MIS Bulletin #733 – Sunday 26th May to Saturday 1st June 2013
Hello, and a very warm welcome to this bank holiday edition of the weekly MIS Online newsletter.
This week we bring you news of The Ska Orchestra’s appearance on Later With Jools Holland, details of your chance to attend a second gig for the Ska Orchestra’s album launch, and a heads-up on a forthcoming re-issue of Madness’ appearance on the legendary “Peel Sessions”.
Alongside that little lot we have the latest Madness and Madness related gig lowdown, recent goings-on in the Twittersphere, and a selection of web links should you fancy some further reading.
Enjoy the read!
Simon Roberts, Jon Young, Liz Maher,Rob Hazelby
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
June 9th Rockness, Iverness, Scotland
June 12th Armada Festival, France
June 14th Chepstow Race course, UK
June 15th Newark Festival, UK
June 28th Newcastle Race course, UK
June 29th Daytripper, Waterford, Ireland
July 6th Carlise Racecourse, Carlisle, UK
July 7th Nuits De Fourviere Festival, Lyon, France
July 8th Les Deferlantes, d’Argeles Sur Mer, France
July 10th Jazz Montauban Festival, France
July 11th Festival De Poupet, France
July 12th Henley Festival, Henley On Thames, UK
July 17th Sandown Park Racecourse, UK
July 19th Newmarket Racecourse, UK
July 20th Haydock Park Racecourse, UK
August 10th Fete Du Bruit, Landerneau, France
August 11th Brussels Summer Fest, Belgium
September 16th L’Olympia, Paris, France
September 22nd Northants CCC, UK
September 28th Alexandra Palace, London, UK
October 12th Esprit Arena, Duesseldorf, Germany
November 22nd-25th House Of Fun Weekender, Minehead, UK
For tickets see links via: www.madness.co.uk
Suggs Live
May 28th New Brighton Floral Pavilion, May 29th Lancaster Grand
May 30th Warrington Parr Hall, May 31st Preston Charter Theatre
June 1st Spalding South Holland Centre, June 2nd Ipswich Corn Exchange
June 5th Chatham Central Theatre
For Tickets: http://www.suggslive.com/
The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
May 28th ALBUM LAUNCH, London, Dublin Castle, Camden * SOLD OUT *
* NEW * 9pm second set. May 28th London, Dublin Castle, Camden
Yes, the above date really does play host to two sets. The first set with press launch at 6:00pm is sold out, but tickets for the new 9:00pm set are still available from here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/224485
* NEW * July 20th Brockwell Park (Further info TBC)
July 6th, Godiva Festival, Coventry
August 11th United Colours Festival, Sheffield
August 16th Belgium (Brussels Summer Fest)
See ticket links via: www.ltso.mis-online.net
The Near Jazz Experience
NEW June 4th – Indo 133 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1DT *Free*
https://www.facebook.com/NearJazzExperience
BUY IT
If you’re stuck for something to spend your money on, perhaps we can help…
Fu Man Chu Single
Out today, and for a mere 69p!
http://amzn.to/18q7Je4
Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da Special Edition: 70 Track CD/DVD 4 Disc
www.madness.co.uk
Near Jazz Experience: Acoustic Part I & II, 3D 7″ or Mp3
http://bit.ly/186bvam
* OUT NEXT WEEK *
Benevolence Of Sister Mary Ignatius – The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra.
Out June 3rd
http://amzn.to/12z3nyH (CD link)
Also, newly available MP3 download FEATURING TRACK PREVIEWS ONLINE:
http://tinyurl.com/buxnxuy
Pre Order: Suggs That Close My Story Book.
Out October 24th
http://amzn.to/14YOKsT
Live Suggs T-shirt and more at Suggs Live Store:
http://suggs.mamstore.co.uk/
SIGN OF THE TIMES
Below is a selection of interviews, articles and other items of recent news that have caught our eye over the course of the past week. Click on the links to be taken to the relevant page.
