''7'' (also known as ''Madness 7'') is the third studio album by the English

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

and pop band Madness. Released in October 1981, it peaked at No. 5 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. All but one track was recorded at

Compass Point Studios Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

in the summer of 1981, the exception being " Grey Day" which was recorded in London earlier in the year. Although in 2011 co-producer

Alan Winstanley Alan Kenneth Winstanley (; born 2 November 1952) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer. Early life He was born in Fulham in November 1952 to parents Ken and Doreen. ...

stated in the ''Guided Tour of Madness'' boxed-set that much of the album was re-recorded in London when they returned from Nassau.

Track listing

There were several different versions of the album released throughout the world. Some territories removed the not so tourist-friendly "Day on the Town" while others replaced it with "Never Ask Twice (a.k.a. Aeroplane/Airplane)", which was issued on the "Shut Up" 12" single in the UK. In Belgium "Never Ask Twice" was issued on a one-sided 7" single with initial copies of the album. France renamed "Day on the Town" as "A Place in the City". Australia added " It Must Be Love" and "Never Ask Twice", Spain replaced "Cardiac Arrest" with "It Must Be Love" and Japan added "In the City", which was issued there as a single after it was initially written for and used to promote

Honda City The is a sedan car which has been produced by the Japanese manufacturer Honda since 1981. The City was originally a 3-door hatchback/2-door convertible for the Japanese, European and Australasian markets. The 3-door City was retired in 1994 a ...

cars in television commercials. Initial vinyl pressings featured different mixes of some tracks (most notably "Mrs Hutchinson" and "Day on the Town"), which haven't been used since.

2010 reissue

In 2009 and 2010, Madness re-released their entire back catalogue of studio albums up until 1999's '' Wonderful'' with a bonus CD and extra tracks. ''7'' was reissued by Union Square Music's collector's label Salvo on 12 April 2010. ; CD 1 ; The original album : *The first disc contains the thirteen tracks from the original album plus four promo videos. ; The promo videos # Grey Day # Shut Up # It Must be Love # Cardiac Arrest ;CD 2

Personnel

Madness * Graham "Suggs" McPherson – lead vocals * Mike Barson – piano, organ, vibes, marimba, tubular bells *

Chris Foreman Christopher John Foreman (born 8 August 1956), nicknamed Chrissy Boy, is an English musician, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning 45 years, Foreman came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the English band Madness. ...

– guitar, sitar * Mark Bedford – bass * Lee Thompson – saxophones, burps, squeaks, lead vocals on track 10 * Daniel Woodgate – drums, congas *

Chas Smash Cathal Joseph "Carl" Smyth (born 14 January 1959), also known as Chas Smash, is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the secondary vocalist, trumpet player and dancer for the English band Madness from their inception ...

– backing vocals, trumpet Technical *

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' Brothers of the Head''. Biog ...

– producer, engineer *

– producer, engineer * Arun Chakraverty – mastering * Stella Artwork – cover * C-More – cover * Mike Putland – photography 2010 reissue *

Dale Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from ...

– producer on Richard Skinner session * Mike Engels – engineer on Richard Skinner session * Tim Turan – remastering * Martin 'Cally' Callomon – art direction, design *

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine ''NME'', his writing credits have included '' On the Hour'', ' ...

– liner notes

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Certifications and sales

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:7 (Madness Album) Madness (band) albums 1981 albums Albums produced by Alan Winstanley Albums produced by Clive Langer Albums recorded at Compass Point Studios Stiff Records albums