Madness are an English ska and pop band from Camden Town, North London, who formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s two-tone ska revival, they continue to perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up. Madness's most successful period was from 1980 to 1986, when the band's songs spent a total of 214 weeks on the UK Singles Chart.
Camden Town, often shortened to Camden, is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around 2.5 miles (4.1 km) north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the borough and identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London.
Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes at the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was played live in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub bands sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz.
KOKO is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London, England.
Graham McPherson, known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England.
The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the United Kingdom originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature rock, alternative and independent music.
Hope and Anchor is a pub on Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington which first opened its doors in 1880. During the mid-1970s it was one of the first pubs to embrace the emergent, but brief, phenomenon of pub rock. With the decline of this movement, the pub went on to become a leading venue in the punk rock movement. Hope and Anchor is still an operational pub and live music venue today, owned and operated by the Greene King brewing company. It is a Grade II listed building.
Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth, also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans more than 40 years. Smash came to prominence in the late 1970s as secondary vocalist, trumpet player and dancer for the English band Madness, with whom he was associated from their inception until 2014.
The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue.
Deaf School is an English art rock/new wave band, formed in Liverpool, England, in January 1974.
"My Girl" is a song by British ska/pop group Madness from their debut album, One Step Beyond.... It was written by Mike Barson. The song was released as a single on 21 December 1979 and spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 3.
Blow Up is a club night that was founded in the early 1990s by promoter and DJ Paul Tunkin at a North London pub called "The Laurel Tree". The night quickly became the centre of the emerging Britpop scene in Camden attracting long queues of people eager to gain entry to the tiny venue. Early regulars included members of Blur, Pulp, Elastica, Suede, The Buzzcocks, Huggy Bear and The Jesus and Mary Chain, leading to the club being referred to as the place where "Britpop was born".
The Róisín Dubh is a live music and comedy venue located in Galway, Ireland. It has hosted events such as the IMRO Showcase Tour and the 2fm 2moro 2our. The name translates from the Irish language as the "little black rose". According to Una Mullally in the Sunday Tribune, the venue is "the heart of live music in the city".
The PRS for MusicHeritage Award is a ceremonial plaque installed in a public place to commemorate a link between a famous musician or music band and the location they performed their first live gig. The UK-wide plaque is awarded and funded by PRS for Music.
A bronze statue of the British singer Amy Winehouse is located in the Stables Market in Camden Town, in north London. Sculpted by Scott Eaton, it was unveiled in 2014, three years after the singer's death.
The Windsor Castle is a former public house on Harrow Road, Maida Vale, London. It was a seminal rock venue throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with notable early performances from The Rolling Stones, The Who and U2. Despite now being derelict, the building is a designated heritage asset.
Camden Crawl was a music festival in Camden, London, which first appeared in 1995 and then was held annually from 2005 to 2014.
The Blues Kitchen is a live music venue, bar and restaurant specialising in rare bourbon and barbecue. The restaurant currently operates three sites in London; on Camden High Street near Camden Town Station, on Curtain Road near Old Street Station in Shoreditch and on Acre Lane near Brixton Station. A forth venue opened on Quay Street in Manchester in 2021.
Deadcuts is an English post punk group formed in 2012 by former Senseless Things front man, Mark Keds (vocals/guitar) and Jerome Alexandre . Keds was also known for his previous work with The Wildhearts and Jolt, as well as co-writing The Libertines' "Can't Stand Me Now".
