Tricky question. OK, the video for "I Pronounce You" was included on the updated "Divine Madness" DVD but the song wasn't on the CD. It was still a sore point when the "Young Guns" documentary was made (as seen on the DVD with the most recent edition of "One Step Beyond"). It was included in the reissue series but never actually reissued...it really is the elephant in their front room. Maybe one day the mists with clear and we'll be able to give a proper reassessment of the record.
I am a big Madness fan. They had their own thing going on. They had the ska thing, but that wasn't all there was to them. I have the debut album through to Keep Moving and I got the A Guided Tour of to fill in the blanks. I reckon they are all great. I think Seven and Rise And Fall are my favourites. The band suffered from not being taken serious musically it seems, because of their "nutty boys" tag. That's kind of a shame really. I will probably get Norton Folgate soon, as I enjoyed what I heard off it
Norton Folgate is great, Oui Oui Si Si... etc is really great as well, several really terrific songs on there, would highly recommend that. Wasn't quite as wild about Can't Touch Us Now. Missed Chas a bit too much for such a long album.
One of those bands where a long best of is perfect for me. I had it in the office Wednesday. Solid front to back, except it was issued before Our House. It's an early cd, so no compression issues. I actually bought another best of in the 80's but it had the truncated intro to One Step Beyond which bugged the hell out of me. This one had the complete intro
It's a tough one. It is them, minus two members... but they definitely took a wrong exit and I have a hard time listening to most of that album. Having said that, I really like "4 B.F." and "I Pronounce You", which I regard as pretty good Madness songs... but this was a bad time to be a Madness fan. Those two songs, as well as "Magic Carpet Ride" by the Nutty Boys were the only tracks I could find to enjoy in that era.
Great assessment. Their career arc is almost like a lot of 60s bands who started out simple and then grew ever more sophisticated over the span of a few years. As far as people who don't take them seriously musically? %$^& them. Rise and Fall and Keep Moving are shining examples of how they grew more and more sophisticated while being as compelling and charming as ever.
If you don't have any madness and are checking them out, it would be hard to go past this set https://www.amazon.com/Guided-Tour-...s=Madness+box&qid=1556296590&s=gateway&sr=8-1
This thread inspired me to finally pick up the last two Madness albums, Oui Oui... & Can't Touch Us Now. I've played them both through once and liked them. The quality of Madness lyrics is often overlooked, but I think it's been a strength with them all along. I enjoyed these two albums and can see them growing on me more. Good stuff. I knew they wouldn't let me down.
Good point. The lyrics are almost always very strong. Was listening to "The Coldest Day" this morning and, while it's not one of my favorites musically, I remain impressed by the way the lyrics use Marvin Gaye's death as a starting point and then somehow segue into South Africa. Half the time I have little to no idea what the songs are about (what is "Brand New Beat" about, for example? Organized crime possibly?), but the lyrics always resonate and fit brilliantly with the music.
To me they're a band I got into as a kid because of the catchy songs, Nutty Boys image and flying saxophone player I guess. As I got older, I still liked all that, but the intelligence and strong musicianship got through to me. Their best records, almost all of them really, have totally stood the test of time. No dated technology or rooted to the era lyrics. I've liked them for almost as long as I've been aware of music outside of nursery rhymes. What higher praise can you give a band than that? Magnificent.
It really is a great album. It's a far cry from the Nutty Boy sound but some of the songs are breathtaking...
I wonder what happened to Mr Smyth? We've heard nothing since his album didn't take so well. Does he still live in Ibiza?
Yeah, I was wondering that too. He occasionally posts on Facebook, Instagram, etc. The album got great reviews but probably didn't sell that well. I hope he does another solo record or rejoins Madness – his input is missed on the last few albums.
Another interesting thing about Madness: They've been one of my favorite artists for about 35 years; but, if you were to ask me who wrote a particular song of theirs, I could not tell you. No idea, except I believe they tended to be written by various combinations of band members writing together.
That's the great (and probably unique) thing about Madness. The writing partnerships were always interchangeable within the band. Even members who were less prolific wrote some great songs, e.g. Bedders – One Better Day
Suggs is a great wordsmith, Liberty of Norton Folgate is an amazing lyric. Lee Thompson is another who provides very intriguing wordplay, ranging from empathic to the bizarre. As mentioned above, it's these kind of individual strengths that when combined into different writing partnerships really make Madness such a fascinating attraction. The foundation was Mike Barson's inherent musical talent, through which the band originally channeled all their individual contributions, but over the years each member has developed and contributed significantly to the bands' output. Even Woody has found his songwriting mojo in the reformation years, contributing regularly with occasional collaborations with his singer-songwriter brother Nick [Check out The Magic Brothers "You Don't Have To Hide Your Love Away" for a very Madness-like Woodgate brothers composition.]
Madness were the first band I fell hard for. Someone gave me the 7" 'My Girl' single for my 12th birthday (Feb 1st 1980!), and the bug really hit hard. Got all 7" /12"/pic discs etc I don't think they ever released a bad album - even the post reunion albums are wonderful (ahem). Unlike others, I prefer the non-single material now due to over exposure of the big hits (I HATE 'Baggy Trouser'), and the albums exposed a lot more depth to their sound. re ".. Mr Wheeze" : take the 7" vinyl, and drop the speed of the deck to 33 rpm. I did this once by accident, and now cannot listen to the proper version as it sounds fantastic at 33 ! Oh, and I managed to see them 3 times, Mad Not Mad tour (Leeds Uni), the first date of the original Madstock (yes, when you know who got bottled off stage !), and then a couple of years ago at Camp Bestival. And if anything I think they are a tighter live act now than they ever were, as they have really learnt how to play their instruments. They sound really ropey at times on live recordings from years ago .
Funny you should mention Madness. In my retirement, I get to do a weekly, three hour, oldies radio show here in this beach area, playing a lot of 60s, 70s and some 80s music. Lots of British Invasion and garage band stuff. Some political material to comment on the...madness going on in Washington,where I lived and practiced law for 40 years. Every now and then, I mix in some whimsical material from groups like the Kinks, Easybeats, Bonzos, Zappa and Madness and the like, music with which my listeners may not be familiar, just to mix things up a bit. House of Fun is on tonight's playlist. Love those guys.
