Tattoos are not the sole monopoly of the chainsaw punk or leathery biker. Here at Madness Central, we’ve got our fair share of Madness fans who sport the ink, a sure sign of ultimate fandom… anyone willing to go under the needle to prove their love of Madness has got to be a true Madness fan!

You will know Andy Coulter at the beach by the mural on his back. Done on his 40th birthday, can there be any better testament to a love of Madness than taking up a good 30 percent of your skin surface with Madness ink?

Vicki Lee sports a bracelet of Madness ink. The Madman is obviously Madness. What’s not so obvious are the seven stars that complete the ensemble, each star representing one member of the band.

Our own Managing Partner Lee “Loobyloo” Buckley wears her Madness badge proudly on her arm. This is a lovely bit of Madness ink accenting a lovely lass.

Carl Barry boasts Madness from wrist to elbow. I’ve cut myself in this region of the arm and know it’s kind of really really painful, so kudos to Carl for his pain tolerance.

If you have Madness ink anywhere on your body (and don’t mind taking a photo of it), feel free to email me at…

steve@madness-central.com

…if you’d like your tattoo featured here at Fan Central.

Albuquerque is where I call home now, and I’ve been treated to Dave and company scooting through Nuevo Mexico for the past decade. So imagine the thrill of thrills of getting to sit down for almost two hours and interview Dave for my Madness fan page, Madness Central, in April of 2008. Want to read the interview? Dave’s in top form. Point yourself this way:

The Ska’dfather - Dave Wakeling of The English Beat

You’d think sitting down with a childhood hero would be totally nerve-racking, but two minutes with Dave and you’re totally at ease. I interview quite a few musicians and artists for the extra dosh, and these go okay for the most part, but they feel like interviews, very static and rote. With Dave it’s like having a conversation with an old friend.

Flash forward to last summer at the House of Blues in Anaheim. I happened to be visiting my home town of Fountain Valley, California, and Dave, ever the gentleman, invited my son, girlfriend and I to be his guests for the Rockin’ The Colonies gig. Could I turn this down? No way! Here’s a picture from that night (taken by the lovely Diana Sainz).

Tracy Rolfe, Dave Wakeling, Scott Bringe & Steve Bringe in the Green Room, HOB Anaheim

If you think like I think that I owed something back for Dave being so freaking cool, you’d be thinking the right thoughts. So when I got an email from the Dave Wakeling Appreciation Society asking for volunteers to spread the good word, I jumped on the chance to show my appreciation by plastering the town with flyers and posters.

Here’s a short chronicle of some of the highlights of today’s three hour excursion around Q-Town.

Okay, nothing English Beat about this picture, but I never miss a chance to plug my grad school alma mater. Welcome to the University of New Mexico, which happened to be our first stop on the Beat Street Team Tour.

This was the first stop bopping around campus. Have you ever heard of a bulletin board made of vanadium-hardened plywood? This board was impervious to thumbtacks. Even with a five pound crack hammer I don’t think we could have pounded a tack into the board. Fortunately, we came armed with tape. Nothing shall thwart the Good Word! By the way, that’s my kid Scott who loves Dave Tunes as much as me… and he’s pretty bent about the October 11 gig being 21+.

Luck was on our side. Most of the bulletin boards around UNM are made of actual cork, so the permanence of the thumbtack could be employed. This board, outside the Student Union Building, is a three-sided triangular affair, so each side got a few flyers. No matter which way you came into the quad, you’d be treated to a gig flyer.

This is a bulletin board back by Northrup Hall (the geoscience building where we took a short break from being Street Team Members so I could say hi to some old lab mates). After being relegated to the upper and lower parts of the boards, I got a little unethical and moved the eye-level posters out of the way so I could put the Beat flyers right in the line of sight of the passerby. Don’t worry, I didn’t leave the other flyers blowing in the wind. I tacked them back up lower on the board.

Some of the smaller boards at the entrances to the academic halls are hosting the smaller handbills for folks to grab on their way to class. I think this board is outside the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, but don’t hold me to that. We hit so many boards around campus today they all kind of meld together in the memory banks.

Across the street from the UNM campus is LA Underground, one of the hippest and funkiest record shops in town. They sell actual vinyl there. Vinyl is way cool.

Outside on the Central Avenue side of the store (which is part of old Route 66), with hundreds of cars and pedestrians going by each day, is a large promotional board for upcoming gigs. Stepping inside to ask if we could post a flyer there, I was told that the promoters paid for that space, so we could post a flyer inside the store if we wanted, but outside was cash on demand only.

Give me ten minutes and I can convince anyone of anything. Proof? In ten minutes I bet I can convince you Elle MacPherson is still hot even though she’s pushing 50. But I don’t have ten minutes right now, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Please note in the picture above (that’s me by the way) that there are not one but two English Beat posters tagged to the wall. Way cool, eh?

