‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’: the Happy Mondays album that captured Madchester celebrates its 30th anniversary
Pills 'n' Thrills, released 30 years ago today, is regarded as the perfect soundtrack to the Madchester zeitgeist - a record that bottled the sound of a scene spreading across the world.
If you could journey back to 5 November 1990 and warn all those people buying copies of Happy Mondays’ third album that nightclubs wouldn’t exist in thirty years’ time.
Just picture it.
You’d send their bucket hats tumbling to the ground as they keeled over with laughter.
November ’90 was a time when the age of Madchester was at its zenith. The closure of nightclubs wouldn’t just sound absurd. It would seem impossible.
Back then, it felt like the party was never going to stop.
Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches – released 30 years ago today – is considered to be the definitive soundtrack to the Madchester zeitgeist; a record that bottled the sound of a scene spreading out from within the hazard-coloured walls of the Hacienda.
Over the course of ten hedonistic dance tracks, the Happy Mondays take listeners on a vivid tour of that sodden-shirted, wild-eyed nocturnal world… a place where all the worries of the preceding week were zapped away by ecstasy and strobe lights on a Saturday night.
Three decades down the line, clubbing and gigging have been reduced from weekend adventures to distant memories. Right now, they’re a non-entity – and we don’t know when we’re going to get them back.
So, Pills ‘n’ Thrills’ 30th birthday arrives at the perfect time.
The record is the closest thing we have to a time portal into Madchester. And on a day where the country enters another lockdown, a window into another world has never been more welcome.
Wikimedia Commons
At the turn of the 90s, Happy Mondays had come to represent the twisted, giddy faces of the rave movement sweeping the nation.
Fronted by local rascal Shaun Ryder – alongside bassist brother Paul, iconic percussionist Bez, drummer Gary Whelan, guitarist Mark Day, keyboard player Paul Davis, and vocalist Rowetta – the group were an instrumental and noisy cog in the Factory Records music machine.
By November, the band already had two studio releases (including Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) and Bummed) under their belts and had headlined Glastonbury.
The hype for their third studio release, Pills ‘n’ Thrills, was huge; arriving when the entire planet was gawping at a city where everyone seemed to be dancing – even the inmates at Strangeways Prison.
This was the crest of a wave; the peak of the high; the crescendo before the drop… and Pills ‘n’ Thrills captured it perfectly.
By this point, The Mondays were in a mood to push some boundaries, crank the volume and bust out some of their biggest shapes.
They drafted in Paul Oakenfold as a collaborator for the record – after the DJ had added a clean, crisp jangle and thumping bassline to their track ‘Hallelujah’ (remixing it into a more famous and popular version than the original).
Oakenfold’s production helped to steer the Mondays into sparkly electronic territory that made Pills ‘n’ Thrills such a perfect partner for the clubs – coinciding seamlessly with the rise of drug-fuelled euphoria across the region.
It’s been re-released, polished, and expanded in the years since, but the original version of Pills ‘n’ Thrills was made up of just a handful of tracks – all buoyed by delirious piano, joyful guitar, breathy maracas, nasally vocals and the distant sound of chopped-and-screwed classics (John Kongos, Change and LaBelle are all sampled).
Slurring atop of each song are Ryder’s impudent lyrics – which echo the kind of conversation you might find in someone intoxicated to the point where their social filter has fallen away.
His verses are an arresting mixture of bullying boasts (“I’m here to harass you, I want your pills and your grass you”), puppyish enthusiasm for partying (“now that we live together we both get fucked up”), obnoxious jibes (“son, I’m 30, I only went with your mother ’cause she’s dirty”), and unintelligible nonsense (“hey rainmaker, come away from that man”).
43 minutes of kaleidoscopic mayhem, Pills ‘n’ Thrills is packed wall-to-wall with smash hits that still enjoy airplay today – including ‘Kinky Afro’, ‘Step On’, and ‘Loose Fit’. But another reason the record is so beloved is because of what it represents.
For many, Pills ‘n’ Thrills is the sound of when they were young, free and single – with flat stomachs, full heads of hair, hopes and dreams.
But that never lasts. And in hindsight, the record’s abrupt conclusion hinted at the comedown on the horizon.
The closer, ‘Harmony’, brings things to a fitting screeching halt – sound like an authority figure had raided the studio and literally yanked the plug from the socket.
Madchester fell into decline soon after that.
Wikipedia
Two years following the release of Pills ‘n’ Thrills, the host of the party, Factory Records, went bust.
The critical and commercial failure of The Mondays’ fourth record, Yes Please! shouldered a large portion of the blame – with the band apparently spending most of the recording process taking drugs instead of making music.
Without its major label and flagship group, Madchester had no vessel for its vibe. Within a few years, the Hacienda was gone, too.
Still, the sound of the city enjoying its biggest ever party in November 1990 will always remain within reach. All you need to do is hit play on Pills ‘n’ Thrills.
When nightclubs and live gigs eventually return, we’ll have a big historic moment and new anniversary to celebrate.
But for now, it’s forgivable to yearn for those Happy-er Mondays.
