Madness all-purpose discussion thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Peace N. Love, Mar 12, 2019.

  1. heliocentric

    heliocentric Forum Resident

    Location:
    Liverpool
    Thanks for sharing this, the geek in me loves this kind of thing. I remember you posting a few of theses anomalies on other threads, so please keep em coming
     
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  2. django68

    django68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dartford
    Two other anomalies come to mind; When "7" was first issued in 1981, two of the mixes were different to later presses and the eventual CD releases.

    The tracks in question are Mrs. Hutchinson, which had more prominent xylophone, and Day On The Town, which had a shorter play out. If I get time I'll post them on youtube tomorrow.

    EDIT: Here's a link to an early rough mix of Shut Up.

    Madness - Shut Up (rough mix)
     
    Last edited: Mar 11, 2020
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  3. django68

    django68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dartford
    Now on my youtube -Mrs Hutchinson - Original album mix. My original copy of "7" is quite worn but good enough for this comparison.

    Note around 25 seconds, the second verse has additional xylophone removed from later issues.

     
  4. Brother_Rael

    Brother_Rael Senior Member

    The Liberty of Norton Folgate. They'll never better it. Sublime album and one of the best of the century so far. Yep, I think it's *that* good.

    Also, "Taller Than You Are" off the Dangermen cover album is another cracker.
     
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  5. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    Took me longer to get around to hearing this that I first thought but wow -I didn't expect it to be THIS different!! The one we all know surely has to be the definitive mix because the organ and extra guitar bits although fun and interesting seem to be clashing as one point and the organ itself seems to be wandering off looking for a water or something towards the end lol. It's still great to hear after all this time and I appreciate this. Thanks again!
     
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  6. JohnQVD

    JohnQVD bought too many records this week

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    For sure. I think being a Madness fan from an early age led to me being such a big Blur fan later on.
     
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  7. Man at C&A

    Man at C&A Senior Member

    Location:
    England
    The same with me. Madness were my favourite band when I was 8 and Blur my favourite band when I was 18. I still dearly love them both and always will. I'm one of the not many people who stuck with Blur through grunge, which I hated, and bought Modern Life Is Rubbish on day of release. It was strange how they were the biggest band in the UK a year later, but well deserved.
     
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  8. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    I loved Blur as well... And I was the same back then, which was even tougher living in the USA... though we did get a much better version of Modern Life Is Rubbish... even "Chemical World" is a different/better mix on the US version....
    During that grunge thing, I stuck with Suede mostly... though Blur became a lot more fun than Suede after Bernard Butler left...
     
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  9. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Never really got into Suede, although Animal Nitrate has one of my all-time fave guitar riffs. Should perhaps revisit them.
     
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  10. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    you should. It's better than the schlock being released in 2020.

    Here's a quick playlist you can stream:

    Animal Nitrate
    My Insatiable One
    Pantomime Horse
    Metal Mickey
    The Drowners
    To The Birds
    Living Dead
    My Dark Star
    The Wild Ones
    We Are The Pigs
    New Generation
    The Asphalt World
    Still Life
    Saturday Night
    Beautiful Ones
    Lazy
    Picnic By the Motorway
    She's In Fashion
    Pale Snow

    I've intentionally left off some singles that would require you to fall for the band first and then revisit....
    1-13, the guitar is magnificent. Still good in the period after, but especially then....
    Sorry for the diversion... Back to Madness
     
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  11. octophone

    octophone immaterial girl

    Location:
    Scotland
    I found myself wondering if the overdubs had been done by someone else. The organ doesn't sound like any instrument Barson was playing at the time and isn't quite in his style; it's a decent imitation but it's just not quite his style - unless he did it in a hurry and went "nah" but the Portuguese label liked the sound of it anyway. Really weird to hear a song you've known for 40 years with different bits on it!
     
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  12. octophone

    octophone immaterial girl

    Location:
    Scotland
    There's something in that. I was drawn to Blur early on because I was into wall-of-sound guitars and shoegaze as a teenager but something different definitely kicked in when they started writing the less noisy songs with more social commentary and more observant lyrics. "For Tomorrow" has a lot in common with "The Rise And Fall".
     
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  13. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    This is what I was thinking... It has happened where things like demo versions, rough mixes etc got issued accidentally either universally or in just certain territories. Another possibly I've been toying with as regards this mix. Then there is the extra guitar that I think is largely unneeded as well.
     
