IN THIS ISSUE ...

1 - THE EDITOR SPEAKS - Latest news in brief.

2 - IAN DURY TRIBUTE NY - Think back a few weeks and some of you may
    remember that an Ian Dury tribute bash was being organised in
    New York city. For those who went along, the event probably
    already seems like a distant memory, but for those of you who
    weren't lucky enough to get to the party, here's Nick, one of
    the organisers with a few words;

3 - TIME GOES BY, HAPPINESS REMAINS - MIS Online subscriber Nahuel
    Foppoli makes a welcome return with a review of Dean Eaves
    recently released `Madness Live 2` video collection.

4 - IAN DURY TRIBUTE GIG - TWO PLEASE, ANY OFFERS? - Calling all
    Maddies who have booked tickets for the forthcoming Ian Dury
    Tribute gig on the 16th. We have a Maddie in distress and dire
    need of a ticket for the show. Any help greatfully appreciated!

5 - COMPLETE MADNESS LATEST NEWS - Claire Keegan returns with the
    latest list of forthcoming gigs and up to the minute band info.

6 - DIVINE WASTE OF TIME! - Vince Carden reports on the re-release of
    1992's classic singles album, Divine Madness.

7 - MADNOTMAD.CO.UK - Mark Adamson reveals that a certain Madness
    keyboardist may be about to start up his own website.

8 - MADNESS UNSUGGED #4 - Vince Foley makes a welcome return with a
    truly in-depth review of the recently released issue 4 of the
    classic Madzine - Madness Unsugged.

9 - GOODNIGHT, GOD BLESS YOU ALL - Thanks and closing words.

[1] - THE EDITOR SPEAKS

Evening Maddies,

It's that time of the week again where you mailbox creaks under the
strain of one large E-mail arriving and mine creaks back with 20 odd
bounces from people who have either crap E-mail accounts or are no
longer registered with that ISP. Don't you just love it?!

Calling all record collectors. Why not visit the world's only online
fair - this weekend. Admission is free and you do not have to leave
home! You can check out individual traders or search the whole site
for particular items. It's all here from the 1950s to 2000, with
everything from CD and vinyl to photos and magazines. Click:
www.vip-24.com and enjoy!

Many thanks to Rob Lythall at VIP Events for the details.

Some exciting news for all you Crunch! fans out there. The band have
just announced their first date, Friday 14th July at The Underworld
in Camden Town. There are 3 bands on the bill and the date along
with prices should be confirmed within the next week or so. Thanks
go to Lee Swandale for the info. For up-to-the-minute Crunch info and
gossip, please get in touch with Lee at: lee at crunch.uk.com

Fancy being part of a new band but can't find anything that suits
your taste? Well, your search could finally be over. Here's Wee Stoo
with the details;

     "I'm in the process of putting together a crackshot
      band.........

      We still need a Sax player and Drummer but they must
      be based in central Scotland... If you're interested,
      please contact me at WeeStoo at tesco.net for more
      details....."

If you fit the bill, what are you waiting for?!

Is there anyone out there who collection is still missing `The Lot`?
Well, now you have no excuse for not adding it to your music archive.
Total Madness Mailing List subscriber, Andrew Langmead reports that;

     "I was just having a quick look at www.boxman.co.uk
      for the remastered albums and stumbled across The
      Business for... wait for it... £7.99. I paid over
      £20 for this one :-(

      69 tracks for £7.99! Surely some mistake!!

      If you haven't already got this one, BUY IT NOW!!!
      This is too good an offer to miss. They're sure to
      spot their mistake sooner or later.

      Unfortunately, they can only take orders for
      delivery to UK/Ireland addresses at that price."

For those of you based in the US, Andrew says that at the
www.boxman.com website it's £16.17. Thanks for that Andrew - get
those credit cards at the ready!

Are you one of those Maddies who has to have EVERY version of
everything the boys have ever released? If so, you'll be pleased
to know that the re-mastered editions of all the `proper` Madness
albums are now available for purchase in your local music store.
The TMML's Peter Gardner reports that each album is priced at
around the £10.99 mark and have `Remastered Edition` across the
sleeve. There are no other enhancements, so those of you looking for
MPEG or AVI video footage will be disappointed.

UK film buffs will probably know, that Wednesday saw the premier of
the Ben Elton comedy - `Maybe Baby` open in the West End. You will
probably also know that it's received crap reviews pretty much
everywhere. Still, at least it didn't have Hugh (gibbering idiot)
Grant in it so that's got to be one plus point, the other being that
the lads make a welcome appearance with the legendary classic, It
Must be Love. Reason enough to see the film? I don't think so.

