The Liberty of Norton Folgate (Expanded Edition)

Compact Disc (2CD)

BMG Rights Management UK

BMGCAT882DCD

BACKGROUND

MIKE, CHRIS, SUGGS, CATHAL, LEE & WOODY ON WRITING & RECORDING MADNESS’S MAGNUM OPUS

Suggs: After Divine Madness had gone to number one in the charts, and Madstock had caused an earthquake, Virgin Records got on to us to make a new album. Half the band did want to do it and half didn’t, but we said, “Alright, we’ll make one more album” That was Wonderful. But we weren’t really in the groove, even though there are some good songs on Wonderful. So we did The Dangermen Sessions album to get the cogs whirring, to get the mechanics of the group going again, like a football team playing a few friendlies to get back in shape. And after that I thought, “We’ve got to do a really, really good album”” Because we were in danger of going down some 80s nostalgia hole… Not to slag anyone off, but there were all these nostalgia festivals full of all the 80s pop stars happening at the time. I thought, “We’ve really, really got to make sure we don’t get sucked into this”.

Woody: The Dangermen Sessions Vol One reinforced our idea that we’re much better at doing our own stuff. It’s always better when we’ve written a load of songs, gone out and played them live, and then recorded them. Back in the day, we literally wrote a live set and then went into studio recorded it. We wanted to get back to that sense of excitement.

Mike: On Dangermen, the record company were an obstacle – they kept coming up with funny ideas, and we thought they knew what they were talking about, but in hindsight I question whether they did. We ended up compromising, and the record hadn’t been very successful. So we decided: no more compromising. We’re just going to do what we want to do. Cathal and Suggs were a bit of an intellectual team, and they came up with the concept – Cathal had always wanted to do a concept album. They’d been reading books about London, and so we decided to make an album that shamelessly drew upon Englishness, upon London, upon being a British band. If the Dangermen album had been about us going back to our roots – to when the band was starting out in a bedroom, learning old songs – then this album would examine what Madness really symbolises, what Madness stand for.

Suggs: I’d read This Bright Field, written by William Taylor about his time as vicar of the parish of Spitalfields. He was there from the time of the Krays, through when it was a fruit and vegetable market, to when it started becoming super-fashionable. That was the first time I ever read about Norton Folgate. I learned that outside the walls of the original city of London there were “liberties”, these independent areas that were under special jurisdiction, and the Liberty of Norton Folgate was one. The city of London had become a bit overpopulated, so if people wanted to have a laugh, they climbed over the walls to these liberties. And the Liberty of Norton Folgate became an environment all of its own, a community of artists and musicians. I was fascinated by it. So we decided to write an album of songs about London. Chris said, “What do you think all our other songs have been about?!?”

Woody: London was my world, the hub of my universe. But I’d seen it change. I grew up in leafy Maida Vale, which was beautiful architecturally, but very rundown. Then I moved to Camden with my dad, when it was predominantly Irish and Greek communities, when Camden Lock was all wheelbarrows with tarpaulins over the top. I went to school in Chalk Farm, and it was real. And then the markets appeared, and Camden got trendy and materialistic, and it has become like everywhere else. The real communities were pushed out by McDonald’s, by Starbucks, by Costa, and all the supermarket chains. The whole world is becoming joined up by the big “M”. So the opportunity to write an album about a time in London that was lost now appealed to all of us.

Mike: We were rehearsing in Highbury, in this old 60s office block that was being renovated.

Chris: This guy owned the building next to 167 Caledonian Road (our old studio and office). I met him a few times with our accountant Colin, because he was always trying to buy 167. He was building a crazy subterranean club next door to 167, a real Tardis. I asked him if he had any vacant properties we could lease, and that’s how we got the empty office block. We got a small PA in, some sound-proofing for the drums and a few sets of keys. It was pretty isolated, so we could make loads of noise 24/7. It looked like a post apocalyptic film set with dusty old computers and empty offices.

Mike: There were still typewriters, office equipment, desks and everything there. It reminded me a lot of when we were kids on the streets, not that long after the war, when there was a lot of regeneration that needed to be done, and a lot of empty buildings to hang out in. We rearranged the office block, and tried to soundproof it a little bit. It was a nice space, and when you got bored you could wander through all these little rooms and look around, like, “Ooh, what’s in this drawer?” It reminded me of when we started, when we had this rehearsal place owned by the dentist dad of a friend of ours, with all these teeth on the wall he’d extracted from his patients.

Woody: I like modern recording processes, modern studios. Because we’ve come out of the fucking dark ages! And I like to hear people properly, and it was a struggle. I mean, drummers and keyboard players have different challenges. Mike was clearly happy. I wasn’t. I had to learn the songs without really, you know, being able to hear much.

