Music of our youth still remains special many decades later

I HAD to chuckle reading the Tele’s interview with Shaun Ryder ahead of his gig at the Caird Hall.

The Happy Mondays frontman said he was “pretty sure” he had been in Dundee before — but can’t remember for definite. It’s little wonder given how hard he hit the party scene, embodying the “Madchester” scene — the explosion of brilliant bands from Manchester which hit the charts in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

When I read the band were celebrating 30 years since the launch of their debut album, I did a double take.

Three decades since I discovered the Happy Mondays? I thought they were the best band in the world as I listened to their songs on repeat for weeks on end in my bedroom. Mum thought she’d never heard anything worse.

I would pretend to be Shaun in the school playground, hands behind my back, singing upwards into an imaginary mic — while my pal Sarah-Jane skipped around me with made-up maracas playing the role of Bez.

As a kid, I’d watch the older generation go all misty-eyed when a song from the ’60s came on the radio, belting out the lyrics, coming alive as they relived a feeling of euphoria from their youth.

Now, I get it. I’ll flick on to radio stations that play only ’90s songs, transported to a school disco when Paisley pattern shirts, suede waistcoats and baggy jeans were all the rage. I thought it would be just the thing to dress as Lady Miss Kier from Deee-Lite, in plastic hot pants and platforms. I didn’t get too many dances at that disco.

If you’re in your thirties or forties maybe you’re with me — whether your thing was En Vogue, The Smiths, Happy Mondays, The Charlatans or Primal Scream.

Maybe it wasn’t the best music. But to us it was — and still is — so special.

It feels like only a few years ago that I was Shaun-dancing and Snoop Dog rapping as I drove mum’s car along the Esplanade as a new driver. I remember the registration plate, every word of the album and hoping the boy I liked would drive past. Surely it can’t have been decades ago? But don’t we all feel like that? Where did the time go? Whether Sinatra, Elvis, Motown or Brit Pop, whatever the era that was dear to you — that age teetering on the brink of adulthood, wasn’t it just magic?

Terrifying in equal measure, I grant you, but discovering the power of music was life-changing.

To everyone going on Friday, enjoy the nostalgia of Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches (the name of a Happy Mondays album).

Shaun says there are no longer any pills involved. But with characters like him and Bez, I’d put money on there being plenty of belly laughs and thrills too.