Welcome, Nutty Americans!
Stateside Madness is proud to be the United States affiliate of the Madness Information Service, the band’s premier fan organization. We’re here bringing American Madness fans together as the band keeps going strong after 40+ years, with fun essays, articles and memes on Madness from our unique American perspective.
Part of our mission at SSM is to help the Madness organization reach out to us fans on this side of the pond, as a way to gauge interest in future U.S. tours, releases and promotion. So WE NEED YOUR HELP to let the Nutty Boys know how much the Yanks still love ’em!
You want to see more Madness in the USA? Well listen, buster… you got to help us with your eyeballs and your tweets! Please like SSM on Facebook and join our Facebook discussion group (restricted to U.S. fans only). Listen to our Stateside Madness Podcast. And you can find us on Twitter and Instagram as well. Tell all your friends, post, share, retweet. Let’s make Stateside Madness absolutely huge. Stay tuned and stay nutty!
Who Are Your Fantasy 2 Tone All Stars?
Whilst reveling in the audiovisual splendor of the remastered Dance Craze on Blu-ray, I found myself wonderstruck at all the raw young talent that emerged at the same time, in the same country, sharing a ska revival moment that lasted all too briefly. I’ve known this music since I was a wee teenager, but this…
Stephen Colbert Presents Madness in (R) House
Madness has turned up on American late night TV lots of times before, notably on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel. And now they’ve made an unexpected debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as the inspiration for one of the show’s cold open parody songs. Colbert borrowed the tune and music video…
Dance Craze DVD/Blu-ray and Deluxe Soundtrack in 2023
It’s a rude dream come true! The legendary 1981 concert film Dance Craze is set for release as a DVD/Blu-ray set on March 27, 2023. This cult classic vividly showcases “the best of British ska, LIVE!” in all its hyperactive glory – including The Specials, Madness, The Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners and The Bodysnatchers.…
“The Get Up!” Coming to CD/DVD
Madness will be releasing their acclaimed 2021 global livestream event The Get Up! as a CD/DVD set on November 18, 2022. An inventive response to the pandemic lockdown, The Get Up! featured the band playing live at the London Palladium to an audience consisting only of themselves (as snarky hecklers), interspersed with comedy bits crafted…
I’m Gonna Take You to Ska City, NC
I became a fan of ska music in a distant foreign land where such music is unheard and unheard of: the mountains of western North Carolina. Madness was my entry point, which led to the English Beat, the Specials and the rest of the 2 Tone scene, and eventually brought me to ska’s Jamaican roots…
A Momentary Lapse of Madness: 1986-1992
The breakup of Madness. A bleak, dispiriting time that all of us longtime fans had to suffer through in our own way. Of course 1986 wasn’t really the end, but we had no way of knowing that. For us it felt as permanent as the end of The Beatles or Led Zeppelin or The Jam.…
The SSM Review: “Ooh Do U Fink U R?”
I’m totally biased about this one. Here we have my two favorite living male vocalists, both heroes of my youth, singing together on an original composition they co-wrote. Not gonna lie, Suggs and Paul Weller could fart the theme song from Gomer Pyle, USMC and I would wholeheartedly adore it. So take the following “critique”…
Madness in the Multiverse of Doctor Strange
HEY, TRUE BELIEVER! DON’T WATCH THE BATMAN… WATCH THIS! THIS IS AN EVER-LOVIN’ MARVEL FILM! THE STRANGE-IEST DOCTOR IS IN! HIS PETER PARKER SPELL WAS WEAK, AND THE ILLUMINATI’S GIVIN’ HIM THE HEAT… WELL LISTEN, STEVIE! YOU BETTER SLING-RING YOUR ARSE, TOUT SUITE! TO THE TRIPPIEST, STEVE DITKO MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS! EX… CEL… SIOOORRRRR! (Nuff…
Thick as Thieves: Madness and Paul Weller’s Solid Bond
On March 24, 2022, Madness performed at the Royal Albert Hall supported by very special guest Paul Weller, as part of a concert series to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust. Man, what a dream show that would have been for me personally. My two all-time favorite British acts together on one bill, at the magnificent…
B-side Myself with “The Business”
I’ve previously detailed my herculean labors to acquire the albums 7 and The Rise and Fall on imported vinyl, but tracking down the singles and B-sides was another magnitude of difficulty for us American fans. Mail-order catalogues and record shops seldom had anything on offer from Madness aside from the albums. I was only vaguely…
Madness 2022 U.S. Tour Canceled
Will Madness ever come sailing across the sea to be with their Uncle Sam? Not in 2022. The U.S. tour first slated for 2020 has now been scuttled for a third time. In contrast to the previous postponements, this time the dire word “cancel” is invoked and ticket refunds are being issued outright, despite a…
Cheesesteaks Meet Bacon Sarnies: Madness in Philadelphia, 1980
This vintage article from a 1980 edition of the Aquarian Weekly newspaper documents Madness’ visit to Philadelphia to kick off their second U.S. tour. It’s amusing to note how journalist Asia Locke caught Woody’s surname as “Woods,” which is understandable given how often we’ve seen Suggs or Carl playfully introduce him as “Woody Woods Woodgate.”…
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