The problem with trying to make a 90 minute Madness mixtape is that they simply have too much great music. They spent more weeks on the UK singles chart in the ’80s than any other band (although UB40 might fight them for that title, if they can find a room big enough to hold both bands and still leave room to fight) and released six consistently entertaining albums. After a brief hiatus in the late ’80s (while four members of the band recorded an album as, ahem, The Madness), the Nutty Boys got back together in 1992, finally returning to the studio in 1999, since when they’ve released another three albums of new material, a covers album and two new songs for Our House, a stage musical based on their hits.
As a result we’ve had to pass over most of the band’s hit singles in order to highlight some album tracks you might have missed. Although we could have filled three or four C90s with great tracks, we’ve managed to distill it down to just one and still represent each of the band’s ten studio albums, from 1979’s One Step Beyond… right up to 2012’s Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da. We may still have to do a Volume Two at some point though, there’s just too much good stuff to leave out…
01 Madness (B-side of The Prince, 1979)
02 Believe Me (from One Step Beyond…, 1979)
03 Night Boat To Cairo (from Work, Rest & Play EP, 1980)
04 Embarrassment (single, 1980)
05 Disappear (from Absolutely, 1980)
06 Grey Day (single, 1981)
07 Sign Of The Times (from 7, 1981)
08 House Of Fun (single, 1982)
09 Our House (single, 1982)
10 Blue Skinned Beast (from The Rise And Fall, 1982)
11 Wings Of A Dove (single, 1983)
12 Michael Caine (single, 1984)
13 March Of The Gherkins (from Keep Moving, 1984)
14 Prospects (from Keep Moving, 1984)
15 Mad Not Mad (from Mad Not Mad, 1985)
16 Uncle Sam (single, 1985)
17 Johnny The Horse (single, 1999)
18 Drip Fed Fred (The Conspiracy Mix) featuring Ian Dury
(single, 2000)
19 Simple Equation (from Our House: The Original Songs, 2002)
20 Sarah’s Song (from Our House: The Original Songs, 2002)
21 Girl Why Don’t You (from The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1, 2005)
22 NW5 (single, 2008)
23 Dust Devil (single, 2009)
24 Forever Young (from The Liberty Of Norton Folgate, 2009)
25 My Girl 2 (single, 2012)
26 Never Knew Your Name (from Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da, 2012)
