I first became aware of Madness after their appearance on Top Of The Pops for their single "The Prince". It's far to say I wasn't sure of what to make of them, and there was much discussion at school the following day as to who were those weirdos ?! We all had no idea who Prince Buster was, and Madness didn't exactly fit into punk or new wave, and the ska explosion was still to happen.....
However, that all changed with the release of the second single, "One Step Beyond", which bought the Nutty Boys into the mainstream, and the rest as they say is history !
It was shortly after this point I purchased their debut album, so was already familiar with "My Girl" and "Night Boat To Cairo" when they became further follow-up singles.
I played the album a lot a the time, and thought it was an evenly split mixture of two distinct different styles, with the ska influenced numbers eg "One Step Beyond", "Night Boat To Cairo", "The Prince", "Madness", "Tarzan's Nuts", "Rocking In A♭" & "Swan Lake", along side old fashioned, almost vaudeville, slabs of everyone suburban life eg "My Girl", "Believe Me", "In The Middle Of The Night", "Bed and Breakfast Man", "Land of Hope And Glory" and "Mummies Boy".
Lee Thompson's saxophone playing dominated the album, along with Mike Barson's keyboards, despite vocalist Suggs and the shouts and dance moves of Chas Smash getting most of the media attention.
I thought it was a tremendous album, with maybe the only low moment being the throw-away "Chipmunks Are Go". Perhaps more importantly it was music for people who couldn't dance ( like me ! ), but could happily hit the dance floor without any hint of self-consciousness or embarrassment ! Madness songs were certainly very popular at student discos when I was at college.
Looking at the track-listing now I could remember just about all the songs, apart from perhaps being a little bit hazy on "Rocking In A♭", "Tarzan's Nuts" and "Mummies Boy".
The album begins with the classic "One Step Beyond" and the now legendary shouted intro from Smash. "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 rockiest, rock-steady beat, of madness. One Step Beyond.............!" Apart from that, the track is virtually an instrumental, apart from the occasional shout of "One Step Beyond", and is notable for the its fabulous sax lines. It is impossible to not have to urge to get up and dance to it.
The mood changes with "My Girl", which has more great sax and a funky keyboard solo, but tells the tell of a guy having trouble with his girlfriend because sometimes he likes staying in and watching the TV on his own every now and then :
My girl's mad at me
I didn't wanna see the film tonight
I found it hard to say
She thought I'd had enough of her
Why can't she see
She's lovely to me?
But I like to stay in
And watch TV on my own
Every now and then
"Night Boat To Cairo" could be described as Egyptian Reggae but it is very different to the Jonathan Richman hit, with again the sax to the fore and the lyrics conjuring up images of Agatha Christie's "Death On The Nile", and the supporting video had the band dressed up in pith helmets and Army uniforms from the days of the empire in Egypt.
"Believe Me" is another song with jaunty piano intro and sax, and the lyrics have a man trying to persuade his girlfriend he wasn't unfaithful with a girl named Sue, despite all the rumours she might have heard.
"Land Of Hope And Glory" has a military drum intro, a strong bass line and the vocal from Lee Thompson being a cross between sergeant major and cockney, with the imaginary description of how the various band members might cope with conscription and National Service.
The tribute to Prince Buster, "The Prince" is next with its weird ska rhythms and sax instrumental break.
Side One closes with the instrumental "Tarzan's Nuts" with jungle drums, piano and a ska beat.
Side Two opens with "In The Middle Of The Night" which is perhaps my favourite song on the album. Beginning with some street vendor newspaper cries, it's a happy musical hall song but with dark lyrics. Like Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" it is about a clothes line underwear thief. "Isn't that in George on page one, difficult to tell from his photofits".
"Bed And Breakfast Man" is another jaunty musical song "He used to kip on my sofa, they used to call him a loafer".
"Razor Blade Alley" features dinky piano playing and has another vocal from Lee Thompson.
"Swan Lake" is a keyboard driven ska version of Tchaikovsky's classic. I'm not too sure of the point of it, but it is all fairly harmless.
"Rocking In A♭" is probably best described as ska rock n'roll. "Let's have some fun tonight".
"Mummies Boy" is another musical hall style number with jerky piano, and is about a man who lived with his mother for 40 years, and local folks said he must be queer. "In the pub about seven thirty, mother makes sure his face ain't dirty". It has a frantic sax outro.
Next is another Prince Buster cover, the merry ska "Madness" from which the band took their name, before the final track "Chipmunks Are Go", a short a-capella chant led with Chas Smith with the band joining in.
In summary, One Step Beyond remains a great album !
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. One Step Beyond
2. My Girl
3. Night Boat To Cairo
4. Believe Me
5. Land Of Hope And Glory
6. The Prince
7. Tarzan's Nuts
1. In The Middle Of The Night
2. Bed And Breakfast Man
3. Razor Blade Alley
4. Swan Lake
5. Rocking In A♭
6. Mummies Boy
7. Madness
8. Chipmunks Are Go
Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 2
Singles :
The Prince ( No 16 - 1979 )
One Step Beyond ( No 7 - 1979 )
My Girl ( No 3 - 1980 )
Night Boat To Cairo ( No 6 - 1980 )
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