1992 in Albums: Yes Please!, by Happy Mondays

The album that killed Factory Records

If you’ve read Tony Wilson’s autobiography, 24 Hour Party People, or if you’ve seen the movie adaptation with Steve Coogan, then you probably know the basics of the Yes Please! fiasco.

Factory Records were bleeding cash due to Wilson not being a very good businessman. Their last slim hope of survival came down to their two biggest acts, New Order and Happy Mondays, and the hope that one of them might have another hit record.

Shaun and Paul (RIP) Ryder were struggling with heroin addiction at the time, and utterly unable to make music. But then, someone had a bright idea of shipping the band out to Barbados, which was supposed to be heroin-free.

And they were right, Barbados didn’t have heroin. But it did have a ton of crack cocaine, and the Ryders immediately devoted themselves to smoking rock full-time. They smoked until the Factory money ran out, and then sold bits of Eddy Grant’s studio to pay for more crack.

Tina Weymouth — who produced Yes Please! with her husband and Talking Heads colleague Chris Frantz — said of the Ryders: “I grew up in New York in the 1970s, and I’ve seen a lot of people who live life on the edge, but I’ve never before seen a group of people who had no idea where the edge is.”