The headline of NME's story is Shaun Ryder Reforms Black Grape.  Which is fine, but what I found interesting is, "[the reunion] will coincide with the release of a Shaun Ryder greatest hits album".  What the?  I'm not a walking music encyclopedia but this is the first time that I heard of a singer of two bands releasing a greatest hits collection.  I tried using my google-fu to get more information about this release but didn't find anything substantial.  In any case, it should be interesting to see the tracklisting when it comes out.

BB's got all the deets, including this quote from S. Ryder regarding the album's potential release date: *"Knowing us, it'll probably come out in about two years time. I mean, the other one, we had that in the can for, what, two years before that got released, because of legal problems. It took us eight or nine years to sort out all that."*  - Source

Happy Mondays' dancer Bez has been declared bankrupt for the second time, it has emerged. - Source

What a day for news for old school folks like us.

First up... We already know that the HAPPY MONDAYS are reforming for select dates this spring/summer, including this year's Coachella Festival in Indio, CA. What we were NOT expecting was today's exciting news, which is that the Mondays have recorded a NEW ALBUM. That's right, there will be a spankin' new Happy Mondays record later this year. The band have inked an international deal with Sanctuary Records.

Even MORE intriguing is the lineup for this weekend's Versus Cancer charity fundraiser this weekend in Manchester. The show, organized by The Smiths' Andy Rourke, is promising surprises by the truckload... what we DO know is that the headliners are nothing to sniff at: a "semi-acoustic" set from Noel Gallagher, The Charlatans, Echo and the Bunnymen, Bernard Butler, David McAlmont, and the biggest gig thus far from the Electric Milk Band (which features Gaz from the Mondays alongside Oasis original member Bonehead!)

Sound good, eh? Well, there's more. Festival insiders are not only confirming that New Order's Peter Hook will be joining Echo and the Bunnymen onstage, they are ALSO confirming that estranged Stone Roses' Mani and Ian Brown will be performing together. Add to that a finale being described as mind-blowing... Roses reunion? Or a monster Charlatans-Oasis-Roses mega-jam? Either way, it'll be one hell of a gig...

With the announcement of the Coachella line-up comes the annual Intriguing Reunion Rumors. Yes, HAPPY MONDAYS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN are reuniting to play the fest... but right now, there is nothing to indicate that those gigs will be anything other than one-off reunions (but what a reunion it'll be!)

On the OTHER hand, though, one of the bands that drew our attention on the Coachella line-up was CROWDED HOUSE, who split up several years ago, and, with the death of drummer Paul Hester, seemed unlikely to regroup. Well, we can confirm via official press release that the House is BACK. They're NOT just reuniting for Coachella. The band will embark on a year-long reunion world tour in 2007... and that's not all. Sources are now cofirming that the Neil Finn album that's being recorded now is, in fact, a full-on Crowded House reunion record. Auditions will be held for a replacement for Hester, but it's official that Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, and Mark Hart will all be participating in the reunion album AND tour. THAT's some good news.

I can't think of odder music news of late than a story that appeared in The Guardian some weeks ago regarding Easter plans in Manchester...

"The BBC plans to mark the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this Easter with an hour-long live procession through the streets of Manchester featuring pop stars from The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and featuring songs by The Smiths and New Order.

In the programme, called Manchester Passion, a character representing Jesus will sing the legendary Joy Division anthem Love Will Tear Us Apart before dueting his arch-betrayer Judas on the New Order hit Blue Monday, according to senior church sources involved in the production.
..."

No, I am not making this up. The Guardian is not playing a practical joke on the interweb. I'm not sure I could make up a story this bizarre. The Church of England, BBC and Bez celebrating Easter in the street of Manchester with an actor dressed up as Jesus singing "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now." Uhhhhh....

SHAUN RYDER has secretly finished a solo record in Australia, that should be seeing the light of day shortly...

A bit of a cheery update on the future of the HAPPY MONDAYS. As we reported yesterday, the band's set at last weekend's Glastonbury Festival was a bit tumultuous, and ended with frontman Shaun Ryder storming off-stage not once, but twice. Many news reports came out yesterday claiming that the recently reformed band was about to split due to internal strife. Well, Excellent Online can officially reveal that this is NOT the case.

A few tidbits from this weekend's Glastonbury Festival: Excellent Online's scouts in the crowd tell us that the HAPPY MONDAYS set this weekend descended into chaos. Early interviews with Bez showed the less-than-straight vibes-man staggering around and slurring words.

In true old school fashion, Shaun Ryder told the NME today that there will be no further HAPPY MONDAYS releases, citing his hatred for the rest of the band. The reformed Mondays, who co-headline next weekend's Glastonbury Festival, were previously thought to be working on an album of all-new material, but according to Ryder, this is not to be.