Madness




January 3rd: Top of the Pops Madness are the first band on the first Top Of The Pops of the new decade performing "My Girl". They then depart for Germany to do some European TV promotion and gigs. January 17th: Bremen to appear on the Musicladen TV show. Keloggs has recently hired Tony Duffield who is a resident of Canvey Island. He will be the band's road manager and occasional sound man. He claims to be semi-fluent in French which is soon put to the test as he asks someone directions in an Inspector Clouseau type French semi fluent accent. The baffled Frenchman then replies in semi fluent English. Duffield has also brought along John Wynne, a fellow Canveyite and fresh from the GPO. Unlike Chalky and Toks he is eminently qualified for the job as he can drive and there is also the added bonus is that he has some knowledge of electrical matters as well. He will henceforth have the unenviable task of being in charge of Chalky and Toks. They immediately christen him "Sarge". Set: One Step Beyond Deceives The Eye / Mistakes / Believe Me / My Girl / Swan Lake / Razorblade Alley / Land Of Hope and Glory / ln The Rain / The Young and The Old / In The Middle Of The Night / Bed and Breakfast Man/Tarzan's Nuts / Nightboat To Cairo / The Prince / Madness Encores: Swan Lake / Don't Quote me on That. January 20th: Paris La Palace January 21st: Paris TV show Midi Premiere January 22nd: Brussels Ancienne Belgique January 23rd: Liege Salle De La Chappelle January 24th: Antwerp Groot Auditorium January 25th: Belgium Lux Club January 26th: Deinze Brielpoort January 28th: Berlin Kant Kino January 29th: Hamburg Martkthalle January 30th: Tilburg Poschette January 31st: The Hague Trojan Horse February 2nd: Amsterdam Paradiso February 3rd: Arnham Stokvishal February 16th: London Madness play a matinee gig at the Hammersmith Odeon in the morning for the younger fans. Tickets are £1. Afterwards they hold a junior press conference all the reporters being kids too. February 20th: Madness Fly to NYC for their second American tour. Set: One Step Beyond / Deceives The Eye / Mistakes / Believe Me / My Girl / Swan Lake / Razorblade Alley / Land Of Hope and Glory / In The Rain / The Young and The Old / In The Middle Of The Night / Bed and Breakfast Man / The Prince / Rockin'In Ab / Nightboat To Cairo / Madness. Encores: One Step Beyond / Steppin'Into Line. February 21st: Philadelphia February 22nd: Washington Bayou Club February 24th: Boston Paradise Club February 25th: New York Irving Plaza NYC February 26th: New York Irving Plaza NYC February 27th: Montreal Toronto Broadway Madness travel by train from New York to Canada. They have got a Club carriage all to themselves. Suggs and Carl have bought Sony Walkmans [which have just come out] and show them to the guard who says "there ain't nothing that can touch ol Big Bertha" which he then fetches to show the boys. Big Bertha is his massive ghetto blaster boom box. This terminology soon passes into the Madness lexicon but it is also used to describe many other things. On arrival the PA is useless. Tony Duffield reports to the band that this is due problems with the "DBX's" hoping that they won't know what he's on about. As he certainly doesn't. Mike demolishes the dressing room during the show due to frustrations at his non-functioning keyboards. After the show the dressing room is an unpleasant mixture of smashed plates tossed food and vomit as to add to the misery Chalky has been sick during the gig. February 28th: Toronto Nickelodeon A far better venue and performance. Sound by Duffield excellent. The DBX's are presumably performing well. March 1st: Detroit Punch and Judy Club March 2nd: Chicago Park West March 3rd: Drive to Cleveland During this US trip Madness had two cars to travel in with no audio entertainment except for American AM radio which was absolute torture to listen to. The only good record which is on constant "heavy rotation" is Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". March 4th: Cleveland Agora March 8th: Portland the Wreck of the Hesperas March 9th: Seattle University of Washington March 10th: Vancouver The Commodore Ballroom March 12th: San Francisco