1 – THIS IS WHERE THE MADNESS BEGINS – The obligatory intro.

2 – WOODY PICKS HIS DREAM FIVE-A-SIDE TEAM – As a devout Chelsea fan,
it’s no surprise that Madness drummer Woody’s dream five-a-side
team is tinged with Blue. But despite his love for the European
champions, the Londoner isn’t too pleased with the appointment of
new manager Rafa Benitez at Stamford Bridge. From:
www1.skysports.com By Rachel Griffiths

3 – THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS – This week MIS co-editor, Rob Hazelby
goes back 5 years to issue number 454, and the week of Sunday 13th
January to Saturday 19th January 2008, and then back 10 years
to issue number 192 and the week of Sunday 12th January to
Saturday 18th January December 2003.

4 – SUGGS – INHERITANCE TRACKS – RADIO 4 – Suggs talks about his year
just gone on the January 5th edition of Radio Four’s “Saturday
Live”. The Madness frontman chooses Miles Davis’ Concierto de
Aranjuez from Sketches of Spain and “Is That All There” is
performed by Peggy Lee.

5 – TALKING CHELSEA WITH… MADNESS – Cast-iron legends of British
pop music Madness are set to release “Never Knew Your Name” as the
second single from their beaming recent album Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja
Ja, Da Da – and, on a morning when googling ‘Chelsea Madness’
returned a plethora of articles about Roberto Di Matteo’s sacking
and the prompt installation of Rafael Benitez as his successor at
Stamford Bridge, Football Burp was honoured to enjoy a ruddy good
natter with the band’s drummer Daniel ‘Woody’ Woodgate on the
subject of his beloved Blues. From: http://footballburp.com/
Published: Fri, 23rd Nov 2012

6 – CRYING FOR FRANCE – BONUS BONUS TRACKS – News in from the French
MIS reveals additional bonus tracks to appear on a release of the
album in France, redistributed there in February.

7 – LES IN ROCKS #887 – Madness appeared in French Magazine Les In
Rocks, in December as well as appearing in a video on their
website. Here are Woody, Carl and Suggs singing songs about
Dream Tobacco & Celery (The former a Stiff Records Max Wall
number the later a Chelsea football chant! It’s fair to say
the boys were in fine voice and a bit Merry.)

8 – RADIO PLAYLISTS NOW KNOW THEIR NAME – Madness achieved Radio 2 “A”
playlist status for the single, Never Knew Your Name. Paul Rodgers
reports.

9 – MADNESS RETURN TO HAYDOCK – It was sadly one of a couple of
cancelled shows last year due to rain on the racecourse, so
Madness only got as far as their hotels and not the stage last
time. Now they are back to put right the missing date by
performing a show at the racecourse.

10 – THAT’S YER LOT – A few last minute words before we finish for the
week.

[1] – THIS IS WHERE THE MADNESS BEGINS

Good evening all,

We start this week’s edition with some rather sad news regarding former Blockhead Wilko Johnson.

The following was posted to the Ian Dury and The Blockheads page on Wednesday.

“WILKO JOHNSON – IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

I am very sad to announce that Wilko has recently
been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas.
He has chosen not to receive any chemotherapy.

He is currently in good spirits, is not yet suffering
any physical effects and can expect to enjoy at least
another few months of reasonable health and activity.

He has just set off on a trip to Japan; on his return
we plan to complete a new CD, make a short tour of
France, then give a series of farewell gigs in the UK.
There is also a live DVD in the pipeline, filmed on
the last UK tour.

Wilko wishes to offer his sincere thanks for all the
support he has had over his long career, from those
who have worked with him to, above all, those devoted
fans and admirers who have attended his live gigs,
bought his recordings and generally made his life such
an extraordinarily full and eventful experience.

Thank you.

Robert Hoy
(Manager)”

Our thoughts go out to Wilko, his family, and all his friends at this difficult moment in time.

Naturally, we’ll keep you posted regarding the situation, and will bring details of any of Wilko’s forthcoming appearances as and when we hear about them.

On a happier note we’re pleased to report that “Never Knew Your Name”
has entered the A playlist on BBC Radio 2. This makes it the band’s biggest airplay hit since 1999’s “Lovestruck”.

You can view the fantastic animated tour video for the song, animated by Duncan Brown, and produced by Yeast Culture, by pointing your web browsers at: http://vimeo.com/56504035#

And finally, before we get this issue underway, today sees Suggs celebrating his 52nd birthday. Raise your glass and give the man a toast on his big day!

