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Madness - Madness

Madness

Author's note: Written from a Canadian perspective where the band never really caught on after their one big hit.

Unbeknownst to me I'd been aware of Madness for a long time ... one of the nerdy kids in high school who was very much into those bands who were part of the first round of English new wave acts. He had a very large ghetto blaster and he'd always be by his locker blaring out music. Whereas most of us were into Prism, or Trooper or The Cars this guy loved The Buzzcocks, The Clash and Madness. I remember hearing "One Step Beyond" (and liking it) but had no idea who it was. When "Our House" broke over here, it was infectious. Most people in North America, of which I was one, had no idea the band had been around for years. They may have looked like a bunch of fresh faced kids but they'd been around for years by 1983.

cast of characters

I find it strange that "Our House" managed to crack the top 10 in the US without an album behind. The Rise & Fall wasn't available in North America, but I guess the 45 was. Who knows, all I know is that I didn't have a copy. The folks at Geffen smelled money and quickly licensed a number of tracks from the band's back catalogue to create a record suitable for North American listeners. Madness took about half of the songs from Rise and Fall, a few from their '81 release 7 and one from their '79 debut. You'd think the result would be a clunky uneven collection of previously released songs. Oddly this doesn't sound like a cobbled together cash grab. It's remarkably cohesive.

While "Our House" was a big deal, the album stalled just outside the top 40 in the States and slightly lower here in Canada. Which actually surprised me when I was looking up the band, as I thought the album was as big a deal as the single was. The band would be relegated to the "one hit wonder" bin over here and that would be that. Cute song, fun band ... been there done that.

band photo
As you'd expect, the Madness album opens with "Our House" and honestly this was why I bought the album and I'd have been happy if that was all that was listenable. While Madness is often pigeonholed as a ska band, to me they were more new wave with a healthy dose of pop sensibilities thrown in the mix. They were a little experimental as well and frankly it worked for me. I didn't mind the ska overtones at all, but this felt mostly like a British pop album.

back cover
Considering this is the first time I've really listened to Madness I have to say I was pleasantly surprised and got more than I expected. I don't recall hearing anything else by the band after '83 but that didn't stop them at home from being a pretty big deal for a while. Heck, of the seven members of the band six are still out there doing what they do.

Madness indeed.

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