Production Details: MADNESS ONE STEP BEYOND
A heady Jamaican brew of riffs and rhythms that arrived in Britain in the early Sixties via West Indian immigrants, ska is currently (1979) enjoying a big commercial renaissance as the dance music for young working-class whites bludgeoned by the frenetic thump of punk or numbed by the anesthetic syncopation of Gary Numan-oid electro-pop. Not overburdened by the political connotations attached to the reggae music that succeeded it, ska is a highly danceable mixture of R&B basics, some strident shuffle beats that mutated from calypso, and the orgiastic spirit of New Orleans juke-joint jive. It also comes complete with its own subculture, that of streetwise rude boys in porkpie hats and natty two-tone-suit-and-tie combinations.
Madness is just plain nutty, as Chas Smash states in his grandstanding intro to One Step Beyond.... An almost cartoonish gang of popsters, Madness makes no claims to authenticity. The band takes its name from a song by Sixties ska star Prince Buster, and returns the favor here with a spirited cover version of "Madness" plus a tribute called "The Prince." But more often than not, this six-man unit adapts the insistent ska beat to its own beery dance tunes, running the gamut from outright novelties ("Tarzan's Nuts" and a mischievous treatment of "Swan Lake") to barroom sing-alongs ("Mummy's Boy") to astutely commercial pop productions ("My Girl," "Rockin' in Ab").
It's all good clean fun, and Madness might have hit singles because of it, though the group's rhythm section often lacks the furious drive that powers the Specials. Madness' Suggs, however, is an expressive (albeit hammy) singer cut from the Ian Dury mold, and he provides a refreshing alternative to the ever-threatening sneer of the Specials' Terry Hall.
Yet for all their chauvinistic jabs at women ("Too Much Too Young," "Stupid Marriage") and their audience-baiting in "It's Up to You" ("Take it or leave it/We'll carry on regardless"), the Specials throw down the gauntlet on the dance floor, where ska wars are really won or lost. England responded to the challenge
Production details
A Clanger/Alan Winstanley Production, recorded at Eden & TW Studios, mixed at Rushent's Mansion (The Lucky Bleeder)
Stiff Records SEEZ-17 1979
Madness records collector's information
Except "The Prince" which was released on Two Tone, all Madness releases prior 1985 were released on Stiff records ! In 1984, Madness created their own label Zarjazz and signed a deal with Virgin records who bought their whole stock of recordings from Stiff and distributed Zarjazz releases. Releases after 1987 are on Virgin records only (not Zarjazz !). All "original" material available now has Virgin catalogue numbers, and not Stiff or Zarjazz numbers !
- Band
- Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) - keyboards
- Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) - guitar
- Suggs (Graham McPherson) - vocals
- Mark Bedford (Bedders) - bass
- Lee "Kix" Thomspon - sax, vocals
- Woody Woods Woodgate (Dan Woodgate) - drums, percussion
- Chas Smash - vocals, shouting
- John Hasler - Minder
- Side One:
- One Step Beyond
- My Girl
- Night Boat To Cairo
- Believe Me
- Land Of Hope And Glory
- The Prince
- Tarzan's Nuts
- Side Two:
- in The Middle Of The Night
- Bed & Breakfast Man
- Razor Blade Alley
- Swan Lake
- Rockin' In A Flat
- Mummy's Boy
- Chipmunks Are Go!
Cover of the LP: MADNESS ONE STEP BEYOND
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