SUGGS, SLADE AND NODDY
Music fans had the rare experience of seeing one modern pop legend heckled in a friendly fashion by another modern pop legend at Harrogate Theatre this week.
Madness lead singer and TV and radio personality Suggs turned up unannounced to watch Noddy Holder in Conversation with Mark Radcliffe.
Having chatted to fans at the bar beforehand, the man, whose band famously played on top of Buckingham Palace as part of The Queen’s Jubilee last year, then joined the crowd in the stalls to enjoy the show. Suggs, 52, was clearly a Slade fan and intervened with several questions.
One touching one concerned Slade’s drummer Don Powell who was nearly killed in a car crash in 1973 but amazingly recovered to play on all of the bands’ greatest hits.
Slade frontman Noddy Holder and interviewer Mark Radcliffe of BBC6Music fame handled it all in good humour and it certainly entertained the packed crowd at Harrogate Theatre on the final night of Noddy’s first-ever talking tour.
SKA ORCHESTRA IN NEWCASTLE
“I absolutely thoroughly enjoy Madness,” says Thompson. “But I’m behind a hat and glasses. It’s Suggs that’s really spinning those plates.
I’ve got me sax, I’m climbing all over the place; I’m working that audience and the ship is nice and level.
And with the Ska Orchestra, it’s just smooth. I haven’t got to worry, I know I can do anything: click my fingers, take a solo.
They all know there’s no set plan. It’s good in a different way.”
SUGGS CAN’T WAIT TO BRING SOME MADNESS BACK TO LOCH NESS
Veteran pop legend Suggs can’t wait to bring some Madness back to Loch Ness
FRONTMAN Suggs is proud of his Scottish roots and looking forward to his return north where his band will be one of the highlights at the RockNess Festival.
TWEETS OF A DOVE
Snippets from Twitter or the Madness Message Board that have caught our eye…
MARK BEDFORD TWEETS
Mark Bedford Replied about whether he played and double bass on the forthcoming Ska Orchestra album…
“No double bass on the LP but hope to put some on a couple of old ska tracks soon”
And on the Bristol show…
“Off to Bristol to play at @FleeceBristol with The Ska Orchestra. If you see 11 lost musicians, could you make sure they get there?”
and…
“Glad you enjoyed the gig we will have to play there again.”
“To a rehearsal with the Ska Orchestra – a rum collection of old, musical bandeleros who need to write everything down to remember…”
EDWARDS TWEETS
Terry Edwards described Later with Jools Holland as…
“a rare opportunity to see me playing inside with sunglasses on.”
CHRIS TWEETS
Chrissy Boy announced buying: “You Just Can’t Beat It : The Best Of by The Beat”
MAGIC BROTHERS TWEETED
“Nick’s new Martin acoustic guitar complete with shiny new case and purple pick! pic.twitter.com/QZwMs3FXX “
LOUIS VAUSE
Louis Vause posted about appearing on Radio 4…
“I am on ‘Down The Line’ Radio 4, 6.30 p.m tonight (Wednesday). I am ‘Spud’ from Morecambe singing a song about fracking, which Jim Reilly and I wrote in ten minutes. Let’s see if the announcer at the end gets my name’s pronunciation right. Last time I was Lewis Vowsey. Fantastic.”
I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN
This week, MIS co-editor Rob Hazelby, goes back 5 years to issue 473, and the week of Sunday 25th May to Saturday 31st May 2008, and then back 10 years to issue 211 and the week of Sunday 25th May to Saturday 31st May 2003.
5 years ago…
Issue 473 – Sunday 25th May to Saturday 31st May 2008
This issue got underway with the news that The Dance Brigade had finally uploaded another track for fans to download. Entitled “Don’t Judge”, the band were keen to hear your thoughts on their latest creation.
Next, it was over to Looby who was here to tell us about the “In Print” section of The Madness Trading Ring web site. A mass of articles from over the years had been painstakingly typed-in and uploaded, and were ready for you to browse and digest.