Enjoy the read,

Rob Hazelby, Jonathan Young, Liz Maher, Simon Roberts
Email us at: robert, jonathan, liz, simon @mis-online.net

[2] – WOODY PICKS HIS DREAM FIVE-A-SIDE TEAM

From: http://www1.skysports.com/
By Rachel Griffiths

As a devout Chelsea fan, it’s no surprise that Madness drummer Woody’s dream five-a-side team is tinged with Blue.

But despite his love for the European champions, the Londoner isn’t too pleased with the appointment of new manager Rafa Benitez at Stamford Bridge, telling us: “I don’t know a Chelsea supporter who doesn’t hate the man.”

We caught up with Woody as ska-pop legends Madness prepare to kick off their winter tour and the drummer shared his Chelsea-themed Take Five side.

Petr Cech

Because I’m a Chelsea fan through and through, I can’t really go for the Harts and the Buffons of the world because Cech is as good as anyone on the day. I know he’s made a few mistakes recently but he’s such a consistently good goalkeeper. If any team in the world had Cech in goal, I don’t think anyone would be moaning. He’s a very confident chap and he’s made some incredible saves in his time.

John Terry

Terry is just a mountain of a man. He would fight to the absolute death. He puts his body in places that you really wouldn’t want to put your body – he would die to stop that ball. He’s lost his pace, but with his experience of reading the game, he can put himself in the right place at the right time. The other thing is his passion and his drive, he does lead by example. Not off the field – we’re talking about on the field. Off the field is another matter.

Juan Mata

He just reads the game so beautifully. He’s got silky skills and his passing is immaculate. He just opens up spaces that you don’t expect to be opened up. Where you expect the ball to go, he’ll often do something completely different, and that in itself is exciting.

Andrea Pirlo (captain)

It’s almost like that man can read the game before it’s happened. He knows what’s going to happen and his positioning is so incredible.
He’s there before the ball is, or the man. He seems to have so much time. There’s one thing about the greats – they make it look so effortless, and that goes for Pirlo. It seems as though he’s got all the time in the world, with loads of space, and you don’t get that unless you read the game.

Lionel Messi

The one thing I’m always struck by is the bloke’s balance. However people try to take him out of the game; tackle him, kick him in the air, he’s always able to ride tackles. It’s his ability to stay on his feet that’s incredible, plus the fact that he knows exactly where the back of the goal is. You want someone who’s instinctive and that’s him.

Music Woody would have on in the dressing room to fire up his side…

Vivaldi – Four Seasons

Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

Brian Eno – Another Green World

Muse

Phil Manzanera

Madness have announced the second single to be released from their top
10 album, ‘Oui, Oui, Si, Si, Ja, Ja, Da, Da’, will be ‘Never Knew Your Name’ on January 14th.

[3] – THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS

This week MIS co-editor, Rob Hazelby goes back 5 years to issue number 454, and the week of Sunday 13th January to Saturday 19th January 2008, and then back 10 years to issue number 192 and the week of Sunday 12th January to Saturday 18th January December 2003.

5 years ago…

Issue 454 – Sunday 13th January to Saturday 19th January 2008

This one was a bit of a landmark for us, as we were pleased to announce that from this issue the MIS team had grown to four, with the addition of Lee “Loobyloo” Buckley, who had joined the MIS fold.

As Looby was easing herself into the new role we asked that you were gentle with her whilst she found her feet. With three people now producing the MIS editorial content, and Simon continuing to maintain the web site we hoped that this would mean that the quality and content of the weekly bulletins would improve still further.

This week had been a busy one for Madness. On Tuesday the band journeyed down to the West Country town of Bridgewater to perform a fundraising gig in front of a small crowd of 800 locals, who initially thought they were buying tickets for a Madness tribute act, but as we now know it turned out to be the real thing.

However, things didn’t go quite according to plan as we since found out from a Somerset radio source that Lee Thompson may not had made it to the gig, following an arrest earlier in the day for speeding.

The rest of the band ensured things continued to run smoothly, turning down even petrol costs for the charity gig, with the legendary Chris Foreman overcoming a bout of man flu to perform guitar. What legends.

Later in the week Suggs and Mike filled a very short slot at the end of Jonathan Ross’ weekly Radio 2 talkshow. We weren’t quite sure why the two of them had such a short timeslot, although Madness Trading Ring subscriber Andrew Langmead commented on a recent post to the list that he thought Mike may have missed his flight from Amsterdam.