With the Ian Dury Tribute concert fast approaching, those of you
who were still trying to decide if you should get yourself tickets
or not will be shocked to hear that all are now sold out. If you're
sat there smugly with ticket in hand you'll be interested in what
Simsey has to say;

     "I spoke to Chas last night (1st June) and he was able
      to fill me in on some Brixton Gig details as they
      stand at the moment. These are subject to change.

      Suggs + Blockheads - 1 song (prolly 'My Old Man')
      Chas + Blockheads - 1 song
      Madness - 4 song mini-set"

Thanks go to Simsey for the details.

If you're planning to go along to either the Fleadh gig on the 10th
and/or the Ian Dury Tribute concert on the 16th, TMML subscriber Bish
would like your details so he can compile a list of who's going along
to these events. Please tell him if you are going to the following;

1. Fleadh 10th

2. DC 16th 12:00 noon
3. Auction
4. Concert 7pm
5. Disco

Bish can be contacted at the following address:
abishop at wasp-ltd.co.uk

If you're one of those lucky people going to the Fleadh on the 10th,
in eager anticipation of catching a glimpse of `The Velvet Ghost`,
you may be interested to know that a new website has been set to
commemorate Carl's solo effort. Pop along to:
http://www.velvetghost.com/

Thanks to Sir Vince of Foley for the news.

You may recall a few issues back some mention of a forthcoming
Madness book due to be released by Virgin publishing towards the
end of the year. Well, thanks to Jake Stavrinides at Virgin, you
can now have a look at the finished sleeve and a selection of some
of the promotional plans in the pipeline to promote the book.
Simply log onto the MIS website at: http://www.jabba.demon.co.uk/mis/
and click on the relevant link towards the bottom of the page.
The book should be in the shops on 9th November - get saving!

[2] - IAN DURY TRIBUTE NY

Think back a few weeks and some of you may remember that an Ian Dury
tribute bash was being organised in New York city. For those who
went along, the event probably already seems like a distant memory,
but for those of you who weren't lucky enough to get to the party,
here's Nick, one of the organisers with a few words;

     "Well we had a blast. Unfortunately the turn out
      was on the low side, about 60 stalwart fans turned
      out but with the help of some wonderful black and
      white photos care of David Corio we raised about
      a $1000 clear for Cancerbacup. Started at 9.00pm
      and wound up at about 2am. Someone took some photos
      and I'm trying to track down who. Thanks to all of
      you over there for your interest and support, we
      might make this a yearly event, the owner of the
      club, Chuck Harris, loved it and the bar-maid for
      the evening, Leslie having never heard much Ian
      Dury, came away besotted

      All the best and good luck in June at the Academy,

      Nick".

If you were the person who took the photo's that evening, or you'd
like to pledge your support for next year's possible event, please
drop Nick a line at: nickandmartah at email.msn.com

For the latest Blockheads info, please click on:
http://www.blockheads.co.uk

Many thanks to Dave for the write-up.

And finally, just before we get underway with this week's edition of
the MIS, rumours are circulating that a tour for this Christmas is
still on the cards. If anything is announced, I'll let you know.

In the meantime, print this off, sit out in the garden with a cool
drink and soak up the sun and Madness.

All the best,

Robert Hazelby (MIS Online Editor)

[3] - TIME GOES BY, HAPPINESS REMAINS.

A little while ago I wrote to share with all Maddies my views on the
amazing three-hour-long Rare Madness Video 1 offered by Dean Eaves.

I couldn't believe my eyes and ears at the picture quality and the
amount of images from 1979 to date. More amazing was the fact that
I heard that there were other videos available. As I was struggling
to make both ends meet, I could only order Rare Madness Video 2.
As with the previous occasion, Dean sent me the video before I could
say `Jack Robinson`. In less than a week I had that glorious video
in my hands... in Argentina!

The first sensation I had whilst watching this video was that -
incredible as it may sound - it was by far better than the previous
one. I am guess that this is because Dean has got more recent
material on the band in his collection. If you saw the video track
listing in the previous MIS ONLINE, you would know you are looking
at a video special for collectors. I had never thought I could have
in my hands the weird promo of My Girl. When was it made? It's great
to see Carl in Hamburg 81 making people take part in One Step Beyond
or all of Madness playing `Listen to your Father` with Fergal Sharkey.

