaun Ryder (b. 23 August 1962) and "dancer" Bez (b. Mark Berry). However, save for a solitary guest appearance with Intastella, by the end of 1994 it appeared that Ryder had lost his muse permanently. The ecstatic reviews that greeted Black Grape's debut album, It's Great When You're Straight, Yeah!, soon silenced such doubts. However, the germination of Black Grape had apparently occurred only weeks after the dissolution of the Happy Mondays, with demo recordings conducted in Ryder's bedroom. The band he put together was initially named simply the Mondays, and included Kermit (b. Paul Leveridge), a veteran of Manchester hip-hop act Ruthless Rap Assassins, plus ex-Paris Angels guitarist "Wags" (b. Paul Wagstaff), second guitarist Craig Gannon (ex-Smiths) and Martin Smith of Intastella. However, by the time Black Grape had taken their new name and moved to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record their debut album, both Smith and Gannon had departed, to be replaced by Cypress Hill collaborator Danny Saber, who took on a co-writing role, Ged Lynch (drums) and Stephen Lironi (ex-Altered Images, songwriter to Rose Royce, among others, and husband of Clare Grogan).
The title of the album partly expressed Ryder's decision to turn away from hard drug abuse, and this was indeed a comparatively sober effort given the artist's past reputation. However, his much-publicized "cut-up" lyrics were present, along with his trademark scat coupling of meaningless phrases used primarily for their phonetic value. The real plus, however, came in the contribution of Kermit, whose growling raps balanced the slurring Ryder delivery perfectly. The band was rewarded with a UK number 1 album, which also figured as one of the albums of the year among a number of respected rock critics. During an eventful 1996, the band toured regularly and lost the services of dancer Bez, while Kermit announced his own side-project, Man Made, in early 1997. With new vocalist Carl "Psycho" McCarthy on board, the long-awaited Stupid, Stupid, Stupid was released to mixed reviews, although there was no denying the lyrical verve of Ryder on tracks such as "Dadi Waz A Badi" and "Squeaky". Soon afterwards, both Kermit and Psycho left, reducing the band to the duo of Ryder and Saber, and the inevitable split followed. Ryder re-formed the Happy Mondays in 1999, while Kermit went on to record with Big Dog.
