We begin this week’s issue with news of further gigs being rescheduled. Over the past week two more of Suggs’ King Cnut performances have been shunted over to 2021, meaning all of the September dates have now been moved over to next year.
These latest 2021 dates are:
April 14th – Leamington Spa, Royal Spa Centre
April 20th – Loughborough Town Hall
Our thanks go to Brian Forde for the above.
With September cleared out it now means that Suggs’ latest King Cnut tour won’t kick off until 1st October at the earliest.
This weekend just gone, Suggs appeared (via Zoom from Whitstable) at the Art Camp 20 Festival at the School of Art in Honiton, Devon, where he took part in an interview followed by a live screening of his One Man Show. Chris Sullivan hosted and took questions from across the country. While it’s not quite the return of festivals it is nice to see a live event take place.
Naturally, if the interview surfaces we’ll be sure to link to it in a future issue of the MIS.
Meanwhile, if you’re on the lookout for your live Madness fix then you may be interested to learn that Madness at the Eden Project from 2017 and Kendal Calling from 2016 are available to stream.
Note that the sound mix on the Kendal Calling gig is off in places, and due to copyright issues there are sections where there is no sound at all (the intro and Showtime, for example).
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.
Description: TWO TONE RECORDS was created in 1979 by The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The label spawned a youth movement and a number of well-known artists and singles throughout its tenure including the aforementioned Specials.
This 40th Anniversary 8-CD Collection contains the first 8 albums released on the label, with offerings by The Specials, The Selecter and Rico, along with the sought-after live concert album ‘Dance Craze’ and the ‘This Are Two Tone’ which includes a host of non-album releases.
Record Store Day – Work Rest and Play ** confirmed release date **
Release date: 29th August
Format: Double 7″ single
Cat No. BMGCAT430DSV
Overview:
Fortieth anniversary re-issue of Madness’ “Work Rest & Play EP” – the follow-up to their debut album, 1979’s “One Step Beyond…”
Limited edition Record Store Day 2020 release on double 7” format with a triple gatefold sleeve including photos from the time of the original release.
Track listing:
Side One
Night Boat To Cairo
Side Two
Deceives The Eye
Side Three
The Young And The Old
Side Four
Don’t Quote Me On That
Record Store Day – Dance Craze 40th Anniversary Edition ** confirmed release date **
This is a new half-speed master exclusively for RSD and part of the Two Tone Records 40th Anniversary celebrations. This is a soundtrack to the live movie of the same name featuring exclusive live recordings by The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers. This is also first vinyl repress since its original release in 1981.
Tracklisting:
Concrete Jungle
Mirror in the Bathroom
Lip up Fatty
Razor Blade Alley
Three Minute Hero
Easy Life
Big Shot
One Step Beyond
Ranking Fullstop
Man at C&A
Missing Words
Inner London Violence
Night Boat to Cairo
Too Much Pressure
Nite Klub
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, 10, 15 and 20 years ago this week.
5 years ago…
Issue Number 847 – Sunday 2nd August to Saturday 8th August 2015
We began this week’s issue of the MIS with news from the Spanish Nutty Bar.
Owner, Harry Wandsworth emailed in to tell us;
“Suggs is coming to Town! We are thrilled to announce that Madness frontman Suggs shall be at The Nutty Bar on the 8th of September with a one off performance of his highly acclaimed One Man Show “Suggs My Life Story In Words And Music”! He shall be visiting Marbella after the Madness Gig at the Gibraltar Music Festival to delight us with what has been described as one of the most original and engaging shows ever seen!”.
On to Madness Weekender news, and those of you who’d already booked their accommodation for this November’s event may have been interested to learn that you’d been put in to the hat to win a free upgrade to one of the site’s new luxury chalets.
Butlins Minehead were quick to point out that sunshine and blue sky were not necessarily included.
Over in the official online Madness store a selection of Summer themed Madness items were now available to purchase; including a Madness beach ball.
Next, and in Sign of the Times Woody continued to get all the attention with an interview with Richard Oliff where he talked about recording drums for his album in the old AC/DC studio and that he didn’t actually have a drum kit in his own house.
