Madness (2-Tone Version)

OVERVIEW, VIDEO, LYRICS, COMPOSERS, AND REVIEWS

LYRICS

Madness, madness
They call it madness
Madness, madness
They call it madness

It’s plain to see
That is what they mean to me
Madness, madness
I call it gladness, ha-ha

Madness, madness
They call it madness
Madness, madness
They call it madness

I’m about to explain
That someone is losing their brain
Madness, madness
I call it gladness, yee-ha-ha-ha

Propaganda ministers
Propaganda ministers
I’ve a-got a heavy due
I’m gonna walk all over you
‘Cause

Madness, madness
They call it madness
Well, if this is madness
Then I know I’m filled with gladness

It’s gonna be rougher, it’s gonna be tougher
And I won’t be the one who’s gonna suffer
Oh no, I won’t be the one who’s gonna suffer
You are gonna be the one, a-you

OVERVIEW

According to the back sleeve of One Step Beyond…, there are seven songs on each side, and at the end of side two, “Mummy’s Boy” is swiftly followed by “Chipmunks Are Go!” Imagine the looks of glee on every young rude boy and rude girl’s face when the intro to “Madness” comes blasting out of the speakers unannounced—a secret track!

So, how did it get on the record? It was all down to Clive Langer. “The artwork had been done before we put ‘Madness’ on it. Robbo said that we couldn’t put it on because the artwork was finished, and I remember saying, ‘of course you can just stick it on’—how brilliant for everyone who listens to it!” Mystery solved, then—it’s always been on the album but never credited.

Prince Buster‘s ‘Madness’ was one of the Blue Beat singles I bought at Berwick Street market,” says Suggs, “and I particularly liked it as it was a 12-bar, but not quite, and it had a nice lyric which I thought would suit us as a band.” When they first” “played “Madness”, the band was called The Invaders. They even changed their name to Morris & the Minors for one show, as another ‘Invaders’ had sprung up.

It’s well documented that Chris said they should call themselves after a song in their set, then groaned when “Madness” was selected.

ComposerRole
Cecil Campbell Music & Words

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RepresentationCompanyNotes
Publisher Melodisc Records Ltd.

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
Madness' One Step Beyond... (Terry Edwards) Book