On to the issue, and we kicked off with a massive in-depth review of the recently released NW5 single, courtesy of one Jonathan Young.
With a collector’s vinyl, a DVD and a CD single, he felt these three different releases made for a fantastic all round package.

Next, we moved over to a quick review of Paul Morley’s BBC Radio 4 show “Pop, What is it Good For”, which this week featured him enjoying a pint with Suggs while discussing the legendary Lola, by The Kinks.

Moving on, and it was over to The Telegraph, where writer Mark Monahan listed his 10 best songs of the 80s. Madness’ cover of It Must be Love ranked at number 3, with Mark commenting;

“While New Romantic synths bleeped all around them,
Camden Town’s Madness were moulding their taut,
rather more acoustic brand of ska into one of the
other defining sounds of the ’80s. A singles band
par excellence, they generally composed their own,
cracking material, but this cover of Labi Siffre’s
1971 hit remains one of their finest moments, from
frontman Suggs’s committed vocals to the blasting
brass to and raindrop-like pizzicato of the backing.”

Along with the above content we also featured a number of articles covering Madness’ charity performance in Bridgewater, and we rounded off the issue with links to two MP3 downloads of Mike and Suggs’
recent appearance on Jonathan Ross’ Saturday morning Radio 2 show.

10 years ago…

Issue 192 – Sunday 12th January – Saturday 18th January 2003

We were only into our second issue of 2003, but the rumours of a Madstock taking place in the summer were already starting to do the rounds. The whole thing seemed to stem from an online web chat with Suggs which was held at the start of the previous week, and while Suggs didn’t rule it out, he also didn’t confirm it.

With the Channel Five series `Night Fever` now no more than a distant memory, what project would our beloved Madness front man turn to next?
Restoration of national treasures of course!

In this issue we took a look at the hype surrounding Suggs as he found himself with a new post, as presenter of Channel 4’s `Salvage Squad` series.

Following the first episode of series two Suggs took time to take part in a short web chat via the channel four web site. For those who missed it a full transcript of what went on could be found in this very issue.

It was big news for North London based band MOT this week, as they were finally able to announce their biggest gig to date. This landmark event was due to take place at The Borderline club off Charing Cross Road, on January 20th. Whilst the band appreciated that many readers of the MIS lived outside London, they were keen to get as many people along to see their hour and a half set as possible.

We finished off the issue with news that those who missed the original airing of the Radio 4 drama ‘I Think I’ve Got a Problem’, would be able to catch the show again, as it was being re-run. The comedy staring Suggs had been popular the first time around, and those who missed it were urged to catch it during the re-run.

Rob Hazelby

[4] – SUGGS – INHERITANCE TRACKS – RADIO 4

Suggs talks about his year just gone on the January 5th edition of Radio Four’s “Saturday Live”.

The Madness frontman chooses Miles Davis’ Concierto de Aranjuez from Sketches of Spain and “Is That All There” is performed by Peggy Lee

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01pnfj9

Inheritance Tracks is a regular segment of the radio 4 show, where guests choose songs they got from their parents or they would pass on to their kids. Suggs talks about hearing Miles Davis through his Mother, saying that when he was younger he found her music too sad, but as an older man he can hear different things in it.

He says he would pass on Peggy Lee’s song to his daughters, talking about the parties they have in his house, where you can’t get a word in edge ways. The song is about how you can laugh at adversity. It’s Peggy Singing “Is that all there is” at a house fire and kicking back and dancing in the face of it.

Suggs also talks about Madness’ Year, including the Tommy cooper joke with the Queen, saying he stopped short of putting a tea bag in her pocket and saying “have a drink on me” which is something Tommy Cooper did.

Taken from Radio 4.

[5] – TALKING CHELSEA WITH… MADNESS

From: http://footballburp.com/
Published: Fri, 23rd Nov 2012

Cast-iron legends of British pop music Madness are set to release “Never Knew Your Name” as the second single from their beaming recent album Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da – and, on a morning when googling ‘Chelsea Madness’ returned a plethora of articles about Roberto Di Matteo’s sacking and the prompt installation of Rafael Benitez as his successor at Stamford Bridge, Football Burp was honoured to enjoy a ruddy good natter with the band’s drummer Daniel ‘Woody’ Woodgate on the subject of his beloved Blues…

So, quite a bit to talk about at the moment…

Oh my word, don’t get me going!

I’m afraid I must. Thoughts on Benitez, for starters?

