Evening Madheads!
We hope you’ve enjoyed the Grandslam so far, and continue to enjoy further dates on this UK-wide run of gigs. For now, though, the Grandslam takes a Summer break, until September when the concerts kick off once again.
With the absence of Madness gigs during July and August you may want to check out The Ska Orchestra in Wales or London where they’ll be airing a selection of new tunes that will feature on their forthcoming “Bite the Bullet” album.
Here’s Lee Thompson himself, with news and tiny previews of new songs “Wickerman”, “I am king” and “Hungry”.
https://youtu.be/dJdkW0u5MXM
If going along to a gig is just too much effort, you may want to relax at home or in the garden. In that case, why not listen to this year’s solo albums. There’s Carl’s “A Comfortable Man” album, or the freshly released this week, “In Your Mind”, by Woody Woodgate.
This week we spoke with singer Dan Shears about singing on Woody’s newly released album. Here is what he had to say about two of his favourite tracks’
“It’s difficult to pick a favourite, I have really enjoyed working with Woody on this album.
The album’s title track was a lot of fun to sing and has a real childlike innocence about it which I tried to convey in my vocal.
When Woody first asked me about singing on the album, it was after listening to ‘In Your Mind’ that I was convinced that I could do it. I have always liked to sing in my falsetto and this song allows me do that.
I went to see Woody play with Madness at the o2 last year and loved that moment when the crowd were showered with rose petals during ‘It Must Be Love’. I think ‘In Your Mind’ has a similar heavenly glow in it’s sound and it makes you want to open your arms and bask in it.
I really like ‘Come To Me’. That’s the track where I’m probably most pleased with my vocal. It sits really comfortably in my range and has a nice groove. It’s very spacious and airy, I almost imagine the band playing it sitting on clouds… perhaps the Madness brass section would be the naked cherubs playing the horns. ha ha.”
The album is available now. Let us know what you think or it, and which tracks you like the most. staff@mis-online.net
Now, on with the issue!
Enjoy the read,
Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams

SHOWTIMES
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.

Madness
2015
GRANDSLAM
“Sporting theatres jumping with joy is the goal. Grandslam Madness – the greatest open air tour in the history of Rock & Roll…”
The Grandslam is now parked-up and enjoying a well-earned Summer break. The tour resumes in early September.
September
6 – Gibraltar Festival
11 – Canterbury, Kent County Cricket Club
12 – Bristol, Gloucester County Cricket Club
13 – London, On Blackheath
18 – Leeds, Yorkshire County Cricket Club
19th Newbury Racecourse.
25 – Wolverhampton
26 – Chester-le-Street, Durham County Cricket Club

November 2015
November 20th – 23rd 2014 – Minehead – The House Of Fun Weekender Five
Early bird tickets on sale now
http://www.bigweekends.com/the-weekends/specialist-music-weekends/madness-house-of-fun-weekender.aspx#ico=OB_Madness

Near Jazz Experience
July
17th – NEAR JAZZ, LOUIS VAUSE, WENDY MAY DJ – Kino Theatre South Leonards at Sea, Sussex
http://kino-teatr.co.uk/index.php/event/near-jazz-experience-aftershave-louis-vause-and-wendy-may-dj/#.VXy5BpVFDIW
21 – NEAR JAZZ EXPERIENCE + Support + DJ Set *** New ***
@ Indo 133 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1DT *Free* 8.30pm BST
Visit: https://www.facebook.com/NearJazzExperience

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
July
24th Llangollen Town Hall, Denbrighshire, Wales (Fringe Festival Event)
August
1st The Garage Highbury, London

Cathal Smyth
More events coming. Latitude Festival in Suffolk in July could be joining the “Other Voice” section of the festival.
Other dates in October and Dublin are future plans. No confirmed dates yet.

