We begin this week’s MIS with news that’s sure to interest subscribers with iPhones, iPads or the iPod Touch. Why? Well, thanks to many, many hours of effort from MIS web site designer and maintainer Simon Roberts we are pleased to announce the release of the Madness Information Service app.

Synching with the MIS web site the app pulls in the following:

–       Latest issues of the weekly MIS bulletins

–       Latest gig and ticket information

–       Music and videos

–       Links to Madness related web sites, Twitter feeds and Facebook

How much will this set you back? Absolutely nothing. Not one penny. It’s absolutely 100% free!

For more information, you can find the promo image for the app here: http://bit.ly/1mWDFie

You can find a link to the app on the MIS web site via this link: http://www.madness-mis.com/misapp

And a direct link to the app on the App Store here: http://bit.ly/1en38Kd

Note that as with the MIS Online bulletins the app is 100% unofficial and not affiliated with Madness or their management. (We’ve not been asked to say that, but we feel it’s worth us mentioning it!)

For any queries or problems relating to the app please contact app@mis-online.net

For those of you using Android devices we regret to say that a version for your OS isn’t currently in the works, but if the situation changes we’ll be sure to let you know.

Now, on with this week’s 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

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

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

*** NEW *** Thursday 13th March, Dingwalls, Camden Town, London
More info regarding the above on Facebook at: http://on.fb.me/1mKWGkX

Ska Orchestra web site: 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.

Welcome to Specialized Project official website

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

SPECIALIZED 3 – MAD NOT CANCER – CALENDAR

As most readers of MIS will know by now this year it’s the turn of Madness to be given the Specialized treatment in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust and will see a raft of events all centred around the release of an album of cover versions of Madness songs that’s due for release in June. Previous years have seen both The Specials and The Beat as the focus – if you’ve not got either of the albums they’re both still available through Amazon/iTunes and monies raised still go to a very good cause.

One of the activities that took off last year was a Specialized calendar in the style of Calendar Girls (and boys!!) and that is set to continue this year with efforts being led by Karen Le Cras, with the intent of making a Madness “themed” calendar to adorn your walls in 2015.

In order to make this happen your help is needed in a few very different ways :

Passport Style Photos:

For one of the months of the calendar, or even the cover, it’s been suggested to re-create the inner sleeve “passport photo” mosaic from One Step Beyond (yes, the one with the naked lady with the towel on her head in the middle!!). At a rough calculation this will require around 150 or more “fan” photos, and so we need you to submit a head and shoulders “passport photo” type shot – in keeping with the Calendar Girl’s theme it should be bare shouldered but anything else (hats, sunglasses etc) is fine.

Pictures should be 200Kb or larger and should be submitted to specializedcalendar@hotmail.co.uk

This is your chance to be part of an iconic Madness image and do your bit for charity at the same time (because of course you’ll want to buy one of the calendars too won’t you?!!).

Donations:

Of course putting together a calendar doesn’t come free – so any donations to help make it happen would be very gratefully received – these can be sent via PayPal to skasalesuk@gmail.com and should be clearly marked “SPECIALIZED CALENDAR” – every penny received will go towards publishing costs.

Monthly Slots:

Obviously for the calendar to be a success it needs to have at least twelve main pictures to fill it – so we’re looking for volunteers, or groups of volunteers, to appear in the calendar – we’d be looking for tastefully naked shots with a Madness theme (ideas that have been suggested include album/single cover shots, scenes from a video, iconic band poses, or even just wearing a fez and a smile!!) – if you’re interested in appearing please join the Facebook event “SpecialiZed Calendar 2015” at https://www.facebook.com/events/482998388476636/?ref=22&source=1 and register your interest, or drop an email to specializedcalendar@hotmail.co.uk

To appear in the calendar we ask that you raise £50 sponsor money (businesses/friends/family) to cover the publishing costs and organise a location and a photographer (although the central team may be able to assist with putting you in contact with one).

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Gladness – Coming to a Supermarket Near You?

From: www.madness.co.uk

Gladness, the Ale that thinks it’s a Lager, has found it’s way into a select crop of Tesco Supermarkets.

