https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/madness-third-uk-number-1-album-theatre-of-the-absurd-pts-cest-la-vie/ Puterbraugh, Parke. " 'Keep Moving' review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 . Retrieved 1 August 2007. Only many years later did Suggs realise that being in a band might have had a therapeutic effect, after he saw a professional therapist. That debut studio album, One Step Beyond... was released by Stiff Records. [11] The album included a re-recording of "The Prince" and its B-side "Madness", and the band's second and third singles: " One Step Beyond" and " My Girl". The title song was a cover of the B-side of the 1960s Prince Buster hit "Al Capone". The One Step Beyond... album stayed in the British charts for 78 weeks, peaking at number 2. [11] [13] Smyth performed on the album but was not an official member of the band at the time of the album's recording or release. He would formally join Madness a few weeks after One Step Beyond... was issued in October 1979.

The core of the band formed as the North London Invaders in 1976, and included Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) on keyboards and vocals, Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) on guitar and Lee Thompson (Kix) on saxophone and vocals. [6] They later recruited John Hasler on drums and Cathal Smyth (better known as Chas Smash) on bass guitar. Later in the year, they were joined by lead vocalist Dikran Tulaine. [6] The Fink Brothers were a short-lived alter ego created by Madness members Suggs and Chas Smash, working under the aliases Angel and Ratty Fink, using characters from the science fiction comic 2000 AD. [78] Single Year It’s part of the reason he says the jobs as “actors and musicians and journalists” are going to the “f—ing middle classes.” The cost of the capital doesn’t help. “I’ve moved out to Leyton and the kids have moved out there too because they couldn’t afford to live where they were brought up. I think that’s a universal thing for working-class people. I worry about the centre of London. When you think about everything that was going on when I was young – there were clubs, railway arches, raves, squats. There was room to manoeuvre. Now there ain’t. It’s all about money. Where does that lead? I’ve got friends who work at St Martin’s Fashion College and there’s hardly any English people there. They can’t afford it. Unless your mum and dad can pay for you, you can’t afford to do anything.” Thompson, Lee. "Tomorrow's Dream: What's it all about?". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007 . Retrieved 5 June 2007. a b c d e f g "The Madness Timeline: 1979". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved on 5 June 2007.Garratt, Sheryl (22 October 2012). "Madness: Suggs on 30 years as music's most dysfunctional family". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.

Madness Central - Tour Madness". www.madnesstradingring.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Meanwhile the band have begun writing new material of which 4BF, a tribute to Brian Ferry, is the first to be premiered. Madness & Special Guests Squeeze - The Ladykillers Tour 2021". Madness. 15 May 2021 . Retrieved 15 May 2021. a b c d "1985 - October 20: Chippenham Gold-diggers". SevenRaggedMen.com . Retrieved 14 December 2021. Reed, John (2010). House of Fun: The Story of Madness. Omnibus Press. p.278. ISBN 978-1-84772-619-3.

The Madness on Friday Night Live (1988)". YouTube. 12 April 2009. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021 . Retrieved 5 May 2014. The lineup of the band was in constant flux, and they were joined by Suggs (Graham McPherson), Woody (Daniel Woodgate) and Bedders (Mark Bedford).

The new studio album, entitled The Liberty of Norton Folgate, was released a week later, on 18 May 2009. It charted at No.5 in the UK Albums Chart. The band continued to play various festivals, including Pinkpop, Splendour, and Glastonbury. [53] On 27 September 2009, the band also played a free concert on a closed-off Regent Street in association with Absolute Radio. May 19: Wirral Live, Tranmere Rovers stadium, Birkenhead". SevenRaggedMen.com . Retrieved 14 December 2021.You forget how important music is. We did a few gigs this summer and my mate said ‘It’s unbridled joy, Suggs’. On the road with the trailblazing record label 2 Tone". The Guardian. 25 April 2021 . Retrieved 27 September 2021. Duffy, Jonathan (24 November 2005). "An embarrassment no more". BBC News . Retrieved 5 January 2010. The name of the band was changed; first to Morris and the Minors and then to Madness. They chose the name as a tribute to Prince Buster - one of their favourite ska / reggae artists, who had a song of the same name. In late 2010, the band collaborated in the Cage Against the Machine project, in which numerous artists performed John Cage's 4′33″ for a charity single intended to prevent the winner of The X Factor claiming the Christmas Number 1. The title refers to the previous year's successful campaign to get Rage Against the Machine's " Killing in the Name" to chart above X Factor winner Joe McElderry.