Madness Central Downloads  Suggs - Make Me Scream - 1989
SCREAMING SUGGS - A HAUNTING VIDEO FROM THE PAST

There was once a terrible horrific time: 1989 - 1990. These were the most horrendously dark times to live in, desolate and ghastly. It was a time without any Madness, at all!

After the end of The Madness and before The Nutty Boys began (and a few years prior to Madstock reuniting the full band), there was just depression, confusion and an uncertain music future. It was a scary emptiness since The Ghost Train had departed...

This Halloween we bring you a rare remnant from this frightening wilderness period, one only ever mentioned or seen by a very few fans, and not online for the majority of maddies... until now. Here is "Make Me Scream" from Suggs.

In the last fan club comics of the 80's, there was talk of a ghostly themed album that ultimately never emerged and was never worked on. Beyond the last Madness single of the 80's "Ghost Train" and before "Haunted" made it to Suggs first solo album, betwixt "Make Me Scream" is convincing evidence of these monstrous ideas being thrown around, and also evidence that living in difficult Mad times can make you go a bit insane!

Channel X was a Programme offered by alternative remit station Channel 4 in its early days that made pop videos of non-existent songs, an art experiment really. So one night a rare appearance from Suggs popped up on TV, like the ghost of Madness past, an outlet for this one hauntingly-themed song.

"Make Me Scream" is a disturbing performance from the Madness frontman. A twisted disembodied Suggs spirit haunts a house and sings of the dark joys of relief from the horror genre. Suggs cites the authors of murder-based thrillers like "The Talented Mr. Ripley" as well classic and modern horror films from "Frankenstein" to George A. Romero zombiefests. It's a chilling tale perfect for this spooky time of year. It's also a bit of laughable 80's TV, too, that visually still can't quite escape nutty flamboyance and now suffers the period-piece dating of early computer graphics. Whether you think Suggs is the Lone Deranged-er here or just gurning a lot, it's an experimental first step towards the idea of Solo Suggs that would come five years later.

Enjoy, but try not to have any nightmare, nightmares.

Happy Halloween from Madness Central, with huge thanks to Darren Balsdon's haunted loft.

Download Suggs "Make Me Scream" audio
File size: 5.66mb

Download Suggs "Make Me Scream" video
File size: 9.47mb

Sing along to Suggs "Make Me Scream" lyrics