Here’s a close up of the flyer in all its pride and glory. And I didn’t even have to cough up any dosh to rent the space!

No Street Team push is complete without leaving a stack of handbills behind… be sure to shop at LA Underground next time you’re in Albuquerque!

Jetting down Central to the historic Nob Hill District we hit the dozens of bulletin boards outside cafes and coffee shops and bistros and any other euphemism you can think of to describe hip trendy restaurants. Nestled down amongst all these eateries is the famous Natural Sound, the place to go in Albuquerque for used vinyl and cds, dvds, and best of all, “import” music.

The paid show promoters had already been by Natural Sound (naturally, snicker snicker), but while there was a fine professional poster for the gig in the main window, there were no handbills on the shelves inside the store. We remedied that right quick.

If you’re looking for a killer dessert in Albuquerque, you’ve got to hit the Flying Star. This one’s on Central, but we went to the other four locations in town today as well. Note the blank spot on the window in the right of the picture. It’s going to get a new inhabitant in the next picture.

The bulletin boards (which spill out onto the store windows) are the hotspot for what’s happening around town. Want yoga lessons in your home? Go to Flying Star. Want information on the Xmas production “Nutcracker on the Rocks?” Get the flyer at Flying Star. Want to know about the next English Beat gig? Well, now you can get the skinny at Flying Star.

Next stop on the Street Team Tour was Downtown Albuquerque. That’s the tallest building in the state, the Bank of Albuquerque building on 4th and Copper. Yep, we don’t do things on a grand scale around here. Why did I bother posting this picture? Read the back of the Greyhound bus and you’ll have your answer. Is it chilly in here?

I was starting to get worried that the professional promoters for the El Rey (where the gig is going down a week from Sunday) hadn’t been doing their job. We’d put on about 30 miles driving around town by this time, and we’d only seen the one promo poster at Natural Sound. Finally, the fears were allayed. One of the main boards downtown had an English Beat poster already pinned to the cork. Still, we left our smaller black and white 2 Tone flyer behind as well, just to emphasize Dave was coming.

And here’s where it’s going to happen. This is the El Rey Theater on Central Avenue downtown. Pretty cool how The English Beat is already being billed on the marquee, don’t you think?

Last year the venue right next door burned down, the Golden West Saloon. The El Rey is on one side sharing a common wall and the Launchpad, another gig venue, is on the other side also sharing a common wall. Fortunately, the damage was pretty much limited to the Golden West (which was a total loss), but the El Rey and the Launchpad were both closed for about six months for renovations.

So there’s our Street Team Tour of Albuquerque. We’re not done yet. We’ve got some outlying record shops and restaurants to hit up tomorrow morning, namely Charlie’s on Menaul and Owl Green’s downtown (they were closed again during business hours, the slackers). We had an absolute blast spreading the word. It really feels stellar helping Dave and the band out on this after all they’ve done for us over the years.

by Steve Bringe

Call me a cad. Call me a louse. Call me a jerk. Just call me, baby baby…

And that’s the crux of getting my way, the para-nepotistic journey that began with some polite romantic arm-twisting and finished with the Fountain Valley High School 1988 yearbook’s theme being ONE STEP BEYOND…

This isn’t some accident, this isn’t some parallel that just happens to reference MADNESS only in name and not in spirit. No, the yearbook theme is most definitely based entirely upon the seminal MADNESS song ONE STEP BEYOND…

Here’s how it happened, and like everything, it’s a story about a boy and a girl. The boy was me. The girl was… I don’t remember her name (call me cad, call me… et cetera). The boy was a huge fan of Madness. The girl was on the yearbook staff. The boy happened to be dating the girl when the theme for our senior yearbook was being decided upon. A bug in her ear, she wanting to please her boyfriend, and boom, MADNESS made it in! Here’s where you waggle your finger and say “For shame!” No more than two weeks later we were no longer dating, but by then it was too late. The project was well on its way and there was no looking back. The ONE STEP BEYOND… theme was many steps beyond by this point.

Want proof MADNESS was the inspiration? Take a look at this center spread:

That is my 7″ single of ONE STEP BEYOND… pictured within the yearbook’s pages. Those are Chas’ lyrics alongside. And there is MADNESS, printed straight through by name, ample evidence that I imposed my love for MADNESS upon my entire graduating class of 2000 plus fellow students.

So there’s the tale of how the 1988 yearbook for Fountain Valley High School in Orange County, California, USA, became a Testimony of Nuttiness. Pretty cool, don’t you think?

