January:
Madness film the video for The Return of the Los Palmas Seven in the Venus Cafe West London and Kenwood Park North London.
January 16th: Madness release The Return of the Los Palmas Seven [Stiff BUY 108 ]which is an instrumental. Ever since One Step Beyond Dave Robinson had always been keen on Madness doing instrumental tracks. A very middle of the road track it crosses over to Radio Two and gains the band a new generation of elderly fans. It is their seventh single and after 7 weeks in the chart it peaks at number 7.
Highest position 7. Weeks in chart 11.
January 19th: Madness appear on Top of the Pops performing The Return of the Los Palmas Seven.
January 23rd: Holland
Madness appear on the Top Pop TV show performing Embarrassment. Suggs has missed two flights and makes it there in the nick of time with two hours left before the programme goes out. Cannes - Madness and the Specials appear at the Midem festival where they are showing Dance Craze which is a live film compilation featuring most of the Two Tone bands.
February 3rd: Madness go to France to appear on a TV show called Avis de Recherche. Kellogs had decided to put Chalky in charge of this delicate operation. Chalky had the truly brilliant idea of all meeting at Kings Cross station in the Traveller's Cafe and then getting the tube to Heathrow. An excellent plan and most cost effective. The trouble was Woody couldn't find the Cafe and Mark and Chris got bored waiting for everyone else so got on the tube to Heathrow. Chris then discovered he had forgotten his passport but was given a small piece of paper that allowed him into France but possibly not out. Eventually the band got to the studio in France but Suggs was still peacefully asleep at home in bed.
The fateful schedule was as follows.
7am Alarm calls.
8am Traveller Cafe 1st floor right hand side of Kings Cross Station.
9.30am Check in British Airways Terminal 1.
Please Note: Hand luggage only.
10.30am Depart Heathrow FLIGHT NO BA 306.
12.30pm Arrive Paris Charles de Gaulle
You will be picked up by Michiel de Folligne of Disques Vogues in a small minibus and driven to RENNES (350km away) journey time approx. 4-5 hours. First stop will be the HOTEL IBIS 157 Cesson Sur Savegna Rennes.
9pm Rehearsal for Le Luron 2nd channel National TV miming but with live vocals. Embarrassment [as Suggs misses yet another plane]
February 4th:
Rehearsals in the afternoon times to be arranged.
8.30pm Live TV Broadcast from LURON STUDIOS.
February 5th:
9am Get up early and leave for Paris by Minibus.
2.30pm Arrive Paris.
Afternoon will be free for press radio and photo sessions [to be confirmed]
5pm TV Avis de Recherche [1st Channel]
6.45pm Live broadcast.
7.45pm End of TV.
8.45pm Check in British airways desk Flight BA327.
Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.
nb This is the last flight from Paris to London.
9.45pm Depart.
9.45pm Arrive Heathrow.
February 14th: Mike Barson and Sandra Wilson
get married at Finsbury Park Registry office followed by
a romantic breakfast for two at George's Cafe on Holloway
Rd. Like Woody he didn’t inform the band of his intentions.
February 15th: Madness attend the premiere of the Dance Craze film which features 6 Madness songs.
February 16th: Cologne Bananas TV show
Madness mime incredulously to The Return of the Los Palmas Seven whilst surrounded by a bevy of topless girls who are holding giant bananas. One of them faints [not one of the the band] and there is a stampede to rescue her.
The Fill Your Coffers mini Madness tour of the UK starts. The support act is Pearl Harbour and the Explosions. Up till now Madness have had a lot of different sound men come and go. One of whom Eddy had greatly impressed them as he had worked with The Ramones. But it was felt that maybe they needed someone who could deal with such a wide variety of instruments and temperaments. Madness have recruited Ian Dury's sound engineer Ian Horne after Chrissy Boy is impressed at the sound at an Ian Dury concert. He is to remain a permanent fixture at the mixing desk from now on and is henceforth christened "Dad".
February 17th: Poole Arts Centre
February 18th: Nottingham Rock City
February 19th: Cambridge Corn Exchange
February 20th: University of East Anglia
March:
Madness film the video for Grey Day in Bowmans shop window Camden High Street and on an open top bus which drove round London.
March 9th:
Filming begins on Take It Or Leave It. Co-starring long time pals such as John Hasler Andrew "Chalky" Chalk Ian "Toks" Tokins and Si Birdsall. There is an early disaster as the first two days filming which was done in black and white is sent off to be developed and comes back bleached out and unusable. This however is a blessing in disguise as at least the band have had two days rehearsal in front of a film crew. Also Dave Robinson managed to claim the lost time and money back from the insurers.
April:
Madness finish off the filming of Take It Or Leave It and then embark on the Absolutely Madness One Step Beyond Far East Tour. Dave Robinson accompanies them to the airport and films them taking off in case the plane crashes. The tour visits Australia New Zealand and Japan. On the way home they drop into the USA for 5 dates.
