Bez and maracas, freaky dancin' at T in the Park.

Mark Berry, commonly known as Bez or "Marky Mark" (and occasionally credited [1] as Bez "Bez" Bez) (born April 18, 1964, the son of a police Detective Inspector), is a British dancer and percussionist. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... A percussion instrument can be any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. ...

He was a member and the mascot of Manchester band Happy Mondays (having been invited in by lead singer Shaun Ryder shortly after the band was formed). He is chiefly remembered for his bizarre style of dancing, and use of the maracas - the Mondays' second single was called "Freaky Dancin'" in tribute. He is considered to be an icon by many. 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-mate Shaun Ryder, but he left in 1996 over artistic differences. When both faced large tax bills, the two reconciled and reformed the Happy Mondays in 1998, but the reformed band was short-lived. A mascot, originally a fetish-like term for any person, animal, or thing supposed to bring luck, is now something—typically an animal or human character—used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team (the name often corresponds with the mascot... Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough within Greater Manchester in North West England. ... Happy Mondays are an alternative rock band formed in Salford, Greater Manchester, England in 1985. ... Shaun Ryder (aka X) (born Shaun William Ryder on August 23, 1962, in Little Hulton, Salford, Greater Manchester) is an English singer and songwriter and an ex postman who became famous in the Madchester era band Happy Mondays. ... Maracas (sometimes called rhumba shakers) are simple percussion instruments (idiophones), usually played in pairs, consisting of a dried gourd shell (cuia - kOO-ya) or coconut shell filled with seeds or dried beans. ... Black Grape was a rock and roll band from the UK, formed in 1993 by former members of The Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder and Bez. ... Shaun Ryder (aka X) (born Shaun William Ryder on August 23, 1962, in Little Hulton, Salford, Greater Manchester) is an English singer and songwriter and an ex postman who became famous in the Madchester era band Happy Mondays. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A tax (also known as a duty) is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (e. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

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 used some of his winnings to improve the engine of his London Black Cab. So '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. Macmillan is a global publishing firm founded in 1843 by Daniel and Alexander Macmillan, two brothers from the Isle of Arran, Scotland. ... Celebrity Big Brother is a British TV reality show shown on Channel Four in which a number of celebrity contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize being donated to the winners nominated charity... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Pimp My Ride is a TV show produced by MTV. Each episode consists of taking one car in poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it. ...

Bez now co-fronts his new band, Domino Bones, with Monica Ward. On guitar is Wags of Black Grape fame with Rob from the Boo Radleys on drums and the Bodines Winker on bass. Their single "Rattle My Head" was produced and guested on by Shaun Ryder. They were the first unsigned band to be shown on and supported by VH2 and MTV2. Black Grape was a rock and roll band from the UK, formed in 1993 by former members of The Happy Mondays, Shaun Ryder and Bez. ... The Boo Radleys were a British guitar band of the 1990s who made experimental indie music, and were briefly associated with the Britpop movement. ... The Bodines were a British rock group from the mid- to late-1980s. ... Shaun Ryder (aka X) (born Shaun William Ryder on August 23, 1962, in Little Hulton, Salford, Greater Manchester) is an English singer and songwriter and an ex postman who became famous in the Madchester era band Happy Mondays. ...

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 of Chas Smash of Madness, Andrew Ridgely of Wham!, Paul Morley of Art of Noise, Linda McCartney of Wings, and Paul Rutherford of Frankie Goes To Hollywood. The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a weekly magazine about popular music published in the UK. It is unlike many other popular music magazines due to its intended focus on guitar-based music and indie rock bands, instead of mainstream pop acts. ... Chas Smash Chas Smash (born Cathal Joseph Patrick Smyth on January 14, 1959), earlier known as Carl Smyth is a British musician, best known as a backing singer and dancer of the second wave ska band Madness. ... Madness are an English pop band that formed in 1976. ... Andrew Ridgeley (born Bushey, Hertfordshire England on January 26, 1963) was a British pop singer who formed the pop duo Wham! with his friend George Michael whom he met when they both attended Bushey Meads school. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Paul Morley Paul Morley (born March 26, 1957 in Stockport, Cheshire) is an English music journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful and relatively notorious periods, and has since written for a wide number of publications. ... The Art of Noise was a pop group formed in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, music journalist Paul Morley, and session musicians/studio hands Anne Dudley, J.J. Jeczalik, and Gary Langan. ... McCartney on the cover of her 1998 album, Wide Prairie Linda Louise, Lady McCartney (September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, animal rights activist. ... Wings was a rock music band led by Paul McCartney, formed a couple of years after the dissolution of The Beatles. ... Paul Rutherford (born December 8, 1959 in Liverpool, England) was the backing vocalist and dancer with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes To Hollywood (FGTH), one of the groups two openly gay singers. ... Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH) was one of the most controversial and commercially successful UK new wave acts of the early 1980s. ...

Bez currently lives next to Shaun Ryder in Padfield, Derbyshire. He currently is promoting a compilation album called Bez's Madchester Anthems. Shaun Ryder (aka X) (born Shaun William Ryder on August 23, 1962, in Little Hulton, Salford, Greater Manchester) is an English singer and songwriter and an ex postman who became famous in the Madchester era band Happy Mondays. ... Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. ...

External links

• Official Domino Bones site
• Unofficial fan site of Happy Mondays