[MIS] NEWS AND INFORMATION – SUN 16TH JAN – SAT 22ND JAN ’00
M.I.S ONLINE - NEWS AND INFORMATION - SUN 16TH JAN - SAT 22ND JAN '00 --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE NUMBER 35 MIS ONLINE: http://www.jabba.demon.co.uk/mis/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE ... 1 - THE EDITOR SPEAKS - Latest news snippets and gossip. 2 - NUTTY SOUNDS FOR SALE 2000 - Complete & Utter Madness stock rare and not so rare Madness and Madness related merchandise. Most of the items are generally purchased by serious collectors and some items may have high price tags as they are rare in nature and of course the reason why they are collectable. 3 - MAD NOT MAD ISSUE 5 - Issue 5 of the Madness/ska-tinged fanzine has been released. Find out what's inside this cracking edition and why you should invest in a subscription. 4 - THE ONLY PLACE TO BE EVERY OTHER SATURDAY - The UEFA Champions League is Europe's biggest annual football competition. It begins next week, and this year a record four British teams have qualified - Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Rangers. However, there is some very sad news indeed for some season ticket holders, or at least some of those with the best seats. 5 - ONE STEP BEHIND MERCHANDISE - Want to capture some of the atmosphere of a `One Step Behind` gig in the comfort of your own home? Well, your luck is in as the band have a couple of items for sale which you really should think about adding to your collection. 6 - FIRST STEP BEYOND - A new Madness rarities CD is on the verge of release. MIS Online has been lucky enough to get hold of a pre-release of this new album, Find out if you should be saving up your readies or leaving it on the shelf in this track by track review. 7 - GET YOUR MADDEST SHOW ON EARTH GOODIES - Your chance to get hold of the merchandise from the recent batch of Madness concerts. 8 - GENTLEMEN, PLEASE... - Thank you's, closing words, next week. [1] - THE EDITOR SPEAKS A number of Madness fan-sites have closed their doors over the past couple of months, so it's always nice when out of nowhere, one appears. The latest person to try his hand at website creation is none other than mad Scottie, Colin Galbraith with his `Magnificent Seven` site. Colin tells us that `It's 100% Madness and 100% Scottish`. You'll be wanting to point your web browsers over to: http://www.geocities.com/themagnificentseven. Take a look and let him know what you think. Following on from last week's issue listing the Complete Madness up and coming gigs, the band have been inundated with e-mails from all you lot. The band are really appreciative of the fantastic response and will attempt to reply to everyone who's mailed them in due course. Keeping on the subject of Complete Madness, and the band have asked me to announce a small correction to one of their January dates. In last week's bulletin it stated that the band would be playing `The Litten Tree` in Victoria, London on Friday 28th, this should have read, Thursday 27th Jan. For more information regarding up and coming Complete and Utter Madness dates, please get in touch with the band at: Complete at management99.fsnet.co.uk It's taken a while, but the ill-updated MIS Online website has finally broken the 5000 hit barrier thanks to the elusive Mr. G. "I was wondering if I get a prize for being the 5000th hitster to your MIS Online website?". Of course you do! Your prize is to have your name up there in ASCII!!! Some people will kill for that you know! As part of the excellent retro music series, `Top of the Pops 2`, last Wednesday saw the lads appear in a piece of vintage footage from way back in 1982. The BBC had decided to use the studio version of `Our House` which had been taken from the Christmas edition of the show. Regular viewers will know that during the course of each video clip, a number of snippets of band-related info are displayed at the bottom of the screen. One of these announced the birthday of none other than a certain Mr G. McPherson. Yes, on the 13th of January, Suggs gracefully grew one year older. But that wasn't the only Madness birthday in January as a Mr. Cathal Smyth celebrated his the day after. Here's Total Madness Mailing List subscriber, Lisa Pearson to fill us in; Quoting the Sydney Daily Telegraph Thursday January 13th 2000, with a rather youngish looking photograph of the birthday boy. "Graham 'Suggs' McPherson Singer with the group Madness, born in Hastings, UK, in 1961. The band formed in 1978, and drew on the ska style of reggae before splitting up in 1986. Suggs became a comedy host in a London club and manages UK group The Farm" This is not the first time this has appeared in the Tele, however the description hasn't changed for a number of years. How long ago was the description actually the case? I'm thinking that whoever updates these things for News Ltd (part of the Murdoch