W L INTERVIEW
AN INTERVIEW WITH MADNESS
Madness are a ska band from Camden Town , North London , who formed in 1976 . One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s two-tone ska revival , they continue to perform with six of the seven members of their original line-up . Madness ' s most successful period was from 1980 to 1986 , when the band ' s songs spent a total of 214 weeks on the UK Singles Chart .
They have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten , including " One Step Beyond ", " Baggy Trousers " and " It Must Be Love ", one UK number-one single " House of Fun " and two number ones in Ireland , " House of Fun " and " Wings of a Dove ". " Our House " was their biggest US hit , reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 . In 2000 , the band received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters , Composers and Authors for Outstanding Song Collection .
We caught up with them ahead of their performance at Haydock Park Racecourse this month .
You ’ re going to be headlining Haydock Park Racecourse on Saturday 16th July . The band are no stranger to racecourse shows - what is it that you particularly like about doing these shows that keeps bringing you back ? It ’ s bizarre when you say that as it was probably only about five years ago that we did our first one ! I was worried , I thought , it ’ s a racetrack , all the fellas have done all their dough , are they really going to be in the mood to watch a concert ? But it ’ s just the most extraordinary thing , the sun shines . All the ladies come out in their glad rags , and they just have a really good time – it ’ s amazing . I ’ ve never seen so many well-dressed people jumping up and down while getting their stilettos stuck in the mud . Everyone has a good time !
Do you head down earlier in the day and have a bit of a flutter on the horses ? Yes ! That ’ s the other thing ! If we ' re lucky , they give us a box . It ’ s a really lovely way to spend an evening , really great . At Haydock last time , I thought the majority of the crowd would be gone by the time we played but we had over 15,000 people there ! The security bloke went to me “ I don ’ t know what I can do ! It ' s just gone mental out there !” It could have been like Glastonbury , as far as the eye can see people were jumping up and going bananas . It was tremendous fun , and that ' s what we as a band do - create fun .
Some of your first shows last year were summer festivals , will it feel like somewhat of a full circle moment being able to do outdoor events again this summer ? Very much . Cliché , but after two years of lockdown I just appreciate it more than I ever thought I would . When you see what you create , when you play music and see the joy on people ' s faces , it really comes back to me much stronger than I think it ever did .
Did the unplanned break in 2020 give you time to reflect on everything that the band ' s achieved ? Very much yes . It ’ s that weird thing . If you get too high the sky brings you down , if you get too low the earth brings you up . The earth has brought me up and I very much appreciate - not in an egotistical way - but you have to understand that it ' s a job that we do and we do it very well - cheering people up . It really reminded me of having two years and not doing very much .
Did you go back and revisit of any songs in your back catalogue that you might consider putting back into the setlist ? Yeah , we did ! We went all around the houses . We ’ re so fortunate we ' ve had so many hits . It ' s a bit like what Bob Dylan said once , “ If you don ' t like this one , don ’ t worry there ’ ll be another one along in 3 minutes ” because he ’ s got too many hits ! But ultimately , you want people to go and have a good time and that ' s what we concentrate on .
What ' s so lovely about shows like Haydock Park is there ' s so many different generations of family that will go to them . What do you think it is that makes your music so timeless and so beloved by cross generations ? That it ’ s popular , people like it . I always remember that people used to go on about ‘ pop ’ music and it was a sort of bad word in the 80s . The word pop means popular , I like it . We ' ve just been very fortunate that we grew up as friends and the band was about our friendship . But someone asked me earlier actually about the sound of our songs . You ’ ve got Lee our Saxophone player and Mike our keyboard player , they ’ re very individual sounding characters and me singing , it comes out like Madness , regardless of what we ' re doing . Calypso , Jazz , Funk , Reggae , it comes out as a Madness song . I don ' t know why it resonates , but I ' m just very privileged that it does .
Are there any songs on the setlist that you personally like performing ? Embarrassment is my favourite , I never tire of singing that - just a very bizarre song about a very serious issue , actually . But no , all of them I like - I like them all . We start with One Step Beyond and I went through a period that I wasn ’ t sure if I would play that anymore , but when you do the crowd goes ballistic ! So we just have to play it . And that ' s just the way it is , of course .
There will be loads of people coming to the show at Haydock Park that would never have seen Madness before . What can they expect from the show ? What is a Madness show to you in 2022 ? Unbridled joy . That ’ s what my mate said the other day . What ’ s interesting is when we were young , you had to go buy a record , you know , we had to go on a bus to Woolworths . What is the most amazing thing now is you get a new generation on their way to your concert , who have learned your songs on the way because they can just put them on their phones . They can discover you almost immediately . Rather than having to get on the bus to Woolworths on a Saturday morning ! I ’ ll tell you what I ’ ve just discovered , but why do young people really young , kids , people like madness , do you know why ?
Why ? Because we ’ re idiots ! We ’ ve never grown up . I think that ' s what everyone can expect from Haydock , then it ' s just a really good time . This is it . This is it ! wirrallife . com 23