Complete Madness

Complete Madness
Complete Madness
Greatest hits album by Madness
Released	23 April 1982
Recorded	1979–1982
Genre	Ska; pop; 2-tone;
Length	45:24 (original); 47:24 (reissue)
Label	Stiff
Producer	Clive Langer; Alan Winstanley;
Madness chronology
Alternative cover
	Cover of the Virgin Records 1985 CD re-release
Singles from Complete Madness
	"House of Fun"; Released: 14 May 1982;

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link
Robert Christgau	A−^[1]

Complete Madness is the first greatest hits album by ska/pop group Madness. It was released in 1982 and included Madness' biggest hits from their first three studio albums and the stand-alone singles. Complete Madness spent 99 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at number 1.

Content

This compilation includes the original 7-inch single mixes of most tracks (House of Fun being an exception). The vinyl and initial CD releases have shortened fade-outs for many tracks, to reduce the running time of each side of the original LP version. The first time the songs appeared in full for this compilation was on the 2003 Virgin CD reissue.

The original Australian version of the album, issued some months later than in the UK, replaces In the City with 13th UK single Driving in My Car.

Music video

An accompanying video cassette was also released, containing all thirteen of the group's music videos up to that point (the twelve UK singles plus Bed and Breakfast Man, which was a single in Canada), with specially filmed introductions to each video, together with the car commercials the band had done for Honda in Japan.

Track listing

The following track listing is for the original 1982 UK release (Stiff Records, HIT-TV1).

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original release	Length
1.	"Embarrassment"	Mike Barson Lee Thompson	Absolutely, 1980	2:59
2.	"Shut Up"	Graham McPherson Chris Foreman	7, 1981	2:48
3.	"My Girl"	Barson	One Step Beyond..., 1979	2:38
4.	"Baggy Trousers"	McPherson Foreman	Absolutely	2:26
5.	"It Must Be Love"	Labi Siffre	Non-album single, 1981	3:19
6.	"The Prince"	Thompson	One Step Beyond...	2:27
7.	"Bed and Breakfast Man"	Barson	One Step Beyond...	2:29
8.	"Night Boat to Cairo"	McPherson Barson	One Step Beyond...	3:13
Total length:				22:24

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Original release	Length
1.	"House of Fun"	Barson Thompson	New track	2:47
2.	"One Step Beyond"	Cecil Campbell	One Step Beyond...	2:17
3.	"Cardiac Arrest"	Cathal Smyth Foreman	7	2:52
4.	"Grey Day"	Barson	7	3:30
5.	"Take It or Leave It"	Barson Thompson	Absolutely	3:17
6.	"In the City"	McPherson Barson Smyth Foreman Bill Crutchfield Daisuke Inoue	B-side of "Cardiac Arrest", 1982	2:55
7.	"Madness"	Campbell	One Step Beyond...	2:35
8.	"The Return of the Los Palmas 7"	Barson Daniel Woodgate Mark Bedford	Absolutely	2:29
Total length:				22:49

Personnel

Madness

Graham "Suggs" McPherson – vocals
Mike Barson – keyboards, harmonica, vibraphone, marimba, tubular bells
Chris Foreman – guitars
Chas Smash – vocals, trumpet
Lee Thompson – saxophones, vocals
Mark Bedford – bass
Dan Woodgate – drums, percussion

Production

Clive Langer – producer
Alan Winstanley – producer

Chart performance

Chart (1982)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart^[2]	1
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[3]	2
Dutch Albums Chart^[4]	7
New Zealand Albums Chart^[5]	11

Certifications and sales


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)^[6]	Platinum	50,000^{^}
United Kingdom (BPI)^[7]	Platinum	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

^ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Madness". Retrieved 20 September 2021.
^ Complete Madness at Official Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 20 June 2013
^ Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016
^ "Kent Music Report No 453 – 28 February 1983 > Platinum Albums 1982 (Continued)". Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via Imgur.com.
^ "British single certifications – Madness – Complete Madness". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

External links

Complete Madness at Discogs (list of releases)

[1] Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: Madness". Retrieved 20 September 2021.

[2] Complete Madness at Official Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016

[auchart-3] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

[4] Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 20 June 2013

[5] Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016

[6] "Kent Music Report No 453 – 28 February 1983 > Platinum Albums 1982 (Continued)". Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via Imgur.com.

[United_KingdomMadnessComplete_MadnesssingleCertRef-7] "British single certifications – Madness – Complete Madness". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

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