Old Waldorf Madness also do an in store appearance at Aquarius Records in the afternoon. March 14th: Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go Madness hold a competition and try to give way a large car which is painted in the ubiquitous two tone checks. They think the car although a bit of an old banger is very smart. And the winner is... No one claims the car. After announcing the third winner and not getting any claimants the car is then pushed into an alleyway behind the club. It seemed most kids in LA had already got cars. Also far better than this old breaker. March 15th: Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go March 16th: Los Angeles Whisky a Go Go March 23rd: Madrid Madness appear on El Gran Musical radio programme. Bizarrely they are miming in front of a radio audience. March 24th: Madrid Madness appear on Musical Aplauso TV programme. March 25th: Madrid Madness have to do some press interviews and go for a meal with assorted Spanish journalists most of whom don't speak any English. It is therefore decided the best thing to do to establish good Spanish/Madness relations is have a football match instead. Madness win after substituting the cowboy boot wearing Duffield with Chalky. This historic event is still remembered with affection by all to this day. March 26th: Paris Madness appear on the Palmares Des Chansons TV show. March 27th: Paris Madness appear on the Les Rendez Vous Du Dimanche TV show which was apparently the most important show on Channel 1. March 28th: Madness didn’t think Stiff should release any more singles from the One Step Beyond album and after much arguing with Dave Robinson decide to compromise by making it an EP. Stiff release the Work Rest and Play EP [Stiff BUY71] Highest chart position 6. Weeks in chart 8. The EP featured three new tracks Deceives The Eye / The Young and The Old and Don't Quote Me On That. And of course Night Boat to Cairo. The only problem was that there was no video and no time to make a good one so Madness went to a TV studio and filmed in front of a bluescreen which then had a dodgy Egyptian background superimposed on it. Despite it's karoke nature this video became one of the most popular amongst the fans. Perhaps this may be due to the the somewhat liberal amounts of beer drunk during the video. A good time was had by all and the band were awarded with Silver discs for One Step beyond after the filming. March 29th: Paris Pavilion Baltard Madness play at a big indoor festival. Also on the Bill are Stiff label mates Wreckless Eric Lew Lewis and Lene Lovich. Lew Lewis is another Canvey Island man and spends some time working in France. He turns up dramatically from now on at Madness French gigs and will often join them to play harmonica on Rockin in Ab. March 31st: Madness perform Night Boat to Cairo on Top of the Pops. April 10th: Madness appear on the Musikladen TV show in Germany. They then head off round the UK on tour. Support acts Clive Langer and The Boxes who included Mike Barson's brother Ben on Keyboards plus the Go Go's who had recently signed to Stiff Records in the UK. Set: Nightboat To Cairo / Mistakes / Crying Shame / Believe Me / The Young and The Old / In The Rain / E.R.N.I.E. / My Girl / Baggy Trousers / Bed and Breakfast Man / On The Beat Pete / Land Of Hope and Glory / Embarrassment / Swan Lake / The Prince Encores: One Step Beyond / Madness April 21st: Margate Winter Gardens April 22nd: Great Yarmouth Tiffanys April 23rd: Peterborough Wirrina Stadium April 24th: Coventry Tiffanys April 26th: Bridlington Royal Spa Pavilin April 27th: Bradford St. Georges Hall April 28th: Deeside Leisure Centre April 29th: Blackpool Tiffanys April 30th: Sunderland Mayfair May 2nd: Carlisle Assembly Rooms May 3rd: West Calder Regal Suite May 4th: Aberdeen Fusion Ballroom May 5th: Irvine Magnum Centre May 7th: Belfast Whitla Hall May 8th: Dublin Olympic Ballroom May 10th: Llanelli Glen Ballroom May 14th: Paris TV show The tour continued into Europe with just one support act Clive Langer and The Boxes. May 19th: Berlin Neue Welt May 20th: Hamburg Musikhalle May 22nd: Dusseldorf Philipshalle May 23rd: Weisbaden Wartburg Music Hall May 