The Happy Mondays' huge 1990s hit "Step On" was a cover song. Here's the incredible original.

I dig the "Madchester" music scene that emerged in Manchester, England in the 1980s around bands like New Order, the Happy Mondays, and the Stone Roses along with Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub. In 1990, the Happy Mondays had a breakthrough hit with the psychedelic-R&B dance number "Step On" from their essential album Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches. (Listen below.) Somehow, I had no idea "Step On" was actually a cover of an absolutely killer Beat music song from 1971 called "He's Gonna Step on You Again" by South African musician John Kongos! Learning that really twisted my melon, man.

""He's Gonna Step on You Again' used a tape loop of actual African tribal drums, and was eventually cited by The Guinness Book of Records as the first sample ever used on a record," wrote music critic Richie Unterberger.

Notably, the song was produced by Gus Dudgeon who also produced David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and many of Elton John's hits.

image: detail of "He's Gonna Step On You Again" 7" single sleeve art

(Thanks, Alex Codlin! 10/10!)