I had always dreamt of seeing Madness perform on a huge stage with
their image displayed on an enormous screen with a crowd cheering
them up. Thanks to Dean and his SUPERB video my dream came true. Now
I have Madness in `Party in the Park` playing One Step Beyond and
Lovestruck. There is a magnificent concert by the Nutty Boys, This is
your Life, Suggs promos, New Madness promos...

I can't write about all the good things on this video. Dean sends his
stuff so quickly that it would arrive before I finish describing it.

I would like to congratulate Dean one more time and beg him to keep
on offering this little "blessings" for all maddies, especially for
those like me who live so far away from the Maddie Kingdom. It goes
without saying that the third video is on its way to my home.

You will hear from me soon.

Take Care friends!!!

Nahuel (jfoppoli at sinectis.com.ar)

[4] - IAN DURY TRIBUTE GIG - TWO PLEASE, ANY OFFERS?

Hello,

Bit of a request here...

I've been gratefully receiving the MIS mail for some months now and
it has proved invaluable at keeping me abreast of all the latest
Madness related stuff going on. Unfortunately I completely dragged
my feet when it came to the Ian Dury tribute gig, thinking that
seeing as I only live a mile or so from the Academy I could pop down
there and get tickets anytime...

How wrong I was as I found myself an inbetweenie with the words
SOLD OUT ringing in my ears. Now I find myself left high and dry
without a oar and rapidly sinking in the wet sand.

Basically I need to get to the gig - are there any outlets that
might still have a couple of tickets available or would anyone in
the OnLine madness community have made an oversight in booking a few
too many tickets for the night?

This is a bit of cheeky request I know, but I really must pay my
respects to the Good Ship Blockheads and all that sailed in her...

Nutty Thanks and cheers to anyone who can help me in my plight...

Alex Smith
alexgsmith at email.com

[5] - COMPLETE MADNESS LATEST NEWS

Thanks to the continued support from `Complete Madness` Claire
Keegan, here's the band's line-up of gigs planned for the next week.

7th June - Jumping Jacks, Leeds
8th June - Brannigans, Sheffield
9th June - The Sands, Weston-Super-Mere
10th June - Private Party
13th June - Embassy Rooms, Sheffield
14th June - Jumping Jacks, Lincoln
15th June - Level 2, Workington
16th June - Private Party
17th June - Weymouth Bay Holiday Park

Claire also tells me that Complete Madness will be headlining the
Ska Fest 2000 in Morcambe. It's a 3 day even starting on Friday 16th
June and going through till Sunday 18th. Complete Madness will be
appearing on Saturday 17th.

For more information on any of the above, please get in touch with
the band at the following address:

complete at madness2000.fsbusiness.co.uk

And let them know we sent you.

[6] - DIVINE WASTE OF TIME!

Hello there,

Got Divine Madness yesterday. What can I say? Digitally remastered
........my arse!! I still can't believe I wasted £17. Basically,
none of the tracks sound any different.

It's only good for one thing. It'll probably win the band a few more
young fans again. It has certainly received more shelf space than
'Wonderful' and was one of six albums that HMV were playing all day
yesterday. I reckon subscribers should check its chart position next
Sunday night. It might go top 20 or 30.

The back of the CD box is different, the mini-booklet is different,
the album of course has 'Lovestruck' and 'JTH' and the CD itself is
sort of a brownish red colour very like the recent cds.

Just don't rush to the shops tomorrow to buy it.

Vince Carden (dripfedvin at yahoo.com)

[7] - MADNOTMAD.CO.UK

Hello little nuts.

I've started my own website which I hope to contain a small tribute
to them there nutty boys as well as some other things.  I was
thinking about buying the domain name www.madnotmad.co.uk but using
my freeserve home page to search for the name, it returned saying
someone already owned it.  I clicked on a button to see who owned
it and believe it or not it said 'Mike Barson'  Is this THE Mike
Barson, if so does anybody know what this bloke is going to do with
the name.  Answers on a postcard or a stuckdown envelope please.

If anybody is interested (probably not) my site can be found on
www.angelfire.com/80s/madnotmad. It's still under construction but
I've just started my Madness pages.  The only part of the site
finished its my jokes section and yes they are very funny.
(probably not)

If you do visit it please come back again to see the new bits and
bobs.

Mark Adamson

m_adamson at madnotmad.fsnet.co.uk

ICQ No  54919047

[8] - MADNESS UNSUGGED #4

Hey Now!

Its time again for yet another review. This of course is on the
latest and greatest copy of `Madness Unsugged`, courtesy of Mr.
Wonderful Vince Carden.