24th: Munich Circus Krone This was to be a somewhat dramatic gig. Mike and Suggs had missed the coach and were being driven to the gig by the promoter who hadn't told anyone thus causing some concern about their whereabouts and safety for the other five band members. There had also been a few offensive weapons confiscated on the door including a Luger gun. The crowd were getting restless and eventually Mike and Suggs arrived just before a riot occurred. During the show a rather important German official wearing a brown uniform who looked like a top ranking policeman suddenly appeared onstage and dramatically stopped the show. He then spoke into the microphone in an extremely authorative voice. After a while and fearing the worst Chrissy Boy asked the band's translator what was being said. It was in fact "vould ze owner of ze brown Ford car please go in ze car park as he has left his lights on". Once this serious fact had been established the official's hat was thrown into the crowd and he was thrown into the audience. Shweinhund. May 26th: Winterthur Eulachalle May 27th: Lausanne Palais Beaulieu On arrival the band each received the following letter: MUSIKVERTRIEB AG ZURICH Postfach 8040 Zurich Badenerstrasse 555 Telefon 01549754 Telegrammadresse Musikvertrieb Zurich Mr. Chris Foreman c/o Garten Hotel 8400 Winterthur Zurich 23th May 1980 [posted four days before with typical Swiss efficiency] Dear Chris As the representatives of STIFF Records in Switzerland we welcome you in our country. We hope you will enjoy your stay here otherwise you will find a real Swiss Military pocket knife in the enclosed package. Should you have any problems or wishes inform us we will help you. Best wishes MUSIKVERTRIEB AG Urs Waeckerlin PS Remember all MAD Swiss boys have got knifes in their pockets. This of course meant that the seven MAD Madness boys now have Swiss army knives in their possession and there follows a jolly evenings entertainment using the screwdrivers from the knives to unscrew all the door numbers from the rooms and change them round. The toilet signs saying male female were also reversed with hilarious results. John Wynne had every object in his room that had screws in de-screwed so when he went to bed and turned off his light it fell apart. Closely followed by his room disintegrating. May 28th: Lyon Palais D’Hiver May 29th: Toulose Hall Cominges May 30th: Bordeaux Palais Des Sports June 1st: Cambrai Palais Des Grottes June 2nd: Madness appear on a Dutch TV show called Rock Planet. June 3rd: Amsterdam Festival of Fools. During the show a rather tired and emotional Dutchman had to be removed from the lighting rig where he was hanging precariously by one hand about thirty feet above Woody. June 5th: Stockholm Goeta Lejon June 6th: Oslo Chateau Neuf June 9th: London Lewisham Odeon June 10th: London Lyceum Ballroom June 11th: Cardiff Top Rank June 12th: Bath Pavilion June 13th: Torquay Town Hall June 14th: St Austell June 18th-31st: Madness take a brief break to do some rehearsing and songwriting. They are rehearsing in NOMIS studios near Earls Court which is a rather depressing place with no windows. They get a blackboard and write down song titles and chords on it. They have already got a few new songs that they been playing live namely Baggy Trousers, Embarrassment, E.R.N.I.E. and On The Beat Pete. June 30th: Chas records the vocals for the Spanish version of One Step Beyond [Un Paso Adelante] at Eden studios. This was done because a Spanish artist called Luis Cobos was always doing cover versions of popular UK songs and Madness had decided to play him at his own game. July: Paris Vierzon TV show July 14th: Madness start recording the Absolutely album. Tony Duffield who has been the band's tour manager, linguistics expert and sound man is sadly "let go". The album is titled after one of his many expressions. He then goes on to work for Yazoo and an unsubstantiated rumour is that Yazoo's album You And Me Both is named after another of his frequent sayings. He is to resurface years later in the Lover's Guide videos. August 11th: Nottingham Theatre Royal Madness film a concert for TV. The support act is The Mo Dettes. August 