Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the MIS Online newsletter.

In this issue we bring you a mass of additions to the Showtimes section as The Magic Brothers announced a mass of gig dates at Camden’s Dublin Castle. Taking place over March and April tickets for these events are going to go fast.

Unfortunately, for those living outside the confines of London attending any of these gigs may not be possible due to the mid-week placings. Hopefully the success of the listed dates will encourage The Dublin Castle and Bugbear Bookings to get Woody and Nick signed up for some Saturday night gigs. We can but hope.

Tickets are now on sale, so check out the Showtimes section ASAP and get yours ordered.

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

July 13th, 2014 Festival Musilac, France http://www.musilac.com/

November 21st – 24th 2014 – Minehead – Earlybird tickets can be ordered here: http://www.bigweekends.com/splash-pages/madness2014.aspx

For tickets also see links via: www.madness.co.uk

Suggs Live

April 2014

2nd – Newbury Corn Exchange
3rd – Loughborough Town Hall
4th – Wakefield Theatre Royal
5th – Southport The Atkinson Theatre
6th – Runcorn The Brindley
8th – Mansfield Palace Theatre
9th – Stamford Corn Exchange
11th – Isle of Wight Shaklin Theatre
12th – Aldershot Princes Hall
13th – Wimborne Tivoli Theatre
15th – Bury St Edmonds The Apex
16th – Tunbridge Wells, Assembly Hall
17th – Stroud Subscription Rooms
22nd – Chelmsford Civic Theatre
23rd – Stevenage Gordon Craig Theatre
24th – Redditch Palace Theatre
25th – Malvern Forum Theatre
26th – Margate Winter Gardens
27th – Northampton Derngate
29th – Bolton Albert Halls
30th – Darlington Civic Theatre

May 2014

1st – Newark Palace Theatre
2nd – Redhill Harlequin Theatre
3rd – Watford Colosseum
4th – Yeovil Octagon Theatre
10th – DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
13th – Harlow Playhouse
14th – Lowestoft Marina Theatre
16th – Leamington Royal Spa Centre
17th – Jersey Opera House
19th – Milton Keynes The Stables
20th – Winchester Theatre Royal
21st – Epsom Playhouse
22nd – Kettering Lighthouse Theatre

The Magic Brothers

*** NEW *** Monday 3rd March, Dublin Castle, Camden, London
*** NEW *** Tuesday 11th March, Dublin Castle, Camden, London
*** NEW *** Thursday 27th March, Dublin Castle, Camden, London
*** NEW *** Thursday 3rd April, Dublin Castle, Camden, London
*** NEW *** Thursday 24th April, Dublin Castle, Camden, London

Ticket info at: http://www.bugbearbookings.com/dublin-castle/

Suggs and Friends

The charity fund raising evening “Suggs and Friends” makes a welcome return this coming March.  The 2014 fundraiser takes place on March 20th at 6.30pm, with champagne reception and auction.

The £150 donation tickets for pancreatic cancer gain entry to the Porchester Hall event in London W2. There’s no announcement yet as to who is joining Suggs at the exclusive event.

Roger Daltrey has been added to the line-up of this evening.

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra

There are early rumours of a number of Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra gigs that may be taking place around March, around the time of their single release

Southend has been mentioned, but we’ll have more concrete information on any gigs once they are officially confirmed and announced.

Keep an eye on: www.ltso.mis-online.net

Deaf School

No further gigs or events at present. Keep an eye on http://deafschoolmusic.com for more information.

Near Jazz Experience

No further gigs or events at present.

BUY IT

If money’s currently burning a hole in your pocket then perhaps we can help with your dilemma.

The Specialized EP Featuring Lee Thompson

A 4 track vinyl EP featuring Lee’s track from the first specialized album and tracks by the Valves, Rhoda Dakar and Nick Welsh.

Should be in stock this coming week.

Thanks go to Chuck Wren and Jump Up Records, Stan from A&R Texas (pressing plant), and Mike Schneider of Indigo Iguana (design).

LOOK SO GOOD YA COULD LICK EM…. Will be available via

www.specializedproject.co.uk

The Specialized Big One 2. Live DVD.

For those wanting a copy of the DVD of the Big One 2 event we can reveal that you can now pre-order your copy. This will be limited edition and available into the new year. As is the normal spec with Specialized, all proceeds go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

http://www.specializedproject.co.uk

LTSO, Bangarang, Featuring Dawn Penn

Single release date mid February.

The Magic Line Album * Out Now! *

Signed T-shirt packages and a deluxe edition.

http://www.magicbrothers.com/topspin-store/all/

A range of Magic Brothers T-shirts, Polo Shirts are now available to buy.

The CD album is available via Amazon and the download via iTunes contains an interview with Phil Jupitus talking to Woody about the album.  But if you buy the album via the official band site you can choose a signed option or bundle.

