IN THIS ISSUE ...

1 - THE EDITOR WRITES - This weeks news and information in brief.

2 - THE PRINCE ANNIVERSARY - Just been checking my emails, as well
    as talking to others with the same idea and it looks as if the
    date and place for the [Madness] convention is falling in to
    some form. Scatty reports on the current plans for the first
    major UK Madmeet to be held outside of the nation's capital.

3 - THE IOW RADIO COWES WEEK - One Step Behind played at the IOW
    Radio Cowes Week bash on the last night of Cowes week at
    Northwood House.  Despite only having six members (no Chas
    Smash) they had the place jumping with a collection of all the
    hits. Rod Warne reports...

4 - IT'S RESULT TIME - Okay, here it is - the full results of my
    Mini Maddie Poll to find out your favourite character/outfit
    from a Nutty Boys video. Many thanks to those of you who took
    time out to vote - and what a wide and weird selection you
    sent in! Iain Mason returns with the rundown...

5 - THREE MINUTE HEROES - The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry presents
    `Three Minute Heroes`, With music by The Specials, The Selecter
    and many more. Showing from 12th - 30th September 2000

6 - NUT INC 16 - Apologies for the delay in this issue. It should
    have appeared back in the last week of May, but due to all sorts
    of stuff it was put on the back burner. Stuart Wright returns
    with issue 16 of that excellent Madzine - Nut Inc.

7 - JUST SHORT AND SWEET - At about two-ish yesterday I made may
    way up to The Eagle in Camden to see once again a couple of
    familiar faces. Scatty reports on an afternoon of chatting and
    drinking away with friends and one of his heroes...

8 - I'D LIKE TO THANK THE BBC FOR THIS LOVELY SUIT - Thanks, closing
    words, next week.

[1] - THE EDITOR WRITES

Evening Maddies,

I hope everyone has had a good week. To get this one underway, start
by making yourself a mug of tea and sitting down with this weeks
edition of the MIS. You know it makes sense.

News in from Total Madness Mailing List subscriber, Chris Mountain
is that there is a Two-Tone show taking place in Coventry during
September, for more information, check out this link:
http://www.belgrade.co.uk/whatson/2000-autumn/three-min-heroes.htm
or read the `Three Minute Heroes` article later in this issue. Many
thanks to Chris for the info.

As a number of subscribers to the TMML have rightly pointed out, last
Thursday (10th August) saw the 21st anniversary of the legendary
release of Madness' first single - `The Prince`. Needing very little
excuse to have a few drinks, a small band of Madness fans descended
on Camden Town yesterday to raise their champagne glasses to help
celebrate this momentous day. Want to find out what went on? Scatty
is here to reveal all in section 7.

Peter Gardner points out that;

     "A certain Mr. Smash has written a wonderful piece
      regarding this very special anniversary on his website
      (www.ChasSmash.co.uk). Go to the Sez Smash bit. It's
      a great read, as words from the Great Man invariably
      are!"

Thanks for that snippet Peter.

Calling all Maddies North of the border. From the tremendous success
of the previous two McMadmeets, a third booze-up is currently being
planned by Rob Wardlaw. It is hoped that the meet will be sometime in
September, with the meeting place in Edinburgh. If you're interested,
please get in touch with Rob at WardlawRH at 8hslfs.freeserve.co.uk with
suggestions for dates and things to do etc. Continuing on the same
note, Wee Stoo tells us that;

     "Over in Edinburgh I've a mate who lives opposite an
      American bevvy import shop, and amongst other mind
      bending refreshments, they sell Black Death Vodka.
      You know that's got to be good!"

Perhaps this meet should have some kind of health warning?!

For all you German/Austrian Maddies out there, you can now view a
Madness site in your own language by simply pointing your web browser
at http://members.aol.com/vgmadgirlie/home.htm
I've had a quick look at the site, and whilst there does seem to be
a fair amount of material there I have absolutely no idea what any
of it says. Perhaps an English version will follow? Thanks go to
Victoria for letting us know.