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Manchester crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been crowned one of the world’s best cities for music lovers, even beating out New York along the way.
If there’s one thing Manchester is known and loved for over anything else, it’s music.
From Oasis and Joy Division, to Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The 1975, and even more modern-day acts, there’s no end to the amount of talented artists this city has produced or been home to over the years, all contributing to Manchester being one of the most prestigious music cities there is.
The city’s live music scene has always been thriving, and that continues right through to this very day, as you’ll see big-name musicians including Manchester as a destination in their UK tour schedules more often than not.
This summer is all set to be a sensational celebration of sound, as not only is an immersive art trail, Music for the Senses, taking over the city from this week, but this year’s annual Manchester Day will be music-themed too, marking one of the biggest years for Manchester music in a long time.
Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers / Credit: Manchester City Council | Eldhose Kuryian (via Unsplash)
Oh, and there’s also the small matter of Oasis reforming for a UK tour, including a run of gigs at Heaton Park this month.
So it’s no surprise that Manchester has been named one of the best cities in the world for music lovers, especially as the IFPI Global Music Report has revealed that the UK has the third largest music market globally – with the music industry’s contribution to the UK economy being £6.7 billion on average.
Taking this recent report into consideration, the experts over at SeatPick have collated data to uncover the best UK cities for music lovers, analysing factors such as the number of concerts, homegrown talents, music businesses, and the total number of music venues, to reveal each city’s overall music score out of 10.
Coming in at second place with a music scene score of 8.97/10 is Manchester.
2025 is all set to be a sensational summer of sound in our city / Credit: Supplied
“Manchester remains one of the UK’s most iconic music cities and with 1,204 concerts between 2025-2026, 116 live music venues, and 380 homegrown acts, the city’s live music offering is as strong as ever,” SeatPick said of its findings.
“2025 is shaping up to be a historic year for Manchester, with Oasis reuniting for the first time in over a decade, with a massive comeback show at Heaton Park – the very spot where they played their last hometown gig in 2009.”
While Manchester may have missed out on the UK’s top spot, with that title going to London, in the global rankings, our city has claimed an impressive sixth place, beating out New York’s influential music scene.
Liverpool and Leeds are two of the other northern cities in the UK’s top 10, taking fifth and sixth place respectively.
“Cities which have a larger number of music businesses are key in creating the perfect city for music fans, as this impacts the city’s cultural, economic, and social vibrancy,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO of SeatPick.
“A thriving music scene within a city means it can provide more artistic expression, support a wider range of genres, and enrich the cultural landscape, as well as attracting creative talent.”
Featured Image – Alex Bracken (via Unsplash)
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British rock and mod icon Paul Weller stars in advert for new Oasis x Bohemians football kit
Danny Jones
The music and football shirt crossovers just keep coming thick and fast – and that’s just Oasis alone, as Bohemians FC have released a new collaboration with the legendary Britpop band, looping in none other than Paul Weller for the grand unveiling.
Bohemians share a strong connection with the Gallagher brothers due to their Irish roots, as do Manchester and the ‘Emerald Isle’ in general.
However, it doesn’t get much bigger than Oasis and with the Live ’25 reunion shows now just days away (we can hardly believe it either), Bohemians have decided to hop on the bandwagon too and steal some of that ‘band with the three stripes’ buzz for themselves.
Not to be too keen, but can we have 10 of them, please?…
Is this another instant hit? We’d say so, yeah.
Shot by Jamie Goldrick to the sound of cult favourite Definitely Maybe track, ‘Married with Children’, the Oasis x Bohemians kit reveal video was filmed at Cross Guns Snooker Hall: the oldest snooker club in Dublin City, which still remains an important community cornerstone.
As well as starring UK rock and mod culture icon, Paul Weller, perhaps the best bit about the FAI Cup shirt and this whole partnership is the charitable element behind it.
Just like with their Fontaines shirt, which helped supply medical aid across Palestine, the limited edition jersey will help generate crucial money for two key causes.
The first of which is the domestic non-profit organisation, Music Generation Ireland, the country’s national music education programme, which helps children and young people access vocal and instrumental tuition locally.
Secondly, funds will also be diverted to the Irish Community Care Manchester, located along Stockport Road in Levenshulme – further strengthening the mutual support between us Mancs and our cousins across the water.
You can get a close look at the Oasis x Bohemians kit design down below.
A closer look at our 2025 FAI Cup Shirt, a very special partnership with Oasis.
— Bohemian Football Club (@bfcdublin) July 1, 2025
The special edition and highly exclusive shirt is already available, with stock already disappearing rapidly thanks to Bohs die-hards, Oasis fans and footy kit connosieurs alike.
With the Burnage boys getting their seismic comeback shows underway with two nights at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff this Friday and Saturday (4-5 July), before heading for a double bill at Croke Park in Dublin this August, the excitement across the globe is already palpable.
Every single teaser trailer and social media post sends fans bananas, and god knows what the scenes are going to be like when they finally head to Heaton Park for the run of five homecoming nights.