Deaf School
September
5th – Bingley Music Festival (Headlining Stage 2)
6th – Norwich – Waterfront
December
10th Liverpool – Kasimier ** New **
The Clang
www.porteliotfestival.com
August 1st – Port Eliot Festival

The Silencerz
August 15th – Chados Arms, Colindale 8pm

BUY IT
The Grandslam Sporting Tour Programme
Once again Gavin Martin, a vetran of writing Madness Tour Programmes steps up to the podium in first place when it comes to delivering a quality item.
Like the tour itself the Grandslam Programme takes inspiration from the world of sport, and the easy to hold A5ish sized glossy booklet compiled by “Talking Music Revolutions” this year resembles the kind of programmes you get at Football stadiums. Decked in the green theme of the tour, the massive amounts of inside writing starts with an amusing piece by a fictional groundskeeper of the event you are attending, in tone like that of a slightly disgruntled parkie.
A four page chat with Suggs, begins in general, before venue specific questions are asked. Each of the six band members are graphically made superimposed as sporting heros in great artwork in with the booklet, over double page spreads, interviewing them with a plethora of match stats like statistic on life, and both music and sporting opinions. There are some amusing photoshop jobs too that we wont spoil but they are a must see. Clive Langer appears via the photo back drop shots of last years Mad Head tour. A number of parents proudly get their little wonders into a Mascot corner (Well done to Kev Crowther, Carol Escate, and Sheena Robert and families to name just three there.) While all the current solo albums, Chas, Woody, and forthcoming LTSO are all give a shout out advert. All this comes at the price of £5 that’s the kind of value Stirling Moss would approve of, or George Best raise a pint of Gladness to. It gets the MIS trophy of best conceptual design layout.

The Grandslam Tour T-Shirt
http://madness.sandbaghq.com/
The Grandslam is now well and truly underway, and you can get the latest official Madness T-shirt here…
http://madness.sandbaghq.com/home/charcoal-grandslam-t-shirt-online-exclusive.html
The charcoal grey T-shirt (available in small or large sizes) costs £20 and is exclusive to the Madshop. It’s also available in advance of the tour, which is nice

In Your Mind – Woody Woodgate solo album.
Pre-Order Now on Amazon. – *** Out Now ***
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TZEMCMQ
OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SIGNED ALBUM INSTEAD http://www.propermusic.com/product-details/Woody-Woodgate-In-Your-Mind-Ltd-Autographed-Edition-188454
Album released June 1st. 13 tracks with new band line up and vocalist Dan Shears.
www.woodywoodgate.co.uk
The first single from the album will be “In Your Mind”. A release date for this is to be confirmed. Shooting for the video will commence shortly.

Deaf School – Laundarette
http://deafschoolmusic.com/#/shop/4579903328/l-a-u-n-d-e-r-e-t-t-e-cd-the-new-album—buy-now/9766251
The brand new album, a Japanese release, contains 7 brand new studio tracks from the band, a track featuring Sam singing (and Lee Thompson in the band) unreleased from 1988 and 5 live tracks (recorded at the Brighton show 2014)

Lovestruck & Night Boat – Madness Beers – And Win Grandslam Tickets
https://youtu.be/XeqkFQNWA_A
Find out where to buy the beers here…
http://www.madness.co.uk/2014/10/30/madness-brewing-company/

SIGN OF THE TIMES
News and info from online and offline media sources. First up this week are two reviews of Woody’s album – The first is merely a short sentence, and the other a vastly detailed blog that Woody calls “A very enlightening read.”

Ticket Music Review – Daily Mirror – In Your Mind
Four Stars. The Madness Drummers Solo debut is surprisingly psychedelic, harmony soaked and life affirming.

The Ring Master Review – In Your Mind
Full blog here.
https://ringmasterreviewintroduces.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/woody-woodgate-in-your-mind/
The ska seeded Friday Night To Sunday Morning saunters through ears with a dreamy glaze to its poetic pop hug. The song almost glistens as guitars, harmonies, and brass venture into their imaginative exploits, rhythms in turn bringing their own pulsating shadow, wrapped bait to the sultriness of the song. There is no escaping a feel of Madness to the rich atmosphere and happy-go-lucky sway of the song either, or another potent slice of distinct variety within the album as also on offer in Everything Is Sunshine and its tantalising croon awash with an eighties pop lure which occasionally whispers Squeeze and The Bluebells. The track quickly has the listener involved though it is soon outshine by the excellent Flower and its psyche pop beauty. ELO has reportedly been an inspiration to the songs within In Your Mind, and for sure the legendary Birmingham rock pop band is a delicious hue to the siren-esque majesty of the album’s best track, though that choice does vary from listen to listen if we are honest.