conglomerate) needs a taste of the Madness publicity machine ... but wait, is there one??? BTW I've never seen such a clipping for Chas Smash. Many thanks to Lisa for the above. Way back in 1986, Madness took part in Denmark's "Roskilde Festival" where they played their set in the rain in front of thousands of adoring fans. The bands for the 2000 festival are still be sorted out, and one Danish Maddie, Johan Edgren has decided that Madness MUST be persuaded to return. The organisers are currently compiling all suggestions sent in and will attempt to contact any bands who receive enough votes as a result of their internet poll. For more information, point your browser at: http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/2000/english/bands/ Onto video news now, and I've just been informed that during last year's `Maddest Show on Earth` tour, a certain Mr. Lee Thompson was out and about capturing video footage with the idea of uploading it to the official website sometime this year. The film contains footage of the tour, both on stage and behind the scenes. Footage of the soundcheck at the Bournemouth gig has been shot, and a number of fans were filmed by Lee holding banners which read "We want Lee for our leader". As soon as there's news of an upload date, we'll print it here. Thanks go to Jerney for the info. No sooner had I sent out last week's edition of the bulletin, I realised that I'd forgotten to mention anything about Suggs' appearance on the pilot showing of `A Question of Pop`. As you may have guessed, it's a music quiz show which see's two teams pit their wits against each other over a number of music trivia rounds. The team leader for one of the teams was none other than the man himself, Suggs who was teamed up with two other pop celebrities including the kiddies teen-pop sensation, Billie. I didn't manage to catch hold of the show myself, but reports I've had in from a number of people, some Madness fans, some not were very promising indeed. The show will be returning to UK shores in the spring, but it remains to be seen if Suggs will be there too. Thanks to Suzie Wilkins for jogging my memory! And with that. Lets get straight into this weeks articles. We've got absolutely loads to get through this week! Enjoy! Robert Hazelby (MIS Online Editor) [2] - NUTTY SOUNDS FOR SALE 2000 Complete & Utter Madness stock rare and not so rare Madness and Madness related merchandise. Most of the items are generally purchased by serious collectors and some items may have high price tags as they are rare in nature and of course the reason why they are collectable. However like all of us who had to start collecting once, there is no time like the present to become a serious collector yourself and start your Madness collection right here and now! To purchase any of the following items e-mail : sales at nuttyboys.com Our prices DO NOT include postage and packing to destination of buyer. ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - The Harder They Come Go! Disc Records - GOLCD93 / UK / CD Limited Edition Single Description : Rare Limited Purple Cover Edition featuring the hits Baggy Trousers, Grey day, Embarrassment Live! Sales Price US$10 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) SUGGS - The Lone Ranger WEA Records - 0630-12478-2 / UK / CD Album Description : Original Yellow Cover Edition. Sales Price US$16 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Michael Caine Stiff Records - PBUY196 / UK / 7" Single Picture Disc Description : Rare Original Picture Disc, featuring the guest vocals of Michael Caine. Sales Price US$25 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Yesterdays Men Zarjazz Records - JAZZSD5 / UK / 7" Single Picture Disc Description : Rare Limited Edition Double Single Pack incl It Must Be Love (LIVE) and Yesterdays Men - Harmonica Mix Sales Price US$45 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - The Business Virgin Records - MADBOX1 / UK / CD Album Description : 3 CD Box Set featuring all the Hits with 'B' sides with additional interviews and bonus tracks. Sales Price US$20 - VG/VG ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - One Better Day Stiff Records - BUY201 / UK / 7" Limited Edition Single Description : Rare Limited Edition Fold Out Poster Sleeve. Sales Price US$20 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Driving In My Car Stiff Records - PBUY153 / UK / 7" Single Picture Disc Description : Rare Original Picture Disc Sales Price US$25 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Cardiac Arrest Stiff Records - BUYDJ140 / UK / 7" PROMO Single Description : Rare Promotional Release Sales Price US$35 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Our House Stiff Records - BUYJB163 / UK / 7" Limited Edition Single Description : Rare 7" Special Edition Our House Remix Sales Price US$30 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - The