jUdgE FrEdD

LONDON 0 WERCHTER 4

2012-02-02T03:55:00.000-08:00

Hello !
Here is an excellent quality recording of an excellent gig by an excellent band ! The Housemartins at their top, on a sunny afternoon, in Belgium, for the Werchter festival in july 87. FM recording.
Try it : HERE. Dance music with a message !
I was very pleased to discover them in 86 with their excellent video promo of "Happy Hour". Full of humour, not long danceable songs with a political view, everything was perfect. And what a collection of. strong 7 "and 12" with nice covers... I still have them.
Classy band

IT MUST BEE ...LOVE

2012-01-26T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hello
Happy new year to everyone !
First post of 2012
A year of change

Let's Start with the Bees ! This excellent band is recording a new LP
wE can wait for it istening their besides (called beesides) cos the bees kindly put a selection of them on Soundcloud ! 1 hour with the Bees, class !

CLICK :  BEE...SIDES

1.Punchdub
2.Town Version
3.Jackel Head
4.Whistle Chop
5.Out For The Count
6.March Of The Bees
7.Nothin’ (Live)
8. It isn’t Exact
9.These Are The Ghosts (Undead Version)
10.I Still Got Your Number
11.Got To Let Go (Live From The Royal Albert Hall)
12.Left Foot Step Down (Extended Version)
13.Winter Rose Version
14.The Dink

OFFICIAL
FACEBOOK

An underrated band ? Certainly, but I really hope that, like the Bees sang, Change Can Happen

LATER WITH HOLLIE COOK

2011-11-14T01:49:00.000-08:00

Hello !
This month, Hollie Cook was on the "Later With Jools Holland" Show. With Horseman and a band behind her, Hollie Cook performed "Milk And Honey" and "Body Beat" from her marvellous first LP

Here is the VIDEO performance : HERE

And here is the AUDIO one : THERE

Thanks Jools

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

26 MINUTES WITH BAXTER DURY

2011-09-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hello !
How are you ?
A few days ago, Europe1 , a French radio spent 26 minutes with Baxter Dury. Thierry Lecamp, the hoster of the "On connait la Musique" show (who invited Madness 2 years ago) interviewed him and 3 songs were performed for a radio session. A very nice moment to listen to.
Thanks Baxter Dury, thanks Thierry Lecamp

Here they are, click : 26 MINUTES WITH BAXTER DURY

Enjoy

All the best

Judge Fredd

EST. 1968

2011-07-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hello !
How are you ?

Today is the Trojan Day with the story of Trojan Records
Let's seeeee what the BBC said at the time...

"Tighten Up - The Story of Trojan Records. Don Letts presents a four part series celebrating the influential UK-based record label that helped Jamaican music reach a wider audience.
Trojan Records is known as reggae's Motown and had a huge hand in introducing Jamaican music to the British public. In it's hey-day of the late 60's to the mid 70's, Trojan chalked up nearly 30 hit singles, released the legendary Tighten Up compilation series, and launched Jamaican acts in the UK such as Jimmy Cliff, John Holt, Ken Boothe, Bob and Marica, and Dave and Ansel Collins. The huge volume of records they released in this period made the name Trojan synonymous with classic rocksteady and reggae cuts. In 1970 alone, Trojan released 500 singles, selling over 1.5 million records.

This series tells not just the story of Trojan Records, but also reveals how Jamaican music arrived in the UK. Discover how it all began with Duke Reid's Trojan sound system in Jamaica, and how the influx of young Jamaicans into post-war Britain kickstarted a reggae scene in the UK. Find out how the British skinheads then made ska and reggae popular in the British charts (when the BBC wasn't listening!) and how the music adapted to UK tastes to become number one sellers. We reveal why the whole empire inexplicably came crashing down too, only for punk and Two-Tone to give it a resurgence, helping confirm Trojan as one of the coolest and most important labels for reggae music.
With contributions from Ken Boothe, Bunny Lee, BB Seaton, Derrick Harriot, Dandy Livingstone, John Holt, Ansel Collins, Rico Rodriguez, Bob Andy, Derrick Morgan and many more.
Presented by Don Letts (first broadcast in 2006)

Here are the four parts of this audio docUMeNtARy :

PART1 / PART2 / PART3 / PART4

gO To ThE

TROJAN RECORDS THE OFFICIAL SITE

Hope you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

....NEXT TO ME

2011-07-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Sit down and have a read (click on the pages)

GrEat TrAcK, LOveLy BaSsLiNe....

tHe mAkInG Of :

Thanks JaMes and the UNCUT maG

jUdGe fReDd

STARLITE THE GREAT

2011-07-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yo !
A Great Track, so here it is ....STARLITE !
Speaking about 'Starlite', Paul Weller said: "Here's a brand new track called 'Starlite' in time for the Summer. It's not from the forthcoming album, it's just for NOW! It's part Balearic beat, poetry and psychedelic music. I hope you like it. PWx"

The tracklisting for the iTunes bundle released on August 7th is:

1. Starlite (Original)
2. Starlite (Drop Out Orchestra Remix)
3. Starlite (Black Van Remix)

The 12" vinyl released on August 29th will contain:

A. Starlite (Original)
AA. Starlite (Drop Out Orchestra Remix)

B. Starlite (Black Van Remix)
BB. Starlite (DJ Pulse Remix)

Stay tuned for pre-order details coming soon...

Listeb to it : HERE
Sure you'll enjoy it
Judge Fredd

YES BUSY BUT....VOL 1

2011-07-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

Yo !
Here are some pages from the New Musical express aka "the enemy"...eh eh ...(published in june 2011) about the great band "The Smiths" and the LP "the Queen is dead"
Dedicated to Alex and Nico (from Indeed) and Looby (from Madness Fans Community)
Click on the pages to read

Enjoy the read

Judge Fredd

BUSY...

2011-07-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yo !
As you can see, I'm very busy with the new version of the French Madness Information Service, led by the mighty JP. Very often updated, a site by fans, a labour of love !
Here, all the Madness news or bootlegs or Tv Downloads that you sometimes found here will be published on the French M.I.S now : www.french-mis.be
For the non-Madness stuff, stay tuned here !
Don't forget to support Hollie Cook !

All the best
Judge Fredd

RADIO SESSION HOLLIE COOK

2011-06-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Yo nutties,

As I do, you all know that the first LP of Hollie Cook is the best one of the 6 first months of 2011. It was relaesed some days ago now. And this month, in june, she went to France to do a duet on French TV, a gig for Nova Planet and a radio session on the 16th of june..

Here is the radio session on France Culture, during the nice show, "Le Rendez-Vous" . She came with Prince Fatty and his Soundsystem and Mick on melodica, according the great reggae tradition !

RADIO SESSION

Thanks Hollie Cook and her team
Thanks France Culture

Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

MORE THAN MORE THAN MORE SPECIALS

2011-06-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

A click on the picture above

A click on a site.... HERE

To see "tHe Specials" Photos

iT'S simply .....wonderfull !!!!

Enjoy it (it's later than you think)

Judge Fredd

TROPICAL POP OUT

2011-06-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Yo !

Today, the first LP of Hollie Cook is out !

The best of the first 6 months, certainly !

Available today from

AmazonUK | AmazonUS | AmazonFR
HMV UK
PLAY UK
iTUNES

Vinyl LP + immediate download direct from Bandcamp

Enjoy 

Judge Fredd

HOLLIE COOK

2011-05-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hey you !

Here is Hollie Cook,

Soon her first LP out

Saw her live in Oxford in April

Londoner she is

Tropical pop style she says she does

Very good songs I think she does

Thanks Dermot for the info

Follow this artist,listen to her songs

First, try this, click : THAT VERY NIGHT

..............................OFFICIAL SITE

Enjoy

Judge Fredd

BIG BRIAN STRIKES AGAIN

2011-05-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Hello !
Remember when I told you about Brian !
He is the Scan Master of the Smash Hits Magazine
He strikes again,
More and more pictures and articles from some nice bands !

Click HERE

All the best
Judge Fredd

AND THEN AT LAST....

2011-05-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yo !
Mike Barson with an umbrella
In the Look In Mag
Thanks thanks thanks Looby Loo (k In)
To let us reading the profiles
Of Madness the 7th

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... WOODY

2011-05-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Yo nutties
Woody in the Look In Mag
In 1981, it was
His profile , he gave
Thanks to Looby
We read

Enjoy

Judge Fredd

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... MORE X 4

2011-05-06T03:47:00.000-07:00

Yo !!
Look In Collection
Visual Appreciation
Number 5 Graham Mac Phers(i)on....just for the rhyme (sorry)

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... MORE X 3

2011-05-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

Yo !
Let's continue the Looby collection with Chris

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR MORE AND MORE...

