Eccentric British ska band Madness are back and are preparing for a new tour....
Madness: Return of the gentleman geezers
29/11/2007
Daily Mail
As Madness prepare for a new tour, the masters of joyous English pop tell Thomas H Green why they fight shy of celebrity
Madness are:
Suggs: Vocals
Mike Barson: Keyboards
Lee "El Thommo" Thompson: Saxophone
Chris Foreman: Guitar
Mark Bedford: Bass
Chas Smash: Backing vocals, trumpet, acoustic guitar, percussion, dancer
Daniel Woodgate: Drums
Between 1979 and 1983, Madness had a solid-gold run of hits with some of the most timeless, joyous English pop songs ever written. Seven North London lads captured the hearts of the public with a cheeky amalgamation of ska, down-to-earth observational songwriting and a pinch of Pythonesque music-hall surrealism.
British eccentrics: Madness use Monty Pythonesque music-hall surrealism
It's this huge affection that has allowed them to come back more than once, and a week today they begin a tour of Britain's largest stadiums.
Also appearing at London's 02 arena in December are Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and the Spice Girls, yet there's a sense that the heritage-rock industry has not yet canonised Madness. There's even an online campaign to give them a Brit Award.
Not that they seem too worried about such matters. They've always shied away from celebrity.
"Don't start me off," says Madness guitarist Chris Foreman.
"I can't stand The X Factor, all that. The thing about Simon Cowell, look at anything he's created - it never has any artistic merit. The mind boggles - Louis Walsh, 29 No 1s and you can't remember one of them.
" The group's frontman, and now star Virgin radio presenter, Graham "Suggs" McPherson, cackles quietly and adds: "We were pretty down to earth even when we very successful. We wrote songs about ordinary things - they were interesting things to me. The glamour's a bit of fun every now and then, but to live in that world would be pretty dreary."
The best Madness songs have, indeed, always dug diamonds from the apparently mundane - from the schoolyard antics of Baggy Trousers to their only UK chart-topper, 1982's House of Fun, about the embarrassment of buying condoms for the first time. Even their biggest international hit, Our House, was a straightforward celebration of merry, chaotic family life.
Since 1999 and the patchy but enjoyable album Wonderful, Madness have been an active recording unit again. They might not have hit the peaks of their initial run of singles, but their gentleman-geezer personae and knack for a nifty tune remains intact, as demonstrated on their forthcoming single, NW5.
"We have the same intensity we always did," says Suggs, "but spread out now, because we don't get together in the same way. Back then, we were together for months on end, making four singles a year."
Madness first tasted success during the late-Seventies ska boom via their first single, The Prince, on the Specials' Two Tone Records. After Two Tone, they found an ideal creative partner in Dave Robinson, MD of Stiff Records, with which they signed a contract. "With seven strong personalities, it can take months to make a decision on the smallest detail," says Suggs. "But with Dave, Night Boat to Cairo would land on your doormat and you'd find out it was your next single."
For years they revelled in their "nutty boy" image, accentuating it through lark-filled videos, but eventually it became a burden. Suggs, Foreman and drummer Daniel "Woody" Woodgate reminisce on that era, recollecting what fun it was dressing up as legionnaires for French TV, but cringing at the ever-whackier promotional demands that took the focus away from their music. The antics came to an end in 1984 when founder member and keyboard player Mike Barson left the band to live with his girlfriend in Holland.
Madness in 1982
"I just think he'd had enough of the whole thing," says Suggs, "You see all these pictures from that period and he's covering his face up bit by bit."
"Whatever he'd achieved," adds Woodgate, "when his head hit the pillow at night, whether he'd done Top of the Pops a million times, he felt strongly that he was just left with himself."
"Not me," growls Foreman. "I stay up all night and watch Madness videos." They fall about laughing, the banter illustrating Madness's winning ability to punctuate everyday melancholy with boisterous good cheer. As the '80s progressed, however, and the band's music became more thoughtful and less immediate, the hits gradually dried up.
Happily, their new single falls into the category Suggs describes as "not too simple, not too complicated". Madness are currently on one of their periodic rolls, revitalised by new manager Gary Blackburn, who oversaw Fatboy Slim's rise to fame. They played ostensibly secret sets at Glastonbury and the Bestival to rapturous receptions.
"We're bigger live now than we were in the Eighties," says Foreman. And once the arena tour is over, they intend to complete their first album of original material in more than a decade.
"We're applying the same enthusiasm to subjects more appropriate to our age now," says Suggs, "Whereas we used to write about going to school, now we're writing about taking our kids to school."
Perhaps with the album's release, they will finally receive their proper due.
Much as the Pet Shop Boys consistently receive critical plaudits for their grown-up music, Madness deserve to be placed alongside the Kinks and Blur as masters of English pop.
The cover of Mojo magazine is long overdue, let alone that well-deserved Brit Award.
"The Record Mirror once slagged off House of Fun, saying it sounded like a corpse bouncing on trampoline," shrugs Foreman. They won that round by a distance, their exchanged glances seem to say, and they're more than ready for the next.