Prince Two Tone Records - CHSTT3 / UK / 7" Single Description : Original 1979 release on plastic label and diecut company sleeve. Sales Price US$10 - VG/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Work Rest And Play EP Stiff Records - BUY71 / UK / 7" Single Description : Original 1980 release featuring Night Boat To Cairo, Deceives The Eye, The Young And The Old and Dont Quote Me On That. Sales Price US$10 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - The Sun And The Rain Stiff Records - BUY192 / UK / 7" Single Description : Original 1983 hardcard sleeve release. Sales Price US$10 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (NEW) SUGGS - The Tune WEA Records - WEA031CDDJ / UK / CD PROMO Single Description : Rare PROMO CD single written by Mike Barson (Madness) Mixed by Sly & Robbie Sales Price US$20 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - The Prince (Full Version) Virgin Records - MADJ98 / UK / 12" VINYL PROMO Description : Rare 1998 PROMO 12" Madness vs. WubbleU. Featuring remixed versions of The Prince (Full Dub) and The Prince (Full No Dub) North vs. South Sales Price US$20 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) SUGGS - The Tune WEA Records - WEA031 / UK / 7" Single Description : Rare original 7" single written by Mike Barson (Madness) Mixed by Sly & Robbie in hard glossy sleeve Sales Price US$12 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) CRUNCH! - It's OK, I'm A Policeman Nils Satis Records - NIL 0037 / UK / 7" Single Description : Rare 7" single released 1992 in original hard glossy sleeve. B/W Fight Amongst Yourselves. Sales Price US$15 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - 1986 Calendar Danilo Promotions Ltd - / UK / Calendar Description : Rare 1986 Madness calendar. 12 full colour pages of exclusive never seen before pictures including noted birthdays. Sales Price US$25 - EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Cardiac Arrest Stiff Records - BUYIT140 / UK / 12" Single Description : Rare Extended 12" Version of Cardiac Arrest including 'In The City' used for the Japanese Honda City promotion. Slight mark on rear of cover. Sales Price US$10 - EX/G ------------------------------ (NEW) CRUNCH! - Magic Carpet Magic Carpet Records - MCRCS001 / UK / CD Single Description : Printed in limited numbers this rare 4 track CD Single includes previously unreleased tracks including Danger Zone, Hereditary and Magic Carpet {Live} Sales Price US$20 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - It's Madness (second edition) Virgin Records - CDVIP228 / UK / CD Album Description : This compilation was previously available with the same title and track listing. The artwork has been changed so that it now truly represents and totally complements the high quality of the music. Includes House Of Fun, Wings Of A Dove, Baggy Trousers and Grey Day. Sales Price US$18 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - Universal Madness Promotional Poster Goldenvoice - / USA / Poster Description : Promotional Sales Poster for the 1999 LIVE album 'Universal Madness'. Sales Price US$15 - M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - The Return Of The Los Palmas 7 Stiff Records - BUY108 / UK / 7" Single Description : Original hard card cover. The cover is the comix style featuring Madness as the Nutty Boys. B/w That's the way to do it. Sales Price US$6 - EX/G ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Grey Day Stiff Records - BUY112 / UK / 7" Single Description : Original hard card cover. This single features the vinyl label of Lee Thompsons foot. B/w Memories. Cover is a little worn. Sales Price US$6 - EX/G ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Grey Day Stiff Records - BUYIT112 / UK / 12" Single Description : Extremely RARE undocumented 12" Single featuring One Step Beyond (Spanish), Baggy Trousers, Grey Day and Take It Or Leave It. Lyrics on back of cover. Sales Price US$50 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) THE FINK BROTHERS - Mutants In Mega City One Zarjazz Records - JAZZ 2-12 / UK / 12" Single Description : Suggs and Chas Smash together for this one off partnership as the Fink Brothers. Small mark on cover. Sales Price US$15 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Uncle Sam Zarjazz Records - JAZZ 7-12 / UK / 12" Single Description : This features the excellent remix of Uncle Sam and includes the very special bonus track Uncle Sam eight track DEMO recorded at home and sung by Lee Thompson. Sticker on cover. Sales Price US$8.5 - EX/G ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Waiting for the Ghost Train Zarjazz Records - JAZZ 9-12 / UK / 12" Single Description : The final farewell, and the last single from Madness. Features the Excellent mega mix 'Seven Year Scratch' and Maybe In Another Life. Sales Price US$15 