Madness Central  The Interviews
Way back in 1999, Madness spent the better part of March and April at Westside Studios in London. It was during this two month stretch that our lads recorded the album that was to become Wonderful, a project that was helmed by their long-time producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. In a very neophyte version of what was to become Madness Central, we got a chance to spend three days talking with Clive and Alan, an event that was to mark the beginning of a series of exclusive interviews with the band and their musical cohorts who played a role in the history of Madness.

Archived here for the first time are these interviews. Chrissy Boy Foreman, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, Dave Wakeling of the English Beat, Martin Brett of Voice of the Beehive, Boz Boorer of Velvet Ghost (and so many other projects), and a few words on the "Saga of the Super Yob" from Chrissy Boy and Marco Pirroni mark what we hope will become a long line of chats with those noteworthy in the world of Madness.

Knowledge is power
Steve the Rockboy, Interviews Prime Minister - steve(at)madness-central.com


MC Interviews What's That Got to Do with Rock n' Roll, Man? - Jawing One Out with Chris "Chrissy Boy" Foreman
What do you know about Chris Foreman, guitarist for mega-hit band Madness? He's not one of the insular, opaque rock stars holed away in a tropical bungalow made of palm fronds glued together with coconut milk. Quite the opposite: Chrissy Boy has always been the most accessible and fan-friendly member of Madness, dating all the way back to their glory years in the 1980's where it is rumoured he kept the Madness Information Service fan club afloat long after the other band members, and even their management, lost interest. The same holds true today, where Chris is the man at the keyboard fielding questions from the fans over at the Official Madness Website (www.madness.co.uk).

Getting to know Chris Foreman: That was the jumping off point for this conversation. Rather than tread the overtrod steps of interviews prior, the thought was to delve into the Man Behind The Madness. Listen to the Audio... Read more...

MC Interviews Little Dust Devil Whipping up a Strorm - Lee "Kix" Thompson of Crunch! and Madness
There's no one word to describe Madness saxophonist (and sometimes vocalist) Lee "Kix" Thompson. Even though he was able to brand Madness with the word "nutty" in the early days of the band (a qualification that stuck with Madness even when they were trying to be taken "seriously" in later years), you'd be hard pressed to simplify to a singular adjective and have it synonymous with Lee Thompson. So we won't even try.

Instead, we'll try using several words. Lee is by default many things, then. Adept songwriter, the man behind the pen for Madness' only number one single "House Of Fun" as well as lesser known nuggets such as "Benny Bullfrog" and "Blue Skinned Beast", both firm favourites with the loyal fanbase, is one way you can try to frame him. Father is more personal and equally valid. Husband of 25 years is true as well. What with all his side projects, most recently Dance Brigade, industrious comes to mind easily enough. Naughty school boy in sheep's clothing comes pretty close to the mark, too. Read more...

MC Interviews 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 Central.

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. Read more...

MC Interviews The Product of Madness: Super-Producer Clive Langer
Besides the band themselves, it can be accurately argued that the most influential individual in the Sound of Madness is producer Clive Langer. Since their first break out single "The Prince" in 1979, for thirty years Clive has been at the helm for every original Madness album, from "One Step Beyond..." on through to their latest offering, "The Liberty of Norton Folgate."

While initially you might have had a tough time convincing Clive that he was a producer and not a musician (being an integral part of cult favourite bands Deaf School and Clive Langer & The Boxes), a score of hits with artists like Dexy's Midnight Runners, David Bowie and Bush more than proves that Clive and his long-time production partner Alan Winstanley have that enviable Musical Midas Touch that's had them in high demand for three decades now. Read more...

MC Interviews Three Wonderful Days on the Westside - Producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley
What made Madness of the 80's so appealing? Chart-topping hit after chart-topping hit some would say. And how do you acquire these chart-topping hits? You have to release new material. For all the reformation gigs each year since 1992, Madness was denying the fans the one essential factor in their equation for success: They needed a new album.

Fast forward yet again, this time to 1999, and enter through the doors of Westside Studios once again. 14 years on, Madness took their place to the front of the mixing board, writing and rehearsing what was to become their first new album since "Mad Not Mad". Now the 20th year since their debut "One Step Beyond", once thing remained constant for every one of their six studio albums of the 1980's, and that was the team that cut their production teeth on that first nutty vinyl in 1979. When it came time to choose the producers for what was later dubbed "Wonderful", there really was no other choice than Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley. Read more...

MC Interviews The Ska'dfather - Dave Wakeling of the English Beat
Never let it be said Dave Wakeling’s lost his passion to right a world skewed wrong. Never you done that, no, never you done that. It’s been nearly 30 years since the Beat broke the music scene with heavy social commentaries about dethroning then-PM Margaret Thatcher (Stand Down Margaret) and seeing in oneself the same National Front violence being rallied against (Two Swords). It’s now 2008, and Dave’s still got a strong moral compass that yet infuses itself into his music and his concert performances. And, as it happens, this interview as well. Read more...

MC Interviews She's Gonna Rock This Town - The Mysterious Amber Jolene
With so many artists and musicians who would climb over their mother to take to the stage and studio with Madness, out of nowhere comes sweet songbird Amber Jolene, a mere 29 years old meaning our world wasn't yet graced with her birth when Madness first released their debut "The Prince" in 1979. Where did she come from? What is she about? And just who is she? Read more...