It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah
1995Radioactive Records
Number one album. Reverend Black Grape is one of the great British alternative singles.
Black Grape
All Artists
Alternative Rock / Indie Dance
Black Grape
Reverend Black Grape is one of the great British alternative singles of the 1990s. Shaun Ryder's second act was as good as his first.
Manchester, EnglandFormed 1993Active
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Biography
Black Grape
Black Grape formed in Manchester in 1993, Shaun Ryder and Kermit (Paul Leveridge) developing a sound that drew on the Madchester scene but had a harder, more confrontational edge. They signed to Radioactive Records and released their debut album 'It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah' (1995) — one of the most acclaimed British debuts of the year.
'Reverend Black Grape', 'In the Name of the Father', and 'Kelly's Heroes' were all excellent singles. The album reached number one. Ryder's lyrics — surreal, funny, and possessed of a genuine street-level intelligence — were as sharp as anything he had written with the Happy Mondays. The album's energy and invention were extraordinary.
Black Grape released one further album — 'Stupid Stupid Stupid' (1997) — before disbanding. They reformed in 2010 and have continued to perform. Ryder remains one of the most distinctive voices in British music.
My Take
New Year's Eve 1995, at the Point in Dublin, on my first trip over. I was there for Black Grape, one of my favourite bands at the time, with Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays out front. They were opening for a band I didn't know much about: The Prodigy. Then the late Keith Flint came out on his hands and knees like a dog, with that crazy haircut, and I knew I was in for a night of the unexpected. The Prodigy didn't let the audience down.
Discography
The Albums
Stupid Stupid Stupid
1997Radioactive Records
Get Higher and Squeaky is a career highlight.
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