by Madness Discography | Feb 19, 2024
Written by Chris Foreman, who was then the king of B-sides, A Town With No Name was the B-side to the single ‘Shut Up’ and drew inspiration from the lawless settings of classic Spaghetti Western films. The latter’s dramatic and haunting melodies...
by Madness Discography | Feb 19, 2024
by Madness Discography | Feb 19, 2024
“That’s The Way To Do It” is a vibrant and upbeat composition by Chris Foreman that takes us back in time to the music hall era. The song pays tribute to Foreman’s days as an “odd job man” and is set in a cockney bar room knees-up,...
by Madness Discography | Feb 19, 2024
The song “Crying Shame” was originally released as the B-side of the 7-inch single “Embarrassment”. Despite being overlooked initially, the song is considered one of Barson’s best works. “Crying Shame” has a Coasters-inspired...
by Madness Discography | Feb 19, 2024
‘The Business’ is an instrumental reworking of ‘Take It Or Leave It’ from the album ‘Absolutely’. ‘Take It Or Leave It’ was inspired by the name of a Roxy Music track and set to quirky music presumably inspired by...
by Madness Discography | Feb 17, 2024
“Don’t Quote Me On That” was a commentary on press coverage which had tried to paint the band as racists who supported the National Front (NF). Some of the band’s shows had been disrupted by skinhead violence, and, in a 1979 NME interview,...
by Madness Discography | Feb 17, 2024
Suggs says the track “The Young and The Old” is about getting drunk in the pub and noticing how old people acted younger as the evening went on. A very astute observation for a man of such tender years! Some great lyrics here include “age creeping...
by Madness Discography | Feb 17, 2024
“Deceives the Eye” tells the true story of Chris Foreman being out and about with Thommo and Mike in Luton and finding himself on the wrong side of the law. “A few of us enjoyed the pleasures of shoplifting,” Chris explains. “I got...
by Madness Discography | Feb 17, 2024
“Stepping Into Line” is another tune from Mr Hasler’s pen. “John wrote the first half of the words, and I wrote the other half,” says Suggs. Chris describes it as “my moment of glory, trying to keep it all together!” Well, it...
by Madness Discography | Feb 17, 2024
In many respects, this is the most important song in the collection. It’s a very early song, but it resonates with much of the following Madness catalogue. According to John Hasler, the band played a two-chord vamp, and the songwriter wrote the lyrics in the...
