IN THIS ISSUE ...

1 - THE EDITOR WRITES - Latest news and information in brief

2 - A BIG SLOPPY KISS - I know we haven't even had Christmas Day yet,
    but for those of you who would like some help with the TV viewing
    on New Years Eve, may I suggest you make sure to watch the New 
    Years edition of the legendary `Night Fever`.

3 - THE NEXT PROJECT - Following the recent success of the unofficial
    Madness rarities CD, `First Step Beyond`, Nijinski's very own 
    Georgie has been in touch to inform me about their next project.

4 - MAD NOT MAD ANNUAL, 2001 - Subscribers to that most excellent of 
    ska `zines, `Mad Not Mad`, will be pleased to know that the `Mad 
    Not Mad Annual, 2001` will soon be released.

5 - MADNESS CONVENTION 2001 - Chris Mountain reports on the current
    accommodation situation for next years none Camden based Madmeet.

6 - HAVE A DRINK ON ME - Thanks and closing words.

[1] - THE EDITOR WRITES

Evening all!

Well, Christmas is almost upon us, and if everything has gone 
according to plan, you should now have all your present shopping
done and dusted. Now all that remains is for the Christmas 
celebrations to begin.

It's nice to see that someone has thought of us Madness fans out 
there. A certain Cathal Smyth has very kindly put together some
bits and pieces for our consumption on his very own website which
can be found at www.chassmash.co.uk. Once there you should find a
card and a number of gifts waiting for you to enjoy! Many thanks to
Peter Gardner for letting us know about this one, and thank you to
Cathal for the kind thoughts.

News just in from Simsey is that he's finally got round to uploading
a whole host of Madness related snaps he's taken over the last few
months. Currently online are pictures from the second Crunch meet,
the freefall mini Madmeet, and the Badness gig that Mike, Rob W and
Simsey went along to. If you'd like to take a look, simply point your
browser at: http://www.countrybumpkin.ndo.co.uk

Finally, on a sad note. Last Tuesday saw the sad death of singer/
songwriter Kirsty MaColl, who was hit by a speed boat whilst
diving in Mexico. Kirsty was one of Stiff's female artists who went
on to greater fame. Those of you who were at the Ian Dury tribute
back in the Summer saw her last ever live performance. Many thanks
to both Tony Judge and Peter Stean for passing on the news.

With that unfortunate news out of the way, I'll leave you to read
through this week's edition of the MIS. Apologies that it's 
slightly shorter than usual, but things have been fairly quiet this
week.

All the best,

Robert Hazelby (MIS Online Editor)

[2] - A BIG SLOPPY KISS

I know we haven't even had Christmas Day yet, but for those of you
who would like some help with the TV viewing on New Years Eve, may I
suggest you make sure to watch the New Years edition of the legendary
`Night Fever`. MIS Online subscriber, Adele Moore has been in touch 
to inform me that;

     "If you want to see a Maddie in action, watch
      Night Fever on New Year's Eve. I went to see
      it recorded, and dressed-up as Suggs with his
      head on a stick!!! I was sat right behind him
      so you can't miss me. It worked, `cos I got 
      his autograph and a big sloppy kiss.

      Not bad for being a fan for 21 years eh?!"

Err, quite!

Many thanks go to Adele for passing on that snippet! 

[3] - THE NEXT PROJECT

Following the recent success of the unofficial Madness rarities CD,
`First Step Beyond`, Nijinski's very own Georgie has been in touch
to inform me about their next project. It is a 2-cd affair going
under the name of `The Lost`. The album will feature some choice
unreleased tracks and rarities. 

Try as they might, Nijinski were unable to get the album ready in
time for a Christmas 2000 release, but I am assure that further
information regarding this release will be sent my way shortly.

One other thing to note is that Georgie tells me that this release
will be marketed in a different way to the previous `First Step
Beyond` Album.

Our thanks go to Georgie at Ninjinski for keeping us up to date on
the proceedings.

[4] - MAD NOT MAD ANNUAL 2001

Subscribers to that most excellent of ska `zines, `Mad Not Mad`, will
be pleased to know that the `Mad Not Mad Annual, 2001` will soon be
released.

This special publication will feature generous chunks of the now
extinct issues 1 and 2 (including the `Absolutely` feature and Suggs
Radio 2 interview in 1998). In addition to that little lot, there 
will also be a selection of new items making their way into the 
issue.

Please note that regular subscribers to Mad Not Mad will not 
automatically receive the annual as the editor, Ian Taylor tells
me that this goes out on an order only basis. Meaning, if you'd like
a copy, you need to let Ian know.

For those of you who aren't currently subscribed to Mad Not Mad, the
annual would be the perfect opportunity for you to have a look at
a small selection of things you have missed, and it will also give
you some idea as to the quality and quantity of the `zine.

For further information regarding this release, please contact Ian
Taylor at the following address: BigE at supanet.com 

[5] - MADNESS CONVENTION 2001

We've still got a week to go before this year disappears into nothing
more than a memory, but TMML subscriber Chris Mountain is already
looking towards 2001 and the much talked about `Madness Convention`.
Chris reports that;

     "Trying to get a hotel to put up a boatload of drunken
      Madness fans for the weekend , on the cheap , is not 
      easy!  Be Patient!

      If you know of any suitable hotels drop us a line.
      We've found a few willing to do it , but alas , the
      places were so dirty even the rats had boiler suits 
      on".

If you think you can point Chris in the right direction of a decent
hotel in the Blackpool area which would accommodate a fair number of
Madness fans, please drop him a line at: 106754.420 at compuserve.com

[6] - HAVE A DRINK ON ME

That pretty much wraps up this weeks slightly smaller edition of the
MIS. As usual, a big thank you to everyone who sent in bits and
pieces for this week's edition. I know you've all been very busy over
the past couple of weeks with Christmas approaching, so your efforts
are really appreciated.

I hope you all have a really good Christmas. Make sure you don't 
drink too much!

I'm off down to the pub for a few drinkies before Santa arrives!

All the best,

Robert Hazelby