From Martin Brett (bassist for VOTB/SOTB):

SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE is an off-shoot band from VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE featuring members of VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE - Mike Jones (Guitar/Vocals) & Martin Brett (Bass Guitar/Vocals). As Tracey & Missy have decided to hang up their Tu Tu’s forever Martin & Mike decided that it would be worth keeping the wonderful BEEHIVE songs & “spirit” alive. This came about from the numerous requests for VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE to reform, from fans & promoters alike. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE is not a tribute band but a tribute to the songwriting of TRACEY BELLAND & VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE. The band features two original members of VOICE OF THE BEEHIVE & will be the only access for fans to see & hear the BEEHIVE songs live. SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (The name comes from the 1973 Spanish cult movie - THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE) are currently in the studio recording their debut single. The band are planning to be ready to perform live in 2010.

Fortnightly Celestial Wisdom
     from Tarotologist Esteban Bringerez & Astromysticist Kevinium Tizzardi

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19
All your worries and woes come to an end this month when you discover a bottle of vodka is an adequate substitute for human love.

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20
Mercury ascednent through Taurus means only one thing. Clive Owen will kick you in the neck while you sleep and then steal your good china.

Gemini May 21 - Jun 21
You are advised to stay clear of the volcano this week, as the elders are speaking again of human sacrifice, and at 32, you are the only virgin left in the village.

Cancer Jun 22 - Jul 22
A unique and thriving colony of 742 species of bacteria and fungi is discovered by oncologists, a biochemical marvel hosting a possible cure for lymphatic cancer, but you just had to go and wash your jeans before they could thoroughly study it, didn’t you?

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22
Some call it male pattern baldness, but you know better. It’s a solar panel for a sex machine.

Virgo Aug 23 - Sep 22
The Second Coming of Christ is somewhat lackluster when the first thing He insists on doing is to jam guitar in your Madness cover band.

Libra Sep 23 - Oct 23
Take to hiding beneath your desk at work. It is the only place on the planet where your horoscope does not apply.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 21
Uncertainty looms over Scorpio. The only thing that remains certain at all is you’re still a world-class buttmunch. (Scorpio wants to know when you’re going to pay back that tenner.)

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21
Your astrological muse riddles you this. What’s the difference between a black hole and your dismembered body in a burlap sack? Next week, there won’t be a black hole out in its garage.

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19
It’s time to let bygones be bygones. Give Stephen Fry one final beating with the sock full of bar soap and set him free from your attic.

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18
Prepare yourself for a well-deserved smiting when the county’s raunchiest pre-operative transvestites begin answering the personal ads you wrote for your vicar.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20
Pisces has no future this month. After five months of late zodiac subscription fees, you can figure out your future for yourself.

I am writing this short note to tell everybody about my musical projects and video disasters that are in the pipeline or out there for your perusal.

Firstly if you want to listen to some of my music you can listen to my MySpace music by going to www.myspace.com/nickywoodgate.

In my top favourite firends on MySpace you can find Jacana which is another of my bands which is a latin based three piece band that I love playing in but we are have a very slow output of songs recorded and have only finished two tunes to date one of which you can find on the Jacana myspace page by going to www.myspace.com/jacanaband

I had an album for sale on iTunes but have recently taken it off because I quickly became a millionaire and wanted time to spend my money. It was called Nicky Woodgate, and had the tunes Open up and Let Me In, Long Time Coming , Nashville Jam and Joy I Found. All of these were recorded in Nashville TN USA in 2002.

I will shortly have a new EP arriving on iTunes for sale called Storm and Stress, which includes 6 tracks of instrumental music. The tracks include; Blueberry Pie, Get Ready, Rolling Hills, Latin Love, 53rd Ocean and Clear For Landing available in top sound quality.

If you like YouTube you can see me in the crappiest ever film making production of two of my songs. If you search for Nicky Woodgate’s First Video and Nicky Woodgate’s Second Video you should find it or look me up under my user name which is nickywoodgate.

I play in a covers band most weekends and rarely do gigs but it’s normally is in the Mil Hill area of North London near to our rehearsal rooms. We don’t have a name for our covers band. I play a blue Strat through a Peavy valve amp in the covers band - which is another three piece affair and we play 60’s and 70’s hits for the likes of the Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who, loud and proud and a good laugh if ever I had one.

May you cherish your friends and loved ones and family because they are the reason for all your present happiness.

Love from Nick

Fortnightly Celestial Wisdom
From Tarotologist Esteban Bringerez & Astromysticist Kevinium Tizzardi

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19
The stars encourage you to continue treating your body like it is a temple. However, they also encourage you to switch to a religion that doesn’t worship rich, creamy cheesecake.

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20
You live in constant dread that your girlfriend will uncover your secret shame. That’s just plain silly, though, as she has no idea where you buried the other seven nurses before her.

Gemini May 21 - Jun 21
The uncontrollable rage you harbour will once again transform your baked potato into a plate of mashed potatoes.

Cancer Jun 22 - Jul 22
Taurus the Bull rising through Uranus this month is going to leave you with one hell of a sore arse.

