Bez
|
|
Mark Berry, commonly known as Bez (born April 18 1964, the son of a police Detective Inspector), was the dancer, percussionist, and mascot of Manchester band The Happy Mondays. 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.
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 book about his experiences in both bands, Freaky Dancin' (ISBN 0330481975), 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.
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, Linda McCartney in Wings, and Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Paul Rutherford.