2011-05-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

yO
Looby Loo(k In) is still to present her "Look In" co(o)llection
So let's continue with Lee (just4kicks)

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR..MORE

2011-05-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Hi !
and let's continue this second series with Bedders

Enjoy

Judge

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR

2011-04-30T22:09:00.001-07:00

Yo !
How are you ?
Here is a second series of "Look-In"(the mag) profiles of Madness,
a earlier(1981) than the one which was posted before on this blog,
... and a much rarer collection.

A big big big THANKS, Looby Loo for this gift.
Let's start with Carl

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

QUEL REGAL, OXFORD !!

2011-04-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello there !
How are you ?
I live life in "Blue Beat" now. My wife and I went to Oxford to see three bands with Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra headlining.
And a lot of emotion we receive !

At the beginning, of course the pub : arrived at 4pm at the "City Arms" just opposite the Regal, the venue. Sir Jonathan Young the First waited for us,he was in the venue ; he let us in and then we saw a classy old place, reminding us a bit of "Art Deco" style....

And then on stage, Lee was doing the soundcheck, cool, isn't it ? First surprise of the day, and what a surprise ! Thanks Jon !
Lee left , so we did. Back to the opposite, the pub. At first sight, it seems it was a good reunion of the 30 th anniversary Tribute LP members !! Nice : one of the Inflatables (One Better day), Dan Fossard from M.O.T (Sign of the Times) who speaks French very well, Owen, Looby, Jon (the Intro MCs) and us, half-Indeed !

To me, it was a second nice emotion during the afternoon ! A gig is never he same without friends !
Later came in the pub Steve turner from the Violin Monkeys, Louis Vause (piano from The Nutty Boys) and then Lee with his sax around his neck.
We asked him for autographs (he did them very nicely) and we had a joke about "Blue Tit" , the nickname of Emilie (which doesn't exactly mean the same for boys and for girls, eh eh eh)

Then we saw Louis Vause who was drawing nicely, seated on a table and we spoke French with him.He remembered the time in Lille with the Nutty Boys in the nineties. He revealed us that last week, he played accordeon on a "download" version of Baggy Trousers, a slower one, a bit of waltz, he sang us a bit ! Classy man : here is his site : LOUIS VAUSE A video will be shot at the beginning of May.

After all these emotions, we needed to eat while Jonathan Young, always moving,kept losing his glass, finding a fake moustache......and giving flyers in the street too ! We talked other fans, like Patrick, Sarah, Shannon and Mick Jenner and later with Karen.
Quickly, we met Jenny Mathias and some of her band , One Stop Experience. Full of energy and very friendly, she showed us all her talent on stage later.
Evening came and so did the gigs. At the first rank, to see everything fully,we had a very delightful moment with the first band, the Skanx. Very interesting, cool on stage, this London band played and sang very well. Ska and Funk ! Hope to see them and dance on their songs in France one day ! They have a 5 track EP out now : HERE

Later came the One Stop Experience fronted by Jennie Matthias (ex Belle Stars)

Very energetic of course, the band gave themselves a lot on stage. The trumpet player was very impressive to me. And in fact, it was an all-star band too as there were two members of the ex Pama International, the keyboards player, the great writer of "Walking in the Sunshine" was in the Bad Manners, . Very powerful songs,with highlights like "This is ska". After appearing at the FACEBOOK event, Orange Street Allstars, Taja & Ruth were asked by Jennie to do backing vocals on 5 songs. And with them too, on stage, Hollie Cook, the daughter of Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols (who'll release a LP soon, click HERE)doing the backing vocals.(thanks Dermot for this)

And sudddenly if you turned your head a bit, you simply saw at the second rank Dave Wakeling from the Beat ,dancing !!!!! Were we in a dream ?
He went on stage at the end for a cover of "the Skinhead Symphony", dancing and singing ! Classy !!

Now is the turn of Lee Thompson and his all-star ska Orchestra ! Members went on stage as roadies to prepare and to install their instruments, especially Seamus Beaghen and Louis Vause who talked about their position on stage.

On stage :

Steve Roo Rooney : Drums

Mark Bedders : Bass

Kevin Burdett : Guitar

Louis Vause :Piano

Seamus Beaghen : Hammond Organ

Jack Mitchell : Trombone

Steve Turner : Bar. Sax

Steve White : Trumpet

Terry Edwards : Alto Sax

Lee Thompson : Sax/Vocals

Darren Fordham :Backing vocals

An orchestra : 11 people, a football team!
It was a very nice gig with the heavy heavy sound of brass and wood . And it was very old fashioned orchestra style, each member taking the solo during a song.

And Lee never stopped doing funny things, it's so pleasant to see such talented people not taking themselves seriously! The intro was particulary classy : as the DJ put old ska music on the speakers, the drummer started playing alone and then the DJ stopped, the drummer continued and Lee was at the front. Hat, classy glasses, coat and very long gloves he threw in the public. Flour was spread on his hat and his suit and during the gig, he put his hat shaking flour around him, giving the impression he was covered in dust.

The gig started with "Heatwave" from Tommy Mac Cook and finished with a Fats Domino track "Let the 4 Winds blow" and was a mix of instrumental and vocal tracks. To me, the best track was "GraveDigger", with a good bassline at the beginning and the brass section playing totally alone at the end , very impressive performance! Bangarang was the easiest to remember. Eastern Standard was so powerfull ! Terrible for your haircut when you'e in front of trombone, trumpet and saxes !!
I particulary appreciated "Josephine" and the massive "Impossible Mission"

As Lee is a Prince Buster specialist, he did "Sit and Wonder" and as on the other vocal tracks,he was very expressive when he sang. I love it !

Kevin and Bedders were very quiet, close to the drummer, Seamus was concentrated, the brass and wood section did the show, three saxes,a trombone and a trumpet, it seemed Terry Edwards led the section.

Lee did some jokes with Louis about drinks and top of the top, just in front of us, close to the photographers, Dave Wakeling brought a pint of beer to Lee . Good atmosphere, isn't it ? I never thought I could live this. Just like an ambiance between very young bands.
No Madness track was allowed and when the sax did the "Boat" intro of Night Boat as a provocation , he was expelled by Lee and the others with a whistle...

There was one encore and it was dedicated for us, Emily and I, "the frog " he had met at the pub. Thanks Lee !!!!!!!!!! Cause we were the loudest to clap for the encore "Let the 4 Winds Blow", stronger than the enthusiastic one on my right who put beer on my tee-shirt, the son, Daley Thompson !!!

"Impossible Mission" and "Let the 4 Winds Blow"
(Listen and watch : 4.02 min, thanks Looby for it !)

At the end,we simply asked for the setlist, another trophy for the French M.I.S. We left around 2.00 am after a great evening!...

The next morning, we met our friends again at The City Arms for lunch, our table looked a bit like "Zombie land" but it was at beautiful day and we were in such good company!

Three days later, we're entering the tourist office of Brighton and saw a poster of the gig of the 14th in the town of Chris and two flyers ! Nice trip !

Stay tuned : on Friday, Lee will be on radio, BBC 6 online !

All the best

Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 7

2011-04-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

aND, of course, here is Lee Kix !

Enjoy
Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 6

2011-04-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

yO AGAIN !
Woody in Look In
The Profile

Enjoy
Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 5

2011-04-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

Hello !
This is Carl !

Enjoy
Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 4

2011-04-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

Yo again !
Part 4
cHRiSSY bOY now ! His profile on "Look In" mag in 1982

Enjoy
Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 3

2011-04-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

Yo nutties !
Part 3 with Bedders !!!

Enjoy

Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 2

2011-04-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hi

Let's continue with Suggs

Click on the page

Enjoy 

Judge Fredd

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 1

2011-04-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hi
Hope you're well
Here are some reposts
Thanks to Looby Loo and Sean Gaskin, the complete set of the Madness NOV/DEC 82 LOOK IN profiles !
Thank you!
Here they are , today : Monsieur Barso
Click on the page

Enjoy

Judge Fredd

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) LAST PART

2011-04-08T06:24:00.000-07:00

Hello !
Here is the last part of Madness in session for BBC Radio
2009 was the year and still mini Madness came twice to do three songs (2 from the Liberty...LP)

Dermot O’Leary. 09.05.09 (Mike and Suggs)	Interview Dust Devil Tomorrow’Just Another Day	HERE
Jonathan Ross 25.07.09 (Woody,Mike, Suggs)	Interview Sugar and Spice	HERE

I did coverarts for the "BBC rAdIo sessions" CDs too
Here they are :

Thanks BobJuice, JP, Stucker and JY for their help
Enjoy it
Judge Fredd

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) PART 3

2011-04-04T04:02:00.000-07:00

Yo Nutties !
Today, part 3 of Madness at BBC. Here start the music sessions with mini Madness

Dermot O’Leary. 22.09.07 (Mike and Suggs)	Embarrassment NW5 It must be love Interview	HERE
Jonathan Ross 12.01.08 (Mike and Suggs)	Interview NW5	HERE

Thanks JP for the help (2008)

Soon the last part and a coverart
Enjoy it
Judge Fredd

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) PART 2

2011-03-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hello !

