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Madness is unquestionably the band that spearheaded the Ska movement
of the late '70s and early '80s, becoming one of Britain's best loved
groups; initially formed as a trio in London, ENGLAND, in 1976 by keyboardist+vocalist
Mike 'Monsieur Barso' Barson, guitarist Chris 'Chrissy Boy' Foreman and
saxophonist+vocalist Lee 'Kix' Thompson they performed for a while under
the name The Invaders. Two years later the band expanded its line-up with
the addition of lead singer Graham 'Suggs' McPherson, bass player Mark
'Bedders' Bedford, trumpeter Carl 'Chas Smash' Smyth and drummer Daniel
'Woody' Woodgate, eventually changing their name to Madness.
The band's debut single, "The Prince", a tribute to the Ska
musician Prince Buster, reached the #16 on the Official U.K. Pop chart;
during 1979 Madness signed a deal with Stiff Records and recorded their
debut album, "One Step Beyond..." which eventually enjoyed over
one-year chart run in Britain, peaking at #2 and spawning a couple of
top 10 hits, the title-track and "My Girl". In the U.S. "One
Step Beyond..." made a mid-chart appearance peaking only at #128
and the album's title-cut scored modest club success.
Their second effort, "Absolutely", released in late 1980, was
a smashing success, spawning no less than three British top 10 hit singles,
including the #3 "Baggy Trousers", "Embarrassment"
and "The Return Of The Los Palmas 7"; the album rose to #2 in
the U.K. and the group again scored little success in America, "Absolutely"
didn't rise higher than #146 on the U.S. Top 200 LPs & Tapes list.
One year later, Madness churned out its third album, "Seven",
hitting the top 5 in their native England; it featured two top 10 hits
"Grey Day" and "Shut Up", plus a top 20 single, "Cardiac
Arrest".
During 1981 the band had one more top 5 hit with the cover song "It
Must Be Love"; "House Of Fun" followed a few months later,
this was their first #1 on the National U.K. Pop Singles chart and both
these tracks were eventually featured on the 1982's compilation "Complete
Madness".
November 1981 saw the release of the single "Driving In My Car",
the track peaked at #4 in U.K. and became part of the soundtrack of the
film "Party Party".
The group's fourth album of all-new-material, arrived in the summer of
1982, "Presents The Rise & Fall" cracked the top 10 in U.K.
spawning two hits singles, the top 10 "Tomorrow's Just Another Day"
and the top 5 "Our House", which also crashed into the top 10
of the Billboard's Mainstream Rock list and soared to the #7 on the Pop
Singles chart becoming their biggest stateside hit. The single's success
helped to propel the U.S. compilation "Madness" to #41 on the
Pop Albums chart and the extracted single "It Must Be Love"
also proved to be an American Top 40 hit.
By early 1984 the band had released another album, "Keep Moving",
reaching the #6 in Britain and the #109 on The Billboard Top 200 chart;
the first single, "Wings Of A Dove", missed the top slot by
one place and its follow-up, "The Sun And The Rain", peaked
at #5 in U.K. and reached the #72 on The Billboard Hot 100. The album
included two more British top 20 hit singles, "Michael Caine"
and "One Better Day", both of those were recorded as a sextet,
following the departure of the main songwriter, Mike Barson.
Wanting to make a clean break from all its ties, the band's next step
was to set their own record label; the U.K. top 20 hit single "Yesterday's
Men" was the first release on their new Zarjazz Records; the second
single, "Uncle Sam", reached the #21 and their sixth LP, "Mad
Not Mad", hit #16 on the Official U.K. Pop Albums chart.
The group split in September 1986, following the release of the top 20
single "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train" and the lackluster sales
of their latest album.
Four of the band's original members got together two years later to form
The Madness, they released an eponymous album to little fanfare and soon
after they disbanded for the second time.
The band has reformed with various members at various points since then
to perform at concerts such as 1992's Glastonbury Festival and their own
series of reunion concerts, christened "Madstock", the first
of which featured performance by Morrissey
as well as Ian Dury & The Blockheads; that year the greatest hits
compilation "Divine Madness" climbed to the top spot on the
U.K. Albums chart.
After 13 years, six singles collections, five "Madstock" reunion
concerts, two live CDs and two box sets, the newly reunited, 'The Magnificent
7' celebrated their 20th anniversary with the release of "Wonderful",
their first new album since "Mad Not Mad"; the record cracked
the top 20 in the British Albums chart and included the top 10 hit single
"Lovestruck" plus "Drip Fed Fred", recorded in collaboration
with long time friend Ian Dury.
In 2005 Madness released their first studio album for 6 years; however
"The Dangermen Sessions Volume 1" isn't just another Madness
album, the set is a predominately a collection of Ska covers and a few
classic tunes.
Madness biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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