I’m not a fan of his, to be honest, and personally I don’t know any Chelsea fan who is. I think, just in footballing terms, he’s had his day, and to most football supporters he made some fundamentally awful decisions. He was lucky to inherit the backbone of Gerard Houllier’s team and I think he went on to decimate it slowly but surely, didn’t develop it. I just think he’s a bloody awful manager. I’m grateful to our owner for all the great players he’s bought to Chelsea, but I think this is really foolish.

People are putting two and two together and suggesting he’s been chosen as a ploy to kickstart Fernando Torres. Do you buy that? Does Torres have anything left in him?

I don’t think Torres has got anything left in him. He’s lost his touch, he’s clumsy… Maybe it is an attitude thing, but I don’t think we can afford to build a team around one player. I went to the Norwich game and at one point I looked down and saw Azpilicueta, Ramires, Oscar, Hazard, Mata and Moses, all in the team, and the only two players left from the old side were Ashley Cole and Petr Cech. I thought, “How refreshing, and how brilliantly done by Di Matteo to give respect to the old players but slowly phase them out,” because clearly Chelsea have to be moving on. We lost 3-0 at Juventus the other night because of two deflections that no goalkeeper could have stopped, or any defence done any better with.

The third goal was a bit of a mess by Cech but it didn’t reflect the team – this is a new team going forward, and Torres didn’t even come into it. I think what Di Matteo did going five at the back was inspired, having two holding midfield players – okay, Mikel is a bit clunky and not very inventive, but he is very good at that job, and then Ramires who is a flair player – and then the three players at the front [Oscar, Mata and Hazard], oh my god! That’s the future, and to hand it all over to a manager who was brought in to inspire one player who cost £50m, it’s just nonsensical. I’m a passionate, passionate Chelsea fan so I’ve got to keep an open mind, just move on and hope that Rafa does a good job, but it’s a bit of a kick in the, er, lower part of the body.

So you think Di Matteo was hard done by?

I just feel so sorry for Di Matteo, and Eddie Newton. I do think he was hard done by because I don’t think his footballing decisions were bad at all. With that squad, who else would you have played, and how would you have played them? Unless Roman Abramovich has some knowledge of what’s going on in training that I don’t, sees the new formation and dynamics that I don’t…but I think most Chelsea fans were delighted with Di Matteo. So I do think he was hard done by, yeah – and all for one player! They’re getting the bloke who might inspire Torres.

Would you like to see Pep Guardiola coming in at the end of the season?

Guardiola is a great manager but again he can only work with the players he’s got, and this is a team that’s developing. Guardiola’s a footballing man so he’ll know about Chelsea’s history – if he’s going to build his team then he’s going to need more than half a season or a season to get it right, and I’m not so sure that Abramovich would give him that. We’ve heard it all before from Abramovich, “we’re going to give this manager time” and all that. Even with Andre Villas-Boas, whose man management was bloody awful to be fair, they said they’d give him time. Of course that went out the window once we started losing, and Guardiola’s an intelligent man so he knows that if he didn’t get it right straight away then he could be out of a job.

As a Chelsea fan it’s worrying – for once, we all thought we had a bit of stability, and although Di Matteo doesn’t have the pedigree, what is more important: pedigree or results? At the same time, I’m very grateful to our owner for what he’s done for Chelsea, so I can’t be seen to be slagging the man off. I just think it’s fair to say in this case that his judgement might not be quite right. Having said that, we don’t know what goes on inside the club, we don’t know who they’ve got lined up player-wise, they might have bigger plans…but, you know, why not just keep Di Matteo? If they think Benitez will inspire Torres, good luck!

You’ve mentioned the need for Chelsea to move on, so I take it you aren’t in favour of bringing Didier Drogba back, as is being rumoured.
Or are you?

I dismiss the rumours, really. I think it would be a shame if they brought him back because he left on such a high. It’s like the punch-drunk boxer who comes back yet again to get beat up in the ring, it can be quite sad. It would be tragic if he came back and wasn’t the great Drogba of old. I think wanting him back is a knee-jerk reaction, but we need to move on. Also, I’m not sure how he’d fit into our current style. If he comes back, that really would piss Torres off!

Where did you watch the Champions League final, and how did you celebrate?

I watched it at home with one of my daughters. Even when Bayern Munich scored I had a feeling we’d win it – my daughter was in bits, but I just had a feeling it wasn’t over, as if our name was on the cup. When we got the equaliser I wasn’t at all surprised. It was meant to be. I didn’t do my usual crying act, though, like after the 1997 FA Cup final, winning it for the first time since 1970. That was one of the most emotional times I’ve ever had! (Laughs)

Would you be able to name the first, best and worst games you’ve ever been to?