This is Madness In Session for BBC : part 2

   
Richard Skinner 81 OFFICIAL

sign of the times
missing you
tiptoes.

Madness official
  
Kid Jensen 26.07.82 OFFICIAL

The rise and fall
tomorrow's just another day
calling cards
are you coming with me

Madness official
  
Ken Bruce 18.01.05

It must be love(--)
Shame and scandal
One step beyond
Girl
Ironshirt
Night Boat to Cairo
and ITW

HERE

Enjoy 

Judge Fredd

BBC SESSIONS (1979/2009) PART 1

2011-03-25T04:35:00.000-07:00

Hello !
Madness in Session at the BBC!Now Part 1...Soon Part 2 and Part 3
Enjoy
Judge Fredd

John Peel 27.08.79 OFFICIAL	the prince bed and breakfast man land of hope and glory stepping into line	Madness official
Mike Read 31.01.80	deceives the eye don't quote me on that my girl The young and the old	HERE ON THIS BLOG

PERSEVERANCE

2011-03-10T04:59:00.000-08:00

Hello !

New stuff to read with a rare picture !

From Smash Hits dec 80

Enjoy it

Judge Fredd

UNE BONNE SOIREE...

2011-03-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

...à prévoir !

SOUNDS AROUND RECORDS

Enjoy !

Judge Fredd

SMASH HITS FEB-MARCH 1981

2011-03-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

Have a good read

Judge Fredd

M.I.A

2011-01-31T09:38:00.000-08:00

Hello !
Here is a T.V performance on the blog !
M.I.A on the Jools Holland Show in 2010 singing two tracks :
1. With drum and bass by Prince Rimshot and Sir Horace Panter, "It Takes A Muscle To Fall In Love"
2. The well arranged "Born Free"

Classy moment : M.I.A ON TV

Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

AND THE BEES TOOK TO THE STAGE...

2011-01-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Hello !
Still in the air with the Bees from Isle of Wight !

Here is Karen Le Cras with her review of one of their gigs as a support act for Paul Weller in 2010 (remember they did the same with Madness in 2007):

"I was looking forward to my wedding anniversary present- my first Paul Weller gig ever, at the BIC in Bournemouth. The BIC is a small and friendly venue, near the sea and Bournemouth town centre. As we neared The BIC was buzzing, mostly with 40 something year olds, but its fair to say there was a mix of all ages present.
First we had to listen to not just one but TWO support acts, the first of which had me wishing Paul would come on sooner rather than later. Then The Bees took to the stage... I put my camera away soon after they began playing, this was music to be enjoyed, nothing more, nothing less, the gig had well and truly started!
I would probably describe them as a mixture of sixties and seventies sounds with layers of early sounding Who stuff and elements of The Electric Light Orchestra and Yes, that said though they are totally unique! Whilst I can't remember the set list, "I Really Need Love" was the one that stayed with me. The frequent change of instruments added to the layered sound, honestly I can't recall actual instruments, such was the quality of the music and the interest it held was far too distracting than to be to be bothered with such detail!
I enjoyed the occasional banter with the audience, nothing like Madness, for example, but I felt we were part of the gig, and they appreciated our being there.
The set seemed somewhat short though I suspect that was due to my utter astonishment at how good they were and the all around enjoyment of them, I will be looking out for them now and hopefully be going to see them headlining a gig, though they seem to support "my kind of music" so who knows..."

Thanks Karen for taking time to write ! I like being in this situation too : discover a band when they are on stage ! Very nice ! Years ago I discovered bands like the Blue Aeroplanes or Elastica like this !
Go to gigs if you can and discover bands !

--------------------------------------------

To illustrate what Karen said, here are some extracts of three recent music sessions by the Bees :
1.BBC6 Dermot O'Leary : "I Really Need Love" and "Listening Man" plus interview
2.The Sun's Biz session : "I Love You"
3."On Tracks" session : "Chance Can Happen"

So....click HERE

OFFICIAL SITE

Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

CHANGE CAN HAPPEN

2011-01-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

 
Hello

They are The Bees !

Here is a song which is called "Change Can Happen" that the band played for an acoustic session

And it's abolutely divine, really !

It was the occasion for The Bees to play 2 other tracks taken of their excellent new LP (the fourth one) "Every Step is a Yes" released in october 2010:

Click HERE ( Acoustic "Change Can Happen" mp3 version only) 
    the VIDEO is available here : OFFICIAL SITE

Bless the Bees

Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd 

A MESSAGE TO YOU, NUTTIES

2011-01-01T00:06:00.000-08:00

MARCH, PROTEST

2010-12-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

Hello one and all !
Last message for 2010 !
May all your dreams and wishes for the next year come true !
I especially wish us the same strengh than in the last months : to protest, to march for a cause or against something wrong , to stay awake in every time!
Sometimes songs can help us, here are with the helpful hands of Olivier Rodzen, two quite rare Redskins TV performances(including The Tube show) : 4 songs

Click HERE
(one big file cause it's in .VOB)

Unionize

Judge Fredd

WINGS OF A HOVE

2010-12-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

Hello! Judge Fredd here!
Been to the Madness gig in Brighton and Hove on the 15th of december 2010.
Marvellous! First good news: Brighton is a nice town to walk in, to visit... We did it when we arrived at noon. We'll go back, for sure...

A nice guesthouse, isn't it? Full of 7 and chequered floor

Second good news: thanks thanks thanks to Katy Ellis, we have backstage passes (3) for the Aftershow Party ( a party , a papapapaparty !)
Third good news: some good and nice fans will be here too: Paul Rodgers and Co, Vicki, Jenny, Emma, Chris, Sharon, etc... Cool!

We entered the legendary venue at 7 pm (normal, for a Madness fan). To me, the Brighton Centre is the place where Madness came, the Jam came...

We had standing tickets and were at the second rank. First, Paul Heaton came with his band, with his humour and his good songs and melodies.
Special mention for Paul Heaton I never saw live before: nice new songs from his last LP, especially, one about CCTV, clever lyrics, as always, and a beautiful voice. His band were very good too, especially at the second voice line melodies (I was really impressed!), some Housemartins era tracks too (Caravan of Love and Me and the Farmer) and a cover of the Clash! What a support act!!!
Well, Paul Heaton did a very good set, especially on the last one... and Madness had the challenge to do their best too!

Camden 0 Hull 1

Some minutes and some old reggae tracks later, the curtain came down : the stage reminds us a TV set, full of small ones
First nice surprise : the intro ... A mix of clips from Take it Or Leave It and some songs, the intro of Ghost train (hum tch hum tch hum ah, hum tch hum tch hum ah) came and Suggs ... came in doing a bit of nutty walk ! I loved this intro, do it again!
Then Carl shouted "Hey you..." and pressure came up so did my feet and my elbows.... we were at the second rank and there we must stay. The Brighton Centre is a small venue (3,000 people) and at the front (sea front?) we can watch every detail of what's happening on stage. That's why we are here!!!! See everything, dance on everything, have a very nice moment!
Highlights of the gig for me: the new tracks, the presence of a 4 person string section Madness played a set which was unusual and usual at the same time: old classics but not only the ones they played before. 25 tracks including Show Time

One step Beyond
Embarrassment
Shut up
Driving in My Car
NW5
My Girl 2
My Girl
Lovestruck
Forever Young
The Sun and The Rain
The Young and the Old
Tomorrow's Just Another Day
Bed and Breakfast Man
Clerkenwell Polka
The Prince
Sole e la luna
Chrissy Boy's Singing Show time
House Of Fun
Madness
Baggy Trousers
Our House
It Must Be Love

Tarzan's Nuts
Wings of a Dove
Night Boat to Cairo

Rapidly, for NW5, the string section arrived. The band did Tomorrow's Just Another Day, with Joe Monkey on trumpet solo!. They did Driving in My Car, with some small extra keys by Mike. The song order was not really the same as the ones of 2009. Wings of A dove as the Encore, nice idea! They did the Young and the Old, with a clapping hands break, very rare that Madness play B-sides on tour. The band on stage were on top form, tonight, the Camden Magnificent did a strong set, well rehearsed which let them confident and careful for the audience.