  14. django68

    django68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dartford
    I don't know about the keyboard on Night Boat, it's probably just an unused idea left over from the original session IMO ; Nigh Boat was suppsoedly remixed for the EP release while the band were on tour. They were unhappy that yet another single was being taken from the album, so inisted on the 3 extra tracks to give fans VFM.

    One piano solo definately not by Barson is the extra instrumental in the US 12" mix. That playing is nothing like Mike's and even the tone of the instrument is different from the rest of the recording. It was apparently done by some US session player.
     
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  15. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    Yes, I have read the same thing. I wonder if they thought a different mix for the EP would be the way to go but preferred to stay with the 'LP' mix after all (except it got onto the Portugese release one way or another.) Pure speculation of course but I think it's interesting and fun to have have this awareness of a mix of a song I must have heard 1,000 times. Well, it's more than one alt mix we're dealing with here in fact. :)
     
  16. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    There seem to be various rough mixes and demos in circulation, and just a few proper studio out-takes. Some interesting stuff for the serious fan but, unless there's anything else, it sounds like all the good stuff got released.
     
  17. django68

    django68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dartford
    I think you're right. A lot of demos came out online in the early 2000's, but the only really good previously unreleased track to emerge is "Perfect Place" that was on the bands website at some point.
     
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  18. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Yes, that one (intended for the scrapped Lost in the Museum album) is a good one. I think My Mum's Roses is possibly the only other that sounds ready for release.
     
  19. django68

    django68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dartford
    Hmm. My Mums Roses. Pretty poor effort in my opinion; even Carl was said he was a bit embamarrassed by it in retrospect.
     
  20. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Well, I was thinking it could've been a Benny Bullfrog-esque novelty track, maybe. Not exactly a hidden gem, though.
     
  21. JohnQVD

    JohnQVD bought too many records this week

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    I didn’t hear Blur until 1997. I was working on a music video show for my college’s TV station and we played the “M.O.R.” video. I was a broke college student, but I was still in one of the record clubs. The only album they had was Parklife. You could listen to a 30-second sample of each track on the website, so I listened to the clip of “Girls & Boys,” then ordered it immediately. When I got the CD and listened to it, my reaction, essentially, was, “Where has this music been all my life?”
    The Great Escape has a lot of that, too. I hear that a lot of people think that album is weak compared to the two previous, but I’ve always liked it. I think it’s the lyrics that bring me back to it.

    To bring the topic back to Madness, I will mention that I’ve seen each band exactly once. I have tickets to see Madness again later this year and am hoping that the US dates actually happen.
     
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  22. octophone

    octophone immaterial girl

    Location:
    Scotland
    I think the speed at which the band worked meant that very little fell by the wayside. As much as there are demos and alternate mixes out there, it does seem that either their strike rate was really great or any song that was deemed unpromising was simply never attempted by the full band. The only real treasure trove was the very early years, all those songs that had been left behind by the time they got to "One Step Beyond...".
     
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  23. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    I wonder if that same sense of quality control was what caused them to abandon the planned Lost in the Museum album in '86? From the bits I've heard, apart from Ghost Train, Maybe In Another Life and Perfect Place, that album would have represented a significant drop in quality. Or maybe it was financial and other problems, along with the desire to change musical direction (which resulted in The Madness a year or two later).

    Either way, they kept a really high standard from the first single until their breakup. Even most of the B-sides are great.
     
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  24. Peace N. Love

    Peace N. Love Forum Resident Thread Starter

    On another note, post-'86 years were difficult for anyone jonesing for new nutty sounds. I sort of liked I Pronounce You and 4BF from The Madness, as well as the track below. Anyone else?

     
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  25. danielbravo

    danielbravo Senior Member

    Location:
    Caracas. DC
    Incredible this band! musically it is really huge.
    My experience with Madness is very different from that of many here who grew up in the UK or US. In the pre-internet era, when I was a boy here in my country Madness was a "cult" band, you knew them if you were on the "wave", I mean if you listened to punk, post-punk and new wave or ska bands . Music literally went from hand to hand If you had the right friends with similar tastes then you were a lucky guy. If it was not your case... sad.
    The ska movement became very strong here in the mid-80s and it was then that these records began to be published locally. I've always considered these guys to be just great and I mean that in the strictly musical sense. Just listen calmly and if you do not perceive it, you must clean your ears.

    The first 5 albums are simply essential but the rest is not wasted
     
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