Listen Again To Woody Talking To Point Fm
http://www.pointfm.co.uk/craig-k-talks-to-woody-from-madness/
Woody talks about Grandslam tour. The Set. Touring in small doses. And Woody reveals his version of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5.
Choosing Support bands. Liking “By The Rivers”. Asked who’s the best crowd, he diplomatically says “All of them”.

Chepstow Welcomes Madness
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/chepstow-racecourse-welcomes-back-suggs-9614708
“It’s been a long time coming,” says sax player Thommo. “We haven’t done anything like this before, and it’s something completely different and that makes it all the more exciting.”
Keeping their shows fresh is key though, as Thommo reveals: “We are definitely putting in different songs at each of our gigs on this tour, that makes it more interesting.
“There’ll be a few treats for the die-hard fans, and we’ll be doing some new songs as well. It’s great when we do the more obscure, die-hard fan favourites, from the stage you can just see little pockets of people that start bouncing, it’s like a beehive

Suggs On Liverpool
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/madness-haydock-suggs-hoping-not-9521891
“I always had a great time in Liverpool,” says Graham ‘Suggs’ MacPherson. “I lived there for a while as a kid. My mum used to sing in the clubs in Liverpool, in the Blue Angel. And my wife (Bette Bright) was in a band in Liverpool – Deaf School.
The great ports are fascinating places. London, Glasgow, Liverpool – people have a view beyond their own parochialness in towns like those. I love it.
“And I love the pub Ye Cracke. What a boozer! And the Hope Street hotel round the corner is brilliant and the Philharmonic is a fantastic place of Victorian joy. You go in Ye Cracke on a Tuesday afternoon and it’s joy upon joys. Liverpool’s just tremendous all round as far as I’m concerned. I love London, obviously, but there’s that pleasure of being able to walk everywhere in Liverpool, whereas you can’t so much in London.
“It’s the Irish element that makes it. As Edna O’Brien said, the difference is that the Irish don’t appreciate a good listener. They’re talking all the time.”

LIVE AND INTENSIFIED
Madness Mont-Rose To The Occasion
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/angus-the-mearns/what-an-amazing-show-thousands-rock-to-madness-in-montrose-1.888208
Suggs and his merry men performed the only Scots date of their Grandslam Madness UK tour against the backdrop of the sand dunes.
The ska legends performed a packed set of quirky pop classics as they stamped their own inimitable footprints all over the East Links.
Anne Jenkins, secretary of Montrose Music Festival, said: “What an amazing show – it was literally Madness at the East Links.
“Eight years ago when MoFest started I don’t think anybody ever imagined we’d be hosting the likes of Madness in our wee town but this just shows the power of community spirit and what can be achieved by volunteer groups.“MoFest would like to thank everyone who came along, LCC Live, Angus Council and, of course, the phenomenal Madness,” she added.
Fans descended on the town from across the UK and there was not a single hotel room left after ticket sales went through the roof.
Many pubs across the town also put on pre-Madness events which got fans in the party mood by the time the gates opened at 6pm.
Fans began arriving in pork pie hats and braces as pop quartet the Lottery Winners and reggae band By The Rivers warmed up the crowd before Madness took to the stage.
The band performed some new material during the evening but it was the old favourites which had the crowd doing the Nutty Walk and mimicking the band’s signature dance moves.
The atmosphere was taken up a notch during crowd-pleasers One Step Beyond, House of Fun, Baggy Trousers, Our House, It Must Be Love and Night Boat to Cairo.
In between, there was plenty of banter between Suggs and the band and the audience, which, in tribute to the band’s wide appeal, was made up of all ages.
Graeme Strachan