(photo by Vicki Lee)

Especially Lee ("EspeciallyLee" is a play on words that I really wanted to put here...). Official now, he is certainly a real mad man. In a particular and unusual nice dress on stage, he was very excited, singing, playing sax, touching brass section's hair........ Maybe the lack of gigs gave him a lot of energy... He spoke to the lights rig,... normal... he spoke to the lights rig, it seems that he was even rude with it (problems in the past?). On Tarzan's Nuts, he did a very unbreathy "tchk tchk tchk" and had a particular performance with his woodsticks on the second new track. The whole stage is known by him, I' m sure! He's back on top form! Officially!! Chrissy Boy, with his Pirates tie (a tribute to Johnny Kidd ?) was excited too and did a singing ShowTime with the Violin Monkeys, Woody and Bushers. His Showtime moments are more and more creative and changing! Nice! He did a Village People YMCA letter choregraphy for the intro of "Madness". The elegant Suggs did his usual jokes, but not only : for example, he reminded us that to be the front man of Madness is a full time job, cause he has to do with Chris, Woody and Mike especially, but he has to look at the Violin Monkeys cause of the female string players’ presence ! Naughty monkeys!

(Photo by Mike Burnell)

He talked about X Factor. The Coco Brothers took by the hand on Our House, very touching moment...A long intro by Carl for Clerkenwell Polka showed a very cool singer who shared a lot with the crowd at the beginning of "Our House" too.
The new tracks: My Girl 2 , a very soul orientated track, put in a clever way, just before My Girl. A drum line à la The Sun and The Rain, a Brass section line à la Motown (Paaaapadapada), some words in French, Spanish and Russian, a really danceable track. And a very nice bassline on it. No string pieces on it.
The other one was just perfect (our fave) : Sole e la Luna ! Wow, what a live gift for a Madness fan .Suggs dedicated it to his mother, Edwina. Very very very clever arrangements, Woody was very concentrated, Carl is very present on this track, piano parts à la Madness, very very nice piece of nuttyness ! I really hope (and need) it for a single! Lee was at the top of his madness at that moment dancing with woodsticks.

For the encores, it was the occasion to talk about the screen behind the band: I was particularly impressed by the quality of it, especially during "Wings of a Dove", where you could see anti-Irak War protest marches, portrait of Gandhi....
The encores let the Pearl kings and queens go on stage
At the end of the gig, after Night Boat, Suggs, Carl and Mike danced (from west to east) on the stage as a cabaret unit, on the Monty Python anthem "Always look on the Bright Side of Life". Mike was last to leave the scene, slowly! Unusual and very moving moment!

In the crowd, during the set it was moving, sometimes hard to stay at the second rank (but we did Madstock 1, so now...). Paul tried to do the head to head typical dance but I wasn't aware... below, see my face at the end...

Emilie received a flying fez (a fez which is fan of Lee's flying past?), thanks to an unknown person!
Last but not least at all, the Violin Monkeys! More and more this brass section gave a more developed stage choregraphy. Of course they were very good at the instruments (especially on My girl 2) but they have a such trio stage presence: on Driving in My Car and on the other tracks, their performance needs to be filmed! When did a person take a camera and film the Violin Monkeys during the whole set? Notice that the string section had a small choregraphy too : the girls were seated but they moved, for example with their shoulders , quite discretly ! I officially am sure that these 14 persons on stage were mad, completely and sometimes in a very subtle way. Sure that a young boy , just at the first rank, with his scarf and his fez will agree us.

Camden 5 Hull 1

There was a particular big merchandising shop there (tee shirts, bags, CDs, badges, scarf ...), the tour program is very classy, with photos, fans texts, band's interviews and some anecdotes (a really funny one about Viva Mc Pherson)

After the show, we had passes to enter the Aftershow Party, where family, friends and some other were here. So there, we saw a son of Carl (same face, same voice as the father), Lee who had some close friends (we're sure for a particular reason), Chris to whom we spoke a bit (nice to see that he recognized us as the sun and rain cover group ! No, Madness doesn’t have an official title for the next LP yet), Bushers we compliment cause he's got talent and two Violin Monkeys : Mike and Joe (Mike said my new beard is a tribute to Joe's one, yes yes yes !).All were friendly wished us Happy Christmas and Happy New year, in French, please.

(Emilie, Mike Monkey Trombona and Santa Claus, photo by Vicki)

Of course we had a chat and drinks with Retro Madness collectors, Emma and Chris, with Vicki, the official fan of the tour, Jenny (I didn't know before, who kissed Lee on the cheek ; hope it's good for your job) very nice to see you all, very gentle.... a nice and friendly moment ! Thanks a lot, Katy for this Christmas gift in fact! We came, we saw, we listened and danced and we left... Brighton after midnight to take the Eurotunnel at 3.30 am. Our face back to work at 8 AM, hard but the evening was a very nice one !

(Shadows in the house,like a lot of bass players, Bushers and me)

(Blurred Chris, Emily and me)

Do small venues with Madness, it's really nice : you can see everything clearly and there is a lot to watch ! And... friendly moments, that's what we had at Madness gigs.

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
Brighton Rocked by Graham Mac Pherson and Co

See you next week ermmm...next gig

Judge Fredd and Emilie Blue Tit

SORRY ABOUT LOLA ! 2005-2007

2010-12-11T22:28:00.000-08:00

Hey !

How are you ?

Gift n°9 for the Birthday party and the last one : the last two TOTP performances by Madness !

It was Lola in 2005 and Sorry in 2007 !

Click : 2005/2007

Hope you enjoyed the whole home made 1979/2007 DVD...

Judge Fredd

WONDERFUL 1999...

2010-12-10T03:48:00.000-08:00

Hey !

With me, jump from 1992 into 1999 to see what the Camden 7 did at the Top of the Tops show that year !

1999 : a wonderful year for Madness fans and a terrible nightmare for BBC TOTP cameramen : Lee Thompson was back ! Eh eh eh ! Here are the two different excellent performances of Lovestruck at TOTP !

Click : 1999

All the best

Judge Fredd

TOP 1992

2010-11-30T05:38:00.000-08:00

Yo nutties !

Here is the seventh part !!!!  7 is a magic number for Madness, 1992 is a magic date for Madness fans : a new start for the Magnificent 7 !

Here are two performances of the Camdenites in 1992 :

   MY GIRL (1992, excellent perfomance, the studio was like tube station, Suggs was singing live !)

   THE HARDER THEY COME (In Moscow, not vey nice quality)

Click : 1992 

See you tomorrow 

All the best

Judge Fredd

FROM SEP 85 TO NOV 86

2010-11-27T04:09:00.000-08:00

Hello !!

Sixth part of the birthday TOTP cake

Three performances :

Yesterday's Men

Uncle Sam

Waiting for the ghost Train

Click : SEP 85... NOV 86

Next time we'll jump directly into 1992...

See you tomorrow

Judge Fredd

FROM NOV 1983 TO OCT 84

2010-11-23T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hello, good evening and welcome !

Today is the fifth day

of the Birthday

It's a pity

Video bad quality

For The Sun and the Rain

But One Better day
Will come, hey !
Better Video Qualities
As Well
Sharkey and the nutties
Played it very well !

Three TOTP performances in 1983/1984 :

The Sun And The Rain (worst video/audio quality of the DVD)

One Better Day

Listen To Your Father (with Feargal Sharkey)

Click : Nov 83 ...Oct 84

Enjoy it

See you tomorrow

Judge Fredd

FROM AUG 82 TO DEC 82

2010-11-22T03:30:00.000-08:00

Yo nutties !

Step 4 in the TOTP  DVD !!

Two other performances 

    Driving In My Car (the maddiemobile in the studio !)

    Our House ( the second best perf on TOTP !)

Click : Aug 82...Dec 82

Enjoy!

See you tomorrow

Judge

FROM OCT 81 TO FEB 82

2010-11-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

Hello hello hello !
Day three of the TOTP DVD ....with the third LP "7" era :
2 performances this time :
Shut up
Cardiac Arrest (maybe one of the best performances to me)

Click Oct 81 ...Feb 82

See you tomorrow

Judge

FROM OCT 80 TO FEB 81...

2010-11-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

Hi !

Day 2 with the TOTP DVD

Here are the 4 performances from the Absolutely era united in one file

        Baggy Trousers (2 different and the presenter went mad)

        Embarrassment  (Bedders with his marvellous double bass)

        The Return of the Lost Palmas 7 (where Suggs leads his nutty orchestra)

As usual in the file, each performance is introduced by a small and quick animation showing the title and the date of broadcast.

Click : Oct 80...Feb 81

See you tomorrow

Judge Fredd

FROM SEP 1979 TO APRIL 80...

2010-11-18T22:51:00.000-08:00

Hello !

Day one of the TOTP gift. 

The first 5 performances by the Camden 7.

Songs :       The Prince (2 different performances)

One Step Beyond (marvellous tour of the BBC studio, lower sound)

My Girl (see Lee falling at the beginning)

Night Boat to Cairo ( Suggs didn't move for a minute and it's rare)

                      CLICK....TOTP 09.79...04.80

From septembre 1979 to april 1980...

MADNESS OFFICIAL

See you tomorrow

Judge Fredd

3 YEARS OLD GIFT

2010-11-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Hello !

