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Half Man, Half Boy
A Few Words with Chris "Chrissy Boy" Foreman
| Chris "Chrissy Boy" Foreman is an icon of British pop music, the man at the guitar for British mega-hit band Madness. One of the original "nutty boys", and co-songwriter of the international sensation "Our House", for the better half of 2007 Chris threatened to do an interview with me for Madness Cental. Always a man of his word, and many words has this man, below is the final edit of what turned out to be one of the more revealing looks into the life and career of Chrissy Boy, bouncing from topics like his baby girl to the new album to his now-mellowed feud with singer/hornman Cathal "Chas Smash" Smyth. Many thanks are extended to Chris, who went above and beyond expectations with his replies, chock full of his trademark wry wit and puckish sense of humour. He's a relatively cool dude. Caning away. A.Get.Life. Interview by Steve Bringe |
 Guitar in hand and a song in his heart, Chris belts out the madness onstage in Los Angeles, California. |
Madness Central: How are you feeling today? How about yesterday?
Chris "Chrissy Boy" Foreman: Today. I just had a German exchange student arrive with my son Felix and despite my strict instructions it’s a boy student. Yesterday. I can’t remember. My daughter has got chicken pox and looks like Spotty Muldoon. Tomorrow is looking good.
MC: There is a continued war of words in the papers between the Kaiser Chiefs and the Arctic Monkeys. In the 1990s there was a similar battle between Blur and Oasis. In the 1980s your closest rivals in the charts were probably Duran Duran. Madness and Duran Duran couldn't have been more different, yet there was rarely any public animosity, so what did you actually think of each other. Was there a mutual respect? Did you get on?
CB: I personally really liked Duran Duran. Great pop songs and the videos just got better and better. I am not joking. I would have loved to have the sort of video budgets and locations that they had. As for getting on with them our paths never really crossed that much. You would often meet people from other bands at TV studios and the like but we never met them. I met Simon Le Bon once at an awards thing and they had just done “Wild Boys.” I was in awe at the sheer scale of it all. When we did “Tomorrow’s Just Another Day” I had an image of us buried in the ground from the waist. In reality I dug the holes myself and we were dressed as flowers playing cards. Duran did “Blue Moon on Monday” and it was all shot so beautifully and there were people buried in the ground properly. Still, our one was funnier.
MC: Gravy or syrup?
CB: Both.
MC: Pete Doherty apparently eats, sleeps, drinks etc. with his one gold disc. Madness have so far clocked up over 30 BPI awards (let alone all your worldwide award discs). Do you (or any other band members) have a similar attachment to your discs as Pete Doherty? How many have you kept and how many have you given away? Do you have any on display still?
CB: I had two sort of “stolen” and I gave away the “It Must Be Love” single to a friend for charity a few years ago. I used to have them all in a room in my house and one of my girlfriends took the “One Step Beyond” and “Absolutely” discs to pay off some dodgy debt of hers. I didn’t notice for ages because they were both above the door. Er… the thing is the first ones you get, it’s great then you get like hundreds (OK I’ve got about 50 or so) and it’s a bit lame having them on the walls really, in my humble opinion. I do know where the missing ones are though. In good hands.
MC: How does it feel being the 50 year old father of a brand spanking new baby girl?
CB: Tiring indeed. But it is so nice to have a girl after all these years.
MC: A Madness Central local of your new hometown (Hove, England) was wondering what prompted your move to Brighton, and do you enjoy living there?
CB: London is just too much my dear. We wanted to move and I ended up looking at houses in NW5 (which is where I grew up) and they were so expensive. We have a few friends down here; the schools are good so off we went. I really like it down here, I don’t regret it a bit and it’s been over a year. I miss the parks in London and the shopping and so on. Plus the radio stations down here are crap. I used to love all the reggae and local Pirate stations and all that in London.
MC: Why was Axecam (Steve Bringetm) upside-down at the Brighton gig?
CB: Steve Bringe [TM] didn't set it correctly. Actually fact fans the axe cam is a Samsung D600 phone in a sort of gaffa tape (duct tape US readers) cigarette box type holder. I have to set it to film then put it in. For some reason it has a function where you press a button and it films upside down. I uploaded it loads of times and had to edit it in Final Cut Pro to turn it the right way round - or did I do that song standing on my head? I am hoping to get a Nokia N95 soon, which apparently has a really good video camera in it so we shall see. This will hopefully sort out those technical gripes that some bean flickers have been moaning about I hear.
