Madness Central Newsletter: Issue 2.
Kevin Tizzard
10th October – 16th October 2009.
Welcome to the second edition of the Madness Central Newsletter. Although it's been relatively quiet on the news front, we still have a couple of interviews, the odd competition thrown in for good measure and yet another site update to keep you amused.
If you missed the first issue you can catch up by viewing the groups archive at:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/madness-central-newsletter?hl=en
Contents:
1. Latest News And Information
2. The New Scotsman: Mad For It with Chas Smash.
3. Madness Central and The Official Madshop Promotion Of The Week.
4. One Step Beyond Competition Result
5. Yet Another Nutty Caption Update
6. Suggs' World Of Madness: Female First Interview
7. Union Square Competition - Win Advance Copies of Seven and Absolutely
8. Contacting Madness Central
9. Newsletter Subscription Details.
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1. Latest News And Information
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The following are the currently weekly news snippet(s) taken from the Madness Central blog at:
http://www.madness-central.com/blog
# Forever Young Featured On "Later……Live" Album
Released today (12th October) is “Later….Live With Jools Holland Vol. 2, featuring performances from the recent series of the BBC2 show - finding it’s way to track 12 of CD 2 is "Forever Young" by Madness. Other artists featured include Paul Weller, Elbow, Lily Allen and Radiohead.
Available from all the usual retailers now.
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2. The New Scotsman: Mad For It with Chas Smash.
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Mad For It
http://news.scotsman.com/entertainment/Arts-diary-What-price-Byron39s.5713957.jp
MADNESS trumpeter, vocalist and songwriter Carl Smyth turned nostalgic about touring Scotland when talking up the band's forthcoming headline slot at this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay bash.
Smyth – better known as Chas Smash – remembers heading to the Glasgow Apollo back in the old days. "You could tell when Shirley Bassey had been in town, because the dressing room had been refurbished," he says.
Smyth asked to say a special hello to Bill Murray, "one of the last big furry feet brothers (sic] … He makes Highland Papers, extra-long cigarette papers for the smoking of combustibles. He's a credit to Scottish exports."
Lest you think Madness have been up to naughtiness on their bus trips up the M1, Smyth stresses they are and always have been a family band.
"I usually bring my children, all our children," said the father of three, who turned 50 recently. "Put it this way, on our bus you didn't get Deep Throat, you got Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That's what we like."
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3. Madness Central and The Official Madshop Promotion Of The Week.
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Over the coming weeks, and in conjunction with the Official Madstore at:
http://www.recordstore.co.uk/madness/home.jsp
we will be presenting a number of promotions currently available for purchase. This week it's the Deluxe Edition of the Liberty Of Norton Folgate.
This Deluxe edition comes with the album and a DVD that includes legendary director Julien Temple's film adaptation of The Liberty Of Norton Folgate...shot in part at the band's first live performance of the new material at London's Hackney Empire, a show that was stage directed by Luke Cresswell (the man behind 'Stomp'). Between songs, Suggs and Chas Smash take you the viewer on a delightful theatrical jaunt through the underbelly of London's past. This is much more than a mere Gig Film... it is the perfect visual embodiment of the album.
Tracks Performed in the Film:
1. Overture 2. We Are London 3. Idiot Child 4. Bingo 5. NW5 6. On The Town 7. MKII 8. Sugar And Spice 9. Dust Devil 10. Clerkenwell Polka 11. Forever Young 12. The Liberty Of Norton Folgate.
CD Tracklisting
1. Overture 2. We Are London 3. Sugar And Spice 4. Forever Young 5. Dust Devil 6. Rainbows 7. That Close 8. MK II 9. On The Town 10. Bingo 11. Idiot Child 12. Africa 13. NW5 14. Clerkenwell Polka 15. The Liberty Of Norton Folgate
You can pre-order your copy at:
http://www.recordstore.co.uk/madness/productdetail.jsp?productPK=unittest-ZLSsk5rpmHgwDExDqN3IEb-1
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4. One Step Beyond Competition Result
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Well, another contest has come to a close here at Madness Central, and that means we have another lucky winner, this time of an advance copy off the new One Step Beyond... reissue, kindly provided by Union Square Music.
http://www.madness-central.com/interactive/feature/OSBUSM.html
And who is that winner?
JOHNNY GAULD
Congrats, Johnny! I'll be sending you an email letting you know you've won, but if you see this post on the forum first, email or PM your mailing address and we'll get your prize out to you straight away.
Watch the Interactive Section of Madness Central for our next contest coming 2 November, 2009. The prize this time will be a copy of the forthcoming The Liberty of Norton Folgate CD/DVD which features the album we all know and love plus a DVD of the famed Julien Temple film.
Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks for your continued support of Madness Central!
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5. Yet Another Nutty Caption Update
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The ever popular Madness Central feature, The Nutty Caption, has been updated once again:
You can enter your caption here:
http://www.madness-central.com/interactive/caption/caption.php
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6. Suggs' World Of Madness: Female First Interview
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Madness has been making music for over thirty years and have come a long way from gigging in a local pub in Camden Town, London. But thirty years of hits brings with a greatest hits album so I caught up with Suggs to talk about the new record, the band's longevity and what lies ahead.