Moving on, we reported that former X Factor winner, Steve Brookstein spoke to the BBC Breakfast team about his role in the forthcoming ‘Our House’ musical tour.
The whole interview lasted around 5 minutes, and included clips from the stage show, details of how he got involved in the new UK tour, as well as (of course!) X Factor.
It wasn’t a must see interview by any means, but if you had a spare 5 minutes to waste you could certainly have done a lot worse than taking a look.
On to something a little radical now, and it was this week that Chrissy Boy revealed that the next Madness album wouldn’t be released in the shops, but instead would come as a covermount CD on a newspaper.
Fan reaction was mixed, many thought it a great way to help spread the nutty word to a wider audience.
We brought this issue to a close with the news that Big 8 Records were planning a 30th Anniversary Madness Tribute album featuring bands and artists performing cover versions of classic Madness tracks. If you were interested in being part of this production you were urged to get in touch.
10 years ago…
Issue 211 – Sunday 25th May to Saturday 31st May 2003.
We started this issue off with a bit of an apology. It turned out that the frivolities of the bank holiday weekend had taken their toll, meaning that this issue didn’t go out until early on the bank holiday Monday.
Suggs was back on UK TV once more. However, before any excitement kicked in, we had to sadly point out that it was merely for a voice over for a No More Nails commercial.
One of the biggest items, if not the biggest, this week was the news that Suggs, Chris and Car would be appearing at London’s Tower Records on the 5th of June, in an effort to promote the Madness Musical. The info, submitted to the MIS by Duff Kelly, suggested that it would be good to see a large number of Maddies down there, to give the band some support.
Meanwhile, the official press release went as follows:
“Don’t Miss Your chance to Meet Madness. Come and see members of madness in-store at Tower Records, Piccadilly Circus on June 5th 5.30 – 6.30 to celebrate Suggs’ acclaimed performance in Our House The Musical.
Bring in a piece of merchandise for Suggs, Chrissy Boy and Cathal to sign.
Buy and get a signed CD of the Madness Music featured in Our House.”
A snippet in from Madness Trading Ring co-maintainer, Steve Bringe, revealed that he’d received an email from someone at Virgin UK letting him know that there were various projects in the works for future Madness releases. While not going into specifics, the contact did reveal that the 12″ back catalogue was being looked at for a CD release. Half a decade on, and we were still waiting.
On the subject of releases, subscriber Birchy reported that a new Madness at The Royal Albert Hall DVD was doing the rounds. Of course, it was a bootleg, and hence, completely unofficial.
Obviously encountering difficulty moving around his Aladdin’s Cave of Madness goodies, it was once again time for Chris Carter-Pegg to sell off a stash of Madness goodies via ebay. As always, all items would be 100% official.
Moving on to a completely unrelated matter, but one that was also brought to our attention by Chris, and he was advising us all to be extremely careful before bidding on a One Step Beyond gold disc LP that was currently up for grabs on Ebay. Here’s a small snippet of what Chris had to say at the time;
“A similar item was auctioned a few months ago on Ebay and the seller had the audacity to say it was a genuine original. When I emailed him for clarification I was informed it was in fact a genuine reproduction!”
You couldn’t make it up, could you?!
Rob Hazelby
MIS FEATURE
LATER ON… WITH MISSION MARY
And so Mission Mary continued into Bristol. A radio session, an acapella rendition of Bangarang, performed with Louis singing his own piano parts, aired before the band headed to the Fleece to skank the night away, having just reinvented themselves as the Flying Pickets. The line-up consisted of Lee, Louis, Darren, new drum tech Charlie and Bob T bone.
BBC Radio Bristol
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0182ngt
Overall, the Bristol gig was well received.
“Brilliant set but a bit too short.” C Moss.
