It would seem that not even the mighty Madness can escape the impact of the Coronavirus, as the Dubai gig originally planned to take place on the 5th March has now been moved to the 12th November.
The date change came from a combination of advice from the government in the United Arab Emirates and the promoter at the Irish Village.
Moving on, and we have some exciting news regarding this years’ Record Store Day release, which takes places on the 18th April. Madness are this year re-issuing the Work Rest and Play EP on a double 7” single pack. Check out our “Buy it” section for more information including the track listing.
Also released on this years’ Record Store Day is the 40th Anniversary Edition of the legendary “Dance Craze” album. As with the above forthcoming release, you’ll find further details in our “Buy it” section.
We have no doubt that these releases will be snapped up by collectors and eBay scalpers alike. So, if you want to bag yourselves a copy of these and don’t want to pay through the nose you’ll need to queue outside your local independent record store from the early hours. Good luck!
Probably the biggest piece of news to report on this week is that on Monday 2nd March Madness appeared at a grand unveiling in Camden Town. The Music Walk of Fame paid tribute to Camden’s finest by adding their slab to the locality. You can find a short documentary covering the day by pointing your web browsers over to: https://youtu.be/p3PF38sm1P8
Once you’ve watched that get yourselves back here and read on!
See below for all forthcoming Madness and Madness related gigs and events. If there’s something we’ve missed off or you feel should be added then please let us know.
7th – Before we was we Special Q&A and signing section at the Dublin Castle. Tickets here: https://t.co/dZTZ1zjHrG?amp=1
May 2020
21st – House of Blues, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
22nd – Manhattan Centre, New York, USA
25th – Punk Rock Bowling 2020, Las Vegas, USA.
27th – Fox Theatre, Oakland, California, USA
30th – Pulso GNP, Queretaro, Mexico
June 2020
13th – Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury
19th – York Festival, York (support – Lightning Seeds)
20th – Thetford Forest, Brandon, Suffolk
26th – Plaza De Toros, Murcia, Spain
27th – Valencia, Spain
28th – Festival Jardins de Pedralbes, Barcelona, Spain
July 2020
5th – Hi-Tide Festival, Margate
8th – Henley Festival, Henley on Thames
August 2020
2nd – Tramlines, Hillsborough Park, Sheffield
20th – Penthalaz, Switzerland
21st – 22nd (date TBC) – Cabaret Vert Festival, Ardennes, France
23rd – E-Werk, Koln, Germany
25th – Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany
November 2020
12th – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai (moved from 5th March) ** new **
20th – 23rd – The 10th House of Fun Weekender. The Final Curtain. More info at www.bigweekends.com Tickets on sale now
Lee Thompson
March
29th – A Voyage Round Lee Thompson. The Last Q&A for One Man’s Madness. Held at The Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London, E8 2PB, 020 7241 9415 www.riocinema.org.uk
16th – The Courtyard, Herefordshire’s Centre for the Arts
17th – Bristol, Royal Redgrave Theatre
19th – Exeter, Corn Exchange
20th – Westlands, Yeovil
21st – Aldershot, Princes Hall
22nd – Hertford Theatre
23rd – Forum Theatre (Malvern Theatres)
24th – Warrington, Pyramind and Parr Hall
25th – Lythan St. Annes, Lowther Pavilion
27th – Hexham, Queens Hall Arts Centre
28th – Dundee Rep Theatrre
29th – Aberdeen Music Hall
30th – Edinburgh, The Queen’s Hall
Buy It
Record Store Day – Work Rest and Play ** new **
Release date: 18th April
Format: Double 7″ single
Cat No. BMGCAT430DSV
Overview:
Fortieth anniversary re-issue of Madness’ “Work Rest & Play EP” – the follow-up to their debut album, 1979’s “One Step Beyond…”
Limited edition Record Store Day 2020 release on double 7” format with a triple gatefold sleeve including photos from the time of the original release.
Track listing:
Side One
Night Boat To Cairo
Side Two
Deceives The Eye
Side Three
The Young And The Old
Side Four
Don’t Quote Me On That
Record Store Day – Dance Craze 40th Anniversary Edition ** new **
This is a new half-speed master exclusively for RSD and part of the Two Tone Records 40th Anniversary celebrations. This is a soundtrack to the live movie of the same name featuring exclusive live recordings by The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. This is also first vinyl repress since its original release in 1981.
This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby goes back in time to report on what was going on in the world of Madness 5, 10, 15 and 20 years ago this week.
5 years ago…
Issue Number 826 – Sunday 8th March to Saturday 14th March 2015
This week Scotland based Madness fans had cause for celebration when it was announced that Madness would indeed be performing North of the border as part of their forthcoming Grandslam Madness tour.
The band were coming to Scotland on the 5th of July, when they’d be performing at East Links, Montrose.
Our MIS Feature this week took a look at the artwork from “Shut Up”, originally produced by the late Paul Clewley.