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Sweetest Girl Zarjazz Records - JAZZ 8-12 / UK / 12" Single Description : Hard to find 12" single, includes two exclusive remixes Sweetest Girl (Dub Mix) and Sweetest Girl (Extended Mix). Sales Price US$15 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Keep Moving Geffen Records - GHS4022 / US / Vinyl LP Description : Rare 1984 US Promotional Album, includes Wings Of A Dove and The Sun and the Rain. Sales Price US$25 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - House Of Fun Victor / Stiff Records - VIPX-1643 / JP / 7" Single Description : ULTRA RARE Japanese 7" Single. Original sleeve and diecut. Never played B/w Cardiac Arrest. Sales Price US$50 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - It Must Be Love Victor / Stiff Records - VIPX-1730 / JP / 7" Single Description : ULTRA RARE Japanese 7" Single. Original sleeve and diecut. Never played B/w Tomorrow's Just Another Day Sales Price US$50 - M/M ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - Un Paso Adelante (One Step Beyond) Stiff Records - MO1922 / SP / 7" Single Description : RARE 1980 Spanish 7" Single featuring Un Paso Adelante (One Step Beyond) sung by Chas Smash in Spanish B/w Mistakes (Errors) Sales Price US$35 - M/VG ------------------------------ (USED) MADNESS - In The Zone Radio Concert Broadcast CD Westwood One - SHOW #97-45 / US / CD Album Description : MEGA RARE Promotional Concert Broadcast from Nov 3 1997, including House Of Fun, My Girl, Our House, One Step Beyond + more. DJ broadcast sheet included. Sales Price US$65 - EX/EX ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - Lovestruck (Pt 1) Virgin Records - VSCDT1737 / UK / CD Single Description : Features the top ten single Lovestruck B/w Round And Round. Also has bonus track 'Maddely' which is a megamix of the new album 'Wonderful' and includes the following tracks: Elysium, Johnny the Horse, Wizard, Drip Fed Fred, 4AM, Going to the Top, Wonderful, The Communicator, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning. Sales Price US$10 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - Lovestruck (Pt 2) Virgin Records - VSCDG1737 / UK / CD Single Description : Features the top ten single Lovestruck B/w We Are Love. Includes bonus Video. The video begins with film of the lads in a Laundry and moves on to photo shoots on the dreadful rainy day last April when taking pictures for the new Album. It moves on to a film of the guys on a Double Decker Bus and then to Camden Town Tube station and even follows them on the train itself. The movie then goes across the Atlantic to footage of the US Tour this May. Excerpts from Late Night with Letterman and the one of the shows. Sales Price US$10 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - Wonderful Virgin Records - CDV2889 / UK / CD Album Description : EXTREMELY RARE Promotional Gold CD-R Acetate for the new 1999 album Wonderful, includes custom sleeve with track listing and copyright information. Sales Price US$65 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) CRUNCH! - It's OK, I'm A Policeman P&C Nils Satis Records - NIL00312 / UK / 12" Single Description : VERY RARE 12" single released 1992 in original hard glossy sleeve. Including original b-side Fight Amongst Yourselves and bonus track Birthday Girl Sales Price US$25 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) CRUNCH! - Magic Carpet Magic Carpet Records - MCRT001 / UK / 12" Single Description : Printed in very limited numbers this rare 4 track 12" Single includes previously unreleased tracks including Danger Zone, Hereditary and Magic Carpet {Remix} Sales Price US$25 - M/M ------------------------------ (NEW) MADNESS - Wonderful [IMPORT] Virgin Records - CDV2889 / UK / CD Album Description : Dubbed as 'eleven tracks of ordinary magic', Wonderful, the first album from Madness in fifteen years, is anything but ordinary. Anyone who remembers the Madness heyday of the mid-80s with the same fondness and warmth as I do will revel in the chance to rejoin the original seven members of the band as they pick up from virtually where they left off. That's right - from the moment you press play you'll be in absolutely no doubt that this is the real McCoy, not some band who have half-heartedly returned from the dead in a pale imitation of their former glory. Sales Price US$25 - M/M Have fun, stay safe and be nutty!! Complete and Utter Madness http://www.nuttyboys.com [3] - MAD NOT MAD ISSUE 5 As a large number of you know, `Mad Not Mad`, although mainly Madness based, does also contain coverage of the current ska scene as a whole. If you're only interested in Madness, don't let this put you off, there's more than enough coverage of our boys in there, and you never know, you might find the `zine helps to broaden your musical horizons somewhat! "It's got a bit of a patchwork feel to it" muses Ian Taylor (the MNM