Hay Dock Watch This.
Always approach the Racenight gigs with mixed emotions & trepidation as being both a lover of the Sport of Kings & a devotee of the Nutty Boys, these nights can sometimes be troublesome for me due to the varying reaction of the crowd. My wife will always bring me back on an even keel when she reminds me that this is not a normal Madness gig & you will get people who are not real fans. Methinks she is worried that my excessive skanking at the front will upset someone but as the great one said, “If you’re not in the mood to dance, Step back, grab yourself a seat”
Even got into the mood pre-gig by sampling a few of the Gladness range of beers they were selling out of a black London Cab & they weren’t half bad & no queues like the other bars. I did however fail in my quest to get a free Gladness T-Shirt from the beer seller despite my pledge to buy a gallon of their stock in exchange
Anyway, what was I worrying for, this is Merseyside. Thought opening the gig with the new Grandslam was a brave move, although I knew what was coming after sampling the delights of Doncaster less than a week ago. No adverse reaction from the crowd with the absence of Chas & the usual OSB opener. It felt like this night was going to be a good one & the crowd looked particularly up for it which meant my usual tactics of getting a few lads up at the front to join in with a bit of a dance would be well received
The set-list was slight twist on the Donny one but had the same ebbing & flowing between old favourites, fast & slow & the more recent ones even though anything from Folgate know feels like an old favourite as well. When the intro to Mummy’s Boy started, my brain started to whir as I was trying to work out if I had ever heard this live after many Madness gigs over the years but who cares, as all the older crew at the front started to eloquently blast out the lyrics word for word
A long stretch of songs from the first 3 albums soon got the heartbeat racing & the feel of rain in the air was actually welcome just to cool us down a bit, although the threat of lightning in the distance was taking it a bit too far. Ending pre-encore with It Must Be Love also gave us all a chance to get that second wind before the last few inevitable songs. As Cairo approaches, my wife Debra says that even though she has seen Suggs do the head scarf trick so many times, it still tickles her
So we finally get to the end of another amazing gig & I don’t know what I was worrying about as the 6 lads on stage did us proud but so did the crowd as they made the night & showed that lot in Doncaster how it should be done. No Chas & you always miss any of the 7 who cannot make it but it never spoils the gig & that is down to how much love & energy the rest of the band seem to emanate. Finished the night with Debra trying to get a set-list in vain as I remind her again that these guys don’t need a set-list as they can sing this stuff in their sleep & long may it continue.
Chris Walker

My Grandslam Weekend – Round 1 – Haydock Racecourse, St Helens
“What a weekend, absolutely Madtastic, 3 nights of pure Madness, bevvy & meeting mad friends old & new. Brilliant weekend.”
I Drove down to St Helens, from Fife with the lovely Dot, my partner in life & all things mad. Checked into the hotel & got ready for the gig, mad tunes a blaring. Mark Charlesworth (Chigs) had previously messaged me to look out for his son Chris… well he was only in the same hotel… small world indeed! Spoke for a bit then it was time to go. Jumped into a taxi with a couple of mad Scousers we met earlier. great banter …. Then headed in & straight to the front, after pausing to have a photo taken with the mad crown on my head… had to be done eh. Met a wee guy called Cai & his parents … Cai was kitted out in DMs, Fred Perry & pork pie … a mini me, I thought. They were nice & were meeting the band & said Cai may be on stage later (Jealous much !). Cai had me knackered trying to copy all the moves n jumps he was doing.
It was Madness time…. The Grandslam intro was brilliant, although wondered how the bits with England footballers & rugby players would go down in Montrose … (find out in next weeks review) !! Then our heroes were on & straight into new song, Grandslam which I thought was really good. And we were off , 90 minutes of brilliance. The set had the familiar structure of hits & album tracks, a couple of new songs, show time then encore.
Always love to hear NW5 & Lovestruck, 2 of the best songs ever for me … would easily have been massive hits first time round. Los Palmas is now a cider on sale at The Gladness Beer gardens, which makes this a gig of four songs that are also now drinks.
John Jones from Dangermen Sessions was in there & the other new song was “Don’t Leave the Past Behind”, I think its called… this was sublime, a grower but all madness growers become classics in my opinion.
I’m not a big fan of Dust Devil, but It’s defo better live. Take it or leave it, always brilliant live, but you have to do the Chas bits yourself now ha ha. Also great to hear Mummy’s Boy again … top tune.
Chrissy Boys spot this year is awesome … or not lol… He murdered Living on a prayer but the crowed loved it & sang along …. So funny. Showtime is showtime, not my fave part of gig anymore but it’s the bit for the masses… all the big hits… OSB, Baggy Trousers, HOF, Wings of a Dove, Our House & IMBL… the place was bouncing. Off they went & back for the encore … Are you lot still here ?? was Suggs question …. The noise proved we were … M.A.D.N.E.S.S. .. yesss … and we were off …. Then straight into Nigh Boat with the bold Cai on cue dancing away on stage … It was a party, a proper proper party …. It certainly was.
They left the stage to rapturous cheer & applause. A happy crowd walked off with smiling faces to the Monty Python boys … Always look on the bright side of life deh reh ….. This was defo the bright side of life.
A highlight for me was when Lee seemed to recognise me & gave his drink to a security guard to give to me … I drank the lot, then he came back later like he was looking for it back & I got the look lol… made my night. We walked back to hotel happy & were soon bedded… We rolled to on Carlisle.
To be continued….
Robert Wardlaw
Haydock…
Another superb Madness gig. The place was bouncing. A varied set with old and new delights….. Including 2 fab new as yet unreleased tracks. Madness never fail to entertain and Haydock was no exception. The only let down was that there was no set from DJ Darren due to racecourse time constraints. In my opinion that was a mistake as he always gets the crowd in the mood.
Nicky Evans