Those Vince fellas a great people I hear :o).

Okay from the outset, presentation-wise this is not as fancy as
the ground breaking and wallet breaking issue #3. Issue #4 still
maintains the colour cover, but the inside pages return to black
and white format. However let that not throw you off, as the content
is the best I have ever seen in any Madness fanzine, EVER! It's
simply jammed-packed with useful, relevant information and dashed
with a touch of Carden cynicism throughout, as illustrated on the
front cover, with a picture of the band, with Smash open-handed
showing off ten fingers, the caption underneath reads; So Carl, how
many more rip-off compilations do Virgin have planned?

The 32 page magazine begins with wise words from Mr. Speaker, who
post-mortemises the Drip Fed Fred campaign and the debacle the
followed and also draws on the events of the Maddest Show on Earth
Xmas Tour 1999.

An interesting snippet comes from two former support bands to the
Maddies from yesteryear, Chris Bostock of the great Jo Boxers (who
supported on the Greatest Show on Earth Tour 1983) and Adele Winter
of the Friday Club (who supported on the Mad not Mad tour 1985). An
interesting insight into the bands antics both on and off stage.

Lee Swandale comes to the rescue with Crunch items for sale, very
rare stuff indeed, now so hard to find, sad to see that the original
album is now deleted too by the way.

Carden gives his own views then into the mindset of the B-sides in a
piece entitled  The flipside of Carl Smyth, this basically chronicles
the Wonderful B-sides from You're Wonderful down to Light of the Way.
I think the best thing here is the fact that he takes on board the
views of veteran madness fans too and their quotes do give an overall
balanced account of the songs themselves.

The infamous Scatty (he of TMML fame) turns up also to give a very
personal and exciting account of the now legendary Drip Fed Fred
video shoot that took place last February. Its yet another great
look at how down to earth the band are when you read of tales of the
day, from Barsons orders, to sitting in the church next to idols to
the festive bag of chips they gave out to the loyal volunteers that
day. I only wish I was there that day!

The Fanzine also gives details throughout of various Madness
memorabilia for sale from both reputable and irreputable dealers,
speaking from personal experience, Vince favourably warns people on
who to buy and more importantly who NOT to but from in the Madness
merchandise world. See the articles titled Wonder in Winterland,
Vinyl Vision, Bootlegs for Sale for more.

The bootleg First Step Beyond also comes up for discussion and a
new lyric sheet to add to the collection comes in the form of Do
Nothing Donald, a classic early Smyth composition. I should also
mention the scathing attack on the fat cats of Virgin head office
Vince makes on his cleverly titled composition Faceless Men.

An old piece turns up in the transcript of a 1995 Suggs radio
interview he made on the release of the Lone Ranger. Its goes through
the album tracks, and the man himself reviews his own tracks.

Poll results are also returned on the Wonderful material and makes
for interesting and debatable discussion.

The Internet and all thats Madness related to it crops up. Written
by one Vince Foley (no relation ;O) he (or should I say I ) go
through the best and the rest of the Madsites out there. Please
bear in mind this was written a while back so no doubt I have left
out a few new sites. Somethings dont change in it though,
www.madness.co.uk is still a disgraceful site!

Tim Pusey also adds his contribution with a review of Wembley on
December 22nd, and article on Irish Madness also is worth looking
out for and of course the facts machine. The final attack on the
fat cats is seen in an article called Facing the Music. To be
honest though one criticism about this is that we know this and
unfortunately nothing is been done about it.

Right, thats it folks. There are many out there a while back who
availed of a complimentary copy of issue #3. I know for a fact
that the editor himself makes no money out of this labour of love.
Its obvious to see he cares about what he does, and that is seen
with a simply enjoyable and lengthy read. If you are thinking about
subscribing, then think no more, if you have already, then the best
is yet to come. If not, then seek help immediately.

In the words of stiff records BUY- issue #4

All the best

Vince Foley (vjfmadness at yahoo.com)

[9] - GOODNIGHT, GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

Well, as you've pretty much guessed, we've reached the end of yet
edition of the MIS. Hope you've found something of interest.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this issue, especially
Vince Foley with his excellent review of Madness Unsugged - much
appreciated!!

To all those who are off to the Fleadh this coming Saturday, take
care and enjoy yourself.

And finally, for all of you who have ventured into Camden and thought
what a filthy place it was, you won't be surprised to know that along
with Westminster, scientists have announced that it has the highest
pollution levels in the entire city.

And who said the MIS wasn't educational?!

Until next week.

Take care,

Robert Hazelby