They are an English band, initially called The North London Invaders, which was formed in 1976 in London by Mike Barson, Chris Foreman and Lee Thompson. They were joined by Graham McPherson (Suggs), Mark Bedford, Chas Smash and Daniel Woodgate and after changing their name to Morris and the Minors they finally became Madness in homage to their favourite Prince Buster songs.
They released their first single, “The Prince” in Prince Buster’s honour, on 2 Tone Records in September 1979 followed by the single and album One Step Beyond on the Stiff label, which they were to stay with. From 1979 to 1988 they released 25 singles of which 21 were Top Twenty chart hits.
During the 1980s they had become one of the most popular bands in Britain, rivaled only by The Jam at that time, and their music focused on pop that included ska and reggae sounds although their only US chart single hit was in 1983 with “It Must be Love”which peaked at No. 33.
They disbanded in 1986 but Suggs, Chas, Chris and Lee went on to form The Madness. The original line-up got back together in 1992 as Madness and after the success of the release of their compilation album Divine Madness they performed their full-weekend concert at Finsbury Park, London which they called Madstock. It is said that an earth tremor was caused from the dancing of the crowd during the performance of “One Step Beyond”, which measured 4.5 on the Richter scale.
Due to the success of Madstock the band reformed every 2 years between 1992 and 1998 to do it again. The musical Our House appeared on the West End Stage in 2002 and ran until 2003 and in 2006 a new production of it toured Japan with further plans for the UK. It was built around the songs of Madness and the book was written by the writer Tim Firth. The group assisted with the production of the show and Suggs appeared on the stage in the cast.
They performed concerts in 2004/5 under the name The Dangermen and released an album under this name. By 2006 they were back to performing as Madness with regular Christmas tours and in 2009 released The Liberty of Norman Folgate.
In the 2010s they have appeared at many festivals and concerts and in 2010 they released Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da which was their 10th studio album. In 2015 they announced their Grandslam tour to include 20 outside venues and in 2016 their 11th album Can’t Touch Us Now reached No. 5 on the UK album chart.
Members
Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) (keyboards and vocals)
Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) (guitar)
Lee Thompson (Kix) (saxophone and vocals)
Graham McPherson (Suggs) (vocals)
Mark Bedford (Bedders) (bass guitar)
Daniel Woodgate (Wooders) (drums)
Carl Smyth (Chas Smash) (trumpet)
Madness Recordings
Baggy Trousers (Graham McPherson/Chris Foreman/Michael Barson)
The Business (Michael Barson)
Don’t Look Back (Chris Foreman)
Guns (Graham McPherson)
House of Fun (Mike Barson/Lee Thomspon)
One Better Day (Graham McPherson/Mark Bedford)
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