10th Madness gig with the family at Carlise
My first gig was as a 10 year old to see Madness at the Glasgow Apollo and Carlisle was to be my 10th time seeing Madness. My oldest boy, now 8, has been asking to go to a Madness gig for a few years so when I saw the family tickets for Grand Slam we got them booked. My kids (8 and 6) would be going to their first gig and it would be Madness also. (proud Dad)
We had booked Carlisle before the Montrose gig got announced but as it happens Carlisle is closer to us anyway.
Live Madness CDs were made up the night before for the 2hr car journey, some skanking moves were practised in the living room, and we set off early Saturday afternoon. We got to the the hotel about 15:30 and got a taxi booked straight to the race course.
First stop was the merchandise stand for 3 fezzes (the missus didn’t want one) and a couple of programmes. Next stop – a pint of Lovestruck – it was my first time trying any of the Madness brews and I have to say it was better than a lot of the mainstream stuff.
We were at the venue relatively early so a lot of the suited and booted race goers seemed bemused by the three of us wandering around with fezzes on but the longer the day went on more and more fezzes appeared. The crowd and the atmosphere grew as the day went on. The horse racing managed to keep the kids entertained for a while, they managed to pick three winners out of the seven races – I wish I had put more money on for them now.
The last race was shortly after 21:00 and then we were allowed across the race track towards the stage. As we had the kids we stayed nearer the back this time – near the sound engineers and the video guy – normally we would be down in amongst the front.
No support acts here due to the later start – I guess the horses and jockeys were the support act.
The atmosphere was built up with the some old ska tracks and the Grand Slam video and then on came Madness. As per previous reviews they opened with the new song: Grand Slam – it’s not the liveliest opening track but it does bounce along quite nicely.
Of course the kids couldn’t see the stage from here so they took it in turns to go on my shoulders – try skanking along with an 8yr old on your shoulders..!! I’m getting too old for this. (They could see on the big screens when it wasn’t their turn)
The kids also seemed to be quite happy watching all the big’uns dancing around and joining in with the fun.
Maybe it was because we were so close to the sound engineer but i thought the sound quality was excellent for an outdoor gig.
Livelier tracks were interspersed with slower numbers – this gave me a chance to rest my shoulders.
It was good to hear “You Said” live. We also got an old Prince Buster track.
Suggs was on form with the banter.
Mumbo Jumbo was also unleashed on us. I’m not sure what the plan is for this. I thought it sounded more like an LTSO track than a Madness track – I still liked it though.
Following Chris’s showtime they ramped up to 11 with One Step Beyond (no intro), House of Fun, Wings of a Dove, Baggy Trousers, and Our House. The main set was finished off with It Must Be Love – it gave us time to catch our breath again.
The band stepped off for a few minutes and returned to crank it up again with Madness and Night Boat to Cairo. A young fan on stage wished us goodnight and that’s us until next time – we canny wait. 7000 fans left the race course happy and singing along to “always look on the bright side of life”.
I managed to bum a copy of the setlist off the sound engineer and two more young fans are hooked on MADNESS.
An excellent gig and very happy memories all round.
Grandslam
Embarrassment
The Prince
NW5
My Girl
My Girl 2
Take It Or Leave It
Sun And The Rain
Mumbo Jumbo
Bed & Breakfast
Dust Devil
Los Palmas 7
You Said
Lovestruck
Shut Up
Girl (Prince Buster)
– Show Time –
One Step beyond
House Of Fun
Wings of A Dove
Baggy Trousers
Our House
It Must Be Love
——————
Madness
Night Boat To Cairo
Paul McWatt