The best is a real toss-up between the ’70s and today, really. I first got into Chelsea as my dad was an acquaintance of Charlie Cooke, and at around the age of 8 or 9 my brother and I went down to the training ground and met players like Osgood, Bonetti, Houseman, Hutchinson, Hollins, Webb, McCreadie, Dempsey, Harris – the whole lot, they were all there. They signed autographs and they were absolutely fantastic. We went to our first football match the next week and it was really quite surreal because we met up with the journalists Hugh McIlvanney and John Watts and some of the players before the game, for a drink would you believe! The one problem with this whole memory is that I don’t remember who the hell we were playing. (Laughs) The match itself has been overshadowed by the glamour before it!

Charlie Cooke said, “I’ll take the boys to the ground,” so we clambered into the back of his Jag and he drove us to Stamford Bridge. In those days – 1969, I think – the East Stand was covered, and the players’ car park was the other side of it, over by what is now known as the Matthew Harding Stand, along with old dog kennels and things like that. Anyway, he had to drive through the crowd to drop us at the East Stand then go and park his car. So that’s my most memorable game, but I can’t remember the score or who we played!

That was my first Chelsea game. The best…see, at that time Chelsea’s football was incredible – beautiful, flowing football, and there was so much more space than you get nowadays so it was a joy to watch. I still love watching it today when they show old games on Chelsea TV. Then you look at the modern day, the silky skills of Mata, Oscar, Hazard and Ramires, Cole bombing up the wing, Azpilicueta…
They’re all absolutely wonderful players, so when we play that kind of football it reminds me of the ’70s, although it’s much quicker now, there’s a lot less space. Sometimes I watch Chelsea now and think “this is the kind of football I really love”, so we’re getting there.

See, I reckon my most memorable was the 1970 FA Cup and the 1971 Cup Winners’ Cup, but emotionally that’s matched by how chuffed I was when we won the FA Cup in 1997 because we’d been in the wilderness for years and we were finally ‘back’. The Champions League win was wonderful but, you know what, I wasn’t as moved by it – it didn’t have that kind of feeling of “thank god”. There are too many teams in it these days – it used to be if you won the European Cup or Cup Winners’ Cup that if you won it you really were the champions of Europe. The Champions League is too big nowadays, and it just doesn’t have it for me.

The worst would be a 0-0 draw against Barnet at Stamford Bridge in the ’80s. I can’t even remember who was in the side, but it was really, really dire. I think there were more throw-ins than passes that night. It was just the most awful game of football I think I’ve ever seen in my life. We beat them in the replay then got knocked out in the next round. It was a horrible atmosphere too around then, violence and hardly anyone there…and the football was bloody dreadful! It also looked like they were going to be selling Stamford Bridge at the time, so it was a pretty miserable time for Chelsea.

Finally, if you had to select a five-a-side team out of all the Chelsea players you’ve ever seen, who would you pick?

Bonetti, Harris, Cooke, Mata – I love Frank Lampard dearly, but I love the silky skills of those two – and Peter Osgood up front. Although my mate who’s a Crystal Palace fan has just walked in and he’s going “Zaha!”. Or who? (Muffled background cry of “Victor Moses!”) Yeah yeah, very good. Very funny, ah ha ha.

Woody, thank you.

Ska-pop legends Madness have announced that the second single to be released from their top-10 album Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da will be “Never Knew Your Name”, out on January 14th. For more information, please visit blog.madness.co.uk

[6] – CRYING FOR FRANCE – BONUS BONUS TRACKS

News in from the French MIS reveals additional bonus tracks to appear on a release of the album in France, redistributed there in February.

Here’s JP.

“Sony is the brand new Atmospheriques distributor
in France.

Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da” will be back in the
shops in France on February 4th 2013.

With the same track list of the current 1CD
album and 2 extra tracks.

Crying live version

Death Of The Rude Boy remix.

There is a big TV and radio promo campaign have
been programming…

all the best

JP”

We assume that The Death of a Rude Boy Remix is the Andy Weatherall track, previously an iTunes exclusive. Whereas a live release of Crying must most likely come from sound desk recordings of the Butlins
2011 album rehearsals show that opened The House of Fun weekender.

It’s a uniquely interesting curio to add for this redistribution push for the album. Rare and unheard in any released form. It would seem a conscious move to offer something new, while not yet mining into the tracks set for the middle of the year UK Deluxe album plans. Though, sadly I don’t think the band were all happy with how this track played out during the rehearsal show, not quite nailing an arrangement of the song live which had it’s origins in the programming backing of Keith Finch’s work on The Dance Brigade album.

