Driving In My Car

The single “Driving in My Car”, written by Mike Barson, had a significant impact on the charts. It was released as a standalone on 24th July 1982 and remained on the UK Singles Chart for eight impressive weeks, peaking at number four. The B-side of the single was “Animal Farm”, which was mostly an instrumental reworking of the song “Tomorrow’s Dream” from the album Madness 7. The 12″ version of the single included the song “Riding on My Bike,” which was a rewording of the main track sung by Lee Thompson.

Although the original release featured the usual sleeve format, Stiff Records quickly issued another sleeve edition that folds out to a mini-poster. right behind these two editions, Stiff Records released the picture disc version of the single. All three editions feature the original mix and B’ Side ‘Animal Farm (Tomorrow’s Dream Warp Mix)’

The video for ‘Driving in My Car’ is a delightful display of Madness’s playful side. It shows the band members as car mechanics having a great time in their workshop. They then switch to their normal suits and drive around in their ‘Maddiemobile’ – a white 1959 model Morris Minor. The video also features a cameo by the members of the Fun Boy Three, adding to the fun. They are seen trying (and failing) to hitch a ride to their home town of Coventry, which the A45 mentioned in the song passes through.