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.
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 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.
Lee Jay Thompson, nicknamed Kix or El Thommo, is an English multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 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.
"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.
"One Step Beyond" is a tune written by Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster as a B-side for his 1964 single "Al Capone". It was covered by British band Madness for their debut studio album of the same name (1979). Although Buster's version was mostly instrumental except for the song title shouted for a few times, the Madness version features a spoken intro by Chas Smash and a barely audible but insistent background chant of "here we go!". The spoken line, "Don't watch that, watch this", in the intro is from another Prince Buster song, "Scorcher" — and is also used at the start of Dave and Ansell Collins' "Funky Funky Reggae" — whilst the next line "This is a heavy heavy monster sound" is taken from another Dave and Ansell Collins song, "Monkey Spanner". The first of those also became a trademark during the early promos of MTV, where the video was in heavy rotation.
"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.
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.
"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.
"Grey Day" is a 2-Tone song written by Mike Barson and recorded by British pop/ska band Madness. The song was the first single released from the band's third studio album 7. It was a big departure from their early ska sound with a much darker, miserable feel. The song title does not appear in the lyrics as a single phrase, though a couplet rhyming "grey" with "day" features in the chorus.
"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.
Work Rest and Play is an EP by British ska/pop band Madness. The EP was headlined by the song "Night Boat to Cairo", from the band's debut studio album One Step Beyond... (1979). It entered the UK Singles Chart on 5 April 1980, reaching a high of number 6.
"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.
Take It or Leave It is a 1981 film about the British ska/pop band Madness.
"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.
The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra are a British band formed in 2011 by Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson. The band consists of an ever-shifting line-up of ska and reggae-orientated musicians playing classic ska covers. Their debut album was released in 2013.