editor in chef) as he runs through this edition's intro in the regular `Sez Ian` spot. Has it? I think the lad's being too critical as I think this issue is darn fine, so Ian, if you're reading this, "Stop worrying!" The intro to this issue spans a whopping two pages, and with all the Madness related antics that have been going on since issue four, he's to be commended for keeping the intro chat so brief! Rummaging through a few pages and you stumble across Ian's review of the `Johnny The Horse` two part single set (as printed in last week's Bulletin), where we're given a track by track breakdown of each disc. Moving on and the music reviews continue with an absolutely huge review of the fantastic `Wonderful`. This is of course, essential reading! "Wonderful is everything I could have hoped for" says Ian. Who are we to disagree? Vincent Carden eh?, a chap who gets everywhere, Nut Inc, MIS Online and now Mad Not Mad. Yes, like the other two publications, Ian Taylor gives issue 2 of `Madness Unsugged` a thorough going over and tells us that "The Boy's done good...the Irish connection looks to be in safe hands". Moving on, and it's the turn of Jim Neil from Belfast to provide MNM readers with his list of ten Madness classics in `Big 10`. Want to let everyone know your favourite Madness and/or ska tracks? Get submitting your list! Further into MNM and Ian takes us all on a walk down memory lane with `Classic Albums Number 4`, this issue see's the legendary `Complete Madness` from 1982 come under the spotlight. I can tell you know, it's worth getting hold of a copy of the zine just for this. The only other person I know who could describe an album in this much depth is the almighty Vince Foley! Throughout the `zine, there's a whole slew of ska-tinged goodness, from a cracking review of last year's Bad Manners/Mistakes/The Riffs/ Expression gig at the Dacorum Pavillion in Hemel Hempstead by Tooting Jo (who some of you out there know), album reviews, and an absolutely superb interview with ska-band, `Spunge` who Ian and other-half Lisa seem to be on very good terms with. Couple all of the above up with an excellent rundown of fanzines in `Zine Machines` (where a certain `Ska-Mad` gets a great review), latest news snippets in `Currant Bun`, plus so much more, and you can only realise that when you get hold of a copy of MNM, it's money spent very wisely indeed! "Has Woody co-written the greatest Madness song ever?". Better do what Ian suggests and check out the `Wonderful` review. For more information, feel free to e-mail Ian Taylor at: bige at supanet.com Or write to him at: Mad Not Mad, Nutty Towers, 4 Mountmorres Close, Over Hulton, Bolton, BL5 1HT ENGLAND Alternatively, check out the fanzines section of the MIS Online site at: http://www.jabba.demon.co.uk/mis/ Many thanks to Ian for supplying the review copy. [4] - THE ONLY PLACE TO BE EVERY OTHER SATURDAY... The UEFA Champions League is Europe's biggest annual football competition. It begins next week, and this year a record four British teams have qualified - Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Rangers. However, there is some very sad news indeed for some season ticket holders, or at least some of those with the best seats. Caron Head, from Maldon in Essex, is football mad. She is a lifelong supporter of Chelsea, and has an annual season ticket for the Stamford Bridge ground. It cost her £645. The season ticket guarantees admission to all of Chelsea's home league matches. It also provides priority booking if you want to buy tickets for their European games. It also means you have your own special seat reserved, year in, year out. Caron Head explains: "I've been sitting in this particular seat for 4 or 5 years now. I like it because it's on the half way line. You get a good view of the game. You can actually see the whole pitch. And there are other season tickets holders surrounding me and you get to see the same people week in week out. We are the loyal supporters, through wet and dry weather, absolutely freezing cold in winter, through thick and thin, whether Chelsea are playing good or bad, we're there." This year, however, has been a good one for Chelsea. For the first time ever they have qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea have guaranteed home matches against some of the biggest names in European football, including AC Milan. One month before kick off, Caron Head received a letter from Chelsea. It read: "Dear Season Ticket Holder.....Due to UEFA requirements, I regret that you will not be able to sit in your normal seat." These requirements demand that 250 free tickets are set aside for every Champions League match in the best part of the ground, with a further 50 in the VIP area. It is tough if clubs don't agree, as it's one of the conditions for entering the Champions League. So who gets the good views? 