Still Nutty

When they broke up in 1986 under less than amicable circumstances, no one could have predicted that not only would Madness reconvene but that they'd also record two of the best albums of the career – The Liberty Of Norton Folgate and Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da – 22 and 26 years respectively after that break up (the latter debuted at number ten in the UK albums chart). As it happens, the various band members themselves had no idea either. It was their fans that turned things around, pushing their 1981 hit cover of Labi Siffre's It Must Be Love to number six in the charts a decade later, along with the singles compilation Divine Madness to number one. That prompted a reunion concert, Madstock!, in North London's Finsbury Park over two nights in August 1992, which attracted more than 75,000 fans, followed by further Madstock!s in '94, '96, '98 and 2009.

“When we reformed the band,” Chas Smash, born Cathal Smyth, admits, “the ideology was 'act local, think global'.” Smash was the last official member to join Madness, initially as backing singer and dancer, though he now plays trumpet, acoustic guitar and percussion. “It was quite magical to perform in Finsbury Park because it was our sort of manor, you know?” he continues. “Sort of North London stuff, so it felt good. Strange looking back at it now, thinking about it – it seems so long ago.”

A live album, Universal Madness, recorded at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, followed in 1998, along with studio album Wonderful. The collective love for Madness even extended into the world of theatre, with a musical based on their songs, Our House, running successfully for nearly a year at London's Cambridge Theatre in 2002 and 2003. This year has seen Madness not only release the aforementioned Oui Oui… but also perform on the roof of Buckingham Palace as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee concert in June and play at the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games. As well as these once-in-a-lifetime events, they've also played Coachella in the States, and V Festival, the iTunes Festival and Meltdown in their homeland. This month, they're playing two nights at London's O2 Arena. There was even a revival of Our House – The Musical.

“Yeah, Suggs [frontman Graham McPherson] did a one-off performance for Help For Heroes, a soldiers' charity, for victims of war. I dunno if it's going to be brought back or if it was a one-off. I mean we've made two films [1981's Take It Or Leave It and a feature in Dance Craze, released the same year], one musical, I don't know what we're gonna do next – probably start our own beer, mate – 'Mad Beer: gets you bloody pissed!' Something like that.”

Funny to think that Madness, seven young North London wide-boys enjoying themselves immersed in the ska-meets-punk sounds of the day, had their beginnings in another rather more notorious Jubilee year, 1976, during London's 'Summer of Punk', though back then they were playing as The North London Invaders.

“It's been strange – in a very pleasant and wonderful year. I must admit, looking out of Buckingham Palace havin' a sneaky cigarette while I was waiting to go up to the roof, I really did wish that my father was still alive to see it. Oh, how he'd have laughed, you know? I dunno – you start off as a rebel and you end as something of a British institution, establishment. In a small [way] it's disconcerting but in another way it's very comforting.

“Punk really was a large part of why we started – we started in a recession, we reformed in a recession and we're back in a recession. I don't know what that means, if we're bringing it or we're there to cheer people up during it, you know? It seems we have a purpose.”

As for the Olympics, “I keep saying it was like gladiators going out into the Coliseum – I mean it was incredible. The angle of the seating and the lights… I mean this year I presume we've been seen on television by nearly three billion people and it's quite a concept to get your head round. I mean amazing, absolutely amazing – much more thrilling than I anticipated – and what was really nice was everyone backstage were just all really cool.”

Madness ended up using not one but six different producers in the making of Oi Oi Si Si Ja Ja Da Da – not necessarily a great idea, Smash admits in hindsight.

“Basically I just thought it was time for a bit of a change. It just seemed like it would be a good thing to shake things up a bit and see what it would be like. We've nearly worked with a lot of different people in the past but always just ended up with [producers] Clive [Langer] and Alan [Winstanley], and no disrespect to them at all intended but it was just a change really, just to see what happened, you know? I think the lesson we've learnt from all of this is have one producer from the beginning,” he laughs. “'Cause it really got too complicated and so expensive, but again, after 33 years of working with one team, it's good to have a change.

“I don't know, I wouldn't compare this album to the previous one. For me, The Liberty Of Norton Folgate was almost an awkward first album, and now this one seems to be like the difficult second one that's been done in quick time. It's interesting. Liberty… felt like a rebirth almost in people's perception and this album's followed quite quickly on its heels, certainly by our standards. We're even talkin' about the next album at the moment, which is very strange, but we seem to be in a good place. Whether there's a bit of a backlog I'm not sure really, but whatever's happened – either that or a sense of mortality – we want to get the ideas out of our heads. Who knows?”

With seven writers in the band, even getting the album down to 11 songs was a nightmare. As Smash quotes their old record company boss, Stiff Records' Dave Robinson, “Seven band members, 21 decisions! In the end, time became the issue – get it done. Hey ho.”

Madness will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 28 March to Monday 1 April - Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm NSW