There has been a lot of post mortems recently about
the anti climax of the whole comeback. Can I bluntly
offer a few reasons why things have gone wrong:
- People so identify Suggs with Madness that the idea
of a Madness comeback wasn't that interesting. His
solo albums made it feel like they hadn't been away,
even though we all know that there is far more to
Madness than the Hastings crooner.
- Suggs got up a few people's noses with his (almost)
three cover versions from his first solo album.
Madness have been affected by this. In fact some
members of the band wanted to stick a cover version on
the album to have as a safe single, but as one of them
said, it wasn't possible because of Suggs solo career.
Lee actually would have liked "Lola". This second
point should prove my first point too.
- Madness went over the top with the cabaret act. It
felt like they hadn't been away, whereas Blondie's
comeback got a lot of attention because they had made
a clean break. That's why Q magazine wanted to cover
the Blondie comeback but not the Madness one. A
comeback about 1994 or 1995 would have got a top 5
album, lots of attention and some hit singles.
- 4 years ago, I wrote in a fanzine that "You're
Wonderful" should have been the comeback single. It
really would have made the public stand back and take
notice. This really was something unexpected.
- Albums need promotion. Whereas you can blame radios
for not playing the singles, albums need promotion.
Let's make a comparison. The recent Pet Shop Boys and
Eurythmics albums had posters everywhere. Nobody will
tell me they're bigger than Madness. Virgin can't
argue with this point. In 1995, Madness sold out
Dublin's Point Theatre to an 8,000 capacity. In 1999
no promotion resulted in about 1,500 tickets only
sold. Proof of how vital promotion is.
- Johnny The Horse as a single was a cock up. It's a
great song but the singles markets are for kids. DO WE
THINK LOVESTRUCK DID AS WELL AS IT DID BECAUSE 10,000
30 - 32 YEAR OLDS WENT OUT AND BOUGHT THE SINGLE. No,
the kids did, and JTH is a song that isn't as
immediately as catchy as Lovestruck, so adults would
only appreciate it. Also, singing about a homeless guy
being kicked to death is no longer trendy in the
current music scene.
- The "old boys getting back together tag carries a
lot of scepticism. There's nothing the boys can do
about this.
- When JTH flopped, that was it. CD:UK and other kids
programmes didn't want a band who couldn't get in the
top 40 and radio stations likewise. One mistake and
you're gone. Drip Fed Fred was too late.
- Music has changed even within the last four or five
years. I remember radio stations wouldn't play Take
That at the start of their career, as it was deemed
sad. Now these manufactured puffs (sorry boy bands)
are the trendiest things in music. Everything has
changed just everything........
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