5 out of the 250 tickets are for the men in suits from UEFA. The rest are divided between suppliers, broadcasters and the eight sponsors. They may not all be diehard football fans. This means that next Tuesday UEFA and these companies have access to 2400 free match tickets to games in Stockholm, Oporto, Rotterdam, Marseille, Kiev, Leverkusen, Florence and Manchester (even though they're all being played at the same time). On Wednesday, there are another 8 matches and so another 2400 free tickets. As the seats have to be in the best part of the stadium, it means hundreds of loyal season ticket holders at Manchester United, Rangers and Chelsea have to move to inferior seats. Depending on which stage the tournament is at, the sponsors also have an option to buy between 500 - 1000 extra tickets. The fans aren't happy, and that includes one famous Chelsea supporter Suggs, lead singer of Madness. Suggs says: "As a season ticket holder myself, I think it's very unfair that people from UEFA can be turfing out people at Chelsea who've been going possibly for generations. And you know that a lot of these people aren't interested in Chelsea, how can they be, they're not Chelsea fans, and probably will never come to Stamford Bridge again. I must say I haven't looked at my seat yet. I hope I'm in my right seat." UEFA have laid claim to the same number of tickets for each of the 156 Champions League matches before the final. That totals 46,800 tickets to UEFA and their sponsors. There is also the option for the sponsors to buy a further 80,800 tickets at face value - enough seats to more than fill Wembley stadium. So just what does UEFA do with all those tickets? We were told that the free tickets amount to just 0.5 per cent of the total available. Further to this, because sponsors pay 800m Swiss Francs, they are entitled to their seats. UEFA also point out that a season ticket is no guarantee of tickets for Champions League matches. Many thanks to Steve Bringe for rooting out the above. [5] - ONE STEP BEHIND MERCHANDISE Want to capture some of the atmosphere of a `One Step Behind` gig in the comfort of your own home? Well, your luck is in as the band have a couple of items for sale which you really should think about adding to your collection. 1) "ABSOLUTELY BOTH - One Step Behind" 16 track CD featuring the band live at JB's in Dudley. Includes self penned track "Market Trader" and special bonus track. Send cheques for 8 pounds to MM Management, 8 Limecroft, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6ND. Please allow 14 days for delivery. 2) "JUDGE DREAD with ONE STEP BEHIND". Tape only. Bootleg rarity, featuring the late, great, Judge Dread's appearance as a special guest with OSB at a Bedford theatre in 1997, shortly before his sad death. Desk mix of 6 tracks "Rudi, A Message To You", "Big Six", Bix Seven", "Big Eight", "On The Beach" and "Dread Rock". Send cheque for 5 pounds to MM Management, 8 Limecroft, Yateley, Hants, GU46 6ND. Please allow 14 days for delivery. The second item should be of particular interest to you ska fans out there as there is only one master copy of that show in existence. For more information, please e-mail your enquiries to: South at trident-surrey.demon.co.uk Many thanks to Brendan Phipps for the info. [6] - FIRST STEP BEYOND Towards the end of the Summer an e-mail arrived in my mailbox from a chap by the name of Georgie; "Robert, we're currently putting together a Madness rarities CD. Would you be interested in reviewing a copy for us?" Naturally I jumped at the chance and swiftly mailed him back. Nothing was heard from Georgie until last week when he got back in touch with me to let me know that the CD was now ready and could he have my address to send me on a copy. The CD arrived on my doormat a few days back and since then it's hardly been out of the old CD player. >From the first few seconds of the opening track to the last few bars of the final one, this is a CD that oozes top class audio quality and almost seamless joining of tracks. `Ok, we know it sounds good` you're saying `but what's on the disc`. So without further ado, here's a rundown of the Madness track by track... First up is the Richard Skinner jingle where we have Suggs and Carl wishing all the radio listeners a merry Christmas and a happy new year whilst `Our House` plays away in the background. Very short, but quite amusing as you can hear Richard, Suggs and Carl planning what they're going to say before they go live. Moving out of the studio, and we go over to the Radio 1 Roadshow for a live performance which sounds nothing short of superb. Here, we're treated to `Madness' only live performance of the year` with the classic Madness, Take it or Leave it, Grey Day (note the excellent hammond and sax solos towards the end), House of Fun, the school memories of Baggy Trousers and the legendary One Step Beyond. As always, the crowd go completely bonkers, as