Magnificent 7?
Surely Some Mistake – there’s only six guys on the cover……
Appearances can be soooooooooooo deceptive.
The band was indeed officially only six-strong in the early days. The seventh bloke to join Madness wouldn’t do until after this single was released, although up until then he had been part of their live shows as backing vocalist and dancer. And indeed would play a huge part in making this single so bloody popular:-
mp3 : Madness – One Step Beyond
It’s a cover of a tune by Prince Buster, a Jamaican ska artist who had enjoyed success back in the 60s. Madness had already paid tribute to him with their debut single The Prince before making sure he got a whole lot of royalties with their follow-up which reached #7 in November 1979.
The key difference between the original and this loving tribute is the addition of the spoken-word intro:-
Hey you,
Don’t watch that, watch this!
This is the heavy heavy monster sound
The nuttiest sound around
So if you’ve come in off the street
And you’re beginning to feel the heat
Well listen Buster
You better start to move your feet
To the rockinest, rock-steady beat
Of Madness
One step beyond!
Performed by Chas Smash and copied by kids in playgrounds all over the UK. With a wonderfully entertaining video to boot, this is the song really got Madness noticed and before long they cemented a place as one of the great British singles acts of the late 20th Century.
Just under a year later, Madness would release a truly astonishing single that remains my particular favourite. A soap-opera in just under three minutes. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Boy and girl have sex…baby gets created. Parents of the boy and girl react with anger and horror…and completely ostracize their own offspring.
Their crime wasn’t to become unexpected parents. Their crime was to create a mixed-race baby…
mp3 : Madness – Embarrassment
Based on a true story. The teenage sister of saxophonist Lee Thomson had a black boyfriend and became pregnant only to be horrofied by the fact that many in her family shunned her. The real life story turns out to have had a happy ending, with the family seeing sense after the baby girl was born. I’m guessing the existence of the song also played its part….
Happy Listening