How are you ?

This blog is 3 years old now ! Happy Birthday, dear blog !

Ups and downs, but still alive, thanks to passion for music ! 

Passion  needs to be shared,so, to celebrate this birthday, here is a gift : a home-made Madness on Top of the Pops DVD...

I planned it months ago and now here it is...

First, today : my home-made coverart

Tomorrow and all along the next 7 days, the performances....

Sure TOTP ex-team still remembers Madness appearances

See you tomorrow

Judge Fredd

SOON....

2010-11-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

...3 YEARS OLD...

ALL THE TOP OF THE POPS BEST

JUDGE FREDD

TAKE THE "A" TRAIN

2010-10-18T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hi !

Update on the Madnessédaire !

With the letter

Click HERE

All the best

Judge Fredd

SONG IN ROUGE

2010-10-07T01:43:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Thusday the 7th of October

Indeed covered The Madness

Jon Young puts in his fabulous The Madness Blog, it's available HERE.....

aRT by Mister B.

Have a listen and tell us
Recording material was very professionnal (eh eh ) : USB mp3 player and PC mic...with a bit of Audacity...

All the best
Judge Fredd (from Indeed)

ONE YEAR OLD / UN AN !

2010-10-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Happy Birthday the MADNESS 30TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE !

One year old  / Un an !

  I love the idea of it

I love risk which was taken for it

I love songs played in it

I love faith put in it

I love bands on it

I love intro put on it

I love fan work on it

I love love put in it
I love the SITE about it 

Proud to be part of it 

Happy Birthday Lee
Ecoutez :  THE PLAYER

Try a listen : THE PLAYER

"We love you Madness, we do"

All the best

See you on the 7 th  

Judge Fredd

OCTOBER CAME

2010-10-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hi !
October came, yes indeed.
That's a fact.
See you on the 7th
Judge

WEATHER FORECAST

2010-09-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Rain will fall on the 7th of October 2010, twelve years later....

Remember, take your umbrella and your mp3 player for the occasion....

See you very soon

Judge Fredd

YOU CAN TAKE TAKE TAKETAKE...........

2010-09-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Madness à l'Huma review !

1. Just Because ...

The conditions were nice: the good weather, better for outdoor concerts, the festival of l'Huma, in which some very interesting ideas were circulating and we were going to meet with friends, in particular, JP and friends . But,but, but..., imagine this, so close to Paris, in La Courneuve, SFR ( the same than Vodafone) doesn't work close to the Main Stage only (no signal) so I hardly found JP , he's tall, but there he was sitting on the grass listening Alain Souchon, bad boy, eh eh. We chatted, nice to be with the big boss of the French M.I.S, the great JP with us, cool!
I tried to join other mates, Iky (that I will not join), Vincent (I think a lot of messages will arrive later in the night or tomorrow). JP told me that it was possible to see the maddies shortly before the concert, but ... .. obviously, the SFR network didn't workkkkkkkkkkk, nerves. Hopefully LaTouze and Olivier have been luckier, Jean-Luc Demarty told us to have seen moving towards the corner of press point with pass photos (she must be on Orange, another network right? Eh eh). We waited until the last minute at the press point,but no way, no signal and the good interview it's for a next time, pity, SFR French = Shit French Réseau(=Network)! And we had somegood questions, especially on a magazine!

2. A MAD MAD MAD "Take It Or Leave It" !

So, at the beginning of the gig, we tried to find our way into the public early , Emily and me, and we arrived about the 5 / 6 ranks on Lee's side, and we had a good concert. The crowd was cool, we were packed like sardins but it's good, sometimes a few guys that pass overhead, horizontally, but ...The atmosphere was good ... even the "drunk meat" , close, seeing three Suggs and four Lee on stage, was not painful (which is rare) ! Madness calms nerves, doesnt it ?

The set of the maddies was the same as in recent times but a bit shorter! But the sound was far better than in the Zenith venue.First, Barso was there, cool! More and more elegant but we were a bit afraid he is not there. Lee had fun a portfolio that arrived on scene, he made the move to throw his saxophone twice in the audience, but changing his mind at the last moment (well, well) claiming a bad back injury ...if his hand had a uncontroled move, imagine! He will announce later a nice event within the family of Chris I believe, a marriage of a son,Chris's Edlest Son Matthew.(thanks Shannan)

Highlights of the gig : When the unexpected turns to Cool! At the beginning of Take It Or Leave It, Chas began his usual echo announcement"you can take it .... or you can leave it " Barso then noticed that the no sound came from the keyboard , the rest of Madness waited, did not stop the intro and continued it : with Woody feet on drums, Chris enjoyed it on his guitar and Bushers quietly played two notes of bass, Suggs clapped with the audience and Carl still did the echo, talking of "keyboards" . It gave a longer intro of Take It Or Leave It, quite dubby style, almost hypnotic (Madness has always dance music side for me) and this for 1 minute! I've always loved the intro of "Take It Or Leave It" here I was happier than happy. Imagine .... No, no ... listen to ...
Here's the version I recorded (its not terrible,it's with my USB mp3 player but it gives you an idea of the intro (listen how Bushers and Chris play). I think I heard tonight the best version of Take It Or Leave It

Another highlight : Chris Showtime moment almost all in French, except at the end, Chris: "Merci l'Huma," talking about some classic hits of Madness they had to play "high speed" (Madness arrived late at the gig, and in a festival, time is time) He asks the audience to scream, as usual, and House of Fun staarted, always a good moment !

He filmed two songs on stage including My Girl! The Violin Monkeys ended "Taller" with "la Marseillaise"

Madness had to play Clerkenwell Polka her at the Festival of l'Huma, and when they did announce the title with the words "Socialism" they had a warm return from the public, chanting "Madness, Madness" together, (not so far than the English moments), this surprised and impressed the maddies who patiently waited to begin the song. For the encores, Madness asked the audience asking to applause, to manifest if they want more songs by them and turned back to the audience while waiting on stage .... Of course ... .. What have you got, you've got M.A.D.N.E.S.S! As I said earlier, Madness was a bit late (and was not the headliner), so no "Girl why do not you? And Tarzan's Nuts wasn't played too, which is a shame, this track sounds really good, live! At the end, we return to the press point, but no way, even VIPs couldn't enter for a while. The concert was filmed but being filmed is being broadcast on TV, wait and see!

On the way back home, we received an SmS from the management of Madness, also on the way home, completely feeling sorry, speaking about the lack of signal too on the site,only on the site ! Don't worry, no problem at all for this ! Good gig, great Take It Or Leave It, meeting with Big Boss JP, finally, that was nice !

See you maybe in December

Emily Blue Tit and Judge Fredd

IT IS...

2010-08-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

It is good !

It is a danceable great song

It is in AVI format (not fucking ".flv" crap)

It's so Special (s)

It's in the US

It's on TV

It's an AVI file, remember
And the beer tastes just like piss

It's here on the blog :

THE SPECIALS ON LETTERMAN (AVI VIDEO FORMAT)...

THE SPECIALS ON LETTERMAN (AUDIO)

Thanks the Specials and David Letterman
And hurrah for Sir Horace Gentleman !
Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

BLUE HEAT

2010-08-11T03:09:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Lesson n°7 : Oxymoron !
A style figure when you put together two words which seem opposite

Example : bitter-sweet (doux-amer)
A Madness example : White Heat
White often refers to something cold
Heat is the state of something which seems Hot
Once in 85, in a French Paper, Carl Smyth said they were "seriously funny", another oxymoron....
White Heat was released in 1985 on the 6th LP "Mad not Mad (oxymoron ? ) in a time, as the Inrockuptibles mag said once later in a interview with Suggs, when Madness changed their slogan from "Fuck Art Let's Dance" to "Fuck Dance, Let's Art". No problem for me with this, cause the songs were very good (indeed) So good that here is something special for you : the Heat before it turned the street upside down...
The song before it was released, in a different version, so as it's not finished, an uncomplete version, studio work but not yet finished off, we'll call it :

WHITE HEAT (WARMING UP)

Try it and find differences with the released version, there are in the lyrics, in the music and the way it is mixed ! To the one who sent me this audio gift, thanks a lot !!!

Sure you'll enjoy it

Judge Fredd

LEA ON PIANO !

2010-07-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hello mates !!

(Léa and me)

Here is Lea, one of my nieces starting piano, look at the way she tried to make all her fingers play !

Next time, she'll rock !
Enjoy
Judge Fredd

ZAR..........JAZZ FESTIVAL IN GENT

2010-07-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Version française : French M.I.S

Madness in Gent ! Yes ! Zar...........Jazz Festival in Gent 17.07.2010 ! Zarjazz : In another language, more common : brilliant !

