Hey Now! Returning once again to a coffee table near you is the imaginatively titled �Madness Unsugged� Issue 5. The Carden once again breaks the bank account and his mothers heart by giving in his all with another action packed, dare I say it bumper issue. Well with 48 pages this time its no wonder. This issue pays a credible to Lord Upminster himself, Ian Dury, with a mugshot making the front cover with words � will you remember his name� in the caption underneath. Mr. Speaker gets the word with an introduction from the editor himself, where Carden once again fills in the maddie fan on happenings in and out of the maddiesphere, where he reminds us of recent happenings at Brixton, the Underworld and the Fleadh 200. Talks of an Xmas tour are also disgarded, something we know about for a while now unfortunately. A various thank you to all who contributed end the first page. Since its beginnings last year, the Unsugged Franchise gains its biggest scoop yet with a fine article written by the saxes supreme himself, Lee J Thompson. He kindly offers his time and anecdotes on the life of Dury with some priceless and genuine stories of yesteryear. What Dury meant to himself, and indeed the music business itself, for without him �there would not have been any clash or pistols for a few years down the line�..and Madness and the Jam would still be walking round with Glitter in their hair (well most of them) and Robbie Williams would still be in Take That!� Well Done Thompson, a trooper indeed. The Dury theme is continued with a review of the evening�s festivities last June at Rhythmstock in Brixton Academy. It details the night�s performances with a good account of all who participated, the Blockheads, Madness, Robbie Williams and the likes of. If you were not there, then feats you eyes on this and see what you missed! The same treatment is given to the first incarnation of the Velvet Ghost and the performance at the Fleadh 200 festival in Finsbury Park last June also. Smashstock details the gig aswell as the songs, Madness and new that were played. As ever Carden spares no punches in giving his balanced opinion of things Maddie related where he both compliments and questions the ghost�s performance and materials. It�s always good to see fanzines do this, something that is not always ALLOWED! Once again the Ian Dury tribute is furthered with an article entitled �Diamond geezer� which chronicles the life of the man and his legacy, sprinkled with some interesting tit-bits, previously unbeknownst by this here reader. The Fanzine is also peppered with various facts, enough to keep any anorak happy I think with the segment entitled �The Facts Machine�, no doubt a few more statistics, facts and figures for the ever seasons Madness memory bank. Some good stuff here aswell! The next gig up for review is that of Crunch at the Underworld. �Crunchstock� details their performance last July in London�s Camden Town where the band returned to the stage after a three-year hiatus. The following page gives a full and comprehensive track listing of practically every Crunch song so far, I reckon 40-50 in all. Many of these still remain in the vaults, waiting for the day when they will be released on what is perhaps the most �difficult second album� of all time. The results of the Velvet Ghost competition are also released in the next page; the album entitled �The Father, the Son and the Velvet Ghost� sees two recipients managing to come up with the title of the eagerly awaited album��watch this space! A few pages on we are treated to an interview carried out online a while back with an interview with C J Smyth and his hopes, feelings and aspirations for the Velvet Ghost project. The Madfile is an interesting few pages as it basically gives an insight into some of the Madness fans out there, giving accounts of their name, age, favourite tracks, album, b-sides etc. Even the legendary Chris Carter-Pegg gets a mention here, that in itself is worth the admission fee!!!! A centre page spread gives two very moving and insightful pictures of the Dury funeral, with one showing one Christopher J Foreman carrying the coffin of the people�s poet into the Church for his final sending off. An appeal is made on behalf of CancerBACUP also with another few words on the life and charity work done by Ian Dury. Two programme of interest make an appearance in some form here : the Roots of Rock Documentary (shown last September) and the legendary Scatty gives an account of his participation and day out with the recording of the BBC2 documentary �Young Guns� just recently shown on TV. I should also mention that there are few choice photographs thrown in here and there for good measure, the best being an early picture of the band at what looks like a Stiff Records hosted Press Conference from 1980. Cool stuff! �Cybersmash hits the net� is another review done on the two sites now out in the World Wide Web that look after the Cathal Smyth later-egos. The Dopple-ganger of the Velvet Ghost and Chas Smash are now online, and the review gives a detailed and hopefully insightful review into both www.velvetghost.com and www.chassmash.co.uk: definitely worth a look! The Lyrics and word of the people�s poet make up another enjoyable read in a piece entitled �Lyrical Genius and Poet� going through the various songs that he had done down through the years. Rock poetry might be one interpretation of these; another would be simply �the dogs bollocks�. The programme dedicated to the life and times of Graham �Suggs� McPherson (i.e. This is your life) next comes up for review, in a page called �Is this my life?� I offer my own slant on the broadcast, and most be forgiven if I appear quite cynical in my comments! The Millennium Poll fills the final few pages and the pen-ultimate page gives the full un-adulterated lyrics to the unreleased Crunch classic �Here he comes�. The back page shows a little mind teaser with a picture taken last year in Doc Marten headquarters in Covent Garden. Can you spot the difference in this picture of the Wonderful album sleeve, I can! In all the Carden once again pulls out all the stops to put forward what is thoroughly an informative, enjoyable and easy reading fanzine. It seems to get it right this time, in color content, structure and style. Well done me ol� cocker, the boy he done well. If you want to get you mitts on a copy now, an I really suggest you do, email Vince Carden at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] All the best Vince F! ===== � Madness in great ones must not unwathc�d go� (Hamlet Act III Scene 1/195) ICQ 46099201 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ - ______________________________________________________________ Visit the Total Madness Mailing List website for: latest news, madmeet info, list charter, games, and more ... http://members.xoom.com/totalmadmail/ Contact the TMML Moderators at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and in the message body put: unsubscribe total-madness
