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Mike Barson | |
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 Barson performing live with Madness at Manchester Arena in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael Barson |
| Born | 21 April 1958 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Genres | 2-tone |
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| Website | www |
Michael Barson (born 21 April 1958) is a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning 45 years, Barson came to prominence in the late 1970s as the keyboard player for the band Madness.
Barson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He grew up in North London with his two brothers, Dan and Ben, who are also musicians [1] (with Ben being one of Roland Gift's collaborators). [2] He is often known by the nicknames "Monsieur Barso" or "Barzo". [3]
Prior to forming Madness, Barson and fellow future Madness member Lee Thompson gained some notice as graffiti artists in the mid-1970s. After reading about the emerging New York graffiti scene, they spray-painted their nicknames ("Mr B" and "Kix") along with two friends' names "Cat" and "Columbo" around north London. They managed to spray their nicknames on George Melly's garage door, prompting Melly to write a newspaper article declaring: "If I ever catch that Mr B, Kix and Columbo, I'm going to kick their arses". [4]
Barson co-founded a band called The Invaders in 1976. [5] The band later changed their name to Madness after the song by Prince Buster.[ citation needed ]
Madness became a successful British band during the late 1970s to mid-1980s, having initial success as part of the Two-Tone movement. Barson was and is a prominent songwriter in the band, and effectively the musical director. [6] He left in 1984 [7] after the recording of their fifth studio album Keep Moving and appearing in the promotional music videos for the two singles from that album – "Michael Caine", and "One Better Day". Two years later, Madness disbanded, but Barson did join them for the recording of their final single, "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train."
Madness reunited in their original line-up in 1992, [5] and Barson still plays with them. In 1995, he co-wrote and produced a number of songs for Suggs' first solo album The Lone Ranger . When No Doubt were recording songs for their fifth studio album Rock Steady , Barson was asked to play piano on the London version of the song "Everything in Time". Barson obliged and the track was produced by Madness producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. The track was not included on the album, [8] but was released a year later in 2003 on the compilation album Everything in Time (B-sides, Rarities, Remixes).
Both Barson and his bandmate, Suggs, have contributed to Audio Bullys' album Higher Than the Eiffel . They both appear on the tracks "Twist Me Up" and "Goodbye".
In September 2016, Barson told the website The Canary that he was a member of the left-wing campaigning group Momentum and voted for Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Party leadership election. He said: "I heard all these unpleasant people on the news saying how terrible Momentum was so I thought I'd give it a go! I also heard how Jeremy could never win an election so I thought I'd have to vote for him too..." [9]
Madness are an English ska and pop band from Camden Town, north west 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, holding the record along with English reggae group UB40 for most weeks spent by a group in the UK singles chart during the 1980s.
Graham McPherson, known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is a British singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor.
Christopher John Foreman, nicknamed Chrissy Boy, is an English musician, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning 45 years, Foreman came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the English band Madness.
Mark William Bedford, nicknamed Bedders, is an English musician, songwriter and composer. Bedford came to prominence in the late 1970s as the bass guitarist for the English ska band Madness.
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 Dangermen Sessions, Vol. 1 is a cover album and the eighth studio album by the British ska band Madness, released in 2005. The album reached No. 11 in the UK which at the time was their highest chart position in the UK since 1984's Keep Moving.
The Lone Ranger is the first solo album by British singer Suggs, 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.
Lee Jay Thompson, nicknamed Kix or El Thommo, is an English multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning 45 years, Thompson came to prominence in the late 1970s as a founder and saxophonist for the English ska band Madness.
"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.
Bette Bright is an English rock singer.
"Baggy Trousers" is a song by English ska/pop band Madness from their 1980 album Absolutely. It was written by lead singer Graham "Suggs" McPherson and guitarist Chris Foreman, and reminisces about school days.. The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980.
"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.
"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.
"Shut Up" is a pop song written by Suggs and Chris Foreman. It was recorded by the English ska and pop band Madness, and was featured on the band's third studio album 7. It was released as a single on 11 September 1981, spending 10 weeks in the UK Singles Chart. It reached a high position of number 7.
"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.
"The Return of the Los Palmas 7" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness, written by Mike Barson, Mark Bedford and Daniel Woodgate. The song was Woodgate's first credit as a songwriter, and was released as the band's seventh single on 16 January 1981. The single reached number 7 in the UK and remained in the charts for 11 weeks. The single release is slightly different from the track on the album Absolutely, upon which it is listed as "Return of the Los Palmas 7" and is approximately 30 seconds shorter.
"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.
"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.
Can't Touch Us Now is the eleventh studio album by the British band Madness, released on their Lucky 7 Records label through Universal Music Catalogue (UMC) on 28 October 2016. The album marked the return of founder member Mark Bedford but the departure of Cathal Smyth.
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