First point : the venue. A park,the Bijloke Park , close to some very old and nice buildings and not far from a river, a small venue, under a tent for 3000 fans max, so a kind of "intimate" place for a gig. You can see the stage from everywhere. And very clearly if you're on good position. Some other smaller tents where you can have a drink or relax.... Very nice surprise ! Good point.Especially for Virginie, Emilie Blue Tit's sister who came here for her first Madness gig !

Second point : the Belgian beers are excellent and before the gig, we went to one of the bars, met northern French fans too (cool) and the Classic 21 Belgian radio master, Eric Laforge, who broadcast our cover of the Sun and the Rain ! May Laforge be with you ! and a moment later, not far, we met Suggs, as if he was a member of the crowd.... we shook hands and he signed us an autograph, just like this, ....Very lucky we were, especially Emilie's sister. Good point !

Third point : Madness in a jazz festival. As I said, the fact that it was a small festival for jazz, it was a bit intimate. And it was cool for Madness fans too. But I heard integrist's voices, I heard them saying ...." Madness in a jazz fest ?" Answer : And why not ? Madness did some jazzy parts in Razor Blade Alley or with Elvis Costello or Madness is all the mind. This evening, Madness was all in the...jazz ! Well, the person who had them come here had a good idea cause it's a good place to play and to stay (very nice town !) And I remind you that in the Take it or Leave it movie, according to the legend, when Madness asked Dublin Castle owners to play for the first time, they said they were playing jazz, eh eh eh !

On the fourth or fifth rank (so close, that close) , we decided to be on Lee's side, remember ... a small venue, cool to see clearly all the details that happen on stage.

At 10.55 pm, a man came and presented the next performers like in the perfect jazz moments. And then the band came on stage.Barso was particulary well-dressed : hat, tie....like the others but I noticed this from the start !!! It was the usual set with very nice anecdotes and good vibes. Maybe the order of the the songs changed a bit..On stage, Lee and Chris were particulary excellent :funny, posing for photos (there will be some really good ones if they are published) And the way the stage was organized, performers could be very close to the first ranks ,even close to be amongst the first ranks, we could see clearly Chris's guitar or Suggs "giving hands".

The atmosphere was good from the start....a bit quiet in the crowd until Clerkenwell Polka and then the pressure was up until the end. On Clerkenwell Polka , Lee farted and waved his hands, he played a lot with his trousers this evening, it's the new game since Paris Zénith, eh eh !! Chris did a solo on the Sun and the Rain especially for "My Bloddy Valentine" and "Ride" hardcore fans (eh eh), Lee tried for the 50000th time to climb all the stuff that was on his side He tried a wig too with curly grey hair.

On one song, on the intro, Carl and Suggs did "I can't get no Satifaction", Suggs put one of his usual little "fu....k", this time, at the end of Forever Young "Fucked off Gone", changing words too on this one, showing Lee on the "Don't you do what HE has done"

The second part of the gig was really moving, lots of good vibes between the stage and the crowd, very receptive to the old 60's ska (Taller than you are, Girl, why don't you ?) and of course the Madness classics (i jumped so many times that the "bigger than me" fans don't frighten during the gigs anymore now). On "Taller", at the end the Violin Monkeys did a bonus, they played the special end more than usual.On "Ironshirt", the second solo was done by the trumpet, not by the sax ! But Madness did the Liberty songs too : a very special Dust Devil, when you need to watch Lee and Chris, really really on top form !!!!! And when the band let the crowd breathe on MK II, the microphone did nutty magic to Suggs, going down...

MKII is classy, really , more and more it's one of my fave songs of the last LP !

Chris did his showtime starting in Dutch (Mike was smiling and the crowd clapping), telling about some aspects of the Belgian culture: Jacques Brel, Tintin....Of course, at the end he shouted... in English ! House of Fun, Our House and especially It must be Love were really collective, I was really impressed on Our House(the small venue permits to feel this) and I think Suggs was impressed on It Must be Love,at the end, he repeated THE message: "Love is the best". Of course people smashed the floor to make them doing an encore !

Suggs crossed the stage (east/west) alone saying "Hello" ...Eh eh.... naughty boy....

The encore started with the fine duet : Chris, really excited with the mike and a "chickitup chickitup" Lee on mic too for Tarzan's Nuts, so nice that Suggs coming back after said 'I'm still here".

On Night Boat to Cairo, on the long intro, members asked young kids form the crowd to come on stage, parents threw them... er...sorry... handed them to the security men (far better than the ones in Paris, more human). And these nutty kids did the nutty train led by Suggs once and Lee too,closed by Carl! Lucky kids ! " Very very Special said Suggs at the end, Chris reminded that the kids on stage must be found again by their parents and If I understood well, Carl joked trying to sell one ! It was so nice at the end that the crowd wanted a second encore and for a moment we hoped... But no, so started the battle for a souvenir and it was hard but a Judge Fredd never gives up ! No chance for the setlists, but at one moment I remembered that I already had a drumstick of Woody's and one more would be welcome at home, and I just asked and had simply ! All the people went mad for setlists, no one asked for drumsticks , so it's easier ! I nearly had a setlist too, I had in one hand and a dishonest fan took it off from my hand quite violently and went off. Poor man. My drumsticks are waiting for him if he comes back ! Drumstick, autograph, good gig what else ? A drink with Arnold ! Cool way to end and have a chat after the gig and take some photos. Good point!

(Emilie's sister, Arnold , drumstick and me, picture taken by Emilie)

(the same in an other order, picture taken by Emilie)

Satisfied, exhausted, Emilie, Virginie And I slowly went off back home.

Zar..........jazz It Was !!!!
Next station : la Fête de l'Huma !

Try the Madness gigs, I never was disappointed and always had something to remember

All the best
Judge Fredd

GENT 17.07.2010

2010-07-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

More to follow !

All the best

Jugde Fredd

SUPER MATHIEU BOOGAERTS

2010-07-15T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hello one and all !

Today, le Grand Mathieu Boogaerts ! I discovered this artist with this very nice song, "Ondulé" 15 years ago. Listen to an extract of this gem : HERE.

Today, after a lot of LPs, singles, DVDs, books, Mathieu Boogaerts is still playing, touring...and he's certainly one of the best French artists in activity, he's got talent, he's really creative !And last but certainly not least, he's really nutty, his own way !!!! Really !

Run to his Official site : HERE where you can listen a lot of extracts !
In 2009, he was playing en Avignon, here is his gig broadcast on the cool Radio Nova (with a beautiful cover of Jesse Garon) :

MATHIEU BOOGAERTS on RADIO NOVA

(and for Jon HERE)

Thanks Mathieu Boogaerts and Radio Nova

Sure you'll enjoy it
Judge Fredd

TSC TSC TSC !!!

2010-07-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Some small old ads about the Style Council

Click on the pages

All the best

Judge Fredd

HAVE....

2010-07-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hello !

Have some style...

Enjoy the reading about the Style...
Please, click on the page

All the best

Judge Fredd

LISTEN TO THE A-Z NOW ....

2010-07-06T03:36:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Last Saturday and until the 17th of july, BBC Radio 4 is doing a special contemporary London programme with documentaries, dramas...Good, good........ BBC RADIO 4
First, here are a 13 minute A-Z of London with Suggs and Andrea Levy!

A-Z OF LONDON (13 min)
(and, for Jon, HERE)

It reminds a Special Madness A-Z we, Madness fans, we did on the ex-Chas Smash forum, good souvenir ! Good idea for a next post and to put on a back of a tee-shirt, isn't it ?
Let's start : A is for Airplane...(send f.boeuf@wanadoo.fr )

Enjoy it
Judge Fredd

ON A GOOD GREY DAY, NADEAH !

2010-07-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !
Do you know Nadeah ?

Some days ago, last june, Blue Tit and I went to a venue to watch Charlie Winston live ( really really really good on stage, all the songs are rewritten for live versions) and the support act was Nadeah and her band. The mini gig was marvellous: really good presence on stage, well-written songs, very good band...a live of Nadeah is really alive for sure ! A very good moment ! And the way she was dancing reminded me someone but didn't know who.... At the end, we bought her debut mini CD : 5 tracks and she we signing her cds. Waiting for our turn, I heard someone talking about her and telling about Nouvelle Vague ! That's it . She sang with Nouvelle Vague, that's the reason I knew her before ! And she was the lead singer for the experimental Madness Grey Day cover of Nouvelle Vague. We had a quick chat with her about Grey Day....Strange life, everywhere i go , something is linked to Madness !

Thanks Calipage for this !!!

Now back to....Nadeah...

"Scary Carol", "Odile", "At the moment" are some tracks that you listen to on her site : NADEAH.COM .

And you can download for free a track there ..".Pinot noir and Breakfast for Poetry", nice title, isn't it!

And icing on the cake : Here is the video live of Nouvelle Vague cover of Grey Day (drums and voice) at the CAP 24 festival concert "Caprices Festival" 2008, Crans-Montana (in Switzerland) on the 28th of March 2008 ....