Right, before I let you get on with this weeks selection of articles,
fans of the brilliant Madness tribute, One Step Behind should get
themselves over to the official OSB site at:
http://www.jabba.demon.co.uk/osb/ where recent uploads include a
varied selection of shots showing the band in action, as well as an
up-to-date band biography, charting the bands success from 1994,
right up until the present day.

And with that, on with this weeks issue.

Enjoy the read,

Robert Hazelby (MIS Online Editor)

[2] - THE PRINCE ANNIVERSARY

OK everybody.

Just been checking my emails, as well as talking to others with the
same idea and it looks as if the date and place for the [Madness]
convention is falling in to some form. Nothing is definite yet, but
it looks like it's going to be in August 2001.

Hold on! hold on! (before you all start screaming `why so long?`)
Well, August would be a fitting time as that's when The Prince came
out, and the time span is to make sure that it's the best weekend
possible without having a breakdown on my part. It will also give
those people who haven't got that much cash time to get some
together, as we all have problems with 'insignificant funds' at one
time or another

The place that is most popular with people is.........
Blackpool!

The whole idea of the day will be to have as much fun without
costing the earth. The whole thing should cost about 50-60 quid
including accommodation. But that's off the top of my head, without
doing the home work and of course, depending on the numbers

So, to get an idea of numbers and to start the ball rolling, please
tell me if you'd be on for this weekend of Madness and heavy gravity

Scatty (saintscatty at supanet.com)

[3] - THE IOW RADIO COWES WEEK

Thought I'd drop you all a line (as I haven't done so before) for two
reasons - one to let you know about the gig on the Isle of Wight last
Friday and two to find out if their are any more subscribers on the
Isle of Wight.

One Step Behind played at the IOW Radio Cowes Week bash on the last
night of Cowes week at Northwood House.  Despite only having six
members (no Chas Smash) they had the place jumping with a collection
of all the hits.

Before we have had other tribute bands like Fabba and the Blooze
Brothers but OSB did the business.  Having to negotiate ferries and
find accommodation makes attending 'overseas' gigs tricky but that
hasn't stopped us attending all the big Madness gigs over the past
years and most recently the Ian Dury tribute gig.  However you can
imagine how pleased I was to find out back in June that OSB were
coming across the water!  There were lots of sweaty bodies, fez's
and sore throats at the end of the night so it must have good!

Regards,
Rod Warne (Rod at netlin.free-online.co.uk)

[4] - IT'S RESULT

Okay, here it is - the full results of my Mini Maddie Poll to find
out your favourite character/outfit from a Nutty Boys video. Many
thanks to those of you who took time out to vote - and what a wide
and weird selection you sent in!

There were 28 different nominations overall, ranging from Night Boat
To Cairo right up to the present day. Not surprisingly, a certain Mr
Lee J Thompson got the most nominations for his wide variety of,
ahem, outlandish outfits. Suggs ran him a close second  - including
a vote for not wearing much at all!  And all the lads got at least
one individual nomination.

It Must Be Love seems to be most popular vid for outfits, closely
followed by Tomorrow's Just Another Day. Most surprising thing for
me was seeing Lee's DFF performance at No2 - it's probably the
least-seen of all their vids!

In contrast, One Step Beyond, My Girl, Michael Caine, The Sun And
The Rain, Yesterday's Men, Lovestruck and Johnny The Horse failed to
get a nomination.

Major surprise was Sweetest Girl getting a vote for something good
for once!

Here's that list in full:

1) Lee as bumble bee (It Must Be Love) 8 votes
2) Lee as Right Reverend Greene (Drip Fed Fred) 5
3=) Whole band in newspaper suits (Waiting For The Ghost Train) 4
3=) Bedders as flower (Tomorrow's Just Another Day) 4
5) Suggs & Carl as pilots (Wings Of A Dove) 3
6=) Lee as mum (Our House) 2
6=) Suggs in cheque suit (Shut Up) 2

The following all came next, with one vote each, in no particular
order:

