''7'' (also known as ''Madness 7'') is the third studio album from the British

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

/ pop band Madness. Released in October 1981, it reached No. 5 in the UK album chart. All but one track was recorded at

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producer ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

in the summer of 1981, the exception being "

Grey Day "Grey Day" is a 2-Tone song written by Mike Barson and recorded by British pop/ska band Madness. Retrieved 21 July 2007. The song was the first single released from the band's third studio album '' 7''. Retrieved 21 July 2007. It was a big de ...

" which was recorded in London earlier in the year. Although in 2011 co-producer

Alan Winstanley Alan Kenneth Winstanley (born 2 November 1952) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer. His early career during the mid-1970s was as an audio engineer, working on albu ...

stated in the ''Guided Tour of Madness'' boxed-set that much of the album was re-recorded in London when they returned from Nassau.

Track listing

There were several different versions of the album released throughout the world. Some territories removed the not so tourist-friendly "Day on the Town" while others replaced it with "Never Ask Twice (a.k.a. Aeroplane/Airplane)", which was issued on the "Shut Up" 12" in the UK. In Belgium "Never Ask Twice" was issued on a one-sided 7" single with initial copies of the album. France renamed "Day on the Town" as "A Place in The City". Australia added " It Must Be Love" and "Never Ask Twice", Spain replaced "Cardiac Arrest" with "It Must Be Love" and Japan added "In the City", which was issued there as a single after it was initially written for and used to promote

Honda City The is a subcompact car which has been produced by the Japanese manufacturer Honda since 1981. The City was originally a 3-door hatchback/2-door convertible for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets. The 3-door City was retired in 199 ...

cars in television commercials. Initial vinyl pressings featured different mixes of some tracks (most notably "Mrs Hutchinson" and "Day on the Town"), which haven't been used since.

2010 reissue

In 2009 and 2010, Madness re-released their entire back catalogue of studio albums up until 1999's '' Wonderful'' with a bonus CD and extra tracks. ''7'' was reissued by Union Square Music's collector's label Salvo on 12 April 2010. ;CD 1 ;The original album :*The first disc contains the thirteen tracks from the original album plus four promo videos. ;The promo videos #Grey Day #Shut Up #It Must be Love #Cardiac Arrest ;CD 2

Personnel

;Madness * Graham "Suggs" McPherson – lead vocals *

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. Early y ...

– piano, organ, vibes, marimba, tubular bells *

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 Engli ...

– guitar, sitar * Mark Bedford – bass * Lee Thompson – saxophones, burps, squeaks, lead vocals on track 10 *

Daniel Woodgate Daniel Mark (Woody) Woodgate (born 19 October 1960) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Woodgate came to prominence in the late 1970s as the drummer for the English ska band ...

– drums, congas *

Chas Smash Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His career spans more than 40 years. Smash came to prominence in the late 1970s as secondary vocalist, trump ...

– backing vocals, trumpet ;Technical *

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' ...

– producer, engineer *

– producer, engineer *Arun Chakraverty – mastering *Stella Artwork – cover *C-More – cover *Mike Putland – photography ;2010 reissue *

Dale Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1 ...

– producer on Richard Skinner session *Mike Engels – engineer on Richard Skinner session *Tim Turan – remastering *Martin 'Cally' Callomon – art direction, design *

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine '' NME'', his writing credits have included ''On the Hour'', '' ...

– liner notes

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* {{Authority control Madness (band) albums 1981 albums Stiff Records albums Albums produced by Alan Winstanley Albums produced by Clive Langer