MC: Have you written any songs for the new album?
CB: Er… I don’t know as usual I sort of wasn’t in the band. So they wrote loads of great songs without me and the impetus was there. “NW5” for example is a brilliant classic Mike Barso/Thommo/Madness song. I have written some but they are sort of bottom of the pile as I am an underachiever and we have so many good songs already. Hopefully it’s do an album then do another and I will get more involved.
MC: Follow up: How comes the new album? Is it nearing completion? What are some of the song titles?
CB: “Bingo”, (Thompson/Barson) - done last year; “Let’s Go”, (McPherson/Barson); “Dust Devil”, (Thompson/Woodgate) BRAND NEW and not recorded yet but some may make a live Debut this very night (Thursday, 5 July, 2007).
MC: A train leaves London northbound for Newcastle at 1 pm, traveling at an average speed of 100 kph. A second train leaves Newcastle southbound to London at 2 pm, traveling at an average speed of 90 kph. The southbound train makes a stop at Birmingham for 1 hour before continuing on to London. The northbound train stops three times before Birmingham, twice to let out passengers (24 passengers total) and once to take on passengers (14 total) and a herd of sheep. Given this, what is your favourite song that you've written for Madness?
CB: “Madness (Is All in the Mind)”. Reason? It came out more or less exactly as I meant it to.
MC: A Madness Central member states, "Back in 1981 I sent a postal order to MIS for a t-shirt which still hasn't arrived. Each day when the postman comes I still have a glimmer of hope. Any ideas when it might arrive?"
CB: I used to work for the GPO (post office). They had these fantastic conveyor belt type machines that sorted all the letters. Anyhow, every now and then a letter would fall off. It would remain there gathering dust until someone put it back on the conveyor belt. This could take 8 years or more, so the shirt will turn up soon. The letter that fell off was usually the letter O. Surreal bit there for you.
MC: We collect Madness records and paraphernalia. What do you collect?
CB: Money - any denominations. Children. I used to collect comics but ran out of space. So really, unless it’s a 12 part graphic novel by Frank Miller I don’t bother any more. I am a bit of a completist you see.
MC: What are the chances of this being the final Madness album? Do you feel like continuing on with the band much past this project?
CB: I would like to carry on for a bit till we get it right. There is still so much talent in the band. 2009 will be 30 years.
MC: This is a question from the masses, so don't blame me for it: How are you getting on with Carl?
CB: Really well. We have probably both changed. It’s Barso who drives me mad the most these days.
MC: I can't reword this mess. Here's the question:
”Sorry - You played some excellent guitar at the Madness show in Dublin on this track - why didn't this get added to the mix and put on the single, think it added a new dimension, and secondly what exactly is the true story behind this release, while the main versions are slicker the original on the seven inch and the live version at the concerts seemed to be lacking a certain something and a bit of structure. With this in mind it seems string that it was an early contender for a single.”
(Ed. note - Was there a question in there?)
CB: I think there was. That song was put forward by our new management team. Fortunately, I wasn’t in the band at the time. There is not a lot of the band actually on it apart from Suggs and Chas. No sax from Thommo, not much piano, drum machine, written by someone else. I didn’t think it’s as good as the new songs, to be diplomatic. We play it live to (mostly) a backing track and I would play along. You can see this on one of my Axecam ,, songs on youtube at madnesstour2006. Where was I...
MC: Is "NW5" an homage to Chrissy Boy?
CB: No it’s not about me. Think again chaps. Listen to the lyrics really carefully like.
(Ed. note - The best guess on the lyrical inspiration is Carl "Chas Smash" Smyth.)
MC: Speaking of "NW5", thus far it's only been released as a German single not featuring your guitar work. Will the song be re-recorded for future releases?
CB: I most certainly think so and Thommo should do some stuff on it, too.
MC: General question begging a general answer: How come the recording sessions? Can you relate any tales on the recording sessions?
CB: The recording sessions are not happening lately. Most of the new songs were recorded last year.
MC: How confident are you that the record label (Lucky 7) is behind the band this time, as in, are they willing to spend money to make money promotionally speaking?
CB: Ha ha. Pass.
MC: Are we ever likely to see "Madness Live At The BBC", which is long overdue? Will we ever see the release of the original "Madstock" as a special edition DVD and CD deluxe package?
