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Black Grape were a 1990s rock band from England, featuring former members of Happy Mondays. The...

Black Grape were a 1990s rock band from England, featuring former members of Happy Mondays. The group's music was funky and eclectic, using varied instrumentation and samples. Frontman Shaun Ryder's lyrics seemed to be derived mainly from nonsense rhymes and humorous catch phrases. The band was formed in 1993 by former Happy Mondays members Shaun Ryder and Bez. It was Ryder's first musical project after the disintegration of Happy Mondays due both to his multiple drug addictions and to disagreements about revenues with other bandmembers. It formation of the new band was intended to draw a line between his past life and his new one. Ryder and Bez recruited rappers Kermit and Psycho, drummer Jed Lynch, and guitarist Wags (formerly of the Manchester-based group the Paris Angels). Recording of new material started that year, although the group was not under contract. In 1995 Black Grape was signed by Radioactive Records (an imprint of major label BMG) and released its debut album It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah. It immediately charted at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and spawned three Top Twenty singles. The first single "Reverend Black Grape" managed to outsell the Happy