Tour opens in Aberdeen on Dec 6, and continues to Belfast, Liverpool, Cardiff, Plymouth, Birmingham and London. Tickets: www.gigsandtours.com or 0871 22 00 260
telegraph.co.uk
Madness: Return of the gentleman geezers
29/11/2007
Daily Mail
As Madness prepare for a new tour, the masters of joyous English pop tell Thomas H Green why they fight shy of celebrity
Madness are:
Suggs: Vocals
Mike Barson: Keyboards
Lee "El Thommo" Thompson: Saxophone
Chris Foreman: Guitar
Mark Bedford: Bass
Chas Smash: Backing vocals, trumpet, acoustic guitar, percussion, dancer
Daniel Woodgate: Drums
Between 1979 and 1983, Madness had a solid-gold run of hits with some of the most timeless, joyous English pop songs ever written. Seven North London lads captured the hearts of the public with a cheeky amalgamation of ska, down-to-earth observational songwriting and a pinch of Pythonesque music-hall surrealism.
British eccentrics: Madness use Monty Pythonesque music-hall surrealism
It's this huge affection that has allowed them to come back more than once, and a week today they begin a tour of Britain's largest stadiums.
Also appearing at London's 02 arena in December are Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and the Spice Girls, yet there's a sense that the heritage-rock industry has not yet canonised Madness. There's even an online campaign to give them a Brit Award.
Not that they seem too worried about such matters. They've always shied away from celebrity.
"Don't start me off," says Madness guitarist Chris Foreman.
"I can't stand The X Factor, all that. The thing about Simon Cowell, look at anything he's created - it never has any artistic merit. The mind boggles - Louis Walsh, 29 No 1s and you can't remember one of them.
" The group's frontman, and now star Virgin radio presenter, Graham "Suggs" McPherson, cackles quietly and adds: "We were pretty down to earth even when we very successful. We wrote songs about ordinary things - they were interesting things to me. The glamour's a bit of fun every now and then, but to live in that world would be pretty dreary."
The best Madness songs have, indeed, always dug diamonds from the apparently mundane - from the schoolyard antics of Baggy Trousers to their only UK chart-topper, 1982's House of Fun, about the embarrassment of buying condoms for the first time. Even their biggest international hit, Our House, was a straightforward celebration of merry, chaotic family life.
Since 1999 and the patchy but enjoyable album Wonderful, Madness have been an active recording unit again. They might not have hit the peaks of their initial run of singles, but their gentleman-geezer personae and knack for a nifty tune remains intact, as demonstrated on their forthcoming single, NW5.
"We have the same intensity we always did," says Suggs, "but spread out now, because we don't get together in the same way. Back then, we were together for months on end, making four singles a year."
Madness first tasted success during the late-Seventies ska boom via their first single, The Prince, on the Specials' Two Tone Records. After Two Tone, they found an ideal creative partner in Dave Robinson, MD of Stiff Records, with which they signed a contract. "With seven strong personalities, it can take months to make a decision on the smallest detail," says Suggs. "But with Dave, Night Boat to Cairo would land on your doormat and you'd find out it was your next single."
For years they revelled in their "nutty boy" image, accentuating it through lark-filled videos, but eventually it became a burden. Suggs, Foreman and drummer Daniel "Woody" Woodgate reminisce on that era, recollecting what fun it was dressing up as legionnaires for French TV, but cringing at the ever-whackier promotional demands that took the focus away from their music. The antics came to an end in 1984 when founder member and keyboard player Mike Barson left the band to live with his girlfriend in Holland.
Madness in 1982
"I just think he'd had enough of the whole thing," says Suggs, "You see all these pictures from that period and he's covering his face up bit by bit."
"Whatever he'd achieved," adds Woodgate, "when his head hit the pillow at night, whether he'd done Top of the Pops a million times, he felt strongly that he was just left with himself."
"Not me," growls Foreman. "I stay up all night and watch Madness videos." They fall about laughing, the banter illustrating Madness's winning ability to punctuate everyday melancholy with boisterous good cheer. As the '80s progressed, however, and the band's music became more thoughtful and less immediate, the hits gradually dried up.
Happily, their new single falls into the category Suggs describes as "not too simple, not too complicated". Madness are currently on one of their periodic rolls, revitalised by new manager Gary Blackburn, who oversaw Fatboy Slim's rise to fame. They played ostensibly secret sets at Glastonbury and the Bestival to rapturous receptions.
"We're bigger live now than we were in the Eighties," says Foreman. And once the arena tour is over, they intend to complete their first album of original material in more than a decade.
"We're applying the same enthusiasm to subjects more appropriate to our age now," says Suggs, "Whereas we used to write about going to school, now we're writing about taking our kids to school."
Perhaps with the album's release, they will finally receive their proper due.
Much as the Pet Shop Boys consistently receive critical plaudits for their grown-up music, Madness deserve to be placed alongside the Kinks and Blur as masters of English pop.
The cover of Mojo magazine is long overdue, let alone that well-deserved Brit Award.
"The Record Mirror once slagged off House of Fun, saying it sounded like a corpse bouncing on trampoline," shrugs Foreman. They won that round by a distance, their exchanged glances seem to say, and they're more than ready for the next.
Tour opens in Aberdeen on Dec 6, and continues to Belfast, Liverpool, Cardiff, Plymouth, Birmingham and London. Tickets: www.gigsandtours.com or 0871 22 00 260
telegraph.co.uk