12th: Nottingham Theatre Royal Madness film the video for Baggy Trousers in Islip Street School Kentish Town. Lee wants to fly through the air and kick the heads off some mannequins who are supposed to represent the band. He is hanging on a wire from a crane. On viewing the finished result surprisingly unlike Thunderbirds you can't see the wires. This video is a very important point for Madness as everybody raves about it and from now on the great British public eagerly awaits each forthcoming Madness video. It also means Top of the Pops can show the videos instead of having to get the band in. A situation which is mutually agreeable. August 30th: Woody marries Jane from the Mo dettes. He doesn’t tell the band but does tell the Face magazine who publish pictures. September: Absolutely [Stiff SEEZ 29] Madness' second album is released. Highest chart position 2. September 5th: Baggy Trousers [Stiff BUY 84] released. Highest chart position 3. Weeks in chart 20. September 26th: Germany The Musikladen Festival September 27th: Madness get banned from Tizwas after a series of unfortunate incidents involving Suggs, Chas, Sally James and a spray can full of silly string. They sprayed some at Sally James and it got stuck to her false eyelashes. When the boys tried in gentlemanly fashion to remove it her eyelash came off with it. October 1st: Madness hang around in the Top of the Pops studio and eventually perform Baggy Trousers as Top of the Pops has already shown the video. 2nd Madness demo an ad for Martini. The tune used eventually resurfaces on the 7 album entitled the Opium Eaters. October 3rd: Madness play two tour warm up gigs at the Porterhouse Retford and see their old pal Sammy Jackson. October 4th: Porterhouse Retford October 7th: Madness leave for Italy on the Madness Monster Tour. Which is a series of dates in Europe. The support act is The Lambrettas. Set: Un Passo Avanti / E.R.N.I.E. / Mistakes / Disappear / Bed and Breakfast Man / Close Escape / Overdone / Not Home Today / Razorblade Alley / Embarrassment / Take It Or Leave It / On The Beat Pete / My Girl / Shadow Of Fear / You Said / Swan Lake / In The Middle Of The Night / Baggy Trousers / The Prince / Rockin'In Ab / Madness Encores: Nightboat To Cairo / Un Passo Avanti October 9th: Milan Palalido October 10th: Turin Palasport October 11th: Padaova Palasport There is a riot which is caused by a variety of events. There is an Italian anarchistic movement who don’t believe in paying to see bands. Lee and Chris are watching the Lambrettas and see a crowd of these hippyish types force their way in using machetes and baseball bats to smash windows and then have a battle with riot police who are using tear gas managing to gas themselves in the process. Very Italian job. Woody:"Italy was just phenomenal. I mean it really was incredible. They had a five year ban or something on all live acts in Italy from foreign lands and we came in to maniac crowds. It was just such a buzz. They went really potty in Padova. They came through the glass panelings with sledgehammers and axes and there were riot police in there. You know... "I'm an Italian and I want to see a gig. I don`t need a ticket. It was brilliant. Really brilliant". October 13th: Bologna Palasport October 14th: Rome Teatro Tendastrisce October 15th: Rome The band appear on an Italian TV show called Disco Ring. They perform One Step Beyond. October 17th: Amsterdam Madness are scheduled to do a press conference on a canal boat but nobody is really up for it on a day off in Amsterdam which has far more exciting things to do. A few members of The Specials join them but the fact remains that the two hour trip is a right bore. There is no beer available and outside it is pouring with rain. Suggs is more worried about missing The Cure's concert at the Countdown festival and after an hour he decides that enough is enough. As the boat slows down when heading for the next bridge both Suggs and Jerry Dammers hop off. The captain is less than pleased. "Fcking bstards get off my roof!" he shouts. Meanwhile the others have to suffer for one more hour but Suggs and Jerry have escaped. October 18th: Amsterdam Jaap