Madness is a Pop/Ska band originating in 1976 but without the doubt gained popularity throughout the 1980’s by taking their Ska style of music and embracing it into the Pop Genre. Their current members as of 2023 are: Chris Foreman (guitarist), Mike Barson (Keyboard and Vocals), Lee Thompson (Saxophone and Vocals), Graham “Suggs” McPherson (Lead Singer), Dan Woodgate (Drums), and Mark Bedford (Bass Guitarist). It was on in 1979 when the band began to gain success by signing with 2 Tone Records before changing Stiff Records just in time to record their first studio album ‘One Step Beyond…’ in October of that year. Across their over 40 year career they have went on to sell over 3.8 million records with the majority coming from the UK as they take up 3.5 million of the all time sales, solidifying themselves as an iconic UK band.
During their career they have managed to produce an impressive 12 albums. Their first 2 albums went all the way to number two (never quite reaching number one) but their second Album ‘Absolutely’ is the one I will be focusing on has the iconic UK chant ‘Baggy Trousers’ as the first track on the album. The song was at that point the bands joint highest charting song as it managed to reach number 3 in 1980 (joint with My Girl). What makes its MV iconic is the fact that the lyrics and settings both blend together and helped the band relate more to their country of origin.
Baggy Trousers Music Video (1980):
The MV starts with the saxophonist Lee Thompson putting on a small pair of wings and appearing to jump right in front of the camera, this is representing the band as a source of freedom when listening to their music and hints at what the saxophonist will do later in the MV. The MV is set in what seems to be a Primary school (judging by the ages of the kids who appear in the video) and actually shows kids who are from impoverished areas and not actors. This is a rare incident of Madness breaking the rules of the Pop genre by not having child actors and setting the MV in an actual Primary School as it represents the band as a band who remembers where they came from. The teachers in the MV are also non existent, as the only one that somewhat appears is one of the band members dressed as one; the others are just mannequins. This was probably done in order to appeal to their young audience as it gives off the idea that the band thinks that students are brain dead, and unfortunately most children would agree with their obvious statement.
Interestingly, most of the lyrics are translated onto camera, such as “playing football in the park” with kids kicking around football in the park. They are also inclusive to all the kids in the video as their are Boys and Girls, Blacks and Whites; this could show that the bands music is able to be listened to by pretty much anyone, no matter their background. The bands costumes are also similar to that of school uniforms as the majority of them are wearing black blazers, black pants and white shirts; with the uniforms slightly altered to show the bands rebellious attitude. This is once again chosen to let the audience know how relatable the band is and to remind the audience that they were once kids/teenagers messing around. The rebellious attitude is also reflected in the music business as at the time there weren’t many Ska bands that were ranking highly in the UK charts. The saxophonist flying away is also representative of the band in the music business as they are doing their own style of music compared to others. Even when the saxophonist is flying, the lead singer try’s to take him down but he can’t; this is reflective of other Ska bands trying to top Madness’s style in the early 80’s.
This edition of Look In was released on September 10th 1983 and shows the entire group pulling funny faces and dressed in formal clothing and wearing flat caps. The context behind this is that this was during Madness’s peak in the 1980’s releasing singles such as “Wings of a Dove” and “Our House” and albums such as “The Rise & Fall”.
The formal clothing that the band chose to wear on the front cover is meant to appeal to the working class fanbase that makes up the majority of Madness’s fans. The funny faces also helps as even though they may not have the best living conditions, they are enjoying what they’ve got which is common in a standard working class household. The cameras they all appear to be holding are all slightly different from the other which could give the idea that there it not one set perspective of the band and that whatever opinion anyone may have of them is right. Finally the background being white is very simple as it represents the light hearted tone that the bands music has; they have some sad songs but not one negative one.
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