Manchester has pumped out more of my favorite music than just about anywhere else, and the whole baggy/Madchester/indie dance craze circa 1990 was a particular highlight. It didn't make much of a dent in America, except for the first Stone Roses album and this song. It's laid back and sloppy in a good way, and the perfect antidote to the fussiness and precision of bands like the Smiths before them and Oasis after.
The video is a mess, a cobbled-together exploitation of the sudden and unexpected success of the single in America. It's mostly just Shaun Ryder miming the words on the roof of a hotel in L.A., with the rest of the band standing around waiting for it all to be over so they can go drop some Ecstasy and cruise the Sunset Strip. They couldn't have spent more than an hour on the whole thing. Still, there's a shambolic charm to it that suits the relaxed appeal of the music pretty well. It's a snapshot of some unwashed, uneducated British stoners having the time of their lives, taking it all in before the sun sets on the Hollywood Hills and their brief moment in time as international pop stars.
Stop The Occupation.
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