Madness were the most cheerful of the British ska revival bands, a septet in line with the surreal tradition of music hall in Cockney dialect.
One Step Beyond (Sire, 1979)
regurgitates bland novelties such as
Night-boat To Cairo
and includes the exuberant instrumental
One Step Beyond.
Baggy Trousers, on Absolutely (Sire, 1980),
was the last gasp of spontaneous fun. The cornerstones of the sound were the voices of Carl Smyth and Graham McPherson, Mike Barson's keyboards, Chris Foreman's guitar, and Lee Thompson's saxophone.
Starting with 7 (Stiff, 1981), the group had to aim for success, with the romantic
It Must Be Love
and the satirical
House Of Fun.
The hit came with the even more melodic
Our House, off Rise And Fall (Stiff, 1982).
The single
Driving in my Car (1982)
is reminiscent of the musichall of the
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
When
Keep Moving (Geffen, 1984)
was released, featuring the gospel-ish
Wings Of A Dove,
the new hit
Michael Caine and the march-like
The Sun and the Rain
a` la Hollies,
the band had already broken up. The hits from their golden age were collected on
Utter Madness (Zarjazz, 1986).
Mad Not Mad (Geffen, 1985)
was recorded with the help of an army of friends and has very little to do with ska (if anything, it's almost synth-pop). The failure of the new direction, exacerbated by
The Madness (Virgin, 1988),
prompted Foreman and Thompson to form the Nutty Boys, who released
Crunch (Street Link, 1990).
Madness returned with the mediocre Set Yourself on Fire (V2, 2005) and
The Liberty Of Norton Folgate (2009).
