"Cardiac Arrest" is a song by English

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 ...

band Madness from their third studio album '' 7'' (1981) and other compilation album called ''

Complete Madness ''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 th ...

'' (1982). It spent 10 weeks in UK charts peaking at number 14. The song was written by

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 ...

and

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 ...

and tells a story of a workaholic who suffers a fatal heart attack on his way to work. It was the first Madness single since "

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

" which did not reach the UK top 10. The album version of the song ends after the second chorus with a dramatic cut to a coda representing the man's heart thudding and then stopping. The single version replaces this with a repeat of the more optimistic first chorus, which fades out. The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Cardiac Arrest" featured Chas Smash as a person having a heart attack and the remaining band members playing roles of people advising him not to work so hard. The video follows the single version of the song rather than the album version. The B-side, "In the City", was originally written by Bill Crutchfield, Chas Smash, Chris Foreman,

Daisuke Inoue is a Japanese businessman best known as the inventor of a karaoke machine. Inoue, a musician in his youth employed in backing businesspeople who wanted to sing in bars, invented the machine as a means of allowing them to sing without live ba ...

Suggs 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 ...

, and

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 ...

for a Japanese television advertisement for

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. The various versions of the advert, including variations using "

Driving in My Car "Driving in My Car" is a song by Madness. It was released as a stand-alone single on 24 July 1982 and spent eight weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number four. It reached number 20 on the Australian Singles Chart. The B-side to the ...

" instead of "In the City", appear between tracks on the 1992 '' Divine Madness'' video. In the Netherlands the single was released as a double A-side, and peaked at number 15 in the Dutch Top 40. In the US, "Cardiac Arrest" was released on the compilation album '' Madness'' and the B-side of their " Our House" single. Although the song was a chart success, it was very rarely performed live - apart from featuring in a few gigs around the time of its release, it was not performed again until the "Can't Touch Us Now" tour in winter 2016.

Track listing

;7" single #"Cardiac Arrest" – 2:58 #"In the City" – 2:56 ;12" single #"Cardiac Arrest" (Extended 12" Version) – 4:10 #"In the City" – 2:56

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardiac Arrest (Song) 1982 singles Madness (band) songs Songs written by Chris Foreman Songs written by Chas Smash 1982 songs Stiff Records singles Song recordings produced by Clive Langer Song recordings produced by Alan Winstanley Songs about death