GRANDSLAM REPLAYS….
Download the “Periscope” app. And follow Madnessnews on twitter and you might be able to review parts of forthcoming concerts live, and backstage antics. Here is one such broadcast, now a replay on youtube thanks to Scott Lightfoot for uploading.
Mumbo Jumbo – Chrissy Boy Periscope broadcast.
https://youtu.be/S57-ZRGIwe0
Rhyl – It Must be Love (filmed from outside the gig???)
https://youtu.be/54Aa2mLP9lk
Grandslam – Doncaster
https://youtu.be/6vOT3f8KHDc
Night Boat To CAI !!!!!!!
https://youtu.be/TCT1cvCcuRc
If that’s not enough here’s some TV footage of the band last year at Reggae sun ska festival. Great massive crowd and cool
camera on stage angles.
Opening songs of Reggae Sun Ska
https://youtu.be/DdXrb4gy1KQ

The Grandslam Continues in September
If you’re attending any of the gigs this Summer, and you’ve got more fan passion in you than just the length of a one finger typed tweet then send us in your reviews of Madness’ biggest ever outdoor tour. Your review doesn’t have to be massive. Just a sentence, a paragraph, or a set list, or a video link, or a full blown account of your Grandslam. It’s entirely up to you. Whatever your experience let all our readers know how your day was, what were the best bits, and make Madness proudly a band people truly talk about. We’ll publish your efforts in a future MIS newsletter, in our Live and Intensified regular section, and also on our website blog. There may even be a prize or two given out come September and tour end!
Be a sport and send us your post match analysis.
Send whatever you madly muster to Jonsmad@hotmail.com
Jonathan Young

MIS FEATURE – CHALKIE DAVIES – THE NME YEARS
I Thought this might be of interest for anyone near Cardiff up to the 6th September:
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/cardiff/whatson/?id=7844
The photos are pure nostalgia with lots of different artists from the era. Madness are represented by a very young Suggs in a bowler hatted pose and there is a great ‘school photo’ of most of the Two Tone groups on Brighton beach. It’s free entry to the museum and exhibition which literally cannot be beaten for value.
If you want to buy a copy of one of the photos it will cost you a minimum of £650!
http://www.snapgalleries.com/shop/product.asp?P_ID=3300&CAT_ID=20475
This photo isn’t actually in the exhibition but it is a really different Madness pose.
I settled for a copy of the Exhibition Catalogue at £15 and a couple of photo frames.
Cheers,
Ian Beatty

MIS FEATURE – COMPETITION – JOIN THE LEE THOMPSON SKA ORCHESTRA IN WALES
Join The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra in Wales **Ends Wednesday**
“It’s an up close and personal, a once in a life time experience” Lee Thompson.
A Competition to join the band for a jolly fly on the wall band experience, for 2 people.
Prize Includes:
Meet the band and stay in their humble digs on the night of Friday July 24th (Free accommodation for 2 adults).
Dine, socialise and drink with the band, as their guest on that day.
Exclusive entry to the sound check, watch the band set up, see how everything operates.
Free entry to Llangollen Fringe, Town Hall gig 7pm July 24th featuring the bands well known Ska tunes and new tracks from the forthcoming “Bite the Bullet” second album.
£50 towards travelling expenses with the option of meeting up with the band in London for the train ride to Wrexham.
Take any photos you like & bring your Benevolence of sister Mary Ignatius CD or any other memorabilia along to be signed.
Winner will be contacted with meet, time location, and contact. Judges decision is final. No purchase necessary to enter. Entrants must be definitely able to attend, otherwise turn down the prize. Prize is non-transferable , no cash alternative.
Only one entry per household.
Closing Date midnight 15th July 2015
To enter go to the band’s official website
Leethompsonska.com
And submit your answer completing the sentence
“I want to run away with the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra because ….”
Simon Roberts

THAT FACEBOOK
Woody Woodgate
“Just got in from the gig at Chepstow (which was brilliant by the way) only to find my Facebook filled with people loving my album. I can’t believe the wonderful reaction I’ve had from people who seem to genuinely love what I’ve done. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of my brother Nick Woodgate, Daniel James Shears, Tim Maple, Dan Drury, the Brass Monkeys and of course my beautiful wife Siobhan Fitzpatrick.
Slushy sentiment, but true.”