Meanwhile, the Uber Rock web site reviewed Woody’t latest album “In Your Mind” and referred to it as “Dreamingly beautiful”.
In our semi-regular Live and Intensified segment we took a slight detour away from Madness as Jonathan Young reviewed the Inflatables’ 35th anniversary gig at the Oxford 02 Academy.
Our MIS Feature was next where we covered the fantastic news that Norton Folgate had been saved. On Tuesday 19 July, after a three-hour hearing, Tower Hamlets Strategic Development Committee voted unanimously to reject British Land’s development proposal for Norton Folgate, citing the low level of social housing and the inappropriate height and massing within a conservation area as their primary reasons. The council had received 576 letters of objection, and 12 in support of the proposal.
We brought this issue to a close by pointing you over to the Ska Orchestra Facebook group where you’d find a stack of fantastic photos taken from the band’s gig held the previous night at the Garage, London.
10 years ago…
Issue Number 587 – Sunday 1st August – Saturday 7th August 2010
Following the announcement of the Christmas tour, the number of emails we’d received from fans had ramped-up considerably, and nearly all of them seemed to be a variation on the same question.
The one question we were asked more than any other was “Will Madness be playing the classics or only new material”. Although we knew only as much as the next person, we thought it was pretty much safe to say that the playlists at all of the gigs would be a real mix of old and new.
With many attending the concerts only aware of the classic 80s tunes it really would be madness to only perform tracks from the last couple of albums.
Could we expect airings of completely brand new tracks? Only time would tell.
On to the articles, and we began with a transcript from the Yorkshire Evening Post who reported that when tickets to see Madness in Leeds went on sale the previous year they sold out within two days.
“It’s not exactly George Michael selling out Wembley Arena in ten minutes, is it?” laughed Chris at the time.
Next, we reported on a Madness fan in need. This fan had all their tickets from the 25 Madness gigs they’d attended, apart from the Saturday gig in Margate. Although able to enter the VIP area and meet the band they’d had to give up their ticket for a wristband, and were now after a replacement. If you were able to help you were asked to drop them an email.
Moving on, and it was on to some Ian Dury news as we featured an interview with Ian Dury biographer Will Birch, which originally featured on the popmatters.com web site. Although lengthy, this article proved to be a fascinating read.
Elsewhere, Jonathan had dug out a 1984 interview with the band and had made the MP3 available for download. Originally aired on Capital FM, this promotional interview with DJ Kid Jensen came from the Keep Moving era.
And finally, we brought the issue to a close with a message from Chris, explaining what had happened to Bedders;
“Bedders has not played with the band since September last year. He is taking a break for same sort of reasons I had but without publicity.
In the past he has missed a Madstock, a major UK tour, also a tour of Australia. It’s a free country. If he doesn’t want to do the shows then so be it.
I left for two years. He’s only had nearly a year. Bushers [Bedders stand in] is more or less fault free now by the way but he pulls faces at me, so I have to watch my back all the goddam time”
15 years ago…
Issue number 325 – Sunday 31st July to Saturday 6th August 2005
We started off this issue of the MIS with an apology for getting this issue of the MIS out across the vast expanse of the internet. The reason being was that the server moved from a machine in Milwaukee to one in Ashburn, VA!
The move should have been a smooth one. However, a slight ‘feature’ cropped up during the move, and it wasn’t until we tried to send the issue out on the its usual Sunday evening slot, that it revealed itself.
Thankfully, things were now back up and running again!
On to the Madness news, and last week finally saw the Shame and Scandal single receive a UK release.
Walking into a branch of Virgin at the start of the week, it was nice to see that both the CD and vinyl releases of the single were given a decent amount of shelf space, and it was pleasing to see that only a few copies of the CD single remained. We’re hoping that was due to good sales rather than Virgin only getting a few copies in.
MIS subscriber John Thorpe contacted us to say that HMV were also stocking the single, but unfortunately Woollies were once again giving us Maddies the two finger salute.
So, how well did the single do? Not too well, unfortunately. It entered the UK singles charts at a lowly 38. Most fans were pleased that it had got into the top 40 at all, while others were puzzled as to why Madness would appear on Top of The Pops in the week of the single release, to cover the Kinks classic, Lola.