VIDEO LIVE GREY DAY BY NOUVELLE VAGUE

Run to watch one of her gigs

Hope you'll enjoy

Judge Fredd

I'M BLOGGING INTO THEIR PAST

2010-06-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !
The 28th of June 2010 : Release date for top class Deluxe Reissues of Madness "The Rise and Fall" and "Keep Moving" LPs with marvellous bonuses : radio sessions, B-sides, Extended mixes : MADSHOP

To celebrate it, attention.. :

....Be afraid, be very afraid.... here he comes again from another dimenzione, he called himself the Fink Blogger, he's a Sir, he's Young and he's here Forever.... Sir Jonathan Young is back with another hidden treasure...a home demo of Madness "March of Gherkins" called "Catch Me"

Let's fall into their past :

CATCH ME

Zarjazz !
Thanks Sir !

The final version is on Keep Moving CD ! The Deluxe version is out now !

Fantastic photo by Andre Claus, thanks !

Hope you'll enjoy it

Keekeekeep blogging
Now waiting for the next reissue
Waiting for the next Jon comeback ..

Judge Fredd

SABOR DISCOS RULES OK !

2010-06-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

In the Dublin Castle in July 2009, I met Cédric,aka El Cedrico, a French Madness fan, we had a chat and we lived Madstock in Victoria Park together.As a lot of Madness fans, music is one of his passions. It's time for you know, to discover him a bit more and it's really interesting !

He's a member of Sabor, an association born in 2004 who wants to share culture between Europe and Latin America.A part of this association is called Sabor Discos, it's a music label.

To this day, twelve cds are produced and released by Sabor Discos : LPs from artists like the old school ska Satélite Kingston from Argentina, the great Desorden Publico (on the Madness Tribute LP too) or Adji. But compilations are here to give a sum up of what Sabor Discos : they are called Resto Pollo Rico and they are three volumes of it , the last in 2009 with the Slackers or friends of Manu Chao on it. By the way, Sabor Discos has some projects, one of them is to work with the French Flor Del Fango (ex Mano Negra)

At last, Sabor Discos is busy to make the distribution of other artists CDs like the New-Yorker King Django, the Spanish ska-soul Peeping Toms or the Italian rock steady lovers Cookoomackastick

Who tells that music is dead ? Certainly not Sabor Discos !

Who tells ska is only jamaican or english ? Certainly not Sabor Discos ! Ska is Worldwide !

Go to their site, it's full of sounds, photos, infos about bands you maybe don't know now but who are very good !!! Go to find the info !

SABOR DISCOS SITE
SABORMYSPACE

Pages from some Sabor Discos bands where you can listen to extracts:

1. DESORDEN PUBLICO (I love El Clon)

2. SATELITE KINGSTON (with ...)

Hope you'll enjoy them

Judge Fredd

DECLAN AND MADNESS DUBLIN OCT 1985

2010-06-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Kindness,Kindness ! Kind people are everywhere, I discovered a new one,a new example, Declan Mac Dermott who lives in Ireland !

(Declan in Dublin Castle)

Like all the kind people (Emilie, Jon, JP, Mister B, Paul,Vince, Alex, the man in the garage, René and many others ...), he gives and doesn't wait for anything in return and of course, it's a very very strong quality !!!!

Declan sent me tapes he has : Madness live in Dublin SFX Oct.85 and with them he put some nice little gifts too ! Thanks, thanks and thanks again !
I converted the tapes into PC files, did coverart and here they are : 2 CDs
Thanks a lot Declan !!!

CD1 : DUBLIN GIG PART 1

----------------------------------------------

END OF THE DUBLIN GIG

CD2 : ITW CARL AND SUGGS (IRISH RADIO 2) OCT 1985

ITW WITH WOODY (DAVE FANNING SHOW) 05.2010

Hope you'll enjoy it

Declan Mac Dermott and Judge Fredd

WITH A VIOLIN MONKEY...

2010-06-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hi mates ! (VERSION FRANÇAISE SUR LE FRENCH MIS)

In a band or in a brass section,, the name is very important. For the "vIOLIN mONKEYs", it's the case too : cause they're not monkeys, they're human, cause they don't play violin, they play sax, trumpet and trombone, cause they're playing with Madness ! Nice and strange, isn't it ? I discovered Steve, Joe and Mike in 2005, as they were on stage close to Mike Barson playing with Madness in Paris, bringing something nice to the nutty songs ! " Brassification" (Suggs) ! Since, I'm a big fan : their sound, their style, their choregraphy on stage...
I met two of them in december 2009 after a wonderful Madness gig in Southend. We talked about solos, Joe's superb one on Hunchback of Torriano in Brighton two days before and Mike's one on Rock en Seine august festival. At this occasion,with Madness, remplacing Oasis cancellation, Mike succeeded in playing on trombone the Oasis "Wonderwall" melody during the "Ironshirt" song by Max Romeo covered by Madness ! Wow ! Nice little challenge ! Well done !
Respected by the music world, the Violin Monkeys need to be more publicly known.
Here is the interview I did via mail with Mike, from bass to trombone... You' ll discover the origin of their name and some other info...It's followed by a link to the extract of the Rock en Seine infamous Mike solo !

THE INTERVIEW

ME : Who decides of this surrealistic name ?
MIKE : The name came up during rehearsals for the Dnagermen material at John Henry's rehearsal syudios in North London.It was towards the end of a long day and drinks had been taken. I think it was Woody who came up with the "Violin" monker as we were the"Brass Monkeys" for all about 1/2 hour of the day.

ME : Who inspires you? When did you decide to take your instrument ?
MIKE : Music-wise I have a list as long as my arm about who inspires but notable musicians are : Marvin Gaye, Fred Wesley and the JB's, Joni Mitchell,Sonny Rollins, JJ Johnson, Rico, Terry Edwards, Stewie Wonder, James Brown, Bach. I decided to take up trombone after seeing a kids TV show " Play Away" which has a guy on called George Chisolm, a fine trombone player and children's entertainer. I think it was the clownish aspect of the instrument that appealed to me !

ME : Can you name ones of the trombone/sax/ trumpet best solos ever?
MIKE : Trombone, anything by Fred Wesley eg."Blow your head" or by JJ Johnson. Trumpet, for pure energy, any of the solos Cat Anderson did with the Stan Kenton band. Sax, Wilton Felder in "Streetlife" by the Crusaders (talented man- also played bass guitar on many Marvin Gaye recordings) or anything Sonny Rollins ever recorded.

ME : Tell us more about your story in details, it's too short on your website : before the Violin Monkeys, starting of the section, how it developped...
MIKE : My first job out of college was with Jools Holland (UK TV guy and piano player). Played trombone in his big band for 5-6 years. At the same time, played with "Steve Martland Band" contempory classical british composer. Met Terry Edwards through mutual friends and played in one of first bands with him-Acid Jazz band called "Swordfish" (Terry was on guitar and vocals). we later toured together with Finnish artist "Jimmy Tenor" and the Tindersticks. Terry had been friends with Madness with Mark Bedford for many years and it was Terry who introduced me to the band during the recordings and trough his "All Stars Extravaganza" project at the Dublin Castle : http://thosenuttysounds.blogspot.com/search/label/Terry%20Edwards (Featuring,in 1992, amongst others , Lee Thompson, Chris Foreman and Mark Bedford). Trough working as a freelance player in London, I met Joe Auckland on various gigs and recording sessions and recommended him when the band were looking for a trumpet player for the Dangermen sessions.

ME : On stage, how and when did you decide to have this wonderful particular choregraphic performance ?

MIKE : I think it came from the eraly gigs when we were on stage throughout and needed something to do rather standing rooted on the spot looking like a group of misfits. We hope it adds something to the show visually.

ME : How did the meeting with Madness come (in details) ? How did your collaboration grow ? What's your Madness fave song ?

MIKE : I guess I pretty much covered this in question 4 (the story). I really enjoyed re-discovering some of the older tunes in gigs recently such as E.R.N.I.E and "In the Rain. It was exciting getting them together in rehearsal as they' ve got a real vibracy in energy to them

ME : Any funny stories or anecdotes during recordings or on stage (we' ll tell noone) ? What is your best souvenir with them ?

MIKE : My team of lawyers has advised me against any comment (eh eh )... Best souvenir is the card band gave me for my birthday last year along with a book on how play basic trombone !

ME : How did the Oasis solo idea come to you at the Rock en Seine festival ? Any other similar projects in the future ? What else can be done on the chords for next stage performances? Ideas ?

MIKE : It was after we played our set at the festival and were having our usual post-gig celebrations that we heard that there had been some happenings in the Oasis camp and that we were going to be filling their slot at the festival.The situation with Oasis sounded like it was a bit more serious than one of their usual spats so the idea of playing the Wonderwall melody as a solo really came about as a tribute to a great band.I wouldn't like to predict what will be coming out of the end of my horn in future solos as I rarely know myself until the moment.