I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN
This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby, goes back in time to report on what was going on in the world of Madness 5 years, 10 and 15 years ago this week.
5 years ago…
Issue Number 584 – Sunday 11th July – Saturday 17th July 2010
We kicked this issue off with a very brief intro, before starting with our first article of the week.
Speaking to The Herald Scotland, Suggs described One Step Beyond as “A Clarion Call”, and said this of their forthcoming T in the Park gig;
“We’re very much looking forward to it, and we know people will want to hear the big hits. No-one goes to hear Stevie Wonder play his new concept album when he could be doing Superstition. We’ll still be jumping, but maybe not quite so high, and Lee is still flying now and again. We still all get that competitive feeling on stage.”
Next, we took a look at the band Sore Throat, where band member Uncle Matt explained that members of Madness used to come and see them play during 1977 and 1978. In March 1978 he gave Madness their big break when he asked them to support Sore Throat at The Music Machine (later to be called the Camden Palais) in Camden Town. It was the first name they performed under the name Madness.
Back to the present, and it was over to Retro Madness for details of their latest offer. This week they’d reduced the price of the 1998 USA live album “Universal Madness” from £14.99 to £9.99, including postage and packing. Bargain!
Deaf School news next, and Duff Kelly reported that the band had announced two new gigs for August. The band would be playing at The Dublin Castle on Thursday and Friday 5th and 6th, before playing at the Newmarket Festival on the 7th.
We brought this issue of the MIS to a close with another one of Paul Rodgers’ stat-filled article. This week he reported that;
“Last week the The Rise And Fall and Keep Moving made their official debuts on the chart dated 10 July 2010 (minus the sales that generated the indie chart placings of the previous week). They were placed thusly:
The Rise And Fall 169 (new entry on the main album chart) and climbing to 17 on the indie chart
Keep Moving 196 (new entry on the main album chart) and climbing to 20 on the indie chart
Meanwhile Ultimate Madness fell to 191 on its fourth week on the main chart and number 19 on the indie chart, making the filling in a sandwich made of your finest Rise And Fall and Keep Moving bread!”
10 years ago…
Issue number 322 – Sunday 10th July to Saturday 16th July 2005
We started off this week’s issue of the MIS on a sombre note, but also one of coming together, following the bombings which took place in London this Thursday just gone.
The support from other Madness fans across the globe was been nothing short of staggering. Almost as soon as the incidents took place a number of French Madness fans sent messages to the Madness Trading Ring offering their best wishes, followed by emails from the US and more from France which were either posted on the MTR or sent to us directly.
Madness fan and MOT drummer Dan Fossard was a mere two streets away when the bus bomb went off. We understand that Chris Carter-Pegg was on the tube when the tube bomb went off, and part of the MIS editorial team (Jonathan Young) were staying in a hotel in Kings Cross at the time.
For those of you who lived, worked or had friends who lived or worked in London we passed on our support and well wishes as many others had already done.
Those of who were planning to see The Dangermen on Tuesday at The Scala needed to be aware that at the time of typing the only tube line in action at Kings Cross Station was The Metropolitan, so you were advised to plan your journey accordingly.
Moving on to less serious and more Madness related things, we started off the issue with a review of June 28th Dangerman gig at The Scala, which had been taken from the Independant Newspaper. The reviewer gave the gig a glowing write-up, and finished off by handing out a very respectable 4 out of 5 stars.
Next-up was Jon Young’s “The North London Stage Invaders” article, which took a look at the three types of stage invading Madness fan.
These were:
1 – The startled drunk fan.
2 – The little excited kid.
3 – The big old boots and braces aging skin head.
Further on, and we passed the issue over to the Orange Street boys, who gave us an update on what they were doing, and where you could next see them live. With gigs ranging from small pubs to massive festivals, we all had a good chance of catching them on stage.
Passing the MIS baton back to Jon Young, it was time for a history lesson, as our co-editor took a look at the history of the track “Shame and Scandal”, which the band were currently airing in their live sets.
Jonathan’s research revealed that the earliest known version of the song “Shame and Scandal” featured in the RKO-film “I Walked With A Zombie.” (Black and white 1943).
Next we had Kev Tizzard, who kindly gave us all a heads-up on a Capital Gold interview Mike and Suggs gave on Saturday 9th July.
