A Guided Tour Of Madness
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A Guided Tour Of Madness
''A Guided Tour of Madness'' is a 3-CD/1-DVD anthology box set by English band Madness, released in 2011 on Union Square Music's collector's label Salvo. It features 70 singles and album tracks (from 1979’s '' One Step Beyond...'' to 2009’s ''The Liberty of Norton Folgate'') and an exclusive DVD of the band's comeback concert at the Madstock festival in August 1992. It also includes a booklet with interviews with the band, photos, the cartoon ''Nutty Comic'' (1981) and the ''Madness Map of Camden'', the band's historic stomping ground. With the exception of "Sweetest Girl," " Sorry," and "The Harder They Come," every one of the band's 34 singles to date is represented. The compilation is notable as containing the only official physical release of the track "Le Grand Pantalon", which closes the collection. This slower, waltz version of "Baggy Trousers", complete with accordion and double bass, as well as French lyrics, was originally created as part of Madness' participatio ...
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Madness (band)
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.Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Retrieved on 19 June 2007. 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. (UB40 shared the same number of weeks, the largest for any British group in the decade, but over a longer period.), IMDb.com, Retrieved on 10 June 2007. Madness have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten, including "One Step Beyond", "Baggy Trousers" and " It Must Be Love", one UK number-one single "House of Fun" and two number ones in Ireland, "House of Fun" and " Wings of a Dove". " Our House" was their biggest US hit, reaching number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2000, the band received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy ...
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Baggy Trousers
"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,Woodstra, Chris. Retrieved on 1 July 2007. and reminisces about school days. (Mike Barson also received a writing credit in error, the correct McPherson/Foreman credit being used for subsequent releases). The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980. Retrieved on 1 July 2007. It was released as a single on 5 September 1980 and spent 20 weeks in UK charts, reaching a high of #3. It was the 28th best-selling single of 1980 in the UK. In October 2017, American punk rock/hip hop band the Transplants released a cover version of the song on their ''Take Cover'' EP. Music and lyrics Suggs later recalled in an interview that "I was very specifically trying to write a song in the style of Ian Dury, especially the songs he was writing then, which ereoften sort of catalogues of ph ...
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Night Boat To Cairo
"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 '' Work Rest and Play'' EP, 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''. The song is often used by Madness to close live concerts, and "Night Boat" has passed into cockney rhyming slang as a term for a giro, or unemployment benefit cheque. Background and composition The song was composed as an instrumental by Barson, but was expanded when Suggs added lyrics. The song has an unusual structu ...
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My Girl (Madness Song)
"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. The song was reissued in 1992 following the success of the reissued " It Must Be Love". It reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart. Song history The song first made its way into the band's set when they were performing as The Invaders. The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when it was performed by the band at the "Blind Alley Shop" and simply titled "New Song". Barson originally performed lead vocals, and even sang on the demo for the song, having written the song about his then girlfriend, Kerstin Rodgers. However, Suggs took over the vocal duties before long, and sang the album version of the song. When the group performed the song on ''Top of the Pops'' in January 1980, they were the first band of the new deca ...
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Chris Foreman
Christopher John Foreman (born 8 August 1956), nicknamed Chrissy Boy, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Foreman came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the English band Madness. Early life Christopher John Foreman was born on 8 August 1956, in St Pancras, London, England. His father John Foreman, known on the folk-scene as a music hall revivalist, attempted to teach him to play guitar as a child, but he could not maintain an interest. Foreman bought a cheap second-hand guitar when he was 20 and became more enthusiastic about the instrument when he began to learn chords. He then acquired a Fender Telecaster which he used whilst recording Madness' debut album. Career Foreman formed Madness with keyboardist Mike Barson and saxophonist Lee Thompson in 1976. Foreman was one of the group's main songwriters, mostly writing music with other members, usually Suggs or Lee Thompson, providing the lyrics ...
