MADNESS – ONE STEP BEYOND 7″ – VG+ UK 1979 SKA INDIE 2 TONE STIFF

Madness – One Step Beyond
(Stiff Records  1979  BUY56)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1 – UK Pressing
“A Porky Prime Cut” in dead wax

Vinyl in Very Good+ condition
(there are quite a few surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give some light pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall – name on B side label)

Sleeve in Very Good condition
– some wear to edges with a couple of small tears at opening edge, small split in bottom & rubbing/ringwear

Madness are an English ska band from Camden Town, London, that formed in 1976. One of the most prominent bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s 2 Tone ska revival, they continue to perform with their most recognised line-up of seven members.

Madness achieved most of their success in the early to mid-1980s. Both Madness and UB40 spent 214 weeks on the UK singles charts over the course of the decade, holding the record for most weeks spent by a group in the 1980s UK singles charts. However, Madness achieved this in a shorter time period (1980–1986).

Madness have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten, one UK number one single (“House of Fun”) and two number ones in Ireland, “House of Fun” and “Wings of a Dove”.

“One Step Beyond” is a tune written by Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster as a B-side for his single “Al Capone”. It was made famous by British band Madness who covered it for their debut 1979 album, One Step Beyond…, also named after the song. Although Buster’s version was mostly instrumental except for the song title shouted for a few times, the Madness version features a spoken intro by Chas Smash and a barely audible but insistent background chant of “here we go!”. The spoken line, “Don’t watch that, watch this”, in the intro is from another Prince Buster song, “The Scorcher”. Also,that line became a trademark during the early promos of MTV, which the video was on heavy rotation.

According to Alan Winstanley, one of the producers, the released Madness version was a rough mix, created by taking the original 1 minute 10 second instrumental and repeating it, with the second half treated with an Eventide harmonizer to make it sound slightly different. Langer and Winstanley intended to do a full remix but found that the double-length rough mix had already been sent for mastering before they got the opportunity.

The song is often used to begin live performances by the band.

7″ vinyl

Members

• Chris Foreman – Guitar
• Mike Barson – Keyboards, pianos, vibraphone, and backing vocals
• Lee Thompson – Saxophone, percussion, and backing vocals
• Chas Smash – Trumpet, backing vocals, dancing, acoustic guitar, bass guitar
• Graham “Suggs” McPherson – Lead vocals
• Daniel Woodgate – Drums, percussion
• Mark Bedford — Bass guitar