It would be great to see it in all of them, so if you fancy a drink, let Tesco know you like Gladness by buying a bottle or 2 from the locations below, or just order it from their website direct HERE

Tescos now Stocking Gladness..
BALDOCK EXTRA
BASILDON EXTRA
BISHOPS STORTFORD
BURGESS HILL
BRAINTREE MARKS FARM
CATERHAM
COLCHESTER EXTRA
EGHAM
EPPING
GUILDFORD
HASLEMERE
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD EXTRA
LEATHERHEAD
LEWES
PITSEA EXTRA
PURLEY EXTRA
RICKMANSWORTH
SAFFRON WALDEN
SANDHURST EXTRA
STEVENAGE EXTRA
WATFORD EXTRA
CLACTON

The London International Ska Festival Starring Suggs, Bedders, Thommo

Source: www.princecharlescinema.com

Madness are a bona fide national treasure. From the streets of Camden Town to performing on the roof of Buckingham Palace they are the archetypal pop group and ultimate singles band.

When Top Of The Pops rocketed Suggs, Chas, Barzo, Woody, Chrissy, Thommo and Bedders into our living rooms with The Prince in 1979, the band became an institution almost overnight. Spearheading the 2Tone Ska revival, along with The Specials, Madness went on to have an almost uninterrupted run of 14 hits in the early 80s, totaling sales of over 6 million singles.

In 1981, after a string of Top Ten singles and two smash hit albums, Madness took to the silver screen. Yet while a group nicknamed the Nutty Boys might have been expected to indulge in the knockabout japes of ’A Hard Day’s Night’ or ’Help!’ like The Beatles years before, ’Take It Or Leave It’ was a grittier, less glossy version of the events that led to them becoming one of Britain’s most cherished bands. The autobiographical account of the band’s beginnings and rise to popularity, with the band members playing themselves, provides a brilliant snapshot of late 1970s London, as well as a virtual tour of the venues that Madness played as they rose to fame to become the biggest selling singles band of the 1980s in the UK. It is considered a must-see movie for Madness fans and music lovers alike. This unique screening, the first publicly in the capital for 33 years, is part of The London Intl Ska Festival.

Now in it’s 26th anniversary year the festival showcases Ska music has from its roots in rhythm and blues, mento and calypso, to the Jamaican originators, the progression through rocksteady and reggae, 2 Tone and right up-to-date with 21st century Ska sounds. 50 bands and DJs play 15 events housed in famed and iconic London venues, including; The Victoria & Albert museum, Dixie Queen paddle steamer, Prince Charles cinema and in Camden Town; The Jazz Cafe, Electric Ballroom, Dingwalls, Barfly and Forge Arts venue. For tickets/info go to: www.londoninternationalskafestival.co.uk

THAT FACEBOOK

Madness related snippets from Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s Carl;

“Dear All, as the years pass I feel more and more gratitude for the support and affection that is shown for the band. What a wonderful life we lead and how many amazing moments you have given us. Thank you .x

Chas”

And Woody, via the @MagicBrothers Twitter feed;

“Nick & I have decided to call our next album ‘In Your Mind’. You can hear some of it for the 1st time live at the Dublin Castle 3/3/14”

I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN

This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby, goes back 5 years to issue 508, and the week of Sunday 25th January to Saturday 31st January 2009, and then back 10 years to issue 246 and the week of Sunday 25th January 2004 to Saturday 31st January 2004.

5 years ago…

Issue 508 – Sunday 25th January to Saturday 31st January 2009

Wednesday evenings had been awfully quiet for the past few months, and it’d been like that ever since Madness fan Adam Nicholls lost his iTunes library.

Quite what he was doing to lose all that we didn’t know. The important thing was that his precious music library had been restored, which meant that Nutty Radio was back, and for the last couple of Wednesday’s had been running from 9pm ’til around 11pm.

On to ticket news, and the big announcement this week was that golden circle tickets had gone on sale for those willing to purchase their Madstock 5 tickets in advance. Little did fans realise until the day that this golden circle would segregate fans, meaning those without one of these special passes would have to stand miles back from the stage to see their favourite band.