April 17th: Madness release Grey Day [Stiff
BUY 112] Highest position 4. Weeks in chart 10. This was originally
a song played during their days as The North London Invaders
at the Acklam Hall.
April 22nd: Perth Concert Hall [2 shows] Support
act Rhythm Methods.
April 23rd: There is about to be a plane strike
on all Australian internal flights which means Madness have to
fly straight out of Perth past Adelaide and drive on a battered
old Greyhound bus back to Adelaide. They hate to leave their
adoring Aussie fans behind at each gig and after a couple of
days hire two small private planes until the dispute is settled.
April 24th: Adelaide Thebarton Town Hall Support
act The Sports
April 25th: Melbourne Festival Hall
Support act The Sports and AEIOU
April 27th: Sydney Capitol Theatre
Support act The Sports
April 28th: Sydney Capitol Theatre
Support act The Sports
April 29th: Sydney Capitol Theatre S
upport act The Sports
May 2nd: Brisbane Cloudland
Support act The Sports
May 5th: Auckland Logan Cambell Centre
May 6th: Wellington St James Theatre
May 7th: Singapore Raffles Hotel
On a stop over en route to Japan Madness have dinner at the legendary Raffles Hotel. They travel back to their Hotel in rickshaws and get ripped off by the drivers.
May 9th: Tokyo Hibiya Open Theatre
May 11th: Tokyo Tsubai House
2 Shows.
May 12th:
Madness record In the City for the Honda ads. The Japanese Ad company had commissioned and recorded a song which seemed to consist of several Madness songs with terrible lyrics which the band disliked. So Madness use a song which Mike had handy and they record three versions of the song In The City. A 1 minute, a 30 second and a 15 second version. They then film the the first ads.
May 16th: San Francisco
May 17th: Los Angeles Country Club
May 19th: Los Angeles Country Club
May 21st: New York The Ritz
May 22nd: New York Privates
May 23rd: New York Peppermint Lounge
June 8th: Holland Geleen Sportpark the Pinkpop Festival
Line up: New Adventures / U2 / Fischer Z / Madness / Michael Schenker Group / UB40 / Ian Dury and The Blockheads / Set: One Step Beyond / Disappear / Not Home Today / Pac A Mac / My Girl / Bed & Breakfast Man / When Dawn Arrives / The Return Of The Los Palmas 7 / Close Escape / The Prince / On The Beat Pete / Take It Or Leave It / Embarrassment Rockin in Ab / Baggy Trousers / Madness / Grey Day.
On the way there Lee and Chrissy Boy had decided that they were doing too much flying and from now on they would use other means of transport whenever possible. With Holland not being that far away they opted to travel on a coach and ferry with Ian Dury's band. On arrival they were greeted by the sight of a full scale drunken beer mat throwing contest. This was taking place in the Hotel dining room between the members of UB40 and Madness with Kellog's and UB40's manger trying to referee/stop it. The festival is double pay day for Ian Horne as he does both Madness and the Ian Dury's sound. During Ian Dury's set Ian calls out for the Madness boys to join him onstage. However they are mostly out in the crowd or out of it. The only band member he can get to join him is Mike Barson. He gets Mike to sing along to Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll.
June 13th: Madness appear at the Crystal Palace Garden Party.
"Madness today joined the dazzling line up for the Crystal Palace Garden Party on June 13th The full bill now reads like a Who's Who of almost everyone who is important in contemporary rock and includes Ultravox, Peter Tosh, Teardrop Explodes, Tenpole Tudor and The Polecats. The open air show will be Madness' first British appearance this year and it is expected to be the only one Ultravox will play in this country until 1982. In years gone by the Garden Party was frequently the premiere rock event of the year and artists who have played it include the Beach Boys, Bob Marley and Yes. Tickets will cost £7.50 each and will be available almost everywhere even Woolworths believe it or not!"
John Blake - The New Standard
July 20th: Nassau Compass Point
Madness are in the studio recording the 7 album. Their accountants had suggested that if you recorded an album in another country you would only get taxed on 80% of the profits. So for the first time Madness enjoyed a relaxed sun-drenched lifestyle and pleasant surroundings whilst recording.
August:
Madness are still in Nassau and still recording the 7 album.
August 8th: Nassau
It is Chrissy Boy's birthday. He gets a telegram. "Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday dear Chrissy Boy Happy Birthday to you.
PS Chalky and Toks have resigned". They have had a hard time from Keloggs and decided to resign. When the band return to England they try to persuade Chalky and Toks to reconsider their decision but only Toks returns to the fold.
September 11th: Madness release Shut Up [Stiff BUY 126] Highest chart position 7. Weeks in chart 9.
September 17th: Kellogs resigns.
Dear Chrissy
It is with some regret that I tender my resignation as the Manager
of MADNESS. Obviously I will fulfil my contractual obligations
until the end of the year. Further to this I am prepared should
you feel the need of it to offer my services during the understandable
period of transition that will occur with the change of management.
I would like to thank you personally for the enjoyment and satisfaction that out two year relationship has brought me and wish you and yours every success and happiness in the future.
