Absolutely Madness

In the late seventies when Punk was fading a long forgotten tradition of music made a revival in the UK. Ska made a huge contribution to music in the late seventies and early eighties and this filtered around the 2 Tone label.

One of those original bands were the boys from Camden Town named as Madness. As was the rule on 2 Tone the contract was to release one single and then move on. Madness released a tribute to ska legend Prince Buster called The Prince. The public took to this and the single reached number 16 and the Madness juggernaut was about to be unleashed.

The original band consisted of Suggs, Chas, Woody, Lee, Bedders, Barso and Chrissy Boy and after the success of The Prince the band went onto join Stiff records and there success was so great that they spent 214 weeks in the singles charts in the 1980s, only UB40 could match that phenomenal success.

They released there debut album under stiff records 'one step beyond' and this featured the single releases of 'one step beyond' and 'my girl' both were huge hits and Stiff records keen to capitalise they released an EP 'work rest and play' which featured new material and the infectious 'night boat to cairo' from there debut album.

The band went to work and Stiff records wanted to act on this new found success and they produced a 2nd album in 1980 named 'absolutely' which featured a number of top ten hits such as baggy trousers, embarrassment and return of the los palmas 7, the album hit number two in the UK album charts and the band were fast becoming one of the nations best loved.

There third studio album was released in 1981 named 7 and this saw the release of singles Grey day, Shut up and cardiac arrest all hitting the top 20. The album represented a change in sound from the ska days and now more a pop sound to match there highly pioneering videos. At the end of the year they released a one off single which was one of there best loved songs. A cover of Labri Siffre song 'it must be love', this reached number 4 and the change seemed to not affect the sales.

In early 1982 they released 'House of fun' and this was there first and only UK number one and this was followed by a number one album named 'complete madness' a collection of there previous singles and material. The tail end of the year saw the release of a new album 'rise and fall' which featured Our House which was one of the best internationally known hits. Around this time Barso was not touring with the band and this left them with getting a replacement to fulfill the tour agreements.

In 1983 saw the release of 'wings of a dove' and the 'sun and the rain' and this was quickly followed by a new album named 'keep moving'. Unfortunately, Barso had now left the band as he was now living in Amsterdam and the geography would not work. The last single they released as a septet was called 'one better day' and following his departure, the band created there own record label Zarjazz records and released a new album 'mad not mad' this featured yesterdays men, uncle sam and sweetest girl and the latter two struggled to reach the top 20. The band eventually split after differences and Barso joined the band for the farewell single 'waiting for the train' which limped into the top 20.

Madness unleashed a string of hit singles and videos that help establish them as one of pops best loved acts. The 1980s would have been a dull place without Madness.

Recommended listening from the 1980s