SINGLES

CoverTitleReleased
NW5 01/14/2008
Dust Devil 05/11/2009

RELEASE DETAILS

Territory: United Kingdom

Release Date: March 29, 2024
Format: Compact Disc (2CD)
Limited Edition: No

Label: BMG Rights Management UK

Catalogue Number: BMGCAT882DCD
Barcode: 4099964026153

Manufactured: Germany

Disc Colour: Silver
Pressing: Original Pressing
Release Type: Bootleg

TRACK LISTING

DiscPositionTrackVersionDuration
1 1 Overture 2023 Remaster 1:06
1 2 We Are London 2023 Remaster 3:39
1 3 Sugar And Spice 2023 Remaster 2:51
1 4 Forever Young 2023 Remaster 4:36
1 5 Dust Devil 2023 Remaster 3:44
1 6 Rainbows 2023 Remaster 3:21
1 7 That Close 2023 Remaster 4:10
1 8 MKII 2023 Remaster 2:26
1 9 On The Town 2023 Remaster 4:30
1 10 Bingo 2023 Remaster 4:07
1 11 Idiot Child 2023 Remaster 3:18
1 12 Africa 2023 Remaster 4:18
1 13 NW5 2023 Remaster 4:13
1 14 Clerkenwell Polka 2023 Remaster 4:19
1 15 The Liberty of Norton Folgate 2023 Remaster 10:10
2 1 Let’s Go 2023 Remaster 3:28
2 2 Mission From Hell 2023 Remaster 3:49
2 3 Seven Dials 2023 Remaster 2:54
2 4 Hunchback of Toriano 2023 Remaster 3:10
2 5 Fish & Chips 2023 Remaster 2:42
2 6 One Fine Day 2023 Remaster 3:58
2 7 The Kiss 2023 Remaster 4:07
2 8 Bittersweet B-Side NW5, 2007 2:44
2 9 The Roadette Song B-Side Dust Devil, 2009 3:36

CHART HISTORY

Peak Position: 100
First Chart Date: 30/11/2023
Weeks in Chart: 1
Position DatePosition
30/11/2023 100

MUSICANS

MusicanInstrumentRoleCredit
Mike Barson Piano Band
Chris Foreman Guitar Band
Lee Thompson Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone Band
Mark Bedford Bass Band
Daniel Woodgate Drums Band
Graham McPherson Vocals Band
Cathal Smyth Vocals Band
Rhoda Dakar Vocals Special Guest Vocalist
Joe Auckland Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, Cornet Session Musician
Steve Turner Saxophone Session Musician
Mike Kearsey Trombone Session Musician
Jim Parmley Percussion Session Musician
Amber Jolene Backing Vocals Session Musician
Sasha Paul Backing Vocals Session Musician
Steve Hale Piano Session Musician
Julian Leaper Violin Session Musician
Emil Chakalov Violin Session Musician
Martin Burgess Violin Session Musician
Sue Briscoe Violin Session Musician
Chris Pitsilledes Viola Session Musician
Nick Holland Cello Session Musician
Mark Brown Clarinet Session Musician
Dave Powell Tuba Session Musician
Sirishkumar Tabla Session Musician
Andy Findon Turkish Clarinet, Zorna, Duduk Session Musician

PRODUCTION CREDITS

RoleCreditedNotes
Producer, Mixed Clive Langer
Producer, Mixed Alan Winstanley
Producer, Engineer Liam Watson Initial Production on 'Rainbows', 'Bingo', NW5', 'Sugar And Spice', "The Kiss' and "The Liberty Of Norton Folgate.
Engineer Finn Eiles
Cutting Engineer Tim Young
Producer Madness 'Bittersweet' and "The Roadette Song'.
Engineer Steve Muster 'Bittersweet' and "The Roadette Song'.
Recording Studio The Bunker 'Bittersweet' and "The Roadette Song' (2005)
Orchestrator Steve Hale Strings Arrangement and Direction.
Orchestrator Mike Kearsey Millennia Strings Arrangement.
Orchestrator Gavyn Wright London Session Orchestra Direction.
Photographer Paul Rider Band & Main Photography.
Artist, Graphic Design Nik Rose Retouching Assembly (PDQ Bungay).
Artist Gabriel Oscar Gracian Conceptual Design.
Artist, Graphic Design Martin Callomon Original Art Direction and Design.
Artist, Illustrator, Graphic Design Paul Agar This Edition Layout / Additional Design.
Remastered By Phil Kinrade This Edition Mastered at Air Studios.

COPYRIGHT AND Licencing

OwnershipCompanyNotes
Phonographic Copyright ℗ Stirling Holdings Limited Copyright © 2007-2023, 2024
Copyright © Stirling Holdings Limited Copyright © 2007-2023, 2024
Licensed To Union Square Music Ltd., a BMG Company.

Representation

RepresentationCompanyNotes
Record Label BMG
Publisher Copyright Control
Publisher West Bank Songs Ltd. Track 2-8 ('Bittersweet')
Publisher Universal Music Ltd. Track 2-8 ('Bittersweet')
Publisher MCA Music Ltd. Track 2-8 ('Bittersweet')
Publisher Chappell Music Ltd. Track 2-9 ('The Roadette Song')

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References

Extensive efforts have been made to gather factual information and knowledge on madness from various sources and document them. These sources include publicly accessible websites, books and publications, historical artefacts, and other pertinent materials. As a result, a comprehensive index of resources has been compiled and integrated into the website. These resources, if relevant to this article, are listed below.

ReferenceSource
officialcharts.com Website
discogs.com Website