Madness – One Step Beyond…

Madness 1979

Introduction

October 19, 1979, is a special date. On that day important albums were released, ones that would play a pivotal role in my musical trajectory: Prince’s second album (Prince), The Specials’ debut album (The Specials) and the debut album by Madness, One Step Beyond…, this article’s subject.

Madness

Started as 1976 as The North London Invaders and shortly known as Morris And The Minors, the band Madness was officially founded in 1979. The name was a tribute to ska and reggae artist Prince Buster. At the time the band was a sextet, and was complemented with a seventh member in late 1979.

The band played a lot of shows in and around London and acquired quite a large following. In August 1979 the band released the single The Prince on 2 Tone Records, the recently founded label by Jerry Dammers (front man for The Specials). The label would play a leading role in the coming 2 years, particularly in the UK.

Following the single’s unexpected success, record companies stood in line to sign the band. The band chose Stiff Records and recorded their debut album over the course of 10 days, using the same studio The Specials had used for recording their debut album.

Madness – One Step Beyond…

One Step Beyond…

On October 19, 1979, the debut album by Madness, One Step Beyond…, was released. The album was very well received by both the critics as the audience. It ended up on the second position of the British album charts and would stay in the charts for over a year.

The music on the album is contagious and combines reggae, ska, rocksteady and rock. The idea for The Nutty Boys, the name for the collected band members, came from saxophone player Lee Thompson, who called their music a mix of pop and circus.

The album contains three tributes to Prince Buster: a re-recorded version of The Prince, Madness and title song One Step Beyond, containing an out-of-tune saxophone.

The album opens with the well -known toast:

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 rockingest
Rock-steady beat of Madness
One step beyond

Madness – One Step Beyond

Madness – One Step Beyond… – Promo poster

Cover

The iconic album cover photo was shot by Cameron McVey. Singer Suggs: “Because there were so many of us, it was hard to get us in the photograph for the album cover. We had to get really close together. Ian Dury’s old band Kilburn and the High Roads did the duck walk on the back of their album. So we did the same for a laugh – and it became iconic.”

Review

Wasn’t Madness nothing more than a clownesque version of The Specials? Where The Specials didn’t laugh (at all), Madness seemed to have nothing but fun and not take their music that seriously. But that was all image as the band was youthful, jumpy, happy and enthusiastic, but also convinced and determined.

Yet, melancholy laid just around the corner as well. Madness was musically versatile and not afraid to even use classical music and give that the Madness treatment (Swan Lake), making Madness more eclectic than most other ska bands.

Madness and The Specials both released their debut album on the very same day and would prove to be a major influence on other bands and were responsible for the swift emergence of the ska-revival and 2 Tone.

Madness – One Step Beyond… – Singles

Singles

4 Singles were culled from the album.

• The Prince
  (released on August 10, 1979)
• One Step Beyond
  (released on October 26, 1979)
• My Girl
  (released on December 21, 1979)
• Night Boat To Cairo
  (released in March 1980 as the EP Work Rest And Play)

In the US the singles Madness and Bed And Breakfast Man were released in March and April 1980. In May 1980 the single Tarzan’s Nuts was released in the Netherlands. The single Don’t Quote Me On That was released as a promo-only in 1980.

Madness – One Step Beyond… – Back cover

Songs

Writers mentioned in brackets.

• One Step Beyond (Cecil Campbell)
• My Girl (Mike Barson)
• Night Boat To Cairo (Graham McPherson, Mike Barson)
• Believe Me (John Hasler, Mike Barson)
• Land Of Hope & Glory (Lee Thompson)
• The Prince (Lee Thompson)
• Tarzan’s Nuts (Chas Smash, Mike Barson, Sydney Lee)
• In The Middle Of The Night (Chris Foreman, Graham McPherson)
• Bed And Breakfast Man (Mike Barson)
• Razor Blade Alley (Lee Thompson)
• Swan Lake (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, arrangement Mike Barson)
• Rockin’ In A♭ (Willy “Wurlitzer” Smith)
• Mummy’s Boy (Mark Bedford)
• Madness (Cecil Campbell)
• Chipmunks Are Go! (Brendan Smyth, Chas Smash)

Madness – One Step Beyond… – Inner sleeves

Musicians

Madness

• Graham “Suggs” McPherson – vocals
• Mike Barson – keyboards
• Chris Foreman – guitar
• Mark Bedford – bass
• Lee Thompson – saxophone, background vocals, vocals on Land of Hope & Glory, Razor Blade Alley
• Dan Woodgate – drums, percussion

Helped by:

• Cathal “Chas Smash” Smyth – background vocals, “various shouts and fancy footwork”, vocals on One Step Beyond…, Chipmunks Are Go!
• John Hasler – minder

N.B.:
A few weeks after the album’s release Smyth officially joined the band.

In 2009 the album was re-released with extra material: videos, John Peel radio sessions and bonus recordings, like B-sides, demos and live recordings. In 2014 the 35th Anniversary Edition was released, which was complemented with cassette demos recorded on April 28, 1979.

Madness – Absolutely

After One Step Beyond…

Quickly following the album’s release, the 2 Tone Tour commenced, a tour presenting Madness, The Specials and The Selecter. In March 1980 the band released the EP Work Rest And Play, which was a huge hit because of Night Boat To Cairo. The EP also contained three new songs. Don’t Quote Me On That addresses accusations the band was racist, a claim the band vehemently denied.

On September 26, 1980, the band released their second album: Absolutely, which I bought immediately. The singles Baggy Trousers, Embarrassment and The Return Of The Los Palmas 7 all turned into top 10 hits. In 1981 the ‘documentary’ Take It Or Leave It was released and Madness could be seen and heard in the 2 Tone movie Dance Craze.

Next, the band’s music started to change. Ska was replaced by a more regular pop sound. 1981’s 7 album illustrated the new course. By the end of the year the band released a cover of It Must Be Love, followed by their first and only British number 1 hit single House Of Fun in 1982. Late 1982 the album The Rise & Fall was released, containing the single Our House, which was the biggest international success of their career.

After studio album Keep Moving (1984) Mike Barson left the band. The band left Stiff Records and founded their own label: Zarjazz Records, a Virgin Records sublabel. In 1985 album Mad Not Mad was released. After recordings for a follow-up failed, Madness disbanded in 1986. In 1988 a stripped down version of the band, using the moniker The Madness, released an album immediately followed by their disbandment.

Under the name Madstock! Madness, in their original line-up, played two shows in August 1992. That same year the band released the recording of the shows on the Madstock! album. The Madstock! formula was repeated in 1994, 1996 and 1998. In 1999 a new studio album, Wonderful, was released. In 2005 The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1, a covers album, saw the light of day. In 2009 the band released a new studio album: The Liberty Of Norton Folgate. The album was very well received. Three years later Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da followed. In 2016 Can’t Touch Us Now was released, followed by Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie in 2023, resulting in Madness’ first ever number 1 album in the UK.

Madness – Logos

In closing

What’s your take on Madness and One Step Beyond…? Let me know!

Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Madness – One Step Beyond…. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.