Fans of the legendary Manchester band Happy Mondays are just discovering that one of their biggest hits is actually a cover. Fans of the Bez and Shaun Ryder version were stumped after finding out the original had made history years before the band covered it. The track, which has since been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, was already a hit more than 20 years before the Mondays got their hands on it.
The original tune, released in May 1971, reached number four in the UK charts and is still recognised as one of the first songs to use a sample. Sampling involves taking existing audio recordings and incorporating them into new compositions, a technique used by artists like Daft Punk, Kanye West, and James Brown.
Despite its legendary status, however, some fans were surprised to learn that the Happy Mondays' rendition of the hit track wasn't an original piece. The song, featured on their third studio album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, wasn't penned by the 'Mondays as initially thought.
Instead, Ryder and Bez covered a song by John Kongos, giving them one of their most significant hits to date. He's Gonna Step on You Again, the song from Kongos' self-titled album, sampled a tape loop of African drumming and made history for the Fly Records label.
Happy Mondays' Step On reached number five in the charts and became the band's best-selling single. Fans are only now realising the song is a cover, with one shocked fan saying the information has "twisted my melon man" in reference to one of the song's most iconic lyrics.
