Shut Up

“Shut Up” is a song penned by Suggs and Chris Foreman and recorded by Madness. It debuted on their third studio album, “7.” Released as a single on September 11, 1981, it made its mark on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on it for 10 weeks and peaking at number 7.

Upon its release as a single on September 11, 1981, “Shut Up” by Madness garnered significant attention from fans and critics alike. The track’s infectious energy and clever storytelling captivated listeners, contributing to its notable success on the UK Singles Chart.

Lyrically, “Shut Up” tells the tale of a criminal endeavouring to refute incriminating evidence against them. Interestingly, while the track’s title is “Shut Up,” those exact words are not present in the song’s lyrics. Nevertheless, they were included as the closing words of an alternate verse in an early rendition of the composition.

Chris: ‘Shut Up’ is a song about habitual criminals. It was written with Suggs but doesn’t have the words “shut up” in it. We lost a verse somewhere. I was aiming for a Slade-type song with an ABBA-type piano in the rundown, but by strange coincidence, I eventually ended up using the great Dave Hill’s SuperYob® guitar in the video.

I’d seen a guitar that looked like a gun in a shop in the West End and said I wanted it for the video, but they turned up with SuperYob instead. Now owned by Marco Pirroni – the guitar, not the shop. There’s a wild west bit before the solo, with some twanging, and Clive Langer said I should write a whole song like that. So I did. It was called ‘A Town With No Name‘ and was eventually the B-side of the ‘Shut Up’ single. The artwork was a drawing sent in by a fan called Paul Clewley, and I suggested using it for the cover. Paul has done some other artwork for us over the years.
He sadly passed away in 2008.