More gig news now, and although not yet confirmed there were rumours doing the rounds indicating that the band had been booked for the following events:

May 31st, Pinkpop, Holland

June 5th to 7th, Ring and Park Festival, Nurburgring, Germany

July 4th, Heineken Opener Festival, Poland

July 5th, Roskilde, Denmark

July 10th, Hultsfred, Sweden

July 12th, Exit Festival, Serbia

The band would be in for one packed couple of months if the above became officially confirmed!

Remember Chris’ cupboard? With it being absent from the official site during the revamp, it seemed to many that it was no more. Thankfully the Madness Central team had been kind enough to give Chris and his cupboard a temporary home on their web forum and you were all encouraged to sign up and send in your questions. Well, what were you waiting for?

Madness playing Glastonbury? Yes, this had become a yearly rumour so why should this year be any different? You’d have to blame this latest rumour on the fact that promotional articles at the Midem Trade Show were stating that Madness would be appearing on Sunday 28th June, the same day as blur were due to headline the Pyramid stage.

With the rumours also starting to filter on to the eFestivals forums you had to wonder if that this could be more than mere whispers. We’d have to wait and see.

Book news now, and an early press release in from Wavelength Films announced that Suggs would be releasing a book based around his recent TV series, Disappearing London. Priced at £18.99 for hardback and £12.99 for paperback, the book had a release date of August 20th. Time to get saving.

10 years ago…

Issue 246 – Sunday 25th January to Saturday 31st January 2004

We started this issue by putting the fears of a number of MIS subscribers to rest. We weren’t quite sure what they were doing, but for some reason the flash animation seen by the majority of visitors to the official web site wasn’t appearing, and all they were getting was a red screen. Thinking that something was up with the site they contacted us in the hope we could clear things up. Unfortunately all we could suggest was that they upgrade to the latest version of Flash and ensure they didn’t have a pop-up blocker running. Yep. We were useless!

With the December tour now long gone, Jermaine of Tour Madness was now busy adding the latest batch of entries to his fantastic publication.

Jermaine kindly gave us a sneak preview by giving us access to some of  the new material which would eventually be finding its way into the next edition of his tour bible.

Moving on, and co-editor Jonathan, gave us a heads-up on the latest Dave Gorman news.

MIS Online had known about Dave Gorman sharing our great taste in music ever since we interviewed him about his comedy show “Reasons to be Cheerful” way back in MIS issue 120.

Dave is a comedian, bestselling author and maybe one day he’ll be a novelist.  At some point, probably during 2003 he reminded listeners of  Northern Ireland’s Radio 1 Evening Session, how great Madness were when he chose Baggy Trousers as his favourite track of all time.

Dave On the subject of Baggy Trousers :-

“Favourite track of all time, the track that made me love music, up until then I’d only      liked music.  I still see the video now all those kids piling out of school, the most exciting thing ever to a 9 year old me and it still gets my heart racing even now.”

One `lost` song that kept getting a mention every year or so on the various Madness forums was `Perfect Place`, a fantastic track that unfortunately never received an official release. For those who had never heard it, the Madness Trading Ring had uploaded a live recording (taken from The Red Wedge Tour, Jan 27th 1986, and featured on the bootleg “Nutty Sounds 2”) of the track for fans to download and listen to. Little did we know that we’d have to wait a few more years to get our hands on the studio (demo) version.

Rob Hazelby

TIME…

That’s almost it for this week, but before we go here’s subscriber David Langley who had this to tell us about the new film “Wolf of Wall Street”;

“[I] just wondered if you were aware that Night Boat to Cairo and One Step Beyond both feature in the new Scorsese film Wolf of Wall, street starring Leonardo de Caprio? [They appear] roughly […] just over half way into the film”

And finally, those of you with Apple devices, don’t forget to download and install the new MIS Online app. If you already have it installed please email in and let us know how you’re getting on with it, and any issues you’ve encountered and any suggestions for how it might be improved.

Until next week, take care,

Jon Young, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Paul Williams

(With thanks to David Langley and Graham Yates)