ME :What about the meeting with the Dead 60's for the Ghostface Killer song ?

MIKE : From what I remember, it was a connection made through Clive Langer. We recorded the track at a studio in Hoxton. A couple of guys from the band were there and were very easy going and creative people. I think the finished product sounds great-very atmospheric.

ME :What are your projects right now ? Any Violin Monkeys LP ?

MIKE : Since the December gigs, I have been busy working on the freelance scene in London with different bands, the most recent of which was a band called "Noah and the Whale", a group of great players and songwriters- well worth checking out.

As for a Violin Monkeys project, watch this space :

VIOLIN MONKEYS OFFICIAL

ME : Are there any artists that you'll like to perform with ?

MIKE : I've been incredibly lucky to work with the muicians and groups I've played and just enjoy all as pects of performing, from live performance to recording. I think it's important as a musician to diversify into as many areas and styles of music as you are able.

ME : Some words to add in French for the French M.I.S ?

MIKE (in french) : "Prenez du temps pour votre plaisir et riez avec amour"

Thanks MIKE for taking time for us !

MIKE'S SOLO ROCK EN SEINE IRONSHIRT

Go to a Madness gig and pay attention to these elegant dancing men close to Mike Barson.

Hope you enjoyed the reading and the sound
Judge Fredd

WELCOME THE ZENITH OF FUN : LAST EPISODE

2010-05-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

(photo by Suzy)

Hi mates !

"blupblupblupblup"... the sound when you play rewind....Last episode: "Ready for a solar pose ?" Yes, Indeed ...

III / WITH FANS FROM THE UNIVERSE :

Locations :In front of the ZenithVenue, in the Parc de la Villette, the Regal Café. From 10.45pm to 2.50 am

Photos by Suzy, Emilie and me.

(Néness, Emiliy, Darren and Patrick)

You can't be at a gig like this and leave the place as if nothing happened. So in front of the Zenith, we found some members of the Nutty Internationale back.

(Vicky and Emiliy Blue Tit)

And in front of the Zenith, we tried the solar pose... (see the wordgame ?)

(A first try... humhum)

Close to us, some shouted "Ouh ah, Cantona"... we decided to go back to the Café, and on our way, tried once again solar poses and nutty train

(A second try, far better, see someone thinking

about the security men in Zenith..)

We had a good laugh. The7 Internationale is working well like in a gang like Jonathan said. In fact, the Jumin Café was closed so we went to The Regal One where we exchanged impressions, addresses, views, experiences, discussing this and that...At the bar, stood two persons finishing in "IKY" / VICKY 43 GIGS and IKY 22 !!!! Big Respect !!!!!!!!

(Emily and Looby)

Just before 3 am (no no no joke with 4 am), we left. What a friday night, saturday morning !!! Special mention to Eric who helped us a lot !!! Very good experience, could we play it again, please ?

For the ones who couldn't be there, don't worry, Madness is still touring !!!

(These nails belong to Looby)

Hope you enjoyed reading the review

See you

Now it's the turn of the monkey with the violin...

All the best

Judge Fredd

ZENITH OF FUUUN PART 2 : THE GIG

2010-05-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

Hi mates !

Let's rewind ! End of the Part 1 :" One step later, the Zenith will become the Zenith of Fun..." And of course it went mad !

II / ZENITH OF FUN
Location : Zenith venue, the standing place
From 8.55 to 10.35 PM
Photos by Néness K

We were on Lee Thompson side in the crowd. The beginning was classic but still top class: the band coming on stage, great elegance. And One Step ... !!
the atmosphere was good from the start, ... how sum up ? Viva la Danse ! Jonathan must say ! The set-list was nice, it looked like the December 2009 tour, it was particulary well played, it was a good mixture of young and old tracks. For someone who didn't see Madness before or the ones who didn't see them for a while, it was good to see old like Tarzan's nuts or Take it Or Leave It and new from The Liberty Lp such as Forever Young, Dust Devil, MK II, Clerkenwell Polka and the magical That Close (close to be a single please with a lot of promo). The band was on top form, we felt that they practiced a lot these last years, it can be seen and heard.And with the atmosphere, it seemed they relaxed ! Lee as a pirate (Johnny Kidd?) gave all that he had, his trousers did too and Carl finished them on stage ! One leg trousers copyright Lee Kix, the rest ended in the audience. It was very cheerful ! "Taller..' has a new destination, David Cameron. Chris took the mic for his "Showtime" moment, very energetic, he thanked Sharon, a fan, for her cakes and talked in French, please, about..... her breast !!!

The tracks were sometimes linked and for an uninitiated, it was like doing sport. The Encore was particulary hard for my legs : Tarzan's Nuts led by the duet Chris / Lee (I think the best version i ever heard), very powerful ! Then M.A.D.N.E.S.S. and Night Boat...! But we were there to dance and we did , we even did a mini nutty train (3 people max). Old tracks, new ones, the rythm was high ; we only had MK II and It Must be Love to take our breath !

A highlight of the gig was when the band dedicate one song to JP and the French M.I.S ! it becomes a habit, a very very good one ! Madness, thanks !!!
Again, everything went too fast ! Very good gig, and Carl was happy too on his Facebook page.

The concert ended. The Fun Boy Three went out the speakers, Steph Néness succeeded in taking a set-list, another trophy for the French M.I.S ! Two journalists who interviewed Suggs before the gig and we chatted with gave us their passes. Nice ! I gave one Jon and Vince (who drank champagne with Suggs). Meanwhile, we met the legendary politeness of the the security men of the venue...so we went out, time to meet fans again !
Ready for a nutty solar pose ?

See you on the last episode : After the Gig...

all the best
Judge Fredd

Richard Skinner 81 OFFICIAL	sign of the times missing you tiptoes.	Madness official
Kid Jensen 26.07.82 OFFICIAL	The rise and fall tomorrow's just another day calling cards are you coming with me	Madness official
Ken Bruce 18.01.05	It must be love(--) Shame and scandal One step beyond Girl Ironshirt Night Boat to Cairo and ITW	HERE

jUdgE FrEdD

LONDON 0 WERCHTER 4

IT MUST BEE ...LOVE

LATER WITH HOLLIE COOK

26 MINUTES WITH BAXTER DURY

EST. 1968

....NEXT TO ME

STARLITE THE GREAT

YES BUSY BUT....VOL 1

BUSY...

RADIO SESSION HOLLIE COOK

MORE THAN MORE THAN MORE SPECIALS

TROPICAL POP OUT

HOLLIE COOK

BIG BRIAN STRIKES AGAIN

AND THEN AT LAST....

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... WOODY

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... MORE X 4

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR... MORE X 3

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR MORE AND MORE...

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR..MORE

LOOK INs THAT WE LOOKED FOR

QUEL REGAL, OXFORD !!

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 7

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 6

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 5

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 4

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 3

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 2

LOOK AT "LOOK IN" 1

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) LAST PART

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) PART 3

BBC SESSIONS (1979.2009) PART 2

BBC SESSIONS (1979/2009) PART 1

ARCHIVES

PERSEVERANCE

UNE BONNE SOIREE...

SMASH HITS FEB-MARCH 1981

M.I.A

AND THE BEES TOOK TO THE STAGE...

CHANGE CAN HAPPEN

A MESSAGE TO YOU, NUTTIES

MARCH, PROTEST

WINGS OF A HOVE

SORRY ABOUT LOLA ! 2005-2007

WONDERFUL 1999...

TOP 1992

FROM SEP 85 TO NOV 86

FROM NOV 1983 TO OCT 84

FROM AUG 82 TO DEC 82

FROM OCT 81 TO FEB 82

FROM OCT 80 TO FEB 81...

FROM SEP 1979 TO APRIL 80...

3 YEARS OLD GIFT

SOON....

TAKE THE "A" TRAIN

SONG IN ROUGE

ONE YEAR OLD / UN AN !

OCTOBER CAME

WEATHER FORECAST

YOU CAN TAKE TAKE TAKETAKE...........

IT IS...

BLUE HEAT

LEA ON PIANO !

ZAR..........JAZZ FESTIVAL IN GENT

GENT 17.07.2010

SUPER MATHIEU BOOGAERTS

TSC TSC TSC !!!

HAVE....

LISTEN TO THE A-Z NOW ....

ON A GOOD GREY DAY, NADEAH !

I'M BLOGGING INTO THEIR PAST

SABOR DISCOS RULES OK !

DECLAN AND MADNESS DUBLIN OCT 1985

WITH A VIOLIN MONKEY...

WELCOME THE ZENITH OF FUN : LAST EPISODE

ZENITH OF FUUUN PART 2 : THE GIG