Madness were a British ska band of the 1980s.

The band was formed in London, England in 1976, by Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) on keyboards and vocals, Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) on guitar and Lee Thompson (Kix) on saxophone and vocals under the name The North London Invaders. They were joined in 1978 by front-man Graham McPherson (Suggs) on vocals, Mark Bedford (Bedders) on bass guitar, Carl Smyth (Chas Smash) on trumpet/vocals and Daniel Woodgate (Woody) on drums, and after performing for a while as the Invaders changed their name to Madness.

Their first single, released in 1979 on The Specials' 2 Tone label, was "The Prince". The song was a tribute to the Jamaican ska musician Prince Buster, whose single "Madness" the band had named themselves after. This was followed by the album One Step Beyond in 1979, which stayed in the British charts for over a year, peaking at number 2. This album was released on the Stiff Records label, which became the band's recording label. The band released 24 singles and eight albums (including two compilation albums) in the UK.

The band's first 20 singles all made it into the UK top 20, making them by this measure more successful than acts such as The Beatles and Elvis Presley, although the latter two had many more chart toppers. They had limited success in the USA, with two singles ("Our House" - #7 and "It Must Be Love" - #33) and a compilation album (Madness) having significant sales. This was perhaps a result of their quirky style, and the limited marketplace for ska in the US.

The group split in 1986, following the departure of the main songwriter Mike Barson in 1984. Suggs, Carl, Lee and Chris teamed up under the imaginative name of The Madness and released a self-titled album in 1988 to a lukewarm reception. Two singles ("I Pronounce You" ~ #44 and "What's That" ~ criminally overlooked by the public and the first ever Madness single not to chart) failed to keep the momentum going and the four went their separate ways. However, all seven original members reformed in 1992 when a repackaged greatest hits compilation "Divine Madness" hit the UK charts at #1 and a re-released "It Must Be Love" made it to #6 and this garnered enough media hype and expectations that an open air concert at Finsbury Park entitled 'Madstock' was an enormous success - so much so that further "Madstocks" were held in 1994, 1996 and 1998 along with regular Christmas tours and other live appearances. The band released a brand new album in 1999, entitled 'Wonderful' and were back in the UK Top 10 with their first single off it, 'Lovestruck', a further two singles were released "Johnny The Horse" and "Drip Fed Fred" (the latter a collaboration with long time friend Ian Dury (of Ian Dury & The Blockheads fame)), both failing to hit top 40.

As the new millennium dawned a collection of Madness songs were adapted into a stage musical called "Our House" in London's West End. Many 90s American 3rd generation ska bands like No Doubt and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones cite Madness (the so-called Camden 'Nutty Boys') as a major influence in their music. The band are currently working on an album of cover versions of some of the ska songs which influenced them to hopefully be released in 2005. The material to go onto the album was highlighted in a series of minor gigs at the bands spiritual home the Dublin Castle in 2004 where they appeared under the name The Dangermen.

Discography

Albums (UK):

• One Step Beyond (1979), UK #2
• Absolutely (1980), UK #2
• 7 (1981), UK #5
• Complete Madness (1982), UK #1
• Rise and Fall (1982), UK #10
• Keep Moving (1984), UK #6
• Mad Not Mad (1985), UK #16
• Utter Madness (1986), UK #29
• The Madness (1988), UK #48
• Divine Madness (1992), UK #1
• Madstock (1992), UK #19
• Wonderful (1999), UK #17