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Mark Bedford
Mark William Bedford (born 24 August 1961),Strong, Martin C. (2002) ''The Great Rock Discography'', Canongate, , p. 638 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. Early life Mark Bedford was born on 24 August 1961, in Islington, London, England. He started to buy records at the age of 11 or 12. Around this time, he listened to music in the charts and North American artists such as Neil Young. He began to play bass guitar at the age of 13 in order to accompany friends who played the guitar. Bedford attended William Ellis School in Kentish Town and met members of the North London Invaders at one of their gigs. He was asked to a band rehearsal and was impressed by the musicianship on display. Bedford was friends with the Invaders' drummer Gary Dovey, but after a confrontation with saxophonist Lee Thompson, Dovey left the band. Bedford brought Dan Woodgate ...
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Work Rest And Play
''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. Retrieved on 19 June 2007. Background After the release of " My Girl", the band felt that they had exhausted the material from '' One Step Beyond...'', and did not want to release any more singles from the album. However, Dave Robinson, head of Stiff Records, disagreed. Eventually, a compromise was made, and the band decided to release an EP featuring one album track and three new tracks. The ''Work Rest and Play'' EP was the result. Content The EP's success was largely down to "Night Boat to Cairo", which headlined the set and had an accompanying music video. The fourth song, "Don't Quote Me On That", was a commentary on press coverage which had tried to paint the band as racists who supported the National Front ...
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Graham McPherson
Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor from Hastings, England. In a music career spanning 40 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the ska band Madness, which released fifteen singles that entered the top 10 charts in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s, including " My Girl", "Baggy Trousers", "Embarrassment", " It Must Be Love", "House of Fun", "Driving in My Car", " Our House", " Wings of a Dove" and "Lovestruck". Suggs began his solo career in 1995, while still a member of Madness. Since then, he has released two studio albums and two compilation albums. His solo hits include "I'm Only Sleeping", " Camden Town", "Cecilia" and "Blue Day". Suggs has also been an actor, with roles in films, theatre and television. He is married and is the father of two children. Early life Graham McPherson was born on 13 January ...
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One Step Beyond (song)
"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. According to Alan Winstanley, one of the producers, the released Madness version was a rough mix, created by taki ...
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Mike Barson
Michael Barson (born 21 April 1958) 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 (band), Madness. Early years Barson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He grew up in North London with his two brothers, Dan and Ben, who are also musicians (with Ben being one of Roland Gift, Roland Gift's collaborators). He is often known by the nicknames "Monsieur Barso" or "Barzo". Prior to forming Madness, Barson and fellow future Madness member Lee Thompson (saxophonist), Lee Thompson gained some notice as graffiti artists in the mid-1970s. After reading about the emerging Graffiti in New York City, 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 n ...
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Prince Buster
Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary music and created a legacy of work that would be drawn upon later by reggae and ska artists. Early life Cecil Bustamente Campbell was born in Orange Street in Kingston, Jamaica, on 24 May 1938. His middle name was given to him by his family in honour of the Labour activist and first post-Independence Prime Minister William Alexander Clarke Bustamante. In the early 1940s, Campbell was sent to live with his grandmother in rural Jamaica where his family's commitment to the Christian faith, gave him his earliest musical experiences in the form of church singing as well as private family prayer and hymn meetings. Returning to live at Orange Street while still a young boy, Campbell attended the Central Branch School and St. Anne's School. Whi ...
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Lee Thompson (saxophonist)
Lee Jay Thompson (born 5 October 1957), 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. Early years Prior to forming Madness, Thompson and future Madness keyboardist Mike Barson gained some notoriety as graffiti artists in the mid-1970s. After reading about the emerging New York graffiti scene, they spray-painted their nicknames ("Kix" and "Mr B") 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". Music career Thompson founded Madness with Mike Barson and Chris Foreman in 1976, and wrote the group's debut single, "The Prince". Among the other songs, he wrote or ...
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