CB: Funny you should say that. I just came across the “Madstock” master tapes.
MC: As long as we're on the topic of long overdue releases, whence Singles Box 2?
CB: Well the first one didn’t sell many so Virgin have released it in a digital format which frankly sucks. I used to spend a lot of time at Virgin overseeing such things but the last few years I have not put in the effort. So it is coming up to that time when we renegotiate a new back catalogue deal and this could be part of it.
MC: Did you notice your socks are untied? I'm just saying.
CB: Socks don’t have laces Steve. You have tried that one before on me and well, maybe you did fool me once, but not this time.
MC: Does a studio version of "Precious One" (obscure track released in 1992 as a live b-side) exist?
CB: Yes I think it does. Funny enough I found the tapes the other...
MC: How many guitars do you currently own and what are they?
CB: Two Gibsons, a Les Paul and an SG, two Fender Telecasters (although one of them is allegedly a fake), black Stratocaster black “the Strat”, blue Stratocaster, a Gretsch Chet Atkins, and a Fender “Bullet” bass.
MC: Every noteworthy musician has "musical influences"? Who are the axemen (and axewomen) who have inspired you?
CB: Wiko Johnson (Dr Feelgood), Chuck Berry, Phil Manzanera (Roxy Music), Angus and Malcolm Young (AC/DC), Mick Jones (Clash), Eddy Van Halen, Bo Diddley, Nile Rodgers (Chic) Ernest Ranglin, that’s just for starters...
(Ed. note - A late entry sent in from Chris is Marco Pirroni of Adam & the Ants fame.)
MC: Are there any plans for Crunch! (Chris' band with Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson) to continue their quest for World Domination this year? Failing that, what about the occasional gig now and again?
CB: I found some old tapes and I am going to release them on the internet. Probably stuff everyone’s heard a thousand times already. It is the early demos we did before doing the “Crunch!” album. It’s just Thommo and me: “Going Solo” (yawn), “You’re Driving Me”, “One Man Tent”(actually Steve can you send me that list you had once and I’ll see if there’s any you haven’t got.) Then the stuff with the band will hopefully come out. I would like to do some shows but really I’m spending a lot of time on Madness as it is.
MC: Great. Now your shirt is unbuttoned. Who taught you to dress yourself?
CB: You mean T shirt doncha?
MC: What was the first record you bought?
CB: The Beatles “I Feel Fine”, b side was “She’s a Woman”. I just realised that “I Feel Fine” more than inspired “Please Don’t Go”.
MC: Ben Jones at Virgin Radio has recently started a campaign to get the band nominated for the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the Brits 2008. With the exception to the Ivor Novello award, is the band bewildered/amazed/pissed off that over the years they've received so little recognition from the "music industry"... or doesn't it really matter anyway?
CB: Sad isn’t it? There are far more important things to campaign for. A lot of these awards are geared towards how much “product” has been sold. Anything voted for by one’s peers or the public is nice though.
MC: As a special treat a couple of years back the official Madness site posted a version of "Bed & Breakfast Man" with you on vox and Suggs on guitar. Was there ever a serious thought given to switching your roles in the band permanently, or was that a one off for grins and giggles? How do you think your life would be different now if you were the lead singer of Madness?
CB: Singers get more birds. I wrote most of the lyrics to that song. I should have got a song writing credit at least. It was a friend of Bedders, Gary Dovey (ex Madness drummer), who said, “Do you know what they call John Hasler (ex Madness drummer) these days? The bed and breakfast man”. The reason was he would turn up at your house, eat all your food and sleep on your sofa. "What a great idea/title for a song," I thought and wrote some lyrics. That’s why I sung it live as it was “my” song. Barso used to sing “My Girl” as well but when we did One Step only Thommo’s singing passed muster.
MC How do you feel being back with the band after what ended up being your temporary retirement? Or do you still consider yourself a retired pop star?
CB: Yeah you should see the gigs these days. Nice to be back though. Great guys, great songs, great fans, sob sob...
MC: Why do you spend so much time answering such inane questions for the fans? Don't you have any other hobbies? Really. Do you have any hobbies?
CB: None… and it doesn’t take me long to deal with those questions. Unlike this.
