Everyone from the 80's remembers Madness's hit, Our House, but from there, they've kind of been labeled inaccurately as a one hit wonder by many. Though I wouldn't necessarily have cast them as such, my exposure was still limited. While I owned their 1983 compilation, Madness, which technically serves as the band's debut studio album in North America, I hadn't branched out far beyond that. Well, until recently when I suddenly got a bug to have all of their 80's studio albums.
The North London Invaders formed in North Camden, England in 1976. With their mixture of pop and ska, they were one of the forefronts of the ska revival. The original lineup consisted of Mike Barson, Chris Foreman, and Lee Thompson, who would later recruit John Hasler, and Cathal Smyth. Later in the year, they were joined by Dikran Tulaine. In 1977, Graham McPherson, took over on vocals, while Tulaine purused a career as an actor. Smyth would depart shortly thereafter and be replaced by Gavin Rodgers. Thompson would also leave after being criticized for his playing, and McPherson kicked out.
The latter two would eventually patch things up with the other members and rejoin. Dan Woodgate, and Mark Bedford also joined the band, replacing Garry Dovey and Rodgers. The band would briefly change their name to Morris And The Minors, before settling on Madness in 1979. Towards the end of the year, Smyth would rejoin.
The band would gain a regular following while performing at the Dublin Castle, and eventually release their first single, The Prince, which would become a surprise hit in the UK, peaking at number 16. In support of the single, they'd tour with The Specials, and The Selector, and ultimately sign with Stiff Records. Stiff would release their debut, One Step Beyond... All of this would happen before the end of 1979.
After releasing three singles from the album, Madness felt they'd exhausted all their good material from their debut. However, Stiff Records disagreed, and persuaded them to release the EP, Work Rest And Play, which featured the final single from the album, Night Boat To Cairo. Madness then went back into the studio to begin work on their 1980 follow-up, Absolutely.
It's here that we pick up with today's Retro Spin, and my most recent discography to obtain.
Madness is a band that I feel could only thrive in the 80's. An era when anything went, and everything could find a radio station to play it. There was such an eclectic mix, and all of it was fair game for the Billboard Hot 100, and if within the top forty, played on Rick Dee's Weekly Top 40.
As I played through the album, I heard a whole bunch of intriguing sounds. So many that I had to be a bit selective with what ultimately ended up on my shuffle list. These included, Baggy Trousers, E.R.N.I.E., Close Escape, On The Beat Pete, and You Said. What stood out the most about Absolutely was how different it was. Being an average of two to three minutes long, it's also jam packed with track after track, while still managing to remain at the forty-minute mark.
It definitely piqued my interest to hear more, which I suppose was a good thing, since at this point, I'd already purchased all the albums. A nice added flourish to it all was at the end of the final track, Return Of The Los Palmas 7, you're sent off with a friendly, "good night".
I was so heavily invested at this point that before I even finished this post, I was off on my way through their 1981 follow-up, 7. So before that one gets too far ahead of me, I suppose I need to cut this one off, and make my way into tomorrow's post.
See you there!(?)
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS November 10, 1984 |
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