It’s Madness

12" Vinyl (33 1/3 RPM)

Virgin Records

VVIP 107

BACKGROUND

Well, it was 1990, and the fans were in the emotional moments of the madness break-up, having split four years earlier in 1986; with that Nutty Sound now passé and nothing new to be heard from Madness, we were just left with time and then like Jones… along came the Pickwick distribution deal and Virgin released the first “It’s… Madness” album. Excuse me? MADNESS on Pickwick, WTF! It was a sad day in W.H. Smiths.

Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues, and repackaging and was the dreaded imprint that only our grandparents seemed to own and the place for dead-end celebrities like Ken Dodd and the Diddy men. Gently now… I’m trying to overlook this trauma (because It’s… ‘still’ Madness).

Okay, what was so special about these two half-like hit bargain basement releases? Firstly, it was the first time that so many b’sides and the one remix (Victoria Gardens) had finally been released for the first time on CD, it was even marketed that way with “Includes tracks never previously available on CD”. You have to remember (if you were of age at this time) it was the beginning of the 90s, and we were yet to meet the MP3 phenomenon. Nobody had the technical ability to rip vinyl and distribute it other than recording it on tape cassette. I don’t recall there ever being a commercial or bootleg available featuring non-hit tracks other than live Madness tracks on bootleg tape cassettes.

Now at this point, Stiff was long gone. Virgin records owned the Madness catalogue, and the “It’s… Madness” series of releases was the first compilation album to be released since “Utter Madness”, and from this point forth, it was to be consistently reissued, repackaged right up until 2006 and left real collectors dazed and confused.

© ℗ 2023 Madzine Magazine

SINGLES

RELEASE DETAILS

Territory: United Kingdom

Release Date: March 5, 1990
Format: 12" Vinyl (33 1/3 RPM)
Limited Edition: No

Label: Virgin Records

Catalogue Number: VVIP 107
Barcode: 5 012981 010799

Manufactured: United Kingdom

Disc Colour: Black
Pressing: Original Pressing
Release Type: Official

TRACK LISTING

DiscPositionTrackVersionDuration
1 1 House of Fun 2:47
1 2 Don't Look Back 3:34
1 3 Wings Of A Dove 3:01
1 4 The Young and the Old 2:07
1 5 My Girl 2:45
1 6 Stepping Into Line 2:19
1 7 Baggy Trousers 2:35
1 8 The Business 3:27
1 9 Embarrassment 3:01
1 10 One's Second Thoughtlessness 3:26
1 11 Grey Day 3:38
1 12 Memories 2:24
1 13 It Must Be Love 3:22
1 14 Deceives the Eye 2:02
1 15 Driving In My Car 3:19
1 16 Animal Farm (Tomorrow's Dream Warp Mix) 4:03

CHART HISTORY

MUSICANS

MusicanInstrumentRoleCredit
Mike Barson Keyboards Band
Chris Foreman Guitar Band
Lee Thompson Saxophone Band
Mark Bedford Bass Band
Daniel Woodgate Drums Band
Graham McPherson Vocals Band
Cathal Smyth Backing Vocals, Trumpet Band

PRODUCTION CREDITS

RoleCreditedNotes
Producer Clive Langer
Producer, Engineer Alan Winstanley
Graphic Design Phil Filipiak

COPYRIGHT AND Licencing

Representation

RepresentationCompanyNotes
Record Label Virgin Records
Distributor Pickwick Records
Publisher Nutty Sounds Ltd.
Publisher Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
Publisher MAM (Music Publishing) Ltd.

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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
madzine.us Magazine
disocgs.com Website