The Madness “Shut Up” sleeve had always been one of subscriber Sean Gaskin’s favourite designs by the legendary skinhead artist, yet he always considered it a bit of a shame that the printed copies of this single cover were of rather poor quality and didn’t do the awesome artwork the justice that it deserved. So, in an effort to right the wrong he showed-off his attempt of 3 days at his digital drawing board to try and rectify that matter. It was certainly impressive!
Over in “Live Intensified” we featured a detailed review of Suggs’ recent appearance at the Pimlico Opera courtesy of Gareth James. The show was performed by members of the Young Offenders Institute at Belmarsh Prison.
In “Tweets of a Dove”, Suggs also commented on this production of the popular musical by tweeting;
“Yes have been in prison for the last month, working with young offenders on the most remarkable production of ‘our house’”
We brought this issue to a close by hinting that the next Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra gig would be taking place some time this coming August. It had already been confirmed by the band but ticket links and details of the actual venue had yet to be made public.
10 years ago…
Issue Number 566 – Sunday 7th March – Saturday 13th March 2010
We kicked off this week’s collection of articles with news in from the Islington Gazette who reported that Jools Holland, Chris Difford, Glenn Tilkbrook and Suggs would be gathering in Finsbury next week to celebrate the life of the capital in Song.
A spokesman for the event commented at the time;
“The life and times of the capital have been immortalised in song by many a musician, from the bustle of the music halls to the riot of the punks. Songs in the Key of London brings together singers and songsmiths of the old school and new in a celebration of songs about the city.”
Next, we moved on to Retro Madness and their current offer. This week’s clearance item was the pre-publication paperback edition of Suggs book “Suggs and The City”. The book wasn’t due to be published in paperback format until June this year, so it was a great opportunity to get your hands on one long before everyone else.
Some Big 10 news followed, as the band reported that on Saturday 21st March the band would be performing at the Dublin Castle for the first time. Not only that, but they’d been given two 1 hour slots – unheard of for a debut gig. You’d get 2 hours of live ska, plus 2 other bands and a DJ set til 2am, all for a mere £4.50! Bargain!
As previously reported Mike and Suggs collaborated once again with the Audio Bullys on the recording of their new album Higher Than Eiffel, out on March 29th. This week we reviewed the tracks featuring members of Madness.
We brought this issue to a close with a final plug for the forthcoming Big 10 gig, an d pointing you towards a YouTube link of the band in action, so you could see what your £4.50 entrance fee would get you.
15 years ago…
Issue number 304 – Sunday 6th March 2005 to Saturday 12th March 2005
What started out as a mere rumour (albeit a strong one!) in last weeks’ MIS exploded into a full Summer 2005 tour earlier this week when it was announced that the information we printed in the last issue (with thanks to our under cover reporter) was true, and that the band would be taking part in a tour organised by The Forestry Commission.
This 6-date tour would see the bands performing on the following dates:
Sat 11 June High Lodge Thetford Forest, Suffolk
Sun 12 June Bedgebury Pinetum, Nr Goudhurst, Kent
Fri 17 June Delamere Forest, Delamere, Cheshire
Sat 18 June Westonbirt Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Fri 24 June Dalby Forest, North York Moors, Nr Pickering, Yorks
Sat 25 June Sherwood Pines Forest Park, Nr Edwinstowe, Notts.
Moving on, and elsewhere in this issue Jonathan Young gave us the heads-up on a new system called CD on Demand. Run by Universal Music UK, this new system would use the very latest digital technology to manufacture CDs to order. This would enable large and small record companies to re-release albums that had been deleted from their catalogues. What did this have to do with Madness? Well, with the original Madstock album being on the Go Discs label, which was now part of Mercury UK (also owned by Universal Music), and the album being given a catalogue listing in the new CD catalogue, it looked as if a re-release could be on the cards.
With the Forest Tour now common knowledge, and fans having already snapped-up tickets, the requests for lifts to a number of the venues were sent out from a number of Maddies. If you could help you were urged to get in touch.
Those of you with a DAB radio were urged to tune in to Andrew Collins’ radio show, where next Monday to Wednesday he’d be running his ‘Fight Club’, which would see Madness versus The Specials.
The show, hosted by Dave Gorman (due to Andrew’s absence this coming week) would see one track from each group being played, and an interview from back in the day explaining a few things. Listeners could then vote by text, email or via the web site.
We finished off this issue with news in from MOT drummer, Dan Fossard, who revealed that the bad have been asked by Blowup Records to perform at The Metro Club, Oxford Street, on the 19th of March.
20 years ago…
Issue 42 – Sunday 5th March 2000 to Saturday 11th March 2000
Last week saw the release of the third single from the `Wonderful` album, `Drip Fed Fred`, as it finally hit the shelves of music stores up and down the UK.
As with the last two single releases (`Lovestruck` and `Johnny The Horse`) many fans had noted that Woolworths were once again refusing to stock or were overlooking the new single.
Those of you who persisted found that many of the other UK music stockists (Virgin, HMV, Our Price) had more than enough copies of the new release. The only problem was trying to work out if it was a 1 or 2 part release as both single sleeves were VERY similar indeed.
