madness Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Madness “7”

sfilzen — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 18:40:47 +0000

Madness “7” 1981. Stiff Records. Today, January 13th, is Madness vocalist Suggs’ birthday (b. Graham McPherson, 1961). 7 is Madness’ third album; it went to #5 on the UK album chart. I believe our copy is a UK original as it has all of the intended tracks: the song “Day on the Town” was removed from some markets, replaced by “Never Ask Twice,” the b-side to the single “Shut Up.” Other markets added “It Must Be Love” (originally by Labi Siffre, 1971) which was a UK stand-alone single (#4 UK in 1981, #33 US in 1983) or “In the City” which was the b-side to “Cardiac Arrest.” We do have “Day on the Town” and none of those other songs on our copy of 7. Like all Madness records, it’s a rollicking ska-bopping good time and I’ve enjoyed their Monty Pythonesque videos since the early 80’s. My favorite tracks include the singles “Cardiac Arrest” (#14 UK), “Grey Day” (#4 UK) and “Shut Up” (#7 UK) as well as the non-single “Mrs. Hutchinson.”

The post Madness “7” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Madness “Absolutely”

sfilzen — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 20:34:12 +0000

Madness “Absolutely” 1980. Today, January 13th, is Madness lead vocalist Suggs’ 60th birthday (b. Graham McPherson, 1961) so I’m spinning their second album which hit #2 on the UK charts (#146 US). And I guess this week I’m taking a little stroll down our London memory lane: the cover of Absolutely is in front of Camden’s Chalk Farm tube station where we met our Rock-n-Roll Camden tour guide (and now friend), Alison, a couple of summers ago. Among the many punk and pop historical spots in Camden, we made a stop (and then another a few nights later) at Suggs’ and Madness’ official/unofficial pub hangout The Dublin Castle where Madness first performed in January ‘79 and then became the house band for awhile.

Anyway! Absolutely is fun, “nutty” ska that bounces along with plenty of horns and silliness. Madness released three singles from the LP: “Baggy Trousers” which went to #3 in the UK, “Embarrassment” (#4 UK) and “The Return of the Los Palmas 7″ (#7 UK). I also really like “On the Beat Pete” with its funhouse sound in minor, a sound they would revisit again (including their later hit “Welcome to the House of Fun,” a single from ‘82 which I believe was the first time I heard Madness because MTV aired the video a lot that year) as well as the madcap saloon-style rockabilly-ska “Solid Gone.”

The post Madness “Absolutely” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Madness “Our House”

sfilzen — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 19:43:03 +0000

Madness “Our House” b/w “Cardiac Arrest” 1982. Today, October 5th, is Madness founder, songwriter, saxophonist (and other instruments) Lee Thompson’s 60th birthday (b. 1957). Thompson founded Madness in ‘76 along with Mike Barson and Chris Foreman. “Our House” was the first single released from the album The Rise & Fall and hit #5 in the UK and #7 in the US. Like many other Madness songs, “Our House” describes working class English life set to pop/ska music (though “Our House” was MUCH less ska-y than their singles up to that point). I like the song OK, not nearly as much as “House of Fun” or “One Step Beyond,” but I have an enduring fondness for it because of Madness’ rendition of the track on The Young Ones in the 1984 episode “Sick.” You can see the clip here complete with Vyvyan performing acupuncture on Neil with 6 inch nails, rock throwing, car crashing, a full-on street riot and Madness beating the hell out of each other with their instruments.

The post Madness “Our House” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Madness “One Step Beyond…”

sfilzen — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 22:03:50 +0000

Madness “One Step Beyond…” 1979. Debut release (this copy on Sire rather than Stiff Records, its original label). We’re digging out today after a large snow storm and ska feels warm and happy, a good antidote to the current cold and wet.

I first started listening to Madness in the early 80’s when their hits “House of Fun” and “Our House” were on the charts (1982). Before MTV came to the Midwest, we got our taste for music videos via HBO’s Video Jukebox. “House of Fun” in particular was a favorite, mostly due to its British humor a la Monty Python, of which I was a huge fan.

As I sit today huddled next to the space heater listening to “One Step Beyond..,” I’m transported, simultaneously, to a beach in the Caribbean and a swinging British pub. And to keep warm, I plan to follow Madness member Chas Smash, whose responsibilities listed on the back of the album jacket include “various shouts and fancy footwork.” Off now to skank loudly.

The post Madness “One Step Beyond…” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.