February 1992. I was 15 years old, and had just returned from a school trip to Eastern Europe (Prague, Budapest, Vienna), which had opened up to western tourism after the fall of Communism and the Berlin Wall. As fascinating and beautiful as these places were, i only had two things on my mind: music and girls. Being a shy, awkward sort, women would prove elusive to me for a few more years. But that didn't stop me having the usual adolescent crushes, the latest being a 6th former who had been on the school trip. And my musical tastes shifted toward the romantic songs. Two singles purchased on returning from the jaunt to the Eastern Bloc were Simply Red - "For Your Babies" (hormones do odd things to your mind), and a re-release of "It Must Be Love" by 80's pop band Madness, who had split up in 1986. Released in advance of a forthcoming Greatest Hits compilation, it parked itself at number 6 in the singles chart, and sparked a wave of nostalgia and a long overdue critical reappraisal. Divine Madness, a 22 song collection of the "Nutty Boys" hits, went straight to Number 1, as did the video collection. And having some holiday cash left over, i went into town and bought the cassette. I've had a lot of favourite bands and singers over the years: some have stuck with me, others haven't. But from the moment i put that tape in my stereo, my life was forever altered. Madness are more than just my favourite band. They, and their music, are a irremovable part of my life. That tape was a constant companion: it was on at home, in my walkman whenever i went out. I was obsessed with it. Needless to say, my schoolmates didn't agree. As with my early childhood, they couldn't understand what i saw in songs that were from a previous decade. Not that i cared. Over the next few months, i aquired the "One Step Beyond...." and "Keep Moving" albums (on tape, as was my choice of format for albums at the time), and became more fascinated with the band. This was pre-internet, so you had to dig for information in magazines and books, and finding out more about them became a mission. Luckily, the popularity of Divine Madness had led to demand for reunion concerts, buoyed by a reawoken love for a great English band that went way beyond their fanbase. All the time that i had been listening to their songs, i'd had a nagging feeling of sadness that i'd missed out on seeing them in their heyday, having been born just a few years too late. I'd been 10 when they'd split up, amid declining popularity and a crisis of musical direction, having lost their leader, keyboardist, and musical lynchpin Mike Barson in 1984 (who went to live on a houseboat in Amsterdam). Could the rumours they were about to reform be true? It's often said that, to really "get" an artists' music, you have to see them live. Suddenly, they were back in magazines, on the tv, announcing a one-off reunion concert, Madstock!, which became a two day event more akin to a small festival. The week before, a reissue of "My Girl" had made its way into the Top 30, and the band were back on Top Of The Pops for the first time in 8 years. The tickets sold quickly. My Mum had managed to obtain two through a local coach company, for Sunday August 9th, as a 16th birthday present. I couldn't believe it! I was actually going to see this band whose music i had fallen in love with. Madness were supported by fellow North London act Gallon Drunk, "baggy" also-rans Flowered Up, Morrissey, and the legendary Ian Dury, reunited with his Blockheads. But there's only one band people were there to see. So, Sunday August 9th, Finsbury Park, North London. The day passed by in a blur of excitement, and the band appeared, overwhelmed by the love for them. Hit after hit whizzed by, everyone singing at the top of their lungs, dancing like their lives depended on it. If you want to see just how much atmosphere their was, buy the Madstock! cd/dvd pack, which after years out of print, recieved a timely re-release in 2015. Just before Christmas, we went to see them again at the Birmingham NEC, supported by The Farm and 808 State. And that Christmas, with a my first cd player, my love of Madness continued, with Divine Madness (i'd worn the tape out by this point), Mad Not Mad, and the live Madstock! album to start my cd collection. What a year.
On a final note, the stomping feet of the crowd during the opening song, "One Step Beyond", caused an earth tremor which led the residents of nearby tower blocks to think there was an earthquake!
I'm not a fan of following the herd. If an artist, film, tv series, etc is huge or the current trend then my contrary tendencies will rise to the surface. There have been many times when a mildly successful band suddenly become huge and i will lose interest, or when, wary of hype, i won't get into them until the fuss dies down. But at the same time i want the things i love to get recognition. As i said, contrary. I have always steered clear of mass appeal, lowest common denominator stuff. I wasn't interested in Manic Street Preachers when they first appeared - and i still think Generation Terrorists is packed with filler - only to take interest during their next two albums which were less successful. And then lose it during their This Is My Truth...... era. When i stood in a record shop trying to choose who to spend my hard earned on that week i would rarely pick the current favourites, usually plumping for record that would, if lucky, be a footnote in the history of music.
It's not often i love a new album enough to play it on repeat - not since my late twenties any rate - but that's what happened when i put my Eco-vinyl copy of IDLES Crawler on the turntable. After the deliberate self parody of last year's Ultra Mono Joe Talbot and co. have taken a bold step forward: Crawler largely dispenses with the political sloganeering and post-punk moshpit anthems and reaches within for inspiration. Talbots' well documented 14 year struggle with alcohol and drug abuse, and his long road to recovery are the dominant themes here, in all their ugly details, but with a life affirming sense of redemption. The music is largely quieter and more measured too. Opener "MTT 420 RR" is a slow burning electronic textured track which represents the crash that saw him at his lowest point, the spare and eerie atmosphere over which Talbot recites the details in gruesome honesty. "Car Crash" sounds exactly like just that: a minimalist dubby, g
For as long as there has been recorded music and a music industry there have been musical artists who, despite hype and promotion, have underperformed or sank without trace. Since i began reading the (now sadly defunct) music weeklies in the early nineties there was barely a week without a new band or solo artist being excitedly talked about as "the next big thing" . Before, during a and after Britpop this went into overdrive as record companies fought to sign the next Oasis/Blur/Pulp/Stone Roses etc, acts coming and going, sometimes without a sniff of chart success. On rare occasions bands would be declared "your new favourite band" before they'd even recorded a note! (Menswe@r spring immediately to mind.) Too often, a promising new act would be signed on the strength of a couple of raved about independent singles only for their new paymasters to demand changes to their musical style to make them more marketable to a mass audience: edges smoothed off, more expe
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