The story of Crying written by Lee Thompson, is that of a dog parading through London, mixed with a chorus of cry wolf metaphors.

Jean Pierre Boutellier/Jonathan Young

[7] – LES IN ROCKS #887

Madness appeared in French Magazine Les In Rocks, in December as well as appearing in a video on their website. Here are Woody, Carl and Suggs singing songs about Dream Tobacco & Celery (The former a Stiff Records Max Wall number the later a Chelsea football chant! It’s fair to say the boys were in fine voice and a bit Merry.)

LES IN ROCKS TV

The following is a mixture taken from the video and magazine translation, reworked as the most likely summary of what was said.
But is not a direct quote of conversations.

How was the recording of the new album?

Daniel Woodgate : We all went into the studio with a big list of songs, played some of them live, and during that time, it was all recorded live.

You used several producers to record this album, some very settled, others early in their career. Was it a way to make an overview of everything that is done in music in England last thirty years?

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : Stephen Street (The Smiths, New Order,
Blur) and Owen Morris (Oasis, The Verve) worked with Oasis and Blur, what seemed interesting. Clive Langer was with us for over thirty years. Andrew and Charlie (Alt-J) is a new kid, so it has both the old and the new fundamentals.

Daniel Woodgate: I think it says a lot about us because we all lived these different eras of music. We were there when Oasis and Blur started. It is now with Charlie just started and bringing us new ideas. It allows us to continue to evolve while keeping what we have learned from our experience.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : We’re old enough now to allow a kid like Charlie to come and give advice. Sometimes we take it, sometimes ideas are rejected but at least we are listening. We could not do that before. It was a good way to inject energy into the group.

Daniel Woodgate: And it was a challenge to work with Charlie because he still has that youthful innocence. It has allowed us to say things that nobody would say today. We worked together on a piece, Small World, and he told me “these words are too backward looking, you should be more modern.” It gave me quite a kick in the ass.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : It is also very good for removing the superfluous in one piece instead of adding. It was really refreshing.

You also call Peter Blake (author of the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) to create the cover of Yes Yes Si Si Da Da Ja Ja.
Again, another symbol of British music culture.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : We wanted Peter Blake makes the cover of our album because we love what he did for Sgt. Pepper’s. We met him, he was not very motivated to do another album cover because he was struggling to deal with the fact that groups change constantly. He was given the name of the album, he started working on it and then changed the title again and again! Was expected to have a complex work of art at the end but was ultimately kept this cover with different names that we thought because it is exactly what we did:
change your mind every ten minutes.

Chas Smash: There were seven ideas bawling for the title of the album and as usual, it is the consensus that has saved us. Reach a consensus with this group is very difficult.

You argue a lot?

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : There may have been four arguments that escalated over thirty-five years

Otherwise, yes, we argue often. And we need it for something that happens on stage.

Chas Smash : We are all very passionate. When we started in the 70s, the atmosphere in London was very dark. There was a lot of poverty, a lot of violence. When you wandered in some neighborhoods, it was looks “what you are looking at?”. Part of me wants to keep this constant notion of danger, continue to be used on stage even though it was clearly stronger and more powerful when we were young. It has a lot more experience now, we have been through a lot, lost relatives, saw our born children and our grandchildren. It is much more complex to know who we are on stage now, to continue the same parameters as those of our beginnings in a way still eccentric and crazy. Rudeboy on stage and then papa when you get home. (laughs).

It’s pretty rare to see groups last as long.

Chas Smash : I was talking with Justine Frischmann of Elastica the other day and she told me that his group only lasted a few years but today they could not even spend an hour in the same room!

How do you keep the excitement of your early intact?

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : Thanks to the music scene. When we play live, we find that intensity.

Daniel Woodgate: There is that spark back.

Chas Smash : I do not like being in the studio. I love writing songs and I love to play, not the recording process. What Madness is finally live … I mean, it was still kind of a fucking earthquake when we played together in 1992! (The phone rings) Yeah mom? I am full interview here. Yes I know, I’m interviewing.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : I think we are fairly unique live. It is not as if there were three leaders and five other members who only come to the concerts. We are a real group of seven people, we all know since a kid. It is a symbiotic relationship.

Chas Smash : And with us, you can not leave the group. (He puts on a deep voice) You do not fucking quit group fucking understand? We know where you live, we’ll find you. Chris (Foreman, guitarist) left the band for a few years, then he realized he was missing it and he came back. Mark (Bedford, bassist) wanted to leave. He was replaced by another bass player we love but one that does maybe keep the place warm for Mark, he knows this. Mark was back for gigs this year. The group is the seven of us, no matter what happens. It is a magic number, a unique relationship.

