Review Revue: Happy Mondays - "Step On" (Single)

Despite the many, many hours in the late '80s and early '90s I spent immersing myself in the sounds of Manchester (both contemporary and historical), for some reason the Happy Mondays never really clicked with me. Maybe they were just a bit too fun and dancey for my mopey teenaged self, who knows. But it turns out this song, "Step On" (about which you may learn more from the 1990 KCMU staff than you ever thought there was to learn about a Happy Mondays song), is the one song that has come to mind for the past 20-plus years whenever I think of the Happy Mondays. I couldn't even sing the song to you, but as soon as I clicked play on it and heard the plinky piano and "you're twistin' my melon man," I felt the buzz of recognition. It's as if this were the only Happy Mondays song. And hey, if this release were the only one you'd seen by them, you might think it was the only Happy Mondays song.

"4 versions of the same song, but the groove just kicks! I can see why these guys are so big in the UK. Best mix - melon mix."

"This is fab. Way fab. Super fab. Pot me low tho."

"Their newest single, a remake/remodel of a 1971 hit called 'He's Gonna Step on You Again' by John Kongos (the original has just been reissued by Rhino on one of the Super Hits of the '70s volumes). It's another stonking [I would presume the writer meant to say 'stinking,' but there's no way to interpret this as an i rather than an o, so 'stonking' it is] indie/club piece from the Mondays."

"1.1 & 2.1 both have the plinkety-plonk piano common in many house numbers. 1.2 & 2.2 both focus in more on guitars, 1.2 being an instrumental. I'd say try 2.2 first. Very good."

"The Exploding White Mice used to cover this (2 bands in Oz released covers almost simultaneously in 1987 88). 2 of the 3 sucked, the Mice's was OK. Doesn't touch this. The song was supposed to be about apartheid."