# A best of album was released on Monday so why did you decide that now was a good time to release a greatest hits?
Because every ten years or so, we have been going thirty years, we realised that a new generation needs to be educated in the ways of Madness.
# You have had thirty years of single so how did you choose what to include, thirty years of singles that's quite a back catalogue?
It is funnily enough people have asked me this question, and I'm not being rude or anything, but it's true what do we leave off? We have got thirty three singles so we just sat around and discussed which ones we thought were the best and tried to pick the best of what we would like people to appreciate us by.
# Do you have any personal favourites and were there any songs that you were disappointed had to be left off?
No no not really no. We are a democracy in Madness and we decided amongst ourselves so if the majority decide one thing then we all agree on it and that's the way that it is.
# And how surprised are you that your career has lasted so long?
I'm really surprised. The person that you were talking to earlier was Lee Thompson our saxophone player, he's an idiot, when we first started in a pub in Camden Town on a Friday night and we got a residency he was going 'yeah this is it we have made it'.
Just to be able to play on a Friday night and increase our income by fifty quid a week from our normal job and a few girls comes to see us was enough. Every single record we made was a privilege, and it still is a privilege, it's still a privilege to be here after thirty years.
# How have your dreams and aspirations changed over the years? What do you hope to achieve in music now that's possibly different from thirty years ago.
The same things ironically. I'm sat here with two of the band and to be friends, we started as friends, and the whole process of what we did was an adjunct to our friendship, and that will always be the case.
The more it goes on the closer we get and the more the music is a product of our friendship if that makes any sense? If you look at those early videos we did and those records and hearing pure joy, we never did anything for money or a career we did it because we liked each other and we liked each others company.
And I hope that is the answer to the rest of our career, when I was in a social club I saw this band who were in their eighties and they are still really potent and doing something great that isn't just crap like most bands.
# And how has the music industry changed in the time that you have been around?
The computer was invented, the mobile phone and a lot of arse holes talking about crap.
# What do you think of the bands that are around at the moment are you into any?
Yeah some of them, I like Dizzee Rascal. My daughters are in a band called Scarlet and Viva and they are f**king brilliant. There is a lot of great live music, I can appreciate Lily Allen talking about the demise of record sales but I don't see a way around that I think technology is too beyond that now to stop it, but live music, I was at the Camden Crawl this year, and I have never seen so many great live bands. The vibrancy of music, certainly in London, but in this country is an extraordinary thing.
# You played at Glastonbury this year so how was that?
It was terrible; it was horrible all those bloody smelly hippies. No it was brilliant really great and was a great culmination of along years work and it was very nice of the Eavis family to invite us.
We had the most tremendous fun and it was the highlight of my year, playing at the Camden Crawl to 500 people and then playing to 180,000 people at Glastonbury are the two ends of all the things that I like about being in Madness.
# Did you stick around at the festival and watch any of the other bands?
Yes I did, I arrived on the Wednesday and I stuck around a bit too long. I believe Lee Thompson our sax player broke two ribs when he was trying to form a human pyramid when Dizzee Rascal was on and fell off. But it's a tremendous thing Glastonbury.
# You played on Regent Street last weekend so how did you get involved with that?
The Regent Street shop owners and Absolute Radio have got a festival going on and it's the first time that a band has ever blocked off Regent Street, we played in Piccadilly Circus, so what an end to a great year. It's amazing playing Piccadilly Circus in our home town.
# You are also going on tour this Christmas so how excited are you about getting back on the road?
We are always excited about that, we are very excitable people, and, like I tried to explain earlier (laughs), we are friends and our music is like our friendship it’s really great, it’s really hard to explain. Life has its ups and downs, and believe me my life has had some ups and downs, but being in Madness is a relief from the rest of the crap that goes on in your life.
So I’m very very fortunate to be amongst my friends and making music and this tour is going to be and so this tour is going to be the most extraordinary thing anyone has ever clapped eyes on.
# What makes you want to carry on, thirty years is a long time to be with the same bunch of people?
Yes it is. Friendship and a moral compass, you have got to be decent to people and they will be decent to you. The show business bit is a load of old crap what we have always done is said what we feel and acted responsibly, really we try.
# Finally what’s next for you?
I’m going to blow up in great big puff of euphoria.
Interview by: Helen Earnshaw
Female First: http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/music/interviews/Suggs-72032.html
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7. UUnion Square Competition - Win Advance Copies of Seven and Absolutely
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Those nice people at Union Square Music recently announced a competition based around the 37 metre "Total Madness" billboard currently wowing drivers along the A40 in London. Don’t worry you don’t have to visit it to enter - all you need to do is point your browser to the following Facebook link. There's still some time left to create and submit your entries if you haven't done so already.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=139899757009&ref=mf
Where you will be greeted with the following words:
Win an advance copy of the deluxe editions of 'Absolutely' and '7' by creating an interesting picture utilising the Madness billboard below (currently residing on the A40 by Hangar Lane).
You can download the actual poster here:
http://www.m-madness.co.uk/A40poster.JPG.zip
Post your entries straight into the pictures section.
The best entry as judged by Union Square Music will be announced on October 30th.
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8. Contacting Madness Central
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You can send all communications relating to Madness Central to the e-mail address:
ad...@madness-central.com
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9. Newsletter Subscription Details.
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# Subscribing to the Newsletter:
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