[total-madness] Docs - the book

[Adele]

Hi guys, I believe it was Stephie who asked what it said in the book. Well here you go mate...   One band who perhaps did more than any other to reinforce Dr. Martens in the hearts & minds of Britain's (& later America's) youth subculture was Madness. In 1974, they called themselves the Aldenham Glamour Boys, wore spray-painted Docs & imported Levi 501s, & drove ex-Post Office Morris Minor Vans. When they came ogether as a band in 1976, they were initially called The North London Invaders, hailing as they did from the town of Camden. Evolving into Madness, the members were art student Mike Barson & two old school mates  Chrissy Boy Foreman & Lee Thompson (who at the time were working together as gardeners), Graham Suggs McPherson, Daniel Woodgate, Mark Bedford & later Cathal Smyth. In the late 70's their ska influenced gigs garnered a small but loyal following  - although Suggs was once thrown out of the band for going to see a Chelsea football match instead of rehearsing! Then one night in The Hope & Anchor pub, they bumped into The Specials. Dammers & Suggs got talking, crude & basic demo tapes were handed over & support slots followed, including some superb shows at The Nashville, before Madness signed to 2 Tone for a one-off single, The Prince. This was the first of 21 Top 20 singles Madness released between 1979 & 1986, making them one of the greatest UK singles bands of all time. Signing in the longer term with Stiff Records, home to Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Madness set about producing a series of inspired, eclectic, often darkly humourous & always delightfully catchy records. First up was the single One Step Beyond, introduced in the now legendary spoken words of seventh member Chas Smash (alias Cathal Smyth) "Hey you, don't watch that, watch did, this is the heavy heavy monster sound..." The Nutty Sound had arrived. The album of the same name hit the No.2 spot despite the later realisation that most of Thompson's saxophone was in fact in the wrong key! Around this time, Chas Smash, who until now had only been recruited for his dancing & on stage lunacy as Master of Ceremonies, was finally welcomed as a full blown member. Accompanying Madness' quite superb singles catalogue was a legion of promotional videos that made them a household name. Most famous was the clip used for the single Baggy Trousers, probably the greatest song ever written about schooldays. A constant factor in those mini movies would be saxophonist Lee Thompson dangling from a wire over the heads of the rest of the band. The band's biggest commercial success, & amazingly their only No.1 hit, May 1982's House of Fun, also had a similarly madcap video. In their long form videos, Complete Madness & utter Madness they even went to the legendary Holts shoe shop in Camden to buy some Docs. Other bands who had become regular visits to the shop included The Specials & The Beat. The office above was also home to Trigger Management who looked after The Specials, & both bands would often watch Top of the Pops on the cheap television above the piles of Dr. Martens below. Despite Madness' pop facade, they suffered problems with neo-fascists at their gigs - they probably had the biggest skin head following of all ska related bands. Although Suggs had himself started off life as a skin, as indeed had Chas Smash, the band grew increasingly concerned about the political preferences of some of their crowd & the occasional outbreaks of violence. The single Embarrassment was in fact about the ludicrous reaction of a racist to a mixed race child in his family. Their final album, Mad Not Mad, which did not feature Barson, was chock full of classic tracks & tragi-comic observations (Suggs was less keen - he said producing it had been  like "polishing a turd") Unfortunately, the album was recorded in an increasingly fractious atmosphere & in autumn 1986, Madness split up. In the void left by the Camden Cowboys' absence however, their reputation grew. Scores of bands cited them as an influence & their back catalogue never stopped selling. Then in 1992 the announcement was made that Madness were reforming for a one off show in Finsbury Park, to be called Madstock. The public's frenetic response was so strong that there have been several such reunions since. In his last ever interview before his assaination, John Lennon said he admired Madness greatly.   The most globally recognisable influence of Madness had been the gratitude paid to them by America's so called 'third wave of ska', namely bands such as No Doubt & The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.   A.H.Holts shoe shop once sold dozens of pairs of DM's to a Japanese clothes designer, who then proceeded to cut the leather off the cap & sell them for �200 a pair. The 70's & start of the 80's saw Dr.Martens rule Britains schoolyards. In some senses 1979 was the year of the youth cult with a bizarre mix of parkas, punks, Mods, 2 Tone Rude boys, & even heavy metal denim jackets, inspired by the new wave of British heavy metal bands. Upgrading from your monkey boots to your first pair of DM's was almost a cherished rite of passage. By contrast, the genuine terror felt when confronted by te school bully in his lofty 16 holers was felt by thousands of kids across Britain. Current AirWare Chairman, Stephen Griggs was quick witted enough to box around this dilemma: "I wasn't a very tough boy but all the hard cases left me alone because I owed them pairs of DM's. They knew that if they beat me up I wouldn't deliver."     Day Out At Madame Tusauds The first pair of Doc.Martens I set foot in were Mad Pete McGhees I wanted a brand new pair (as you do when you are a 12 year old follower of fashion) but, when I arrived at Holts in the Kentish Town Rd. I found that because of my boot size (4) I could only purchase the 'Baby Doc' with its lemon leather trim at the top & wafer thin soul. No way was I forking out �3.10/-3d to look a half pint! So slightly peeved I took my heavy hob nalis up to Pete McGhees. He dug me out a pair of one previous owner, 10 hole, full stitched, soul unpunctured, AirWair. So on this sunny Saturday in the Summer of '69 the lads & myself make our way to Madame Tusauds in the Marylebone Rd. The only hick-up being the size of Mr McGhees plates of! Although he was 14, he stood a good 5ft 8". So we entered Tusauds in various positions. My size 8 or 9 DM's (packed at the front of the boot with screwed up tabloid) way out in front of me, at the time thinking, "I look the Bollocks!" But in hind sight, lost in a waxworks.....all I needed was a red nose & to stand perfectly still.   Ha Ha Ha Lee Kix aka Co-Co the Clown   Holts ceased trading on 19th Sept 1998 Alan you'll always be in my thoughts. LT     There you go. Its all scanned & up on the TM site, http://members.xoom.com/totalmadmail/Sections/News/DMs.htm   Adele ;o)