I was tempted, for the second successive time in this series, to offer some question marks with the heading.
Last time round (which was away back in March) it was The Seahorses on the basis that I’m not the slightest bit enamoured by debut single Love Is The Law. Today, it’s the turn of Happy Mondays. I reckon not even their most diehard fan would want to claim that the three tracks which can be found The Forty Five EP, released as FAC 129 back in 1985, are their most enduring, but I feel they all do have something about them which makes them worth a listen, albeit they give no indication of the sort of sounds that would later go on to sell in the millions.
Here’s the track which introduced them to an audience beyond the Greater Manchester fanbase:-
mp3: Happy Mondays – Delightful
And here’s the slightly lesser-known ‘filler’tracks:-
mp3: Happy Mondays – This Feeling
mp3: Happy Mondays – Oasis
You could be cruel and suggest that they are of their time and should be consigned along other similar era indie-landfill, some of which was actually put out by other bands on the roster of Factory Records. But I reckon that would be a very harsh judgement. The songs certainly do show there is potential waiting to be tapped into.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
Speaking of question marks, were Deee-Lite, The Feeling and the Gallagher brothers suitably inspired by the Monday’s debut single when it came to choosing a name for their own bands?
I like Delightful. It’s certainly better than most Mondays material post Pills & Thrills, anyway.
This is a great period piece and artefact even if they’d go on to do much better afterwards. The sleeve is brilliant, a definite poke in the eye for the classic Fact design of the previous years.
Cracking debut agreement. They were at their chaotic best with their first five singles/EPs and debut LP (for me, at least).