In June, you were playing on the roof of Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Jubilee and August, you participated in the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. Madness is a symbol of British culture to you?

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : (laughs)!
More seriously, I think we have always been part of British culture in a certain way. The fact we were allowed on the roof means we must have been good boys at some point, but I cant remember when.

Chas Smash : I like to say that before the cops ran after us to stop us, and now they run us after us to take a picture with us (laughs).
It’s surreal. We are not rebels anymore.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson: (shakes fit) So we are going to have to do something about it. Gonna smash this…

Chas Smash: We are gonna go really crazy next album…

Many groups entrenched in British culture as The Specials, The Stone Roses, Blur and Pulp have reformed in recent years without releasing new albums. You constantly return with new songs, new discs.

Daniel Woodgate : We, we reform twenty years (laughs).

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : It was officially reformed in 1992, and since then has never separated. Chas Smash : It is essential to create. It keeps the integrity of the group. Many groups return with new albums crappy or simply do the same thing again and again too. We have enough confidence to rebuild a new album thirty-five years after the first.

Chas Smash : We need to find the spark. We decided to record a new album that we had when we saw this new creative spark.

You knew the England of the seventies, 80s, 90 then it is today.
Thirty-five years after its creation, Madness is still there, with an audience of faithful fan and also younger. Do you feel that you have found a way to evolve with the British company?

Chas Smash : I think that capitalism and consumerism have for too long used youth as a billboard. This album is the product of our experience and we have accumulated a lot. Ageism comes to an end. I’m friends with my children, with their friends. It’s time things change and that the former are respected not only new to what they say but what they do and how they do it. Many people and groups in England respect us because they know we’re always stayed true to ourselves.
Madness always reappears in a recession. You think this is a coincidence or there is an explanation for that?

Daniel Woodgate : There is a strange correlation between the success of Madness and the collapse of the global economy indeed. Maybe that is the reason (laughs) ?

Chas Smash : I do not think this is a coincidence. Fashion evolves according to several movements that are repeated. There conservatism, rebellion and romanticism and baroque phase. When conservatism becomes unbearable, it’s time for the rebellion, and the rebellion settles down and then a born romantic phase, then a phase baroque until the return of conservatism. The same thing happens in music.
The economy dictates the path that takes the conscience of a nation:
what will happen after this recession? Will we have enough safe to rebel? People look to us as a group in times of crisis because they want a little happiness. The motto of Madness, is that we know that people live and die, that horrible things are happening, but there is a place for it, as there is a place to be fucking happy to be alive.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : In these times of recession, we all seem to be surrounded by big cons selfishness and this is not always the case. This is the third recession we have seen.

Daniel Woodgate: And we are enjoying it.

Graham “Suggs” McPherson: Well.

Daniel Woodgate: In the sense that we do well in times like this.

Chas Smash: Call for Madness. We are unhappy. We need cheering up.
(Carl blows his nose exaggeratedly)

Graham “Suggs” McPherson. A concert of Madness is a fraternal moment where everyone is equal.

Chas Smash : Yes totally. It is not as if Suggs drove a Mercedes and I bike. It is a group where equality is central to everything.
We share the money equally, no member is more prominent than the other.

Daniel Woodgate: We’re the kids of the sixties hell (laughs) !

Asked about Football Carl replies…

Chas Smash: Football is a way of British males expressing affection for each other without feeling Gay. That’s all it is.

Daniel Woodgate: Says Carl (Smiles, Carl then touches Suggs Knee and he laughs.)

Imagine you stop playing one day?

Chas Smash : I do not think so. I’ve never been as busy as now. There is something in the code of the samurai who says to a man forty years to master his art. I’m thirty-five and I feel like I’ll be in my best as a songwriter. Note that I did not say that I’m the best songwriter, or the best singer of all time, only to my level, I approach my maximum.

What do you think of the British music scene and particularly in London now?

Graham “Suggs” McPherson : I think there are a lot of things in London, although sometimes new genres of music disappear even before I had time to listen. I love seeing the kids create new ways of making music, even if it is ephemeral.

Chas Smash : I like Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and Hot Chip I listen a lot too. In thirty-five years, we had time to see the music industry evolve. Components have changed, how to play music too, everything happens in mp3 on YouTube on iPad but the most important point is always the same: live. Graham “Suggs” McPherson : In London, some groups are popular in their neighborhood. They play in the same pub every Friday Holloway, have a handful of fan, 300 euros, but they survive like this and continue to create. Nothing changes much. The E generation is different. But it’s mostly fashions.