they rightly should - it's a cracking live performance from the boys. "Steve Wright, he's alright, he's alright" well, so say Madness in this bizarre jingle for the legendary Radio 1 DJ. Listen out for a strange mix of high and low voice samples coupled with lots of laughter! "It's rollin', it's rollin' Mike` shouts Suggs at the start of the studio demo of the classic Rise and Fall track, `Sign of the Times`. By the sounds of things, this is an early demo of the track, complete with Suggs missing words and replacing them with strange babbling noises. Mike stops, `Come on`, he says before continuing the tune. "That's it, it's in the bag" announces Suggs "Can we sing it normal?" asks Mike Next up is the Madness version of `Listen to your Father`. Suggs sits this one out as the almighty Carl takes control of the vocals. Like the Feargal Sharkey version of the tune, it's a rather upbeat number. Check out some classic guitar work from the master, Mr. Chris Foreman whilst Woody gives the drumkit a real pounding throughout! Time for some unusual Russian accents now in the Mike Aspel jingle with a very strange version of `We wish you a merry Christmas` from the bottom of a nuclear submarine! Most unusual!! The classic `It Must be Love` follows next. This alternative version features a heavier bassline and a funky brass arrangement at various intervals. The differences between the single release aren't too noticeable, but listen out for Lee's Sax solo, pure class! The Mike Allen jingle has to be one of the more unusual jingles on the disc. Not really a tune, but a brief conversation during `A chance meeting`. Time for more synthesised voices and general weirdness. `Do Nothing Donald` is a very basic home demo. With Carl on vocals and old Mike on an old piano. A very nice tune indeed. One item worthy of note is the whistled instrumental part. This would have made a lovely b-side. House of fun sounds very different to the original single release. One thing that hits you right away is the removal of the brass and electric guitar of Chris. Here we're almost down to the bare bones with Mike on keyboard, Bedders on Bass, Woody on drums and Suggs singing in the background. Bedders bass playing really shines through on this one. Onto lots of echoes now with the John Sachs jingle. `John Sachs, he pulls records from the racks". Well, that's what the song says! Another early recording now and it's the legendary `My Girl` with a truly wonderful piano intro of which the only other place I heard this is at the early 80's concerts. Slightly slower than the classic single release. This provides us with a rare opportunity to get a better chance to hear just how complex the piano solo is! "Is this the temple?" "No, this is Capital Radio, the temple is down the road" and so Madness break into song with `On the good ship Capital`. I wonder if this would see the light of day in todays politically correct generation? Have a listen and you'll understand what I mean! How about this for a fantastic twist on a great track. The almost lyric free single version of `Los Palmos` is replaced with lots of chatting, singing and general daftness. If you're feeling down, this is the track for you. "I'd like you to understand, I'd like you to take my hand" "Thank you Tommy" Sounding like something which should have featured on either One Step Beyond or Absolutely is the bloody brilliant `My Mums Roses`. A really upbeat track with a great `get-up-and-go` feel to it. Carl brings the lyrics of the song across beautifully with some great singing/shouting. Couple this with some cracking piano, drum and guitar work and you will soon agree with me that this NEEDS to be released to the general public. Contact your MP now, this is vintage Madness at its best! Next up is the Charlie Gillet jingle. Not much to say about this one really. Someone saying `Charlie Gillet` in the background whilst `Our House` plonks away in the background. Madness is all in the mind (live in Hamburg) sounds like the lads are playing in some seedy club, and it sounds blumming brilliant. You can almost picture the smokey atmosphere and the dark shadows. Another early demo now, and Carl is back on vocals once more with the classic `Time`. This is a track at its most basic with some simple piano playing and a hint of female backing vocals for harmony. If you want to see what a Madness track sounds like at an early stage before other instruments are brought in, I am sure that this will give you a good idea. Tomorrow's Just Another Day is next in this alternative to the early 80's single release. Check out the different piano arrangement, intro, and funky chorus line. One thing to note is the omission of Lee's sax solo (what a crime) and some basic lyric changes towards the latter part of the tune. The famous John Peel gets the jingle treatment from Madness in this short Scottish and Irish tinged