Yours Sincerely
Kellogs
J.J.Kalinowski
September 21st: Madness perform Shut Up on Top of the Pops.
September 28th: Holland
Madness perform Shut Up on the Top Pop TV show.
October 2nd: The Seven album is released [SEEZ 39] Highest chart position 7.
Matthew Stzumpf takes over on Madness's management. He had
been the bands agent and they all knew him. He had also been
helping out Kellogs in a managerial role before Kellogs resigned.
He is to remain their manger until the bitter end. The road
crew also get a new addition as Rob Forrest who had worked
with the Selecter is recruited by John Wynne to replace Chalky.
The 7 Tour begins. Madness are supported by The Belle Stars.
Set: Embarrassment / Sign Of The Times / Close Escape / A Day On The Town / Bed and Breakfast Man / Disappear / Pac A Mac / When Dawn Arrives / My Girl / Cardiac Arrest /
Promises Promises / Take It Or Leave It / Shut Up / Tomorrow's Dream / Mrs. Hutchinson / Baggy Trousers / Missing You / Madness / Grey Day Encores: OneStep Beyond / It Must Be Love.
October 8th: Bradford St Georges Hall.
October 9th: Edinburgh Playhouse. Whilst in Scotland Madness had prepared themselves by having some giant polystyrene cabers made. They then had them painted brown to give that real wood effect. They were then thrown into the audience causing much confusion and anxiety amongst the crowd. After the shows Madness would find themselves being proffered large pieces of polystyrene to sign autographs on.
October 10th: Glasgow Apollo
October 11th: Aberdeen Capital
October 12th: Dundee Caird Hall
October 13th: Sheffield City Hall
October 14th: Madness hold the Take it or Leave it premiere at the Parkway cinema Camden Town. They arrive in producer Alan Winstanley's vintage Bentley dressed in tuxedos. They have also pelted the car with eggs much to Mr Winstanley's annoyance.
October 15th: Bristol Colston Hall
October 16th: Gloucester Leisure Centre
October 17th: Port Talbot Afan Lido
October 18th: Leeds Tiffanys
October 20th: Manchester Apollo
October 21st: Preston Guildhall
October 22nd: Liverpool Royal Court
October 23rd: Nottingham University
October 24th: Bridlington Spa Pavilion
October 25th: Madness record a demo version of It Must be Love. They have been playing it on the tour and Dave Robinson says if they release it as a single it will get to number one or the band can have the label. This demo is eventually dumped and re-recorded.
Mark Bedford "On a very cold October Sunday the Madness Touring Party fresh from a gig in Bridlington pulled up outside a very small terraced house in the back streets of Durham. We met Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley standing outside and expecting the unexpected, we ventured in. We found a tiny living room with some microphones scattered around the floor... My God! It was a recording studio. Nine hours later the backing tracks for It Must Be Love were finished. Originally the band were going to record the song for a Richard Skinner Show session but we didn't have time to work it out. So we decided to play the song on the tour and it became a firm favourite. We finally finished It Must Be Love in London on odd days off. The video saw an appearance from Labi Siffre who gave his blessing on our version and was heard to say he'd like to do one of our songs. And by the way Lee played the bee and Woody played the bird."
October 26th: Newcastle City Hall
October 27th: Leicester Granby Hall
October 28th: Ipswich Gaumont
October 29th: West Runton Pavilion
October 30th: Norwich University
November 1st: St Austell Riviera
November 2nd: Southampton Gaumont
November 3rd: Southampton Gaumont
November 4th: Brighton Conference Centre
November 5th: Portsmouth Guildhall
November 7th: Oxford Poly
November 8th: Hemel Hempstead Pavilion
November 9th: Aylesbury Friars
November 10th: Birmingham Bingley Hall
November 11th: Poole Arts Centre
November 12th: Malvern Winter Gardens
November 15th: Bath Pavilion
November 16th: London Dominion
November 17th: London DominionNovember
November 18th: London Dominion
November 19th: London Hammersmith Palais
Madness film the video for It Must be Love.
November 27th: Finsbury Park Rainbow theatre Madness perform at Jobs Express which is a benefit for the unemployed along with Clint Eastwood and General Saint plus Alexi Sayle.
November 5th: The Madness cover of the Labi Siffre song It Must Be Love [Stiff BUY 134] released. Highest position 4. Weeks in chart 12.
November 29th: Hamburg Market Halle.
Madness are filmed in concert for the German TV show Rockpalast
December 8th: Holland Madness perform Mrs Hutchinson on the Top Pop TV show as for some reason the Dutch record company preferred to release it as a single instead of It Must Be Love.
December 17th: Madness perform It Must be Love on Top of the Pops.
December 22nd: Suggs marries Anne AKA Bette Bright. The band are informed about this wedding and attend.
Rounding off the tour with three nights at the Dominion Theatre in London and a final gig at the Hammersmith Palais on 19th December.
For the second year running Madness are Singles Artists of The Year
|
