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.
Graham McPherson, known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England.
Michael Barson is a Scottish-born multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Barson came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboard player for the band Madness.
The Rise & Fall is the fourth studio album by English ska band Madness, released on 8 October 1982 by Stiff Records. This album saw Madness at their most experimental, exhibiting a range of musical styles including jazz, English music hall, and Eastern influences. NME described it at the time of its release as "the best Madness record". It has often been retrospectively described as a concept album.
Mad Not Mad is the sixth studio album by the English ska and pop band Madness. It was released on 30 September 1985, their first release on their own label Zarjazz, a sub-label of Virgin Records. The album was recorded over a period of two months in 1985 at Westside Studios and at AIR Studios, both in London. The album was their last recording of original material until they officially reformed in 1992.
The Lone Ranger is the first solo album by British singer Suggs, singer in second wave ska band Madness. It was released in 1995. The album peaked at No. 14 in the UK charts. "Cecilia", a cover of the Simon and Garfunkel song, reached No. 4 on the UK charts. The song "4 am" was later re-recorded and appeared on the 1999 Madness album Wonderful.
"House of Fun" is a song by English ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. It was released as a one-off single on 14 May 1982 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending nine weeks in the charts. The song was re-released in 1992, reaching number 40. It is the band's only number one single in the UK and in 2015 the British public voted it as the nation's 8th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
"Night Boat to Cairo" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness from their debut 1979 album One Step Beyond.... It was written by Mike Barson and Suggs and was also included on the 1980 EP Work Rest and Play, which peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 30 in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. The song was later re-issued in the UK in 1993 following the success of the re-issued version of "It Must Be Love" but failed to reach the top 40, peaking at number 56. It was remixed slightly for inclusion on the band's eponymous 1983 album compiled for the United States. The song is featured in the 2011 Wii video game Just Dance 3.
"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.
Madstock! is the first live album by ska/pop band Madness, released on 2 November 1992 by Go! Discs. The album includes highlights from Madness' first concerts since their disbanding in 1986, on 8 and 9 August 1992 at Finsbury Park in London. The bill included Flowered Up, Gallon Drunk, Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Morrissey and Madness.
"The Sun and the Rain" is a single by Madness. It was released in 1983 as a stand-alone single and in 1984 it was included on the American/Canadian version of their album Keep Moving. The single spent 10 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 5. The song was also their last to ever enter the USA Billboard Hot 100 Charts, peaking as high as No. 72 on that following chart in 1984.
"Embarrassment" is a song recorded by ska/pop band Madness, predominantly written by Lee Thompson, but partially credited to Mike Barson. The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980, and it was featured on their second studio album, Absolutely.
"Michael Caine" is a song by English ska band Madness, released on 30 January 1984 as the lead single from their fifth studio album Keep Moving (1984). The song was written by Carl Smyth and Daniel Woodgate, and features Smyth on lead vocals in place of usual Madness vocalist Suggs. "Michael Caine" spent eight weeks on the British chart, peaking at number 11.
"One Better Day" is a song by English ska band Madness from their fifth studio album Keep Moving (1984). The song, written by Suggs and Mark Bedford, was released as a single in the United Kingdom, and spent seven weeks in the charts peaking at number 18.
"Shot You Down" is a song by English electronic music project Audio Bullys featuring vocal samples from American singer Nancy Sinatra from her cover of the 1966 song "Bang Bang ". It became a No. 3 hit in the United Kingdom in mid-2005 and reached the top 20 in Australia and the Netherlands the same year. Sinatra is credited as being featured on the song since her vocal samples are an integral part of the song. The song is included on the album Generation, released on 31 October 2005.
"NW5" is a song by the band Madness, which was debuted live at the Brixton Academy in December 2006. The single was released in January 2008 on the band's own label, Lucky 7 Records, and entered the chart at no.24 on Sunday 20th Jan 2008, going to no.1 on the UK Independent Label Chart on Sunday 20th Jan 2008. It was very well received by fans and critics alike.
American entertainer Cher has released 83 official singles, 23 promotional singles and appeared in 25 other songs. On the Billboard Hot 100, she has achieved: 4 number 1 singles, 12 Top 10 singles, 22 Top 40 singles and a total of 33 charted singles as a solo artist. Combined with the entries she had as part of Sonny & Cher: 5 number 1 singles, 17 Top 10 singles, 32 Top 40 hits and a total of 51 singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100.
Higher Than the Eiffel is a 2010 album by the English electronic group Audio Bullys. It is their third studio album, released on 29 March 2010 and features the lead single "Only Man". The band collaborated with Madness frontman Suggs once again, after he appeared on their second album Generation. Suggs' bandmate keyboardist Mike Barson also collaborates on this album as well on the tracks "Twist Me Up" and "Goodbye".
"Only Man" is the eighth single from British electronic music duo Audio Bullys. The video for the song was directed by Jonas & François, and is featured on Higher Than the Eiffel, Ibiza Fever 2010, Global Gathering Festival Anthems, Clubbers Guide to Festivals and the similarly titled single from the band.
The Best of Thunder: Their Finest Hour is the first compilation album by English hard rock band Thunder. Released on 25 September 1995 by EMI Records, it features songs from the band's first three studio albums – Backstreet Symphony, Laughing on Judgement Day and Behind Closed Doors – as well as a re-recorded version of "Higher Ground", 1994 single "Gimme Shelter" and new tracks "In a Broken Dream" and "Once in a Lifetime".
