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Mad Not Mad
''Mad Not Mad'' is the sixth studio album by English ska and pop band Madness. It was released on 30 September 1985, their first release on their own label Zarjazz, a sub-label of Virgin Records. The album was recorded over a period of two months in 1985 at Westside Studios and at AIR Studios, both in London. The album was their last recording of original material until they officially reformed in 1992. The album peaked at No. 16 in the UK charts, and achieved silver status from the BPI. However, ''Mad Not Mad'' remains the band's poorest-selling studio album to date. On its release the album was received favourably by the majority of music critics, although opinions have become much more negative in subsequent decades. After only a few weeks of its initial release, the writers of '' NME'' listed this album at number 55 on their list of the "100 Best Albums of All Time". The band themselves have been quite vocal that they were less satisfied with the album. In a BBC Radio 1 ...
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Studio Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual Phonograph record#78 rpm disc developments, 78 rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP record, long-playing (LP) records played at  revolutions per minute, rpm. The album was the dominant form of recorded music expression and consumption from the mid-1960s to the early 21st century, a period known as the album era. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The 8-track tape was the first tape format widely used alongside vinyl from 1965 until being phased out by 1983 and was gradually supplanted by the cassette tape during the 1970s and early 1980s; the populari ...
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British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with the Entertainment Retailers Association, and awards UK music sales through the BRIT Certified Awards. Structure Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all three "major" record companies in the UK ( Warner Music UK, Sony Music UK, & Universal Music UK), and over 450 independent record labels and small to medium-sized music businesses. The BPI council is the management and policy forum of the BPI. It is chaired by the chair of BPI, and includes the chief executive, chief operating officer (COO) and the general counsel. In addition it includes 12 representatives from the recorded music sector, six from major labels, two each from the three major companies, and six from the independent sector, which are selected by ...
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Post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-rock influences. Inspired by punk's energy and DIY ethic but determined to break from rock cliches, artists experimented with styles like funk, electronic music, jazz, and dance music; the production techniques of dub and disco; and ideas from art and politics, including critical theory, modernist art, cinema and literature. These communities produced independent record labels, visual art, multimedia performances and fanzines. The early post-punk vanguard was represented by groups including Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, Public Image Ltd, the Pop Group, Cabaret Voltaire, Magazine, Pere Ubu, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Devo, Gang of Four, the Slits, the Cure, and the Fall. The movement was closely related to the deve ...
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The "Sweetest Girl"
"The 'Sweetest Girl'" is a song written by Welsh singer Green Gartside. It was originally performed by Gartside's band Scritti Politti, and released in October 1981 as a single. The single peaked at No. 64 in the UK Singles Chart. The keyboards are played by Robert Wyatt. The song became a marginally bigger hit five years later, when covered by ska and pop band Madness. Their version of the song peaked at No. 35 in the UK and No. 29 in Ireland in early 1986. Madness changed the title of the song slightly, losing both the definite article and the quotation marks around the last two words in "The 'Sweetest Girl, thereby rendering it as "Sweetest Girl". Scritti Politti version Artwork As with the cover artwork for all of the singles from '' Songs to Remember'' (1982), "The 'Sweetest Girl pays homage to the packaging of a luxury consumer item, which in this case was Dunhill cigarettes. Gartside claimed that the idea behind the singles' sleeves was to "convey a sense of a common ...
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(Waiting For) The Ghost Train
"(Waiting For) The Ghost Train" is a single by the English ska and pop band Madness. Released in 1986 shortly after the band announced they were to split, it was their last single prior to reforming in 1992. It spent nine weeks in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 18. The song first appeared on an album on the band's 1986's ''Utter Madness'' greatest hits compilation, issued one month after its single release. The song was written by Suggs about apartheid in South Africa, with its chorus "It's black and white, don't try to hide it" and the line "The station master's writing with a piece of orange chalk / One hundred cancellations, still no one wants to walk" (in reference to the South African flag). Mike Barson reunited with the other members of the band to record this song, although he did not appear in the music video. A Christmas flexi-disc record containing the 'band demo' of the song was sent out to Madness fan club (M.I.S.) members, featuring farewells and thanks fro ...
