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.
Absolutely is the second studio album from the British ska band Madness. The album reached number 2 in the UK album charts.
7 is the third studio album by the English ska and pop band Madness. Released in October 1981, it peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. All but one track was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas in the summer of 1981, the exception being "Grey Day" which was recorded in London earlier in the year. Although in 2011 co-producer Alan Winstanley stated in the Guided Tour of Madness boxed-set that much of the album was re-recorded in London when they returned from Nassau.
Divine Madness is the 1992 greatest hits album from the British ska/pop band Madness.
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.
Wonderful is the seventh studio album by the British band Madness, released on 1 November 1999. It was the band's first studio album in fourteen years since Mad Not Mad in 1985, and also the first to feature their classic seven-piece line-up since 1984's Keep Moving. The album saw Madness reunite with their original production team, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who had produced all of the band's previous work.
"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.
"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.
Complete Madness is the first greatest hits album by ska/pop group Madness. It was released in 1982 and included Madness' biggest hits from their first three studio albums and the stand-alone singles. Complete Madness spent 99 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at number 1.
Utter Madness is a greatest hits album by the British pop band Madness, released on their own Zarjazz label through Virgin Records on 24 November 1986 shortly after the group's original split. It picks up from where the band's first greatest hits album Complete Madness left off, running from "Driving in My Car" to the last Madness single before their split, "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train".
The Business – the Definitive Singles Collection is a 3 disc box set by ska/pop band Madness released in 1993. It contained all the band's singles until that point with their respective b-sides and other bonus tracks, some rare. It also includes a 52-page booklet and snippets of interviews with people associated with Madness between some tracks. The interviews date from around the time of the Keep Moving album and were conducted by John Tobler. Among those interviewed were founder member John Hasler, former manager John "Kelloggs" Kalinowski and Dave Robinson of Stiff Records.
"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.
"The Prince" is a song by the English ska and pop band Madness. It was written by Lee Thompson, and was the band's first single. The single was released through 2 Tone Records on 10 August 1979, and peaked at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, spending a total of 11 weeks on the chart.
"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.
"Drip Fed Fred" is a single by British band Madness from their 1999 album Wonderful, featuring Ian Dury on vocals. It was released as a single in January 2000, peaking at number 55 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the last song to which Dury would contribute his voice, before he died in March 2000.
"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.
One Step Beyond. .. is the debut studio album by the British ska-pop group Madness, released by Stiff Records. Recorded and mixed in about three weeks, the album peaked at number two and remained on the UK Albums Chart for more than a year. The album has received much critical praise. It was ranked 90th in a 2005 survey held by British television station Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.