8=) Whole band as cowboys (Los Palmas 7)
8=) Whole band in desert gear (Night Boat To Cairo)
8=) Whole band in straw hats (Driving In My Car)
8=) Whole band in one big suit (Sweetest Girl)
8=) Lee as prison warder (Tomorrow's Just Another Day)
8=) Lee as gnome (Tomorrow's Just Another Day)
8=) Lee as policeman (Shut Up)
8=) Lee as traffic warden (Driving In My Car)
8=) Lee as boxer (Wings Of A Dove)
8=) Lee as red-nosed workman (Cardiac Arrest)
8=) Suggs in white suit & brolly (Tomorrow's Just Another Day)
8=) Suggs topless in bed (Grey Day)
8=) Suggs as tramp (One Better Day)
8=) Suggs in (green/checked?) suit (Embarrassment)
8=) Carl in grey coat and top hat (Grey Day)
8=) Carl as US Marine (Uncle Sam)
8=) Carl as mourner (It Must Be Love)
8=) Woody as canary (It Must Be Love)
8=) Chris & Mike as policemen (Shut Up)

and not strictly in the videos but - hey! - it's only a bit of fun:

27=) Lee in raincoat and pants in middle of street ('Complete' intro
     to Embarrassment)
27=) Lee bouncing up to camera shouting 'Baggy Trousers!' ('Complete'
     intro to Baggy Trousers)

Thanks again to all those who voted - just goes to show that
everyone's got their favourite!

Iain Mason (iain.mason at the-sun.co.uk)

[5] - THREE MINUTE HEROES

The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry presents `Three Minute Heroes`, With
music by The Specials, The Selecter and many more. Showing from
12th - 30th September 2000

Welcome to Coventry - centre of the (musical) universe - at a time
when Coventry bands ruled the airwaves, the music had to be ska, and
the legendary 2-Tone label was at the hub of it all. Inspired by the
music of The Selecter, The Specials and the 2-Tone scene, this is an
affectionate tribute, by the Belgrade Theatre's director Bob Eaton,
for and about the people of Coventry.

Join five local heroes as they bond, fight, love and play their way
through the late '70' and early '80'. Relive those heady days if you
were there the first time around and, if you don't remember,
experience why 2-Tone really put Coventry on the map!

A live band plays foot-stomping favourites by The Selecter and The
Specials. This show is not to be missed!

First ever performances!

Performance times: Mon - Thurs
7.30pm
Fri & Sat
8pm
Matinees:
Wed, 2.30pm & Sat, 4pm

Bargain performances: Tues 12 - Fri 15

Ticket prices:
Bargain performances & matinees
£8 (£7)
Mon - Fri
£12 (£10) & £9 (£7)
Sat
£15 & £12

Groups of 10 or more qualify for a £3 discount on all tickets,
excluding bargain performances

Singles Night:
Thurs 21

Sign Language Interpreted performance:
Fri 29

Audio Described performances:
Wed 27, 2.30pm & Fri 29, 8pm

This production contains strong language and scenes that may offend.

For more information, check out the Belgrade Theatre website at:
http://www.belgrade.co.uk/index.html

Many thanks to Chris Mountain for letting us all know about this.

[6] - NUT INC 16

Apologies for the delay in this issue. It should have appeared back
in the last week of May, but due to all sorts of stuff it was put on
the back burner.

As you are all aware, 27th March saw the sad passing of Ian Dury.
Lee, Chrissy Boy and Suggs were the pallbearers at Ian's funeral and
we at Nut Inc. send our condolences and deepest sympathies to Ian's
family. Suggs appeared on a T.V tribute to Ian, revealing just what
a huge influence Ian had on him and the rest of Madness. The band
appeared at the Ian Dury Tribute concert at the Brixton Academy on
the 17th June. You may be pleased to know that we are compiling a
`Nut Inc` Madness Special at the end of the year, plus due to public
demand, a `Best of Nut Inc`, volumes one and two will appear, but
it's uncertain when.

Nice to see plenty of advertising for `Drip Fed Fred`, it looks as
if Virgin have started to shake off some of their apathy but it looks
like a case of too little too late.

This issue sees the first in a new series called `Madness Profile`
where we take a look at each member of the band individually since
the early days. We've received news that a new book on Madness will
be released at the end of the year (`Don't Watch That, Watch This`
by Adrian Thrills), which we shall hopefully confirm this next issue.