“The LTSO were awesome, as were the support acts, The Simmertones and the Emporials. I was really impressed with The Simmertones,. The Emporials did some good cover songs. It was a really good night. I just wish the LTSO had sung Many Rivers Crossed. Darren Fordham sings a great version of this. But they only had an hour slot to fill.” S Farthing
“Fantastic set at Bristol last night fellas… you sounded amazing..” A Major.
But duty called. Dave Robinson had pulled the strings at the BBC and got the band onto the best music show in the nation. So no sleep for the gigged out boys but a night of driving through to Maidstone, for a 7am call to start setting up the lighting and camera rehearsals for the two editions of Jool Holland Later that would air this week.
Fu Man Chu – Later Soundcheck
http://youtu.be/mUmFZG2kTT8
Darren Dixon was on hand to shoot a few videos for the web, and would capture a gallery of sound-check photo’s that you can see over on facebook. Including some fun snaps of Lee set against the satellite broadcast dishes present at the Maidstone studios.
As I walked in to join him, I witnessed the band inside the dark moodily lit broadcast studio, like some fabled magic cave, (I turned to check out immediately what the middle of the room camera set up was. Ah. That’s how they do this show!) playing relaxed and free going through a few renditions of the two songs for everyone to check out how and where to shoot them from with crane camera, floor cameras and hand held close up ninjas who run in and out of the corners. Skylarking. Bitty Sang improvisionally over Fu Man Chu’s backing while more lighting options were set up from the technical crew. Mr Thompson himself was happily wandering around with his flip camera. And yes it was a memorable and privileged day all round to enjoy.
The Tuesday show aired. Fu Man Chu Live on Later
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y1ZSQVkkuI
A performance that may just be repeated on Friday. Although a 2nd rendition of the song was recorded, there was some sound issue with Louis’ keyboard.
A short interview and Bangarang was recorded for the Friday show.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b020t506
Interestingly, Bangarang was re-arranged, adding a dub guitar and trombone solo moments, as well as Lee writing a verse to go with the song’s theme.
VOTE FOR THE BEST BAND ON THE SHOW HERE…
https://www.facebook.com/laterwithjoolsholland?fref=ts
Reaction to the band on Later was massive across Facebook in congratulation of the shows’ fine appearance.
“Just watched it, was bloody amazing. Well done guys, love the single. So proud” Tara Venus
“What a excellent performance, worth sitting up for. Can’t wait for the single release!” Tony S
The following day Lee Thompson appeared for an hour long waffle on Mr Scurf’s Koast Train ahead of this weekend’s Northern gigs.
In a rambling set of tales about organising and driving a band around when tired up to the eyeballs, Lee entertained and eventually answered a few questions. 3 twenty minute podcasts are planned. (And yes, I was lucky enough to be seen briefly dancing on TV Tuesday in the background, but by Wednesday’s radio I was being cited as the anorack fan again, who knows the colour of Lee’s pants.)
I’ve a couple more tales to tell from the TV studio. But for those you’ll have to wait for Later with MIS features.
For now Mission Mary has an album to launch. See you all at the Dublin Castle. MAY 28th.
Jonathan Young
TIME…
That’s just about it for this week, but before we go we’ve got a couple of last minute snippets courtesy of subscriber Stephen Sturrock.
First-up, and Stephen tells us that the release date for the 5 album re-issues on coloured vinyl have now been put back a week to the 3rd of June. We’ll have more details regarding these closer to the date.
And finally, here’s something that’s bound to interest the collectors out there. Stephen’s given us the heads-up on a forthcoming re-issue of the legendary John Peel “Peel Sessions”, featuring Madness. Limited and hand numbered to 275 copies, this is now available to pre-order.
Priced at £15.99 (plus £1 postage and packing) Stephen tells us that he’s not sure of the format, but thinks it must be a 12” single.
For more information and to pre-order point your browser over to: http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/72821
Happy shopping!
Liz Maher, Rob Hazelby, Simon Roberts, Jon Young
(With thanks to Stephen Sturrock)
The Author
