My Girl

My Girl was released in 1979 as the lead track from their debut album, “One Step Beyond…“. The song became one of Madness‘s signature hits and is often regarded as one of their most iconic songs. Mike Barson was working driving a van and delivering bananas teamed with a co-worker who was always talking about “My girl did this” and “My girl did that”. Barson used this phrasing to write a song about his own experiences with his girlfriend at the time, photographer Kerstin Rodgers. Barson originally performed lead vocals on the song and sang on the original demo.

The song first made its way into the band’s set when they were performing as The Invaders. The first performance of the song came in July 1978, when the band performed at a shop in Camden Lock called Blind Alley where band member Mark Bedford was working; at the time the song was simply titled “New Song”. Suggs took over the vocal duties from Barson before long, and sang the album version of the song. When the group performed the song on Top of the Pops in January 1980, they were the first band of the new decade performing on the TV show.