January 1st:
The Invaders play at the London film Makers co-op in Camden. The other acts are The Russians and The Millwall Chainsaws. The Millwall Chainsaws set consists of gratuitous swearing and punky noise which causes many people already suffering from New Years Eve hangovers to vacate the premises.
Mike Barson's diary: New Years we supported The Russians.Everyone went home after we played. Left The Russians owing some money to the PA. Lots of snow around.
January 7th:
The Invaders play at the Nashville Rooms Kensington Supporting Tribesman. They had met a man called Steve Thomas who is the manager of the Tribesman after the Acklam Hall gig and he is interested in managing them. He has a large and heavy sidekick who upon hearing that the band want to change their name suggests "The Iron Bars". They don’t take up either offer.
Mike Barson's diary: Supported the Tribesman. Got gig through their manager Steve Thomas who would like to manage us. We got cut off halfway cause we came on too late.
January 16th:
The North London Invaders play at the Dublin Castle Camden. They support a band called ABC [no connection with the more famous one] who are friends of Mark's. They have been trying to get a gig at the Dublin Castle for some time and manage to bring along a few supporters which impresses the Landlord who will later book them as a headline act.
Mike Barson's diary: Played with Indra’s boys. Quite crowded.
January 22nd: Camden Music Machine
Supporting Sore Throat [as Morris and the Minors]. Madness often went to see Sore Throat who were a popular local band. As Chrissy Boy knew the keyboard player Matthew Flowers vaguely he had arranged this gig. This was the first ever "Madness" appearance although the band were not not billed as such. Sham 69 singer Jimmy Pursey had recently started a record label and signed a band called the Invaders. So a name change was becoming a necessity for the band who had been calling themselves the North London Invaders for a while. The listing actually said Sore Throat plus Morris and the Minors which was Mike's idea for a new name. The band had already agreed to become Madness from now on after a rehearsal when it was proposed that Morris and the Minors wasn't a very good name. Someone suggested naming the band after one of the songs and Chrissy Boy replied as a joke "oh yeah...Madness" ...and to his horror everyone agreed. Chas is on stage nutty dancing throughout the performance. He starts off at the side then joins the band onstage.
Mike Barson's diary: Supported the Sore Throat. Some people said we blew them off stage. We had a good support from the crowd anyway.
May 3rd:
Madness play their first gig at Islington's Hope and Anchor in Upper Street. This is after constant badgering of the owner John Eichler by Chas and Simon Birdsall who lived opposite in Compton Terrace. Eventually John Eichler has to help the band out as he has to pay for the PA hire [£30].
Mike Barson’s diary: Wasn’t as full as we expected.
May 4th:
Nashville Rooms Kensington supporting Sore Throat. They don’t get offered any more support gigs with Sore Throat after this gig as they have by now attracted their own following.
Mike Barson's diary: Supported Sore Throat. Lots of bright light but not much else.
May 7th: The Windsor Castle, Harrow Road
There is a very sparse audience of about eight dodgy looking people. Lee asks the largest thug who's playing pool to collect the money. The band gets 50p between them.
Mike Barson's diary: Nearly empty lost £20 for PA [Malcolm] bookings bodged by Frank Silver.
May 19th:
Mike Barson’s diary: Mentioned by Melody Maker by Specials as one of the few bands to play Ska! They haven't even seen us.
June 1st: Dublin Castle Camden
Mike Barson's diary: Played with 23 Skidoo. It was very crowded. Lots of unknown punters. Rumour of a review in Melody Maker.
June 8th: Nashville Rooms / Dublin Castle.
Mike Barson's diary: Set up gear at Dublin. Then went to Nashville and played support to to Specials. Luke warm reception then back to Dublin to home crowd. 23 Skidoo came back in a taxi. Dedicated? Support by Phil Payne and Low Numbers.
June 15th: Dublin Castle
Mike Barson's diary: Supported by Low Numbers. A good gig from what I remember.
June 16th:
Madness go to Pathway studios to record some demos. They managed to save £300 and had planned this event a few weeks earlier. However Woody was making his own way there and sped off and away on his new motorbike from the Morris van containing the rest of the band plus the instruments. He was last seen heading up Holloway Road in the wrong direction. This time Clive Langer has asked Rob Dickens of Warner Brothers publishing to advance the band the money. Clive knew Rob Dickens through his earlier days in Deaf School when Rob was his publisher.
Mike Barson's diary: Went into studio 2-10 [PATHWAY] and recorded the Prince Madness and My Girl paid by W.B. Rob Dickens.
June 17th:
Mike Barson's diary: PATHWAY 2-10 CONT.
June 18th:
Madness go to see Warner Brothers publishing.
Mike Barson's diary: WARNER BROS.PUB. Went to see Rob Dickens who said he really liked the tape.
Melody maker review the June 1st Dublin Castle gig: The name says it all. Shut your eyes and think of England's entire phalanx of pop culture during the last say 25 years: teds/ beatniks/rockers/mods/skeds/hippies/glam-rock mutants/Sloane Rangers/uniform fetishists and main line punks. Imagine 20 or 30 of each strain plus several dozen left field crazies I've misplaced pigeon holes for huddled together in a room the size of your average khazi at a steady Regulo 6 and you've got the Dublin Castle last Friday night. This I'm told is a typical Madness audience and I brace myself for the ultimate cross over band.
