working with New Order. Sumner was also concerned that he would accidentally make Happy Mondays sound closer in style to the work of New Order. Wilson, who shifted his focus to new signees the Railway Children and Miaow, had suggested Reilly despite reservations about the Happy Mondays' debut. Reilly met the band and was dismayed by their attitude, and criticised Day's guitar playing. Ryder said he was initially brought in to produce "Freaky Dancin'" before Sumner, but "only lasted about two hours before he decided he couldn't handle us". Wilson searched through his record collection to find a suitable producer for Happy Mondays' debut album. After comparing Ryder's lyrics with those by Patti Smith, Wilson thought of John Cale, who had produced Smith and was a member of the Velvet Underground. Wilson theorised that if the album was a poor seller upon release, it would be ensured steady sales in the years that followed by virtue of having Cale's name attached to it. At the same time, Saxe saw Happy Mondays as Manchester's answer to New York's the Velvet Underground. Concerned that Wilson would not accept the idea of Cale as the producer, Saxe asked Sumner to suggest it on his behalf. Wilson knew Cale as he previously appeared on Wilson's So It Goes programme for Granada Television. Happy Mondays recorded at Fire House in London over two weeks in December 1986. Cale picked the studio as he had previously been in a band with the owner, Dave Young. The sessions cost £6,000 and were produced by Cale, while Young served as engineer, with assistance from Zuni and Andy Kelly. Factory set them up in a shared house in Belsize Park, with the band living in one room, and electricians and builders living in the other rooms. As Day was the only member with a full-time job by this point, he was able to afford food while the rest of the band resorted to stealing to be fed. The first two days consisted of playing the songs for Cale, who was impressed with Day's skills. After the first week was up, they scrapped any performances they had captured up to that point, and started again. Young was bewildered by the band's performances, remarking that the members did not seem to know what they playing a lot of the time. Cale found it difficult to work with Ryder; he liked Ryder's