track. Apparently they're happy!! Earlier, we had the early demo of My Girl, now we have the same track but with a mystery singer! I think it's Mike or Chris, but can't be certain. Anoraks out there will no doubt know. An unusual piano arrangement is featured in the middle 8 and some god-awful singing is featured throughout. Apologies to whoever it was singing! More live Madness now as we take a trip over to the Hollywood Bowl for some Stateside versions of Madness and Night Boat to Cairo. These two tracks are the last of the live set that evening and both Carl and Suggs sound shattered! Finally we're treated to an electronic intro to `Michael Caine` sounding more Jean Michel Jarre than Madness. Excellent stuff and very haunting. The full track listing is as follows... 1 Richard Skinner Jingle 2 Radio 1 Roadshow (live) - Madness, Take it or Leave it, Grey Day, House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, One Step Beyond 3 Steve Wright Jingle 4 Sign of The Times (Studio Demo) 5 Listen to Your Father (Madness Version) 6 Mike Aspel Jingle 7 It Must be Love (Alt Version) 8 Mike Allen Jingle 9 Donald (Home Demo) 10 House of Fun (Alt Version) 11 John Sachs Jingle 12 My Girl (Early Demo) 13 Kelly Temple Jingle 14 Los Palmos 7 (Alt Version) 15 My Mum's Roses 16 Charlie Gillet Jingle 17 Madness is all in The Mind (Live Hamburg) 18 Time (Home Demo) 19 Tomorrow's Just Another Day (Alt Version) 20 John Peel Jingle 21 My Girl (Mystery Singer) 22 Madness/Night Boat to Cairo (Live Hollywood Bowl) 23 Michael Caine (Woodys) "You've been raving about this CD and it sounds fantastic. Is there anything you don't like about it?" you're probably thinking. Well, if I had to give the disc one negative point, and it's the only one I can think of, is the track index. Whilst above you have 23 tracks all listed, on the actual CD itself, you get a mere 2 tracks. What this means is if you want to jump to a track, you have to fast forward manually all the way to that track. It's a little niggle, but one that doesn't detract from the overall feeling that this is one heck of a rarities CD. I don't know where or how Georgie has managed to get hold of these tracks, but it was well worth his efforts to bring them to the masses. The CD is strictly limited to 1000 copies, and I am told that there will be no re-runs once the batch runs out. Georgie is currently toying with the idea of hard-numbering each CD, but this has yet to be decided upon. I have also been informed that there will most likely be a discount for bulk orders, but a final selling price has yet to be confirmed. As soon as more information is available, we'll be posting it here. In the meantime, if you need further information regarding this superb release, please drop Georgie and e-mail at: dance at nijinski.com This is one Madness CD you do not want to miss out on!! Many thanks to Georgie for supplying MIS Online with a preview copy for review purposes. [7] - GET YOUR MADDEST SHOW ON EARTH GOODIES I've had a few e-mails over the past few weeks from people who went along to the Maddest Show on Earth tour, bought a few items of merchandise, but for one reason or another, couldn't get hold of everything they wanted. Some others out there weren't able to get along to any of the shows at all, but quite rightly you also want to get your hands on the bits and pieces that the rest of us picked up. Well, fear not. This now looks to be possible. Thanks to a certain Mr. Mark Bedford, we have the contact details for `Winterland`, the company who produced all the merchandise for the last tour. WINTERLAND 20 CHURCH STREET ISLEWORTH MIDDX TW7 6XB TEL: 44 020 8568 6400 FAX: 44 020 8568 6304 Please write, phone or fax Winterland for details of availability and pricing. I'm sure there are a large number of people out there who would be interested to know what's still available, so if you manage to get hold of any details, please let the rest of us know. Many thanks to Bedders for the info. [8] - GENTLEMEN, PLEASE .... That's yer lot for another week. Hope you found something to interest or inspire you. A great many thanks to everyone who contributed to this edition of the bulletin. I think this must surely have been the issue which has had the most contributions from subscribers, please don't stop now! Thank you to Georgie for the review copy of `First Step Beyond`, and also to Ian Taylor for the review copy of `Mad Not Mad`. Last week I promised a review of issue 3 of `Madness Unsugged`. I have just received an e-mail from Vince Carden, the editor, who tells me that there was a slight delay in getting the issue completed, but the review copy should be sent my way within the next couple of days. This should mean that next issue will hopefully feature a full review of the fanzine. Until next week. Take care, and if you have anything of interest, please send it in. All the nutty best,
The Author
