Complete Madness

Complete Madness, the first greatest hits album, was a monumental success that resonated across the UK. Issued on April 23, 1982, it featured Madness‘s biggest hits from their first three studio albums and stand-alone singles. The album’s popularity was not just a passing trend but a testament to its quality, spending a staggering 109 weeks on the UK charts and reaching the pinnacle at number 1.

This compilation is a collection of hits and a unique presentation of Madness‘s music. It includes most tracks’ original 7-inch single mixes, with House of Fun being the only exception. The vinyl has shortened fade-outs for many tracks, and reducing the running time of each side of the original LP version was a creative decision. This Australian album version, issued some months later in July, replaced In the City with the track Driving in My Car from the single of the same name.

Dave Robinson‘s marketing strategy for “Complete Madness” was nothing short of a masterstroke. Despite the LP only featuring 12 singles, Robinson insisted on placing the banner “16 Hit Tracks” on the cover, which undoubtedly helped to boost its popularity. The tracks were skillfully merged through crude editing, with some recordings top and tailed to remove specific sounds, such as the reverb echo at the end of ‘The Prince‘. The opening crowd noises and closing ‘Goodnight’ were also intentionally removed from ‘The Return Of The Los Palmas 7‘, and Cathal‘s introduction to ‘One Step Beyond‘ was significantly shortened.

Robinson, the mastermind behind the album, understood the true power of their songs. Fueled by an ambitious TV marketing campaign, centring on an advert with a voiceover from actor George Cole (most famous for playing the character Arthur Daley in Minder), the album didn’t just make a splash; it made waves. It spent three weeks at number one and 88 weeks on the charts in all, outstripping sales for any previous Madness record. It’s even been argued that it cast a shadow over the sales of the band’s subsequent album.

Eric Watson, a photographer from Smash Hits, took the photo in the studio. The photo was designed to highlight Madness’ humorous image, which was crucial for such a widely appealing project. In fact, two earlier photo sessions, one with renowned photographer Anton Corbijn on top of the Scala Cinema, King’s Cross, and another with Eric Watson at Alexandra Palace, were deemed unsuitable.