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22
Avoid confrontation at work this week. Plan your attack well ahead of time so your boss doesn’t realize until it’s too late that you’re sneaking up behind him to brain him with the coffee maker.

Virgo Aug 23 - Sep 22
It’s strange the things we do for love, which for you means yet another midnight tryst to the local pig farm.

Libra Sep 23 - Oct 23
The disarming smile that you pride yourself upon will do you little good in disarming the bomb waiting for you to open the car door.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 21
Go ahead and have another doughnut. The doughnut will never judge you then leave you.

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21
Sitting on high upon the throne you built from the skulls of your enemies won’t stop people from continuing to laugh at you, considering it doesn’t take much to snap the necks of a few thousand parakeets.

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19
You are typically emotionally closed off and it might be difficult for you to conjure the sentiment, but try to be happy for the excited young boys who will find your soggy, decapitated body floating in the old quarry next week.

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18
Although you’re not usually the sentimental type, you will nonetheless be moved to tears this week by a routine colonoscopy gone horribly wrong.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20
The stars remind you that if you continue to be unimpressed with your lover, true sexual satisfaction is always within arm’s reach for you.

Look what was uncovered:

Cover Art for Madness’ “The Liberty of Norton Folgate”

Book Cover for Peter Ackroyd’s “Dan Leno & the Limehouse Golem”

Says Jon Young (who ferreted out the graphical parallel):

“It looks to me as both carrying on the Madness tradition of album cover shadows like the Our House album and referencing a book that influenced the title track on the album making a Madness-like version of it.”

Are the two connected, did Madness nick the idea from Peter Akroyd, are they setting themselves up to be sued again like they were with the Madstock album cover art? You be the judge. You know you like to judge.

(And before you start debating the bichromatic nature of the blog entry title, I’m only kidding about it being a rip off - it’s all media sensationalism to lure you into reading the blog!)

From Tarotologist Esteban Bringerez & Astromysticist Kevinium Tizzardi

Aries Mar 21 - Apr 19
Your faith in mankind is renewed when you see a homeless man jump into a frozen pond to save a drowning dog. You choose to ignore when the dog goes straight from the water to the barbecue.

Taurus Apr 20 - May 20
It’s a good time to work on your crippled self-esteem, you worthless soggy pile of buffalo squeeze.

Gemini May 21 - Jun 21
You’ll do well to recognize there are only two types of people in life: Those who agree with everything you say without question and drunk Irishmen.

Cancer Jun 22 - Jul 22
You are oft accused of being wholly incapable of loving anyone or anything, but they forget legless sheep that can’t run away.

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22
Sure, the truth may set you free, but sometimes it lands you a life sentence for brutally butchering the town minister.

Virgo Aug 23 - Sep 22
The stars are wondering if you’ve ever talked to a woman without having to give your credit card number first.

Libra Sep 23 - Oct 23
You don’t know what hurts more: Your ex-spouse’s restraining order keeping you at least fifty feet away at all times, or the 4000 watt tazer that reaches exactly fifty feet.

Scorpio Oct 24 - Nov 21
To your criminal chagrin, you’ll learn there is no age-old adage saying how to effectively dispose of the baby after the bathwater.

Sagittarius Nov 22 - Dec 21
There will always be laughter in your life, except when you turn around to see what the hell is so damned funny.

Capricorn Dec 22 - Jan 19
If your current romantic relationship is crushing your very spirit, leaving you feeling battered and bruised, don’t go blaming yourself. You didn’t really get to choose your cell mate.

Aquarius Jan 20 - Feb 18
It is said madness is all in the mind, but ever since you lost your bottle of lithium, the tiny ballerina fur seal that lives inside your nose keeps telling you that madness instead resides entirely within Michael Caine’s spleen. Barring any evidence to the contrary, you are inclined to agree.

Pisces Feb 19 - Mar 20
Fortune will smile upon you this week, but it’ll be in that crappy, smug, self-satisfied way that Fortune gets when it knows something you don’t and refuses to tell you.

by Martin Brett of Voice of the Beehive

Why is it that the kids today seem so complacent about the government & the bankers who have fucked up this country? What we need is a reaction & it isn’t happening.

Is it because surviving on credit has provided a nice easy cushion for everyone over the last 20 years so there is no desire to react against it? There is a storm coming & when people run out of money, credit, beer, clothes, food, housing & lose their jobs will the students & the kids unite & do something?

Where are the great bands that always emerge in these situations in history, protesting & making a point? I can’t see them yet & that is sad. Why is it that my band “I Ludicrous” who have been around for 25 years is still writing interesting observational lyrics protesting against the crap that society is presenting us now? Where are the riots, the gigs, the songs & the souls of people who want to make a serious point? In 2 years time it will all be too late.