MC: In 1985, when the boys played the secret gig to reveal Mad Not Mad to family and friends, they appeared as the Wayfinders with aliases like "Young Bobby", "Stig", etc. Who had which alias?
CB: I was the Walrus. Sorry but I can’t remember. Send me the names and I might recall. Stig could be Thommo and young Bobby could be... I don’t think they were any one member really.
MC: Time to nail you with your own words: Many moons ago you were asked by a noble and intrepid young Madness fan, "Are there any unreleased Madness songs along the lines of ‘Perfect Place’?", to which you answered, "All songs that were recorded were released." With the bootleg leak of Chas' (Carl Smyth, Madness singer/shouter/trumpetman/percussion) personal stash, we now have songs like “Do Nothing Donald”, “My Mum's Roses”, and a whole boatload of The Madness (band formed after Madness broke up in 1986, featuring Suggs, Carl, Chris and Lee) demos. Care to rephrase your answer?
CB: They are not Madness songs. The whole band aren’t on them. Though if you do have any copies please send them to me and I’ll make sure.
MC: Looking back over the archives of Madness video footage, which video stands out as the finest example of Madness on film?
CB: ”Take it Or leave It” is about as close as it gets to what it was like.
MC: Just how the hell do you write a song? Where do the ideas come from? I've sat for hours at my keys messing around and all I come up with are chords that sound okay together, but no tune comes to light. What's the secret?
CB: Well you are walking along and you just have a tune come in your head. I must say all my early songs came from strumming the guitar which can be a bit limited. I borrowed one of those Casio keyboards from the Belle Stars drummer and wrote "Yesterdays Men" on it and that was that. I don't really write songs on the guitar anymore. With a keyboard it's so easy to think of basslines and other tunes to go over the top of them.
MC: What's it like writing a song like Our House, something that is internationally renowned, something lasting that people hear anew today (those people who weren't born when the original Star Wars came out) and people who remember it and recognize it to this day? Award winning at that.
CB: Ah well I'll try not to be to blasé but really it was written on guitar and all it was the verse bit .That just went round and round for ages and was right dreary. I think it did have the chorus. This song really benefited from Clive Langers input but once we decided to make it pseudo Motown everything clicked. Also the middle 8 [the bit before the solo] I came up with on the spot in the rehearsal rooms as Clive said it needed a another bit. The solo I just also came up with when we recorded it. I know it's hardly Eddie Van Halen but I liked it. Clive did overdo the key changes at the end though. It is amazing how much money that one song brings in. We have done a deal with Maxwell House as I am sure you are aware and it just always seems to earn money. Which has aided my retirement I must say..
MC: Do you/did you get nervous taking the stage? A small crowd, a large park/stadium..... is this pretty natural now, or was it ever daunting? And just what is it like to stand and play in front of a crowd of tens of thousands there to see you?
CB: No never really. I was only really worried about the possibility of violence breaking out. The thing with Madness is you are preaching to the converted. Which is great as they all sing along but it got a bit too easy for me. I think the boys got a few shocks doing just Dangermen stuff and the gig in Holland seemed to not go down too well. Ah well. I would have slipped in all the Madness ska type songs if it was me. But it wasn't was it?
MC: Wait! Another question! What is your preference: green socks or purple mittens?
CB: The socks Steve. The socks.
MC: How are the proceeds from Madness releases divied up amongst the band members?
CB: The song writing split goes like this. Who ever wrote the song gets 50%. The other 50% is split between all 7 band members. so for example "Our House" earns £100. £50 between Chas and myself [£25 each] and £50 between all 7 members £7.444 something each. This arrangement was made way back in '79 and is really fair I think. It was calculated by our best manager John Hasler who had so much to do with the genesis of this band it is impossible to credit. Or something...maybe I over exaggerate.
MC: After establishing yourself as a unique and successful musician and songwriter, a true iconic guitar-man of your generational peers, there is one daunting question that has forever gone unanswered:
Sock-sock, Shoe-shoe
or
Sock-shoe, Sock-shoe
CB: SOCK SOCK SHOE SHOE SHOBOOGIE
MC: What does the future hold for Madness? What does the future hold for Chris Foreman?
CB: Save the really hard spiritual ones for last. Happiness I hope. For both of us.
MC: Rearrange the following words to form a common phrase: Thank. Very. Much. You.
CB: Life.You.Have.Got.
5 July 2007
© 2007 Madness Central. All Rights Reserved.
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