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DVDfever.co.uk – Madness: Total Madness CD reviewElly Roberts reviews
USM Media
- Released: September 2009
- Rating: 8/10
- Vote and comment on this album:View Comments
More nuttiness from… the “Nutty Boys”.
Madness have always been the ultimate bloke band, and now they get a comprehensive hits 21 and two album tracks.
This album reminds us of the pop force they were in the late 70s and early 80s with a string of happy-go-lucky tunes that brought joyous Bedlam onto the dance floor of nightclubs and parties.Their music was totally infectious and from personal memories of DJing at time they brought a smile to everybodys faces with their Ska infused energy.
The Camden lads were regulars on Top Of The Pops which helped them sell in excess of six million singles.After starting out as The North London Invaders, then The Invaders, Morris And The Minors, they eventually settled on Madness, paying homage to the song by Ska-Reggae artist Prince Buster, with their UK debut single being called Prince , which made 16 on the British charts.
For the next two years (Nov 79 Dec 81) they were unstoppable, never failing to make the Top 10, starting with One Step Beyond up to and including It Must be Love.Sandwiched were classics My Girl, Baggy Trousers, and Embarrassment.
In a 1979 article, Chris Foreman predicted the bands music would move with the times and change style as they moved on.Album wise, unlike the first two album, their third 7 signalled the change, with Suggs Cockney accent less pronounced. 7 had a much popier sound which may well have alienated their hardcore fans.
At the beginning of 1982, they had a blip with Cardiac Arrest (#14) but three months later they bounced back with their only chart topper House Of Fun.Then came some of their best known songs Driving In My Car, and Our House.
Madnesss Top 10 domination began to wane with Michael Caine (#11 in 1984) their first outside since Cardiac Arrest, which signalled their decline as hit factory. There was one great song One Better Day a sumptuous, sophisticated and mature gem in the same year.
A re-issue of It Must Be Love in 1992 reached the Top Ten at #6, soon followed by House Of Funs reissue peaking at a lowly #40, by which time the game was effectively up.Between 1993 and 1999 they were nowhere to be seen, then they resurfaced with and more expanded sound strings boosted – for Lovestruck.
They ended their chart love affair with Drip Fed Fred in 2000, not included here.
In 2009 they remerged again with The Liberty Of Norton Folgate which hit number 5.This year theyve become popular all over again with a Pyramid Stage stint at Glastonbury.
The verdict Madness gladness.
Weblinks:madness.co.uk (for 2009 tour info) /myspace.com/madnessofficial (Audio clips and videos)
The full list of tracks included are :
1. One Step Beyond
2. Baggy Trousers
3. House Of Fun
4. Our House
5. Embarrassment
6. My Girl
7. It Must Be Love
8. Wings Of A Dove
9. The Sun And The Rain
10. Grey Day
11. NW5
12. Cardiac Arrest
13. Tomorrows Just Another Day
14. Driving In My Car
15. Bed And Breakfast Man
16. Love Struck
17. One Better day
18. Michael Caine
19. The Return Of The Los Palmas 7
20. The Prince
21. Shut Up
22. Madness
23. Night Boat To CairoView the discussion thread.blog comments powered by Disqus= 0) {query += ‘url’ + i + ‘=’ + encodeURIComponent(links[i].href) + ‘&’;}}document.write(”);})();//]]]]>]]>
Elly Roberts passed away in 2011, but he was a man who was so passionate about all types of music and loved meeting his musical heroes, such as Mick Hucknall at a book signing at the Trafford Centre, Manchester in 2007.
A former teacher and also a music journalist, DJ and radio presenter on local community station Calon FM, plus appearances on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 2, Elly started doing reviews for DVDfever.co.uk in 2004 and he did the majority of the CD and concerts reviews on the website.
I know also that he loved getting away for the summer to Spain and I hope that wherever he is now he is enjoying the hot sunshine and, as one of his friends has said on his Facebook page, that he is interviewing his musical heroes.