Other news in is that the band want to write a musical based upon
their songs, but this hasn't got past the planning stage yet. The
boys haven't yet confirmed if there will be a follow-up album to
`Wonderful` but the signs are looking good, for the band are still
together and plan to tour the states in the summer (This proved later
to be rumours - ED)

Despite rumours, Madstock 5 will not be happening this year, but the
Christmas gigs look a distinct possibility (Unfortunately this has met
the same fate as the US tour - ED).

Finally, it seems as though the `Young Guns` documentary has been
put back until September 2000. More news when we get it.

Enjoy the mag, see you soon.

Nut Inc#16 is dedicated to the memory of Ian and all the wonderful
music he gave us.

We'll be reviewing Nut Inc 16 in the next edition of the MIS, but if
you can't wait that long and want to get your hands on a copy, please
visit the fanzines section on the MIS website, or write to:

     NUT INC,
     C/O Stuart Wright,
     29 Hollidge Way,
     Dagenham,
     Essex,
     RM10 9SP,
     ENGLAND

[7] - JUST SHORT AND SWEET

Well hello to all you patrons of heavy gravity.

At about two-ish yesterday I made may way up to The Eagle in Camden
to see once again a couple of familiar faces; Caz, Emma & Chel
(sitting outside enjoying a coke and the Camden sunshine), soon to be
joined by Bexs + Amy (growl!!!)

Jurney soon made her loud way along as well, complete with bag's
packed for Holland (watch out mike!!!!)

We sat there and raised a glass to `The Prince` and chatted about
many, many things including Madness and Crunch songs, world
domination as well as heavy gravity and way's to deal with it.

Thanks to Chel for showing me how to send text messages after 4 years
with no idea

Pictures from the crunch gig made an appearance which met with lot's
of approval from everybody, and whilst looking though them we were
passed by one El Thommo who was popping into the pub for a drinky as
is not unusual in Camden, as Jurney was passed by Suggs and his wife
in the high street earlier.

Anyway, with a few pints and a phone call we made our way over to the
newly refurbished Dublin Castle. Check out the new loo's as I'm sure
you will have to. Swanny and one of the guy's outter Crunch were
outside having a natter so we joined them and played musical chairs
outside;

"oi! Chel sit down!"
"nah I'm alright!"
"go on sit down"
"nah!"
"oh alright them"

Anyway, at this time El Thommo came over and the Crunch photo's made
a reappearance much to Lee's enjoyment. Stuart from Nut Inc also made
an appearance and handed out some free copy's of his mag. Jurney had
her's signed by Thommo "hope you can survive the bump's", because
after all, it was her birthday

It was about this time that heavy gravity took over and conversations
turned to many things once again, including all the ideas about the
convention next year (which isn't just my idea but many others as
well, I'd just like to point that out).

So we chatted away up until we all said our goodbyes and whet our
separate way's. As per usual, someone get the unfortunate task of
making sure I'm ok, and this was taken on by Cazz. We spent a lovely
evening talking about world domination down by Camden Lock.
(btw; snails taste of snails not chicken) And thanks to Cazzes mum
for the lift home

A sunny afternoon sitting in the DC with one of your hero's just
chatting and drinking away, joking with friends.

Who could ask for more?

luv
Scatty (saintscatty at supanet.com)

[8] - I'D LIKE TO THANK THE BBC FOR THIS LOVELY SUIT

That just about wraps it up for another edition of the MIS. Hope
you've enjoyed it.

As usual, a big thank you to everyone who's work appear in this
issue of the bulletin, your help and assistance is always
appreciated. If you have anything you feel may be of interest to
other Madness fans on the internet, please get in touch and I'll
be more than happy to include it in the next subsequent issue.

On the subject of the next issue. It will be going out either Friday
night or early Saturday morning as I'm off on my hols for a week and
will be away from the keyboard on the usual Sunday posting day, so
if you have anything you'd like to send for next issue, please get it
to me by Thursday.

Next week will feature a full review of issue 16 of that brilliant
fanzine - Nut Inc. We'll give you the full lowdown on the Ian Dury
tribute edition and tell you why you must get subscribed if you're
not already.

Until then, take care!

Robert Hazelby