My Girl

Madness’s iconic song “My Girl” was released in 1979 as the lead track from their debut album, “One Step Beyond…”. The song quickly became a signature hit and is often considered one of the band’s most memorable compositions.

Mike Barson, who was driving a van and delivering bananas at the time, collaborated with a co-worker who frequently mentioned phrases like “My girl did this” and “My girl did that”. Inspired by these conversations, Barson wrote the song as a tribute to his girlfriend, photographer Kerstin Rodgers. He originally performed the lead vocals on the song and sang on the original demo.

The song was first performed by Madness as The Invaders in July 1978 at a shop in Camden Lock called Blind Alley, where band member Mark Bedford was working. At that time, the song was simply titled “New Song”. However, Suggs, the band’s lead singer, took over the vocal duties from Barson and sang the album version of the song.

In January 1980, Madness made history by becoming the first band of the new decade to perform on the popular TV show Top of the Pops. Their performance of “My Girl” was a significant moment in their career and helped to establish the band as one of the most popular acts in the United Kingdom.