"The Prince" is a song by British ska/pop band
Madness
Madness or The Madness may refer to:
Emotion and mental health
* Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat
* Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns
* ...
. It was written by
Lee Thompson,
[Greene, Jo-Ann. Retrieved 28 June 2007.] and was the band's first single. On 10 August 1979 the single was released through
2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records.
History
...
and peaked at number 16 in the
UK Singles Chart, spending a total of 11 weeks in the charts.
[ Retrieved 27 June 2007.]
"The Prince" is a tribute to Jamaican ska singer
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 ...
, who influenced Madness (the band took their name from one of his songs, "Madness", which they covered on the
b-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
of "The Prince").
Music video
As this was the band's first single, they were relatively unknown prior to the release. Due to this fact, no music video was filmed for the single. However, the band later bought the rights to a performance on
Top of the Pops from 6 September 1979. This performance has since become associated with the single, and has featured on compilations featuring the band's music videos.
Different recordings
The song was initially recorded on 16 June 1979 at the
Pathway Studios
Pathway Studios was an independent recording studio in North London. Founded in 1970, the studio became an early favorite of Stiff Records' Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, and was the location for early recordings by The Damned, Madness, ...
,
Highbury.
The track was then remixed on 9 July of the same year, along with the single's
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, "Madness".
The remix was in order to remove the hum from Thompson's saxophone solo. However,
Mike Barson showed displeasure at the mix of "Madness".
The song was re-recorded later that year for the ''
One Step Beyond...'' album. As well as having a distinctively clearer sound, the song had a slight change in lyrics and
Mike Barson later admitted in the
33 1/3
(Thirty-Three and a Third) is a series of books, each about a single music album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph ...
book
One Step Beyond... that he preferred it to the single version.
The B-side, "Madness", was also re-recorded for the album in a more multi-layered arrangement.
Track listing
7" vinyl single
Side one
#"The Prince" (
Lee Thompson) – 2:30
Side two
#"Madness" (
Cecil Campbell) – 2:32
Charts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince, The
Songs about musicians
Cultural depictions of reggae musicians
1979 debut singles
Madness (band) songs
Songs written by Lee Thompson (saxophonist)
2 Tone Records singles
1979 songs
Song recordings produced by Clive Langer