Instead we get six fairly nondescript teenagers the only visual heretic Mikey Barson who wears a bootlace tie a dirty tux and exudes sleeze behind a set of keyboards. Huddled around him on the titchy are:
Lee Thompson [tenorsax]
Mark "Fiddly" Bedford [bass]
Chris Forman [guitar]
and a big lad called Suggs who sings.
All save Barson have closely cropped barnets and look vaguely threatening. But this ought not to be the case, Suggs is a natural showman a street level raconteur who keeps up a constant stream of personalised banter with his audience dedicating almost every number to someone or something each more laughable than the last. Vocally reminiscent of Kevin Ayers his original songs have a strong blue beat feel and he's even written one extolling Prince Buster called The Prince. But his style and delivery is closer to Johnny Moped. Shuffling like Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs or grating listlessly like Sky Saxon and The Seeds they defy tidy comparisons. Just when you've got familiar with Barson's fairground organ or Thompson's affable knockabout sax the former dons an England supporter's beanie and careens into Tears of a Clown or the latter has a crack at Hall of The Mountain King as if Greig written it after cranking up a gram of sulphate.
By the third encore half the punters were jumping on tables waving clenched fists and the other half were reeling about the glass strewn floor jolly pissed. Catch Madness supporting the Specials AKA at the Nashville next week and you may find yourself similarly disposed.
MARK WILLIAMS
June 20th:
Mike Barson's diary: Letter from Rob Dickens offering £**** Royalty deal. He said lots of companies are interested. Review in Melody maker. Our first. Very good review except for 2 minor details.
June 24th: Hope and Anchor, Islington
Mike Barson's diary: Played at the Hope and Anchor after John who liked us before gave us another booking sold out 200 people. Few record bus. people.
June 25th:
Mike Barson's diary: Met Tony Stratton Smith for a drink.Had the van towed away. £30.
June 26th:
Mike Barson's diary: Went down to Chrysalis with Suggs. Single definite.
June 28th: Nashville Rooms.
Mike Barson's diary: Went down much better this time. Heard about gig in Liverpool.
June 29th: Dublin Castle, Camden
Mike Barson's diary: DUBLIN CASTLE - Same pub same group same price same songs it seemed like going through the motions. Lots of dancing though. No nutty Carl tonight. Felt we should be doing new songs [packed out]. Bloke from Magnet bought a round.
July 4th:
Mike Barson's diary: Review of the "Hope" by Adrian Thrills. A good review harped on about non-originals a bit much.
July 6th: Dublin Castle.
Mike Barson's diary: Felt a bit routine. Won’t do the Dublin Again.
July 8th: Hope and Anchor, Upper Street
Mike Barson's diary: Packed to the rafters played pretty well. Rocking right to the back for encore of “One Step Beyond. Charged a £ this time.
July 9th:
Mike Barson's diary: Remixed the Prince and Madness to get rid of hum on sax solo. Mix of Madness shit.
July 10th:
Mike Barson's diary: Went to "Sire Records" sounds good offered a tour of America. Sounds like they’re very interested. Saw Virgin recs. sound like just another Virgin deal. Have to consult a solicitor.
July 11th:
Mike Barson's diary: Sounds Review and picture in Sounds. Good review by Gary Bushell. Also did interview for Sounds. Lee didn't come.
July 12th:
Mike Barson's diary: Meet lawyer/cut single Met David Gentil seemed like a good dude. Cut the single it came out pretty good. Met EMI A and R man from Trinidad.
July 14th:
Mike Barson's diary: LIVERPOOL ERICS didn’t see much of Liverpool I would have liked to. The matinee was pretty crap but the late show was really good. We came on after the Specials and joined up on Madness. We made £7.
July 21st: Camden Electric Ballroom
Madness support the Specials.
Mike Barson's diary: Supported Specials played above Selector and Mo-dettes. Woody took a shine to a Mo-dette. Too many skins although everyone danced it seemed a bit as if they weren't listening to the music just dancing to the trend.
July 29th: The Lyceum, London
Madness are supporting the Pretenders who are doing their premiere live show. Promoter John Curd had always had a soft spot for Madness and had booked them into this prestigious gig. But the boys then blotted their copybooks by spraying graffiti all over the dressing room
walls. They had to return to paint over it before he would book them again.
Mike Barson's diary: LYCEUM - Supported the Pretenders. We went down better. More people danced and clapped I think? I enjoyed it a lot wasn’t too hot! ELVIS Costello was there as in Liverpool. July 31st: The Pied Bull, Islington
Chas sez... Pied Bull... altercation in crowd, Chas notices someone flicking ash in girlfriend's hair and leaps into crowd... one goes down... two go down... then Chas gets kicked in the jollies by third skin with steel dm's on who straight away apologises... Chas thereupon Nutty dances back to stage... and more Nutty dancing... Chas is in "That Nutty Sound" inspired Trance... he is wearing a pair of national health glasses... black frame with mirrored lenses made by Lee's wife Deb who was working in a glasses factory at the time...
Mike Barson's diary: Pied Bull in Liverpool Road Quite crowded only had a small ad in MM. Said doll by doll in gig guides. Made £190 Most so far!
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