7

Following two hugely successful albums (their debut and sophomore records, One Step Beyond… and Absolutely, both #2 in the UK album charts), “7” was Madness’ third studio album in as many years. Showcasing their ever-evolving songwriting skills, it was originally released in 1981, reached #5 in the UK album charts, and featured the hit singles’ Grey Day’, ‘Cardiac Arrest‘, and ‘Shut Up‘.

Several different versions of the album were released throughout the world. Some territories removed the not-so-tourist-friendly “Day on the Town” while others replaced it with “Never Ask Twice (a.k.a. Aeroplane/Airplane)”, which was issued on the “Shut Up” 12″ single in the UK. In Belgium, “Never Ask Twice” was issued as a one-sided 7″ single with initial album copies. France renamed “Day on the Town” as “A Place in the City”. Australia added “It Must Be Love” and “Never Ask Twice”, Spain replaced “Cardiac Arrest” with “It Must Be Love”, and Japan said “In the City”, which was issued there as a single after it was initially written for and used to promote Honda City cars in television commercials.

Initial vinyl pressings featured different mixes of some tracks (most notably “Mrs Hutchinson” and “Day on the Town”), which haven’t been used since.

Lee: After Absolutely, our accountants suggested that we record the next album abroad to save on taxes. To avoid paying the higher rate of tax, you had to stay out of the country—you could only spend something like 90 days in the UK. We weren’t sure about that.

Mike: We’d heard other bands were spending a year in the Bahamas for tax purposes, but we decided not to do that. Nobody fancied it. But we still went to Nassau to record 7. I was really keen. There was beautiful sunshine and palm trees; it was pretty exciting. Everything with the band was pretty exciting in those days—the candle burned very brightly for quite a long period, really.