22 Special Report The Nuttiest Sound Around: Madness MOJO WORKING talks to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, and discovers how the heavy heavy monster sound of Madness came to be put together in the middle of the night, and mixed in a shed. The Specials may have spearheaded the British ska revival that emerged during 1979, but by the end of the year the race was on to see whether the Coventry-based band or North London’s self-styled ‘Nutty Boys’, Madness, would release their debut album first. Madness just barely beat The Specials to the punch, in the process establishing a production partnership between Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley that also went on to generate hits by artists such as Elvis Costello, Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Morrissey, Bush, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger. Beginning To Feel The Heat Winstanley, who started out as an engineer at Fulham’s TW Studios, first met Langer when the latter’s band, Deaf School, booked time to record an album with Rob Dickens, head of Warner Bros. Music, producing. “[Clive] was always the one who stuck around to see how the process went,” recalls Winstanley, who had worked with Martin Rushent, including engineering several Stranglers albums with the producer, and with Stiff Records acts such as Rachel Sweet and Lene Lovich, at the basement studio. When several members of Madness, fans of Deaf School, approached him in mid-1979 to work with them, Langer, who had also recorded with Mutt Lange and Muff Winwood, saw an opportunity to try his hand at production. Those tracks, recorded at Pathway Studio in Highbury, caught the ear of Jerry Dammers, keyboardist with The Specials, who released the band’s first single, The Prince, on his 2 Tone Records label in August 1979. The single peaked at number 16 in the UK chart, but secured Madness an album deal with Dave Robinson’s Stiff Records. Robinson put Winstanley’s name <strong>for</strong>ward to produce the album, having worked with him at TW Studios. The band wanted to continue working with Langer. Having also worked together on tracks <strong>for</strong> The Yachts as well as Langer’s post-Deaf School band, The Boxes, Langer and Winstanley had no problem pairing up; thus, one of the most successful UK production teams was born. “Dave Robinson told us the Specials’ album was about to come out, and he wanted to precede that release by a week or so. So we worked non-stop <strong>for</strong> three weeks,” reports Langer. “We rehearsed quite a bit, knocking the songs into shape. The rhythm section had always been good, so we were able to do things quickly.” Rockin’ In A Shed Winstanley takes up the story: “We did the first week at Eden Studios. The reason we went to Eden was that The Specials were in TW with Elvis Costello producing. When we got to TW <strong>for</strong> our second week they’d left a tape lying around, so we were able to spy on them and hear what they’d been doing.” He continues, “The third week was supposed to be at the studio that Martin Rushent and I were building in the grounds of his house near Reading [subsequently named Genetic]. The equipment had turned up but the studio wasn’t ready. So the first Madness album was basically mixed in his shed!” Once More With Feeling Winstanley recollects that Robinson arranged to come by and listen to the album on the final night of mix- ing. “We planned to meet him at the local pub about 7 o’clock and he didn’t turn up until closing time, about 11; we were totally out of it!” he laughs. Robinson promptly declared that the title track, One Step Beyond, would be the first single. The producers pointed out that the instrumental track over which Chas Smash, not yet a full-time member, introduced the band, was just over one minute long. “Dave said, ‘Just go once more round the houses – double it up. I’m going back to London, have it in my office by tomorrow,’” recalls Winstanley. “By then it was about 2 o’clock in the morning and we were in no fit state. So I put the mix through a couple of mono Eventide Harmonizers and tagged it onto the end, so it goes through it twice. The idea was that it was a demo <strong>for</strong> him and we’d go in the next day and do it <strong>for</strong> real. By the time we reconvened to do the remix he’d mastered it and the lacquers were on the way to the factory! And it was a top 10 hit.” AUDIO MEDIA MAY <strong>2009</strong> Chipmunks Are Go As <strong>for</strong> the album, he says, “From the day we started recording it was in the shops five weeks later,” ahead of The Specials. “The idea was that it was a demo <strong>for</strong> him and we’d go in the next day and do it <strong>for</strong> real. By the time we reconvened to do the remix he’d mastered it and the lacquers were on the way to the factory!” A harmoniser also gave sax player Lee Thompson his signature sound, notes Winstanley: “When he first started playing tenor sax, Lee didn’t realize it was a B flat instrument, and it was never quite in tune. So we’d harmonise it to cover up the fact that he was out of tune, and that became his sound.” As <strong>for</strong> Mike Barson’s piano, he continues, “Rather than harmonise it we would double track him then varispeed the machine slightly. We thought that was the way the Beatles would have done it – or maybe I’d read that’s how they did it.” “ I r e m e m b e r finishing the album and going home f e e l i n g r e a l l y depressed, thinking it was a load of rubbish,” says Langer. “But a couple of days later, with a bit of sleep, it sounded good. It was a good mixture, capturing what they were like live but with a bit of discipline in the studio and a few poppy moments.” One Step Beyond reached the number 2 position and remained in the UK chart <strong>for</strong> over a year. With Langer and Winstanley at the helm, Madness went on to clock up 214 weeks on the UK singles chart between 1980 and 1986. The pair has produced all but one of the band’s albums, and recently finished working on their ninth full-length and 30th anniversary release, The Liberty of Norton Folgate. � © Copyright Mojo Working International <strong>2009</strong>. All Rights Reserved. Thanks to Mojo Working International <strong>for</strong> putting this feature together. Mojo is a PR company <strong>for</strong> the global recording, post, and creative markets. www.mojoworking.com
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