Hello everyone,
In the new issue of Mojo Magazine {Jan 2002}, there is an 9
page feature on The Specials {which would take a complete
lifetime to type up}. If anyone is interested, however, it
is a good in-depth article complete with some really good
pictures. At the end of the Specials article there is a
couple of pages on other 2Tone artists. The article on
Madness contains a b/w photograph of an early Suggs and
Carl dancing on stage.
MADNESS
2 Tone single: The Prince/Madness {CHS TT3}
While The Specials grabbed headlines in the Midlands, a
London six-piece was causing quite a stir down south with
their exuberant ska/pop fusion, affectionately dubbed "the
nutty sound".
Named after a track by their hero Prince Buster, Madness,
who had been playing the musical field under a variety of
guises, including The Invaders since 1977 were checking out
the Rock Against Racism gig at their local, The Hope And
Anchor, when they were shocked to see a band they had never
heard of take to the stage and blow them away. As their
leader, Jerry Dammers, left the stage Madness' frontman
Graham 'Suggs' McPherson, and keyboardist Mike Barson
rushed over to shake his hand. With no bed for the night,
Dammers ended up kipping on Suggs' floor and, as a
thankyou, offered Madness a Specials support slot at the
Nashville in West Kensington on June 8, 1979. Deemed a
success, Dammers offered the band a one-off single deal
that same evening. 2 weeks later Madness entered
Islington's Pathway studios to lay down their debut 45.
"Our producer Clive Langer had managed to wangle us an
advance and we put down 3 tracks, 2 of which were used on
the single - the title track 'The Prince' and its flip
side, a version of Prince Buster's 'Madness'" recalls
saxophonist Lee Thompson. "The third track was My Girl with
Mike on lead vocals."
The Prince was Madness' tribute to Prince Buster. "We wrote
it one evening at Cathal in-law's house. The lyrics were
taken from various Prince Buster songs. The melody was a
simple 12 bar with some odd bits thrown in for variety."
The recording and mixing took place over the weekend. "We
still had proper jobs. There wasn't time to fuck around. We
were actually booked in for the previous week but we lost
our drummer {Dan 'Woody' Woodgate} who wasn't familiar with
the area."
Produced by Clive Langer, who was a school chum of Barson's
brother, The Prince reached Number 16 in the charts. On the
back of its success the band signed to Stiff Records and
had a further 21 Top 20 hits.
By Lois Wilson
Before I go, I would like to wish everyone a Merry
Christmas and Best Wishes for 2002.
Fiona
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