You’ve seen the music industry change, but also your audience.

Chas Smash : You know what I told you about ageism earlier? It’s the same thing. Today, it is valid in the UK but around the world, you can listen because everything is available on Internet. Before, when you belonged to a scene, you wore a particular dress, you had a particular hairstyle. There is more scene now. You can listen to electro and wear baggy or listen to hip-hop and wearing a three-piece suit. Our audience has changed because the means of access to music has changed.
I think it’s great, and when you think about it, the only shit that are advertisers who do not know how to target.

Daniel Woodgate: In advertising in England there is a lot of parallels with our videos our style our look.

Taken from Les In Rocks.
With thanks to the French MIS

[8] – RADIO PLAYLISTS NOW KNOW THEIR NAME

Madness achieved Radio 2 “A” playlist status for the single, Never Knew Your Name.

Also on Absolute Radio B Playlist.

On the rolling 7 day airplay chart. 521 plays and 20.27m impacts sees it climb to number 33.

With the track at 101 at Amazon.co.uk and 177 at iTunes, If the airplay continues to grow and there are a couple of TV appearances next week it might just make an impact on the chart next week.

With the overall focus on the track re-promoting interest in the album at the start of it’s 2nd year, after release last September.

Absolute Radio played My Girl 2 a total of 36 times. They have already played Never Knew Your Name 37 times = much more popular.

www.radiomonitor.com
Paul Rodgers

[9] – MADNESS RETURN TO HAYDOCK

It was sadly one of a couple of cancelled shows last year due to rain on the racecourse, so Madness only got as far as their hotels and not the stage last time. Now they are back to put right the missing date by performing a show at the racecourse.

The 2nd to be announced in a set of over 10 Summer concerts, after Newmarket Nights. Here is the info from the racecourse website.

IT’S Madness . . . yes Haydock Park is turning into a House of Fun this summer.

The iconic 2 tone pop band have been revealed as the first of three acts who will perform at the racecourse’s music nights this year.

Frontman Suggs and his fellow band mates Chas Smash, Barzo, Chrissy Boy, Thommo and Woody will be on track on Saturday evening 20 July when the racecourse will reverberate to pop classics such as One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers and It Must Be Love.

Tickets are now on sale at www.haydock-park.co.uk and by telephone on 0844 579 3006.

Gates open at 16:40

Info from Haydock park website.

[10] – THAT’S YER LOT

That’s almost it for this week. However, before we go we’ve got a few last minute bits to pass in your general direction.

First-up, and this coming Saturday TV guides are stating that the band will be appearing on the Jonathan Ross show. The programme starts at 9:45pm

The blurb reads;

“Jonathan welcomes more big names, including
Strictly Come Dancing runner-up Kimberley
Walsh from Girls Aloud. Music legends
Madness chat and perform live.”

We expect a performance of the new single Never Knew Your Name, which is digitally eligible to chart in the coming week. A 1CD promo of the track has been seen on ebay with similar take on the Blake artwork as its cover, though the only release of the track officially for the
chart is it’s digital availability.

Moving on…

Remember the delayed Suggs autobiography? Well, Amazon have a new pencilled release date for it.

Entitled “That Close: My Story”, the new estimated arrival date is somewhere between October 29th 2013 and October 31st 2013. Naturally, we’ll have more details on this as and when they appear.

Next-up, and you may be interested to learn that Madness came 7th (nice number) in the SkaReggae website online best album 2012 poll.
Lee Thompson managed to join 4th place, by appearing on the excellent charity album Specialized.

A quick heads-up…

One of the old MIS web servers will be shut down sometime in the next week or so. In tribute to the decommissioning of this legendary and reliable workhorse we’ll be unlocking the MIS vaults. Keep an eye on www.mis-online.net and @MIS_Online for further developments.

That’s all we can reveal at the moment!

And finally…

We leave you with a video from 2012’s MIS lodge party. It’s been put up by our friends at The Koast Train. The footage was taken during the
2012 House of Fun weekender, and has been uploaded in order that we can wish Garry Scurfield a happy 40th.

Until next week, take care,

Jon, Liz, Simon, Rob
(With special thanks to the French MIS team and Paul Rodgers)

Dream Tobacco, Take me away
Where there aint no memories to lead me astray Where I can hear sweet music All the live long day Dream Tobacco, Take me away