Being the kind soul that he is, he’d even managed to capture the audio, and make it available for the rest of us to download or stream.
Chris Carter-Pegg took over proceedings for the next article, where he reported on the August edition of Mojo magazine, which featured a massive 7 page article on Madness, together with an additional page to feature their recent Hall of Fame award.
Across the channel was our next port of call, where French MIS editor, Jean-Pierre Boutellier put together a short but excited article announcing that Madness had a single (Shame and Scandal) at number 26 and an album (The Dangermen Sessions) at number 39 in the French music charts.
Apparently this was the first time Madness have been in the top 40 French album charts since 1981!
We finished off this issue with a massive review from Jonathan Young, who had returned from The 10th South Cotswold Beer Festival where he’d seen North London band MOT play their biggest gig to date. The band went down so well, that they played 25 minutes past the end of the music licence!
5 years later, drummer Dan Fossard, would return to The South Cotswold Beer Festival with one of his new bands (the other being “Big 10”), Jason and The Skagonaughts, to bring the proverbial house down.
15 years ago…
Issue number 61 – Sunday 9th July to Saturday 15th July 2000
Since last week, rumours had been flying left, right and center with regards to the unofficial announcement that the Christmas tour for this year was a no goer. Well, we could can safely reveal that if a Christmas tour did go ahead it would be a near miracle. The problem was that half of the band were keen to take part in an end of year tour of the UK, but the other half of Madness wanted to give it a miss this year and get on with their own things. We had extract of a recent interview with Cathal Smyth from France-based Skanews later in this issue, and you could find out just what Cathal has to say on the matter there.
Still, it wasn’t all doom and gloom though as top tribute bands, One Step Behind had an avalanche of tour dates planned over the coming months and you could find them in this very issue.
News reached us this week, courtesy of the NME, that last month’s Ian Dury tribute gig at the Brixton Academy, which saw artists such as Robbie Williams and Madness take to the stage, raised a whopping £61,761 for the Cancer Bacup charity.
Moving on, and as Simsey sent us a final report following the recent Rhythmstock, we were able to pass on the news that a presentation cheque had been prepared, and was now available for viewing online.
We were assured that the real cheque would be hand delivered to the Cancer Bacup offices shortly.
Remember a few weeks back we mentioned Wizard’s Inns announcement that they’d be running a competition to name a new Upminster pub?
Naturally, Madness fans were hoping to give it a name to commemorate the late great Ian Dury. Sadly, this week we learned that our campaign had failed, and that the decision had been made. The name of the new drinking establishment would be “The Crumpled Horn”.
Next up was Vince Carden, with news that Carl had given him permission to run a Velvet Ghost related competition. It was a competition to see who could come up with the best name for the Velvet Ghost’s forthcoming album. The winning prize would be a Madness vinyl clock, and, if the suggestion was really good, the name you suggested as the album name.
We finished off this week’s issue with an interview with The Velvet Ghost, courtesy of the excellent Skanews magazine.
Rob Hazelby

TIME…
At one of the recent Grandslam gigs MIS managed to have a good chat with Mr. Bedford on the subject of the next Ska Orchestra release.
The Ska Orchestra’s second LP is nearly completed, he told us. There’s possibly one further session of overdubs required to take place. The album is sounding good and it’s brilliant the way everyone in the current band line up has contributed tracks. Bedders himself wrote the music for the title track “Biting the bullet”. Louis Vause has been overseeing the completion of the album at all levels.
Finally, you may have seen us mention Periscope in our Live and Intensified section further above. For those of you not in the know, it’s a fairly recent product release from Twitter, which lets you broadcast live video to anyone who’s also downloaded the app to their tablet or mobile.
This week just gone Madness decided to give the app a go themselves, streaming a number of live broadcasts, and helping to give insight into just what goes on behind the scenes of a Madness concert.
You’ll need a Twitter account to use Periscope, and if you’re already following @Madnessnews, once you have Periscope installed you’ll be notified when one of their live feeds commences.
Fore more information, go to https://www.periscope.tv/
Until next week, take care,
Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams
(With thanks to Dan Shears, Chris Walker, Ian Beatty,
Rob Wardlaw, Nicky Evans and Paul McWatt)