If you’ve a spare £75 and are really into the magic, then there are 25 packs going fast that include all of this….

The Magic Line Collectors Pack – Limited Edition of 25 includes; The Magic Line Signed CD Album. The Magic Line Digital Download. The Magic Line T Shirt. Woodys Drumsticks Signed. Nicks Guitar Paick Signed. Copy of Album Lyrics. “Thank You” Phone Call From Woody & Nick.

Our thanks go to Paul Smart for the above

Suggs “The Close” Signed Book

Suggs is one of pop music’s most enduring and likeable figures. Written with the assured style and wit of a natural raconteur, this hugely entertaining and insightful autobiography takes you from his colourful early life on a North London council estate, through the heady early days of Punk and 2-Tone, to the eighties, where Madness became the biggest selling singles band of the decade. Along the way he tells you what it’s like to grow up in sixties Soho, go globetrotting with your best mates, to make a dead pigeon fly and cause an earthquake in Finsbury Park.

Suggs is a singer, songwriter, DJ, actor and TV presenter. He is perhaps best known as lead singer with Madness, who have had 24 top-twenty hits and continue to tour. Suggs lives in Camden, London.

– Features unseen and exclusive lyrics.
- 352 pages.
- Hardback.

http://www.recordstore.co.uk/search.html?term=suggs

Louis Vause – Midnight in Havana

“Oh dear. I’m alive..!” Pianist Louis Vause has always said that his albums are “Gouged out of him by circumstance” but his third album ‘Midnight In Havana’really is a case in point.

Recorded as a valedictory set, a swansong if you like, after he was told that the onset of cancer meant that he had mere months to live, the completion of the work coincided with his liver transplant and the all clear. He was in the pink. The same could not be said for his credit cards which had covered Louis’ uncharacteristically cavalier spending on recording costs.

http://www.cadizmusic.com/2007/index.php?location=/web/Catalogue/CADIZCD119

Mark Adamson of the Deaf School Website gives us an exclusive quote or two from Suggs, on the forthcoming Deaf School Book.

Deaf School – the story is told at last!

“For me, the gigs Deaf School have done recently have been some of the best I’ve seen by any band.”

So writes Suggs in his foreword to a book, published this month amid a flurry of Deaf School gigs and other Book Launch events, charting the creation and career of a band that influenced so many artists that followed – and that still fills venues 40 years after their debut at the Liverpool School of Art Christmas Dance.

Deaf School had a huge impact on Madness (Suggs: “Back in my youth I met some characters who were a right bunch, but what we had in common was that we loved Deaf School.”) – not least, of course, because guitarist Clive Langer’s became Madness producer and because Suggs married Deaf School singer Bette Bright!

Written by leading rock music writer, author and broadcaster Paul du Noyer, a lifetime Deaf School fan, Deaf School: The Non-Stop Pop Art Punk Rock Party, is published later this month by the Liverpool University Press, priced at £14.99. Accompanying the publication of the book is a Deaf School exhibition, featuring original art works by band members, posters, photos, rare films of live performances, band stage costumes and much more.

The book is available from Deaf School’s website at www.deafschoolmusic.com

Koasting Along

Last Wednesday was the night that North London’s constabulary and ladies of the night were granted a night off. Why? Well, Lee Swandale had taken a short tour up North to introduce the world to his mysterious musical mind.

If you missed the show you can now find it here:

Mr. Scurf’s Koast Train returns to normal this Wednesday from 8:00pm when special guest is non other than the legendary Louis Vause. Louis will be talking about life in general, train journeys and his new album “Midnight in Havanna”

SIGN OF THE TIMES

The Blockheads Call on Fans to Land Them on The Charts

From: antimusic.com

On Tuesday The Blockheads Call On Fans To Land Them On The Charts was a top story. Here is the recap: (Classic Rock) The late Ian Dury’s old band The Blockheads have asked fans to help them enter the charts later this month in an attempt to have material from their latest album played on radio. But they’re not aiming for the No.1 spot – and they’ll settle for any position in the Top 40.

Full story at: http://bit.ly/1bqpJZl

Musical Full of Madness

Source: www.morpethherald.co.uk

REHEARSALS are well underway for this academic year’s musical production at Ponteland High School.

Casting was very difficult, but everyone who wanted a part in ‘Our House’ has got a part. Set to the music of Madness, it follows the story of Joe Casey, who on his 16th birthday makes a decision that alters the course of his life. The play splits in two as the audience see different versions of Joe’s life.

The musical takes place at Ponteland Memorial Hall between March 4 and 7. For more information, call the school on 01661 824711.

