Chapter 3: The Return Of The Los Palmas 7

1981 arrived with the release of the bands 7th single. 'The Return Of The Los Palmas 7' was lifted from the 'Absolutely' album, remixed and overdubbed, then packaged on 7" and 12". The 7" came in two different picture sleeves, one featuring cartoon depictions of the band and the other, a rather dull canteen shot. The 12" included a live rendition of 'Swan Lake' and the demo version of 'My Girl', on which Mike Barson took lead vocal.

The single sold well, Madness fans would buy anything with the bands name on and the record proved popular with the mums and dads too. The video was surprisingly a disapointment, perhaps due to the rather rushed release schedule. February arrived to the sound of wedding bells, Mike Barson tied the knot with girlfriend Sandra at Finsbury Park Registry Office and didn't even bother inviting the rest of the group!

On February the 15th the 2-Tone film 'Dance Craze' went on general release, unfortunatly the initial furore surrounding the British Ska movement had died down and the film only received limited distribution. Madness supplied 6 tracks to the film, all filmed on tour during 1980, including the version of 'Swan Lake' issued on their 'Los Palmas 7' 12".

The soundtrack album featured 3 tracks from the band, 'One Step Beyond', 'Razor Blade Alley' and 'Night Boat To Cairo', the record eventually peaked at No 5 on the long players list.

'Dance Craze' wasn't the only film featuring Madness to appear that year. When March arrived the band started work on their own feature, 'Take It Or Leave It', it was the story of how the band came to be and featured some rather dodgy acting from the boys.

Filming started on the 9th and was completed sometime during the middle of April, a few faces from the murky past were in attendance too, John Hasler and Garry Dovey played themselves in the film, the resemblance was uncanny.

April the 17th heralded the arrival of another Madness single, 'Grey Day' was an old song dating from the days when the band were still the Invaders, it had Madness in sombre mood and seemed a strange track to release during the warm Spring of 1981. Again their was a 12" version of the record released, another 4 track affair featuring the Spanish version of 'One Step Beyond', although, somewhat mysteriously, not the 7" B side 'Memories'.

With another record to promote the band once again took to the road, this time in the Far East, taking in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. After the tour was complete an additional set of dates were added in the US. Sire Records who had handled Madness over there had dropped the band, despite their phenomenol home record, and the band eventually signed up with Geffen.

All five of the US gigs sold out and the band returned, tired but happy, to the UK where 'Grey Day' had provided them with their 7th top ten hit. The record, resplendent with tubular bells from Mike Barson, was the start of a new direction for Madness, although it had been hinted at on the 'Absolutely' album, the single showed Madness in a more thoughtful, serious mood than before. The video also saw the band back on form, not only did it feature them doing a modified version of the Nutty walk it even had them performing in a shop window.

'Grey Day' eventually peaked at number 4, by which time the band had departed for warmer climes, shortly after returning from their tour dates the boys were off to record their third album at Compass Point, Nassau. The sessions were again produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who had produced all of Madness' Stiff output, and the final product certainley captured the tropical atmosphere.

As a taster for the album, the band released their 9th single on September the 11th 1981. 'Shut Up', as it was titled came in 7 "and 12", and was as good as anything they had released before, with some wonderful piano from Mike. The B side was a terrific instrumental written by Chris entitled 'A Town With No Name' and had a real Spaghetti Western feel about it. The 12" featured the extra track 'Never Ask Twice' which could easily have held a place on the album but it wasn't to be.

The album, entitled 7, finally reached the shops on the 2nd of October and received rave reviews from all corners of the press, the record just smacked of class with the band turning in an A1 performance. Tracks such as 'Sign Of The Times', 'Pac A Mac' and 'When Dawn Arrives' showcased just how proficient the band had become and others, like 'Tomorrows Dream' and 'Cardiac Arrest', revealed the bands ability to write great songs regardless of the subject matter.

October the 8th saw the band kick off their UK tour in Bradford and, after 4 dates in Scotland and one in Sheffield, the band returned to Camden for the premiere of their film 'Take It Or Leave It' on the 14th of that month. The next day and the band are back on the road with the Belle Stars, taking in Bristol, Leeds and Manchester within 5 days, still no rest for the wicked and all that.

During then tour the band were covering the old Labi Siffre hit from 1971, 'It Must Be Love', and, as everybody seemed impressed by their version, the band went into the studio to record it. The final session was held on the 9th of November after which the band played another four shows before returning to London for four more dates, three at the Dominion and one at the Hammersmith.

With the album '7' peaking at No.5 on the chart, Stiff issued 'It Must Be Love' on 7" and 12" in the last week of November, a week later and it was high in the national charts. The 12" was a big dissapointment - and a bit of a rip off to boot, it was exactly the same as the 7", with no extra tracks or anything, the only redeeming factor was the price, £1.49 compared to the usual format price of £1.99.

The year had been the bands most successful, 4 hit singles, an album and 2 film appearances maintained Madness' high profile in the business, but the year had been long and hard, not only on the globe trotting Madness but on the rest of the world too. The Specials had split up due to internal bickering following their huge hit 'Ghost Town', Reggae legend Bob Marley died of cancer in May, both Ronald Reagan and the Pope were victims of failed assasination attempts, riots broke out in Belfast following the death of Bobby Sands and riots also erupted in Brixton and other parts of Britain due to racial tension.

The year did finish on a happier note however. On the 22nd of December Suggs hit the headlines when he got married to Anne, better known to many as the singer Bette Bright - remember her UK hit single 'Hello I Am Your Heart' ? No me neither!

Andy Clayden, 1999.