Next-up was a full transcription of a recent interview Chris Foreman gave to the Ska News team. Being the kind people they are, they were happy to let us print it. In the interview Chris talked about the band re-forming in 1992, Wonderful, The Dangermen, and also why he decided to leave the band.
Continuing one an interview related note was a full transcript of a 15 minute interview Woody and Suggs gave to Mark Lamarr, as he sat in for Jonathan Ross on his regular Saturday morning Radio 2 show.
Apparently the rest of the band were there, but were unable to speak due to them having sore throats. Hmmm.
The rest of this issue was interspersed with various newspaper and magazine reviews of the new Dangermen Sessions album. Pretty much every reviewer gave the album a thumbs up.
All we had to do now was hope that these positive write-ups translated into sales and chart placings.
20 years ago…
Issue number 64 – Sunday 30th July to Saturday 5th August 2000
It’d been a really quiet week on the net with Madness news, gossip and chat being almost none existent. We were assuming that most people had been out enjoying the summer weather, doing their best to keep away from the computer keyboards.
With that being the situation, this week’s edition of the MIS Bulletin was a little short on news. Hopefully this wouldn’t spoil your weekly slice of Madness too much.
News of yet another Madness tribute band reached us this week, courtesy of subscriber Becky Lane. Calling themselves “Cairo East”, the group had recently played a gig in Bexley Heath. Unfortunately Becky missed it, so was unable to tell us if they were any good or not.
We can only assume the group was short-lived, because as far as we can remember, this was the first and last time we heard of them.
Next-up was Bob Timm of about.com, who emailed-in to let us know that he’d just come off the phone to Chas Smash, and that we could expect a full interview relating to The Velvet Ghost and Madness very soon.
There was some exciting news for collectors elsewhere in this issue, where it was reported on the Camden Madness web site that a company by the name of “Past and Present” would soon be re-releasing the original One Step Beyond album on vinyl.
The price for this slice of retro remade goodness? Approx £15.99.
Some of you may recall that Camden’s Dublin Castle was about to receive a bit of a makeover. Well, according to subscriber Pete Bament this was now underway.
Here’s what Pete had to tell us at the time;
“I am currently working at London zoo for the summer, so I have the privilege of walking past the DC twice a day until September!
It looks in a bit of a bad way from what I have been able to see through the door, and the sign says on the window that it will be open within 5-6 weeks, although I don’t know when the sign was put up. The outside has not been touched though, so it still has the same look.
I will continue to keep you posted as things happen, and then hopefully it will be open before I finish at the zoo, so I can have drinkies there before I have to return to university”.
It would be worth the wait. However, we’d all be shocked to discover that the gig posters in the corridors, going back to the 1970s, would be removed in the process.
We finished off this week’s issue of the MIS with Chris Mountain urging us all to keep the ideas coming for the 2001 Madness Weekend.
At present, Blackpool was the early leader when it came to venues, but we were all urged to send in our preferences.
Rob Hazelby
MIS Feature
Dublin Castle Fundraiser About to hit £10,000
The SAVE OUR VENUES Crowdfunder page for the Dublin Castle is about to hit the £10,000 mark.
Due to these donations the Venue has been able to address it’s mountain of financial liabilities which are usually met by the bar takings over very many weeks. These liabilities were including the maintenance of the building’s front exterior repair and it’s refurbishment. Because of those donations the pub has also been able to ride out the uncertainty that the Covit-19 forced closure on March 20th has brought with it.
There has been a phenomenal response from patrons who have visited the Crowdfunder page. Those contributions have highlighted how important the pub and venue are to the community and to tourists alike. As well as the refurbishment to the exterior the money raised is also being used to prepare for the challenges ahead including procedures for the venue to be more Covid-19 safe in the future.
Especially pro-active in fundraising towards the Crowdfunder page has been the MAD-CHAT community. They were busy organising online auctions, events and awareness to the SAVE OUR VENUES Campaign.
Peggy, the landlady, who lives upstairs in the pub has been gob-smacked to discover how very loved the pub is and to learn how important it is to peoples’ lives. We confirm that we all acknowledge our duty that it must continue to keep on operating as a grassroots music venue. Alternative financial pledges and assurances have now been secured which will ensure that ‘this show will go on’.