Original article at: http://bit.ly/LqlEtX

I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN

This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby, goes back 5 years to issue 507, and the week of Sunday 18th January to Saturday 24th January 2009, and then back 10 years to issue 245 and the week of Sunday 18th January 2004 to Saturday 24th January 2004.

5 years ago…

Issue 507 – Sunday 18th January to Saturday 24th  January 2009

Sad news reached us earlier this week (courtesy of Chris Carter-Pegg and Emma Southerby), and because of that we did away with the usual MIS intro, and instead passed things straight over to them.

The sad news came from the Dublin Castle, Camden Town, announcing that Landlord Alo Conlon had died at home on Friday 9th January. It was Alo that gave Madness their residency at the Dublin Castle back in 1979, that launched their career.

In a tribute to all that Alo had done to help Madness we dedicated the first article to a lengthy and detailed obituary to the great man, which finished by commenting;

“Alo will be remembered with enormous fondness by all of his patrons and will hold a prominent place in London’s music history for enabling Madness and so many other bands to get their big break. He leaves North London with one of its most popular and endearing pubs that has retained its charm and character, whilst so may others have succumbed to changing fashions and pressures along the way.”

Elsewhere in the issue we also featured a full transcript of an article from The Camden New Journal, who themselves were paying respect to the legendary Alo Conlon. Entitled “Fond Farewell to King of the Castle”, it was a touching a detailed tribute to the great man.

Further on, and the Alo tributes continued with a detailed and heartwarming article from Simon Roberts detailing his own memories of the great man. Wrapping-up, Simon commented;

“I have said in the past that the DC is in fact the Church of Madness.

Where does that put the Alo?

Higher than God I think.

God bless Alo.

You will be missed.”

On a happier note, we moved on to Chrissy Boy, who was asking us to contact the band via the official web site with comments on what content we’d like to see on there. All you had to do was simply drop the band your suggestions and they’d be considered.

Calling all keyboardists – Madness tribute outfit Los Palmas 6 were desperately seeking a dep keyboard player. Why? Well, the band had so many gigs booked in that keyboardist Bosky, who also played for the Hotknives needed someone to fill in when he wasn’t available.

Potential applicants were warned that this was a challenging role and that whoever was interested and up to scratch must have all the required equipment and reliable transport.

On to what was the most bizarre article of the week, and it’s here that we passed the reigns over to Owen The Nutter, and his crystal ball. Here, Owen took a light hearted look at the year ahead and what it would deliver to us, the Madness fan. Yes, it was completely daft but it would certainly raise a smile to anyone who read it.

We brought this issue to a close with a reminder from Chris Carter-Pegg who pointed out a very important part in the small print that you really needed to be aware of before purchasing your Madstock 5 tickets.

“For anyone who hasn’t read all the terms and conditions about buying the Madstock tickets (I don’t usually bother), its worth noting that if you don’t opt for the ‘secure postage’ option and your tickets get lost in the post, the promoter will accept no responsibility whatsoever, you will receive no refund and no replacement tickets…if you’re buying say 6 tickets at approx £250 that’s quite a risk to take!”

10 years ago…

Issue 245 – Sunday 18th January to Saturday 24th January 2004

On 22nd January 1979 the world witnessed the first ever gig by pop group Madness. Now, 25 years later, the Madness web site received its first proper update of 2004. Entitled `IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO TODAY”, the article was taken from Mike Barson’s diary, and charted the life of the band back during January 1979.

The short entries from back then captured the early days of the band, and although it would still be some months before The Prince would see the light of day in the charts, you could tell that things were already starting to pick up, and that fame wasn’t too far away.

We were hopeful that this January web site update signified the start of many great things that would happen from then until December. Rumours of a possible concert or two later in the year were already circulating on the Madness Trading Ring, but there was nothing concrete at the moment.

Following a recent exclusive interview with Terry Edwards, we had the MIS interview seat wheeled-out once again, and this time we filled it with the Los Palmas 6’s Steve Turner, who revealed what it had been like to tour with Madness in the run-up to Christmas.

On Friday the 16th of January Woody was the special guest on BBC 6’s “Lunch with Liz Kershaw”. For the final hour of the show Liz Kershaw ‘invited’ herself to Woody’s party where she chatted to our favourite drummer about the early days of Madness, and what guests he’d love to have along to his party.

We finished off this week’s issue with an apology to those people who had emailed us to say that we’d missed out this or that from our 12 month lookback. The problem was that the article was already huge, and that with so much going on during 2003 it was impossible to document ‘everything’ that had taken place during the year.

Rob Hazelby

TIME…

That’s just about it for this week, however, before we go we urge you to check out this brand new video from the Teenage Cancer Trust which details what the charity does as well as promoting the Mad Not Cancer Project.

The video runs for just over 4 minutes and is well worth your time:

Until next week, take care,

Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams