Happy Mondays blame Bez for their lack of success in America.
The ‘Loose Fit’ hitmakers don’t feel the US celebrates the “underdog” in the way the UK does and their maracas-shaking dancer wasn’t “choreographed” or professional enough for them to understand his appeal.
Speaking to Apple Music, frontman Shaun Ryder said: “A big majority of American places where we played did not get Bez.
“We’re all big on the underdog. We’re the underdog nation.
“The Americans like winners, professionalism. So they didn’t get him and it was like, ‘What’s this motherf***** doing man? He’s not choreographed. It annoyed them.’ “
Despite 1990’s ‘Step On’ being the band’s biggest hit, the 62-year-old singer admitted he was reluctant to even record the group’s take on John Kongos’ 1971 single ‘He’s Gonna Step on You Again’.
He said: “Our record label in the United States of America was Elektra Records and Elektra were coming up to their 25th anniversary.
“They were getting all their new artists to record songs from the previous generation of artists.
“They sent us a C90 tape and about the fourth track on it was John Kongos’ ‘Step On’. I couldn’t be bothered listening to the full C90 and just went, ‘We’ll do that one’.”
Producer Paul Oakenfold turned the cover into a huge hit, but Shaun’s request for royalties after adding lyrics including the iconic line, ‘You’re twisting my melon, man’, was turned down.
He said: “They wouldn’t have it.”
The singer revealed the lyric was “robbed” from a documentary about cinema legend Steve McQueen.
He said: “When I was a little kid, he was in great movies.
“In a documentary, either a manager or one of the studio execs was telling a story where McQueen’s gone in, started an argument with the movie exec and the movie execs gave him a load of c*** back.
“So McQueen’s gone in, ‘You’re twisting my melon man, you talk so weird.’ And then walked off.”