As a child, the singer loved to start fires. As an adult, he was barely less chaotic. He discusses Bez, charisma, ADHD, his new memoir \u2013 and why making music is great, even if the record industry will always screw you over<\/p>\n
There are thousands of pictures of Shaun Ryder and Bez in Happy Mondays, from the mid- to late 80s, that run the gamut from mashed to wrecked. They don\u2019t always look that cheerful, but when they do, they look insanely fun. In Ryder\u2019s new memoir, 24 Hour Party Person, he quotes a critic: \u201cThe poorly educated might just call [Bez] a dancer, but he\u2019s the proprietor of good times.\u201d What Bez did for the band, the band did for the era: just went way too far, in an absolutely magnetic way.<\/p>\n
Ryder, in a Novotel hotel to the west of Manchester, explains what drew the whole band together. \u201cWhen you are neurodiverse, you attract other people who are,\u201d he says. \u201cI would have said at the time we were all fucked-up loonies. I mean Bez [he launches into a spirited impression]: \u2018I\u2019m-not-fucking-neurodiverse\u2019\u2026 it\u2019s like, mate<\/em>. You are. \u2018I\u2019m fucking not.\u2019 Mate, you are<\/em>. The same with all of them. None of them have been tested and gone through the thing, but they are. All of them.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/d29d69fe7fd879f42eb36d863cf5dd0190721da1\/576_0_3040_2432\/master\/3040.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6680c2e4c6d0c36b61a6cc1a3107823a\" "\\"Shaun")
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