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ivan@stellysee.de
From | erhoek@comcast.net |
Subject | Re: Madness |
Date | Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:04:49 +0000 |
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Right after I sent this I remembered I left out their biggest hit here which was Our House. d'oh!
> It is good to see someone rediscovering (or discovering) a great group like
> Madness.
> Unfortunately they did very little here in the states. Most people know them
> for House of Fun ,One Step Beyond and possibly It Must Be Love but they were
> known more for the image of the group as a silhouette from the side jerking and
> skanking in unison.
> But in Europe and especially Japan they were quite a success. If I remember
> correctly they were signed with Honda to promote scooters and small cars in ads.
> I think your reference to the Kinks is spot on and can definitely see how they
> could have been an influence on Blur as well.
> It Must Be Love surfaces occasionally in movies (Mel Smith's Jeff
> Goldblum/'Rowan Atkinson/ Emma Thompson vehicle the Tall Guy comes to mind) and
> is currently being used in some commercial (Levi's...maybe?) and has probably
> been added to some radio format that also includes I Melt With You and This Is
> the Day. What a great song!
> Madness also made many creative videos. Even though only about six of them
> received airplay here and are still aired occasionally on VH1 Classic there were
> probably at least that many more that never were run here or if they were it was
> a one time thing.
> I anxiously await a dvd release that collects them all in one package.
> It just might happen . Cherry Red Records' wonderful softpop collection called
> Pillows and Prayers just came out with some bonus material including an
> interview with Ian Mc Nay and Mike Alway. yay!
> -r
>
>
> > Lately I've been absolutely obsessed with the Madness catalog. I ignored
> > them for many years before reading a book last year about 90s Britpop that
> > pointed to Madness as having such a huge influence on the movement,
> > especially on Blur. I picked up a best-of and was hooked, and recently
> > bought "The Lot", which collects all six albums released during their
> > original run. I know it's old news to most, but to all of you who are fans
> > of Britpop but who have skipped over this fantastic band, I'd recommend
> > going back and revisiting. They're far better songwriters than I ever knew
> > (I thought "nutty" skank-fests like "One Step Beyond" were what made up most
> > of their catalog, but in fact most of it is well-crafted, Kinksian British
> > pop of the highest order). The best way to get acquainted, I think, is the
> > killer 1999 best-of "Heavy Heavy Hits", which collects all of their singles
> > (including a handful that were never on albums) until 1986 chronologically
> > and has great cover art. --Jason
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