Madness

A seven-piece pop and ska band from Camden Town, north-west London, with sixteen UK top-ten singles, including "Our House" and "It Must Be Love", and the 1981 single "Grey Day", a dark turn from the album 7.

From the North London Invaders to Stiff

Madness began in 1976 as the North London Invaders, formed by Mike Barson, Chris Foreman and Lee Thompson, with Cathal Smyth, John Hasler and Dikran Tulaine joining that year. Graham McPherson, known as Suggs, became the lead vocalist in 1977, and in 1978 the lineup settled with Dan Woodgate on drums and Mark Bedford on bass. They were briefly Morris and the Minors, then Madness, a name taken from a Prince Buster song. Their debut single, "The Prince", came out on 2 Tone in 1979 and reached number 16; they moved to Stiff Records, with Smyth rejoining late in 1979 as the seventh member.

Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley produced the classic albums. One Step Beyond... (October 19, 1979) was recorded in about three weeks at Eden and T.W. Studios and reached number 2 in the UK, with a 78-week chart run. Absolutely (September 26, 1980) also reached number 2, and included "Baggy Trousers", "Embarrassment" and "Return of the Los Palmas 7". The Rise & Fall (November 5, 1982), a childhood-nostalgia concept conceived by Chas Smash, held "Our House", a number 5 hit in the UK and number 7 on the US Hot 100, which won the 1983 Ivor Novello award for best song; NME called it the best Madness record at release.

7 and "Grey Day"

7 (October 2, 1981) followed "Grey Day" and "Shut Up" as singles and reached number 5, with Compass Point Studios in Nassau among the places it was recorded. The band also made a Dance Craze film and soundtrack in 1981 and a drama-documentary, Take It or Leave It. "It Must Be Love", a Labi Siffre cover, reached number 4 that year. "House of Fun" in 1982 was their only UK number 1 single.

Mike Barson played his last show with the band at the Lyceum Ballroom on December 21, 1983, and his departure became public in January 1984; other accounts date it to early or June 1984. Keep Moving (1984) reached number 6, and after leaving Stiff the band formed the Zarjazz label. Mad Not Mad (1985), which Suggs later called a polished turd, reached 16. They split in September 1986 with the farewell single "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train". Suggs, Smyth, Thompson and Foreman made one album in 1988 as The Madness.

Reunion and the long second act

A 1992 reissue of "It Must Be Love" reached number 6 and Divine Madness went to number 1; the Madstock! concerts at Finsbury Park on August 8 and 9, 1992 drew over 75,000 people. A musical built on their songs, Our House, won the 2003 Olivier Award for best new musical. They played the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert and the London Olympics closing ceremony in 2012, and the Glastonbury Pyramid Stage in 2016. Later albums are The Liberty of Norton Folgate (2009, number 5), Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da (2012), Can't Touch Us Now (2016, number 5) and Theatre of the Absurd Presents C'est la Vie (November 17, 2023), their first UK number 1 studio album.

They spent 214 weeks on the UK singles chart from 1980 to 1986, jointly with UB40 the most by a group in the 1980s, with 16 top-ten singles. Chas Smash left in 2014. A book, Before We Was We: Madness by Madness, appeared in 2019 and they received a Camden Music Walk of Fame stone in 2020. They won Ivor Novello awards in 1983 and 2000, the Mojo Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Silver Clef Icon award in 2009.