Edenhal Madness have a break from their tour and appear with the Specials to appear on a Dutch TV show. They both play live on stages next to each other and during the Specials set the stage collapses due to a stage invasion which has by now become a tradition. The tour then continues with the Lambrettas supporting. October 19th: Dienze Brielport October 20th: Le Mans La Rotonde October 21st: Orleans Hall De Prestige October 22nd: Rouen Studio 44 October 23rd: Paris another TV show called Top Club performing Baggy Trousers / Night Boat to Cairo / One Step Beyond October 24th: Reims Maison De Sports October 25th: Paris Hippodrome October 26th: Strasbourg Tivoli October 27th: Frankfurt Volksbildungsheim October 28th: Stuttgart Bad Cannstatt October 29th: Hannover Karhaus-Freidenstal October 30th: Cologne Sartory Saal November 1st: Gothenburg Scandinavium November 2nd: Lund Olympen November 3rd: Stockholm Gota Lejon November 4th: Oslo Chateau Neuf November 7th/8th: London Hope and Anchor Madness play a the first of two gigs at the Hope and Anchor It's guest list only with all proceeds to Blanket Aid which is a charity which aims to supply blankets and warm clothing for the homeless and elderly in the winter months ahead. Madness film the video for Embarrassment in the Embassy Club London. November 12th: Highbury Wessex studios Madness record the ad for Martini. November 14th: Madness release Embarrassment [Stiff BUY102] Highest chart position 4. Weeks in chart 12. London Clinic Devonshire Place. Chas has his tonsils removed. December: The Madness fan club which was called the MIS [Madness Information Service] had recently been formed with John Hasler coming back to the fold and eventually running it. The band had decided to produce their own comic called The Nutty Boys .The first issue was available at the Christmas gigs and it featured a cartoon strip depicting the bands rise to fame. It was sold on the 12 Days of Madness tour. There was a fantastic Kellogs plan to have the magazine sold in newsagents which then fell through leaving the band with 250,000 copies to get rid of. Some were eventually given away free with the 12" copy of the Los Palmas Seven. December 1st: Madness perform Embarrassment on Top of the Pops. The 12 Days of Madness tour. Madness perform two shows a day at most gigs the earlier shows being matinee performances for the under 16 age group and only costing £1. The support acts are Simon Drake [who is a magician] and John Otway and Wild Willy Barret who are magical. Set: One Step Beyond / E.R.N.IE. / Mistakes / Disappear-Bed and Breakfast Man / The Return Of The Los Palmas 7 / Close Escape / Overdone / Not Home Today / Razorblade Alley / My Girl / Take It Or Leave It / On The Beat Pete / Embarrassment / Shadow Of Fear / She Said / In The Middle Of The Night / The Prince / Baggy Trousers / Rockin'In Ab / Madness Encore:Crying Shame. December 8th: Newcastle City Hall December 9th: Edinburgh Odeon December 10th: Glasgow Apollo December 11th: Southampton Madness film an appearance on the Runaround TV show dressed in Father Christmas outfits and on ice skates. December 12th: Manchester Apollo December 14th: Brighton Centre December 15th: Derby Assembly Rooms December 16th: Birmingham Odeon December 17th: Hanley Victoria Hall December 20th: Southampton Gaumont December 21st: Leicester De Montford Hall December 22nd: Hammersmith Odeon Madness play the first of two shows at the Hammersmith Odeon. The Christmas Eve gig was held as a charity event and a toy collection was held at the doors. The toys were then distributed to children's homes. December 23rd: Hammersmith Odeon December 24th: Hammersmith Odeon December 25th: Madness appear on the Christmas Edition of the Runaround TV show with Mike Reid which was filmed on ice with the band wearing ice skates. December 27th: Birmingham NEC Madness play at Elvis Costello's Christmas Show also on the bill are UB40, The Selecter, Rockpile and Squeeze. December 31st: Suggs and Chas play The Venue New Cross as The Rubber Biscuits. Also playing that night was Bette Bright who had been a singer with Deaf School, and was to eventually become Mrs Anne McPherson.
		1981 >>>