Going forward, in recognition to acknowledge the kindness and efforts of it’s patrons, music fans and especially the fans of MADNESS. Peggy has decided to make a donation to charity that she thinks will create winners all around.
Suggs of MADNESS is an Ambassador of Pancreatic Cancer UK. Therefore, we’ve contacted the Charity to match the current Crowdfunder amount of £10,000 as a donation to this charity. This donation was made today. We also wish to adopt Pancreatic Cancer UK as the venue’s official charity for the next year going forward.
We hope that you will continue to support these up and coming events. We thank you for your overwhelming support and kind messages. We look forward to opening our doors once again in the ‘very’ near future. Hopefully we can all face the future together positively and go ‘ONE STEP BEYOND!’ Your support is helping ensure that the bands and musicians of tomorrow get somewhere to play their gigs, often for the very first time infront of an audience. The UK music scene can’t survive without patrons like you. We thank you dearly xxx
Sign of the Times
Madness singer Suggs’ mother revealed as inspiration behind novel.
A former police officer turned author has revealed he owes everything ahead of the launch of his book to an unlikely hero – the mother of Madness singer Suggs.
He now hopes to thank Suggs personally for the inspiration the singer’s mum gave him.
Edwina – known as Eddi – was the chairman of the local residents’ association in the St Giles area of London and they spoke at length about the issues she had seen in her community.
“We became friends,” he said. “A few of us would go back to her flat after the meetings for coffees and after a while it became just me.
“She started going on about the crimes in her area and anti-social behaviour.
“She wanted someone to write a story about how someone like her felt. She used to swear a lot and was very robust in her language.”
He added: “Eddi thought I could write a novel and I said ‘don’t be ridiculous, I’ve not got a creative bone in my body’.
“But she gave me a plot and I based it on her. She was an incredible lady.
Evan’s leading lady, Gloria Jones, is inspired by Eddi’s real life experiences around the St Giles area of central London.
He recalls her telling him about how she was threatened on the streets and from the window of her flat could see drug deals taking place in the churchyard and in the high street and how she’d had enough of it.
But the book almost never saw the light of day after it spent more than 15 years in draft form and unfinished.
Time
And finally…
Way back in 1986 Lee Thompson took part in the annual London to Brighton charity bike ride with Tuesday as pillion passenger.
After all these years the bike has resurfaced and is now up for sale.
“Riding on Lee’s Bike” …Lee’s very own bike from the 80s is up for sale with all proceeds going to the NSPCC.
He was photographed on this bike in one of the later issues of the MIS comics when he rode it for the annual London to Brighton charity bike ride in 1986 with Tuesday as pillion passenger!
The bike itself has seen better days but is being sold for charity as a collector’s item due to the identity of it’s previous owner, don’t expect it to be rideable without a few adjustments!
If you’d like to check out a selection of photos of the bike then check out the pinned post in the Completist Madness Facebook Group at:
Should you wish to place a bid then please contact Lynn Milsom. You’ll find her contact details in the pinned post. Collection only from Ashstead, Surrey.
Chris Carter-Pegg has promised to keep the pinned post updated with current bid figures if there’s a lot of interest.
Way back in 1986 Lee Thompson took part in the annual London to Brighton charity bike ride with Tuesday as pillion passenger.
After all these years the bike has resurfaced and is now up for sale.
“Riding on Lee’s Bike” …Lee’s very own bike from the 80s is up for sale with all proceeds going to the NSPCC.
He was photographed on this bike in one of the later issues of the MIS comics when he rode it for the annual London to Brighton charity bike ride in 1986 with Tuesday as pillion passenger!
The bike itself has seen better days but is being sold for charity as a collector’s item due to the identity of it’s previous owner, don’t expect it to be rideable without a few adjustments!
If you’d like to check out a selection of photos of the bike then check out the pinned post in the Completist Madness Facebook Group at:
Should you wish to place a bid then please contact Lynn Milsom. You’ll find her contact details in the pinned post. Collection only from Ashstead, Surrey.
Chris Carter-Pegg has promised to keep the pinned post updated with current bid figures if there’s a lot of interest.