THE HOUSE OF FUN NEVER CLOSES

Ska made their name , and Madness remain associated with it. But how did it happen - and was Jamaican music any more of an influence on the band than anything else? Chrissy Boy Foreman and Lee Thompson talk about ska, 2-Tone and, er, Hawkwind, to Ian McCann

It’s so ridiculous, it’s almost funny. Despite all the other stuff they’ve done, look on the internet and you’ll find Madness routinely described as a “ska band” or a “pop-ska” outfit. It seems pretty certain that the group don’t regard themselves as a ska group any more than they’re a reggae group, a Kilburn & The High Roads’ fan club or keepers of The Kinks’ melancholic pop mantle. They’re never made an album with ska in the title (until now), and while a ska beat often drives their songs, they steer it in all manner of directions… even if it’s not quite a Jaguar. It was there for their debut single, 1979’s The Prince, and it still throbs away in the background of the beautifully yearning social observation that is Dust Devil, from The Liberty Of Newton Folgate. It’s even lurking in Misery, written by Cathal ‘Carl’ Smyth (aka Chas Smash), a track earmarked for a new original album. In fact ska is one of the things that makes Madness so identifiable; apart from a diversion in the late-80s as The Madness, the band remain utterly themselves, no matter what direction they may head in, and Jamaican 60s skank remains one of their building blocks.

Time to declare an interest. There have been quite a few Madness compilations over the …

by Ian McCann
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