- Bez
.
Career
He is the son of a
police Detective Inspector . He was a member and themascot ofSalford bandHappy Mondays , having been invited in by lead singerShaun Ryder shortly after the band was formed. He is chiefly remembered for his bizarre style of dancing, and use of themaraca s - the Mondays' second single was called "Freaky Dancin'" in tribute. He is reputed to have a high tolerance for hallucinogenic drugs. When asked by a music journalist why he took so many drugs he replied simply, "because it's my job".After the Mondays broke up, Bez became a member of
Black Grape , a group founded by Mondays band-mateShaun Ryder , but he left in 1997 over artistic differences. In 1997 he had a feature on theBBC Two television programme "The Sunday Show " called "Science with Bez". When both faced largetax bills, he and Ryder reconciled and reformed the Happy Mondays in 1998, but the reformed band was short-lived.A book about his experiences in both bands, "Freaky Dancin"' (ISBN 0-330-48197-5), was published by
Pan MacMillan in 1998. He appeared on "Celebrity Big Brother" in the UK in 2005, in order to pay off his outstanding tax bills, and was voted as the winner of the series. He was formallybankrupt at the time under his real name. [LondonGazette|issue=57558|startpage=1814|notarchive=yes|date=14 February 2005 |accessdate=2007-11-19] [LondonGazette|issue=57694|startpage=8741|notarchive=yes|date=5 July 2005 |accessdate=2007-11-19] He used some of his winnings to improve the engine of his Londonblack cab . So the television show "Pimp My Ride UK" customised it to make it suit him. After it was 'pimped' it had twenty speakers, eight amps, two DVD players, fifteen TV screens and a camera on the grill linked to one of the screens, the sign saying 'TAXI' on the top was changed to 'PIMP', and it had purple paint on the outside.Bez now co-fronts his new band, Domino Bones, with Monica Ward. On guitar is Wags of
Black Grape fame with Rob from theBoo Radleys on drums and theBodines Winker on bass. Their single "Rattle My Head" was produced and guested on byShaun Ryder . They were the first unsigned band to be shown on and supported by VH2 and MTV2.The British popular music newspaper the
New Musical Express (NME) carried a series of articles about famous members of bands whose musical contribution to their bandmates' success was negligible. The newspaper used the name "Bez" as a generic label for the likes ofChas Smash of Madness,Andrew Ridgely ofWham! ,Paul Morley ofArt of Noise ,Linda McCartney of Wings, andPaul Rutherford ofFrankie Goes to Hollywood .Bez currently lives next to
Shaun Ryder inPadfield ,Derbyshire and was recently promoting a compilation album called "". The Happy Mondays have again reformed: this is the 3rd incarnation of the group and currently Bez is touring with them. On 2 July 2007 they released their first studio album in 15 years entitled "Uncle Dysfunktional ".On
4 September 2007 , Bez went head-to-head with royal correspondentJames Whitaker onITV television programme Don't Call Me Stupid and beat him. Bez and James taught each other about their respective specialist subjects: the Manchester music scene and royal etiquette, and then they were quizzed on what they had learnt. This was followed by a general knowledge round. Despite not knowing that the Queen has two birthdays, Bez still managed to win. His prize, as selected by James, was a bottle of posh red wine and a decanter so he didn't have to drink any cheap "poor person's" supermarket plonk.Bez was again declared bankrupt on
31 March 2008 . [LondonGazette|issue=58661|startpage=5367|notarchive=yes|date=8 April 2008 |accessdate=2008-04-17]He took part in Series 4 of
Adrenaline Junkie (aired on the 1st of October 2008 on ITV2), the tasks involved taking on the world's biggest bungee down the front of the dam which featured inGoldeneye , built his very own ice hotel in the mountains, and undertook a terrifying mid-air jump from one cable car to another.References
Footnotes
Notations
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4201715.stm BBC News - Bez Dances His Way To Win]
External links
*imdb|1171634|Bez
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