One thing that had been mentioned more than once was the lack of video footage on the single. The red-spined CD was numbered as VSCDX 1768. The `X` usually denoted some kind of `extra`. Many fans were looking forward to the `Drip Fed Fred` video which a number of online Maddies had the pleasure of appearing in. Still, even with this little omission, the two CD’s (and cassette, if you’re a real collector!) certainly were more than worthy additions to the old Madness collection.
The two singles had been receiving some great reviews on the internet newsgroups and mailing lists. Hopefully this enthusiasm would be passed on to the general public and give Fred the chart position we all know he deserved.
Remember the `Vote for Fred` banners we were all handed at the start of each gig over the Christmas tour? Those of you who actually remembered to fill in the pre-paid slip at the bottom were advised to keep an eye on the letterbox as something would possibly be falling through it in the next couple of days. Here’s what Simon Mulvaney had to say at the time;
“No one has mentioned this but I got a nice little “VOTE FOR FRED” postcard, which is now on my pin board, that says: “MADNESS THE OFFICIAL SPONSORS FOR THE VOTE FOR FRED CAMPAIGN” on the front and plugs the single it’s self on the back. So if you filled out the form at the bottom of the banners from the gigs should have got one or it’ll be on it’s way.
So at least Virgin are letting the fans know about the new single”.
Would the lads be appearing on Top of The Pops once more? Total Madness Mailing List subscriber, Cheryl Hagger had been in touch with the music show via E-mail and was politely informed that;
“Madness may well be on the show depending on how they chart”.
The TOTP appearance looked unlikely though as `Drip Fed Fred` had unfortunately entered the UK music charts at a saddening number 55.
Elsewhere, and Carl Humphreys reported that on Sunday 28th Feb, Suggs appeared on UK Radio as a guest of Johnnie walker. Here’s what Carl reported on at the time;
“He was talking about Madness a little bit, but more about himself. He did, however, add the following bits of info….
This was to be the last track released off of the Album (probably)
The original intention was for them to be back for about a year after the Lovestruck release (probably)
They will (probably) put some stuff together later in the year, to see if there is a) any interest and b) anything any good.
In the future Suggs would like to present a TV show, (probably) called `The Three Pyramids Club`, based around a smokey club, where he could talk to people he likes, and get bands he likes to play.
He was very non-committal about it all!”
It was also time to get those video tapes at the ready once again as the lads had yet another television appearance on the cards. TMML subscriber Colin Galbraith reported that;
“Madness are to appear live on next weeks Pepsi Chart Show singing DFF. I *think* the show goes out on a Thursday though I may be mistaken. Whenever it is, set yer vid’s!”
Last Friday night (3rd March) saw a brief appearance of the old Suggster on Ian Wright’s awful chat show `Friday Night’s All Wright`.
Ian was absolutely terrible as a television presenter and it was only Suggs who managed to keep things moving along. The questions posed to Suggs were all very dated (how did you join the band etc) and there was no mention of the new album or the `Drip Fed Fred` single.
And finally, Adele Hargreaves reported that Madness Manager, Peter Rudge was currently in the US setting up Madness gigs for the Stateside later in the year as well as a US release of the new album.
We were sure that would cheer-up the American subscribers.
Articles in this week’s issue saw Simon Mulvaney reviewing the new Drip Fed Fred singles, news of Adrian Burns’ ‘Maddest Site on Earth’, an article from the Jools Holland section on the BBC web site, which charted the history of our favourite band, Mikel’s review of the excellent ‘First Step Beyond’ rarities CD, and a rant from Vince Foley, who was gutted at the poor charting of the Drip Fed Fred single.
Rob Hazelby
MIS Feature
New Videos From the JoJo Man Band
NIck Woodgate contacted us in the week to let us know that the JoJo Man band had released four brand new videos over on YouTube.
Check them out via the below links and don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe to their channel at https://bit.ly/2ItLfSW
The pride of Camden Town will return to Southern California for the first time since Coachella 2012, when Madness overtakes the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on May 24 for a one-night-only ska/bluebeat hit parade culled from 40+ years of glorious chaos.
Join original Madness members Graham “Suggs” McPherson, Mike “Barso” Barson, Lee “Kix” Thompson, Chris “Chrissy Boy” Foreman, Mark “Bedders” Bedford, Daniel “Woody” Woodgate and special guests The English Beat and Mighty Mighty BossTones for this final addition to a U.S. itinerary that will be playing to packed houses from Boston and New York to Vegas and Oakland (where a second night has been added due to popular demand). See below for the full list of Madness U.S. shows.
We’re almost at the end of this week’s issue of the MIS, but before we go there are a couple of last minute bits and pieces to pass your way.
Of interest to Stateside Madness fans and the hardcore collectors who simply “must” have every release is that an album entitled “Our House” comes to the USA on CD, vinyl and download on May 15th.
This release isn’t your usual greatest hits compilation, however. Yes, it does include many classic Madness tracks of old, but it also features tracks such as NW5, Mr. Apples and even the recent release; Bullingdon Boys.
Take a look at the blog unveiling over on the USA’ MIS fan service here…
There will be further US based exclusives to come, since they were first to let US fans know about the added dates by Madness in LA that have since been announced.