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Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and an acronymic play on the British TV show ''Top of the Pops)''. Publication of the magazine ceased in 1984. The unexpired portion of mail subscriptions was completed by ''Rolling Stone'' sister publication ''Record'', which itself folded in 1985. ''Trouser Press'' has continued to exist in various formats. History The magazine's original scope was British bands and artists (early issues featured the slogan "America's Only British Rock Magazine"). Initial issues contained occasional interviews with major artists like Brian Eno and Robert Fripp and extensive record reviews. After 14 issues, the title was shortened to simply ''Trouser Press'', and it gradually transformed into a professional mag ...
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Gonzalez (band)
Gonzalez were a British R&B and funk band. They became well known as a backing band for touring R&B, funk, and soul stars. Their eponymous album was released in 1974 and they recorded a total of six albums before disbanding in 1986. They are best known for their 1979 single success with their worldwide disco hit "Haven't Stopped Dancing Yet." History The original band was formed by Godfrey McLean and Bobby Tench from Gass in 1970 and included other members of that band. It had the line-up of Tench as vocalist and guitarist, drummer Godfrey McLean, bassist Delisle Harper, and percussionist Lennox Langton. At the end of May 1970, Tench left Gonzalez to become a member of The Jeff Beck Group and the band formed a new core membership, with saxophonists Michael "Mick" Eve, Chris Mercer, Steve Gregory, Geoffrey "Bud" Beadle, keyboardist Roy Davies, and guitarist Gordon Hunte. Later George Chandler, Glen LeFleur, Cliff Lake, and Delisle Harper were included whilst simultaneously ...
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Steve Nieve
Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madness. He has also experienced success as a prolific session musician, featured on a wide array of other artists' recordings. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Early years Nieve was born in Bishop's Stortford, England, and attended the Royal College of Music, but dropped out in 1977 to join Costello's backing band the Attractions. Nason received his musical moniker "Nieve" (pronounced " naïve") while on the Attractions' first tour for Stiff Records. It was bestowed by tourmate Ian Dury who had been astonished by Nason's innocent query, "What's a groupie?" Before that, at least briefly, he had been using the stage name "Steve A'dore" (a pun on stevedore). Career Ni ...
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Session Musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a tour. Session musicians are usually not permanent or official members of a musical ensemble or band. They work behind the scenes and rarely achieve individual fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders. However, top session musicians are well known within the music industry, and some have become publicly recognized, such as the Wrecking Crew, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and The Funk Brothers who worked with Motown Records. Many session musicians specialize in playing common rhythm section instruments such as guitar, piano, bass, or drums. Others are specialists, and play brass, woodwinds, and strings. Many session musicians play multiple instruments, which lets them play in a wider range of musical situations, genres ...
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its large number of canals, now designated a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River that was dammed to control flooding; the city's name derives from the Amstel dam. Originally a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam is th ...
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Jimmy Helms
James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as "Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years James D. Helms was born in Florida, United States. His grandfather was a Black Seminole and a preacher. Helms discovered music when his aunt gave the family a radio, and went on to play trumpet in the school band. After high school he moved to Columbus, Ohio. He released his first single, “Daddy! Daddy!” on Forest Records in 1962. He played with the Carl Sally band and moved to Boston, where he worked as a session guitarist. He joined the US Army and played trumpet in the Fort Jackson Army Band. After 1970, Helms began to spend more time pursuing a music career in the UK. He released a number of singles on labels such as Cube, Capitol, Philips, and Pye. None of these releases made much of an impact but they helped to keep Helms in the spotlight. Music career In Boston in 1970, Helms a ...
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Afrodiziak
Afrodiziak was a British singing group composed of Caron Wheeler, Claudia Fontaine, and later Naomi Thompson, that was active in the 1980s. As a duo, Wheeler and Fontaine were best known for performing backing vocals on the Jam's final single "Beat Surrender" in 1982 (on whose final tour they performed) and Elvis Costello's 1983 album ''Punch the Clock'', especially its lead single, the international hit " Everyday I Write the Book". After the addition of Naomi Thompson as a third member, Afrodiziak performed backing vocals on the hit single "Free Nelson Mandela", including the a cappella intro, staging it on Channel 4's music show '' The Tube'' in March 1984. Heaven 17's 1984 album ''How Men Are'' featured them prominently, especially on the singles "Sunset Now" and "And That's No Lie". Afrodiziak performed on Madness's albums '' Keep Moving'' and ''Mad Not Mad'' in 1984 and 1985, appearing in the music video for that group's single "Sweetest Girl". Also in 1985 they performe ...
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