One Step Beyond...

One Step Beyond... is the debut studio album by the English ska and pop band Madness, released on 19 October 1979 by Stiff Records.^[6] Recorded and mixed in about three weeks, the album peaked at number two and remained on the UK Albums Chart for more than a year. The album has received much critical praise. It was ranked 90th in a 2005 survey held by British television station Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

This was the first album produced by the team of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who would go on to produce more Madness albums and to work with artists including Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Morrissey, Dexys Midnight Runners, They Might Be Giants and David Bowie.

Background

The "Nutty Train" photo on the sleeve, shot by Cameron McVey, was inspired by a photo of Kilburn and the High Roads roadie Paul Tonkin that appeared on the back cover of the band's album Handsome.^[7]

The title track, released as a single, was originally written and recorded by the Jamaican ska musician Prince Buster, and its "Don't watch that, watch this ..." introduction is adapted from another Prince Buster song, "The Scorcher". The track "The Prince" is a tribute to Buster and a re-recording of the band's debut single, originally released on the 2 Tone label.^[8] Its B-side, "Madness", another Prince Buster song, was also re-recorded for the album. "Madness" and "Bed and Breakfast Man" were released as singles in North America through Sire Records.^[9]

After the album's initial release, reissues were released in 2009 and 2014 by Union Square Music's collector's label Salvo,^[10] each containing additional material such as video productions featuring the band.

Critical reception and legacy

In Sounds, Garry Bushell praised One Step Beyond... as "an intensely enjoyable album, a disc of many moods", writing that "Madness manage to add a Billy Bentley cockney stamp to their very own brand of reggae crossed with sax embroidered, happy fairground nuttiness and it works surprisingly well."^[11] NME critic Deanne Pearson found that the album affirmed "that they have a style and distinctiveness of their own", observing "a warm, easy familiarity about Madness" distinguishing them from fellow ska band the Specials.^[12]

One Step Beyond..., along with the Specials' self-titled debut—released on the same day in October 1979—played an important part in popularising 2 tone music in the UK. The albums were also a great influence on other bands of the genre.

Track listing

Extra material

The 2009 reissue also includes the music videos for "The Prince", "One Step Beyond", "My Girl", "Night Boat to Cairo" and "Bed and Breakfast Man". The first four of these were also included on the version of One Step Beyond... issued as part of the box set The Lot. The bonus disc contains B-sides as well as all three songs previously only released on the Work Rest and Play EP in April 1980.

A 35th-anniversary edition was released in 2014. It includes 14 of 20 tracks from a 1979 rehearsal tape entitled "Fab Toones" and a DVD featuring videos, Top of the Pops and Old Grey Whistle Test appearances and a BBC documentary.^[13]

2009 reissue

Disc 1

The original album

• The first disc contains the fifteen tracks from the original album plus five promo videos.

The promo videos

Disc 2

The John Peel Session

The bonus tracks

Notes

• Tracks 1–4 recorded 14 August 1979 at BBC's Maida Vale Studios.
• Track 6 recorded at Pathway Studios during sessions for 2 Tone single "The Prince".

2014 reissue

Original album

• Contains the fifteen tracks from the original album plus fourteen bonus tracks.

'Fab Toones!' rehearsal tape, 1979

• All bonus tracks are previously unreleased and recorded in mono on a portable cassette recorder on 28 April 1979.
• The remaining six tracks from "Fab Toones!" were not included on the CD due to space constraints. However, these tracks were available as downloads.

Downloads

Singles

• "The Prince" b/w "Madness" (2-Tone single version), August 1979
• "One Step Beyond" (single mix) b/w "Mistakes" on the 7" single, "One Step Beyond" (12" Mix) b/w "Mistakes", "Nutty Theme" on the 12" single, October 1979
• "My Girl" b/w "Stepping into Line" (plus "In the Rain" as an extra track on the UK 12" single), December 1979
• Work Rest and Play EP ("Night Boat to Cairo", "Deceives the Eye", "The Young and the Old" and "Don't Quote Me on That"), March 1980
• "Madness" b/w "Mistakes", US, March 1980
• "Bed and Breakfast Man" b/w "Night Boat to Cairo", Canada, April 1980
• "Tarzan's Nuts" b/w "Night Boat to Cairo" (Stiff 4338), The Netherlands, May 1980
• "Don't Quote Me on That" (4:08 Mix) b/w "Swan Lake", 1980

Music videos

Five promotional music videos were filmed to promote the singles during the album's release. All of these, with the exception of "The Prince" (which was in fact a Top of the Pops performance only released in the UK and used the single version for the video) were in rotation on MTV during its first few years. Some of these promo videos were also featured in other music TV outlets, such as Top of the Pops. However, in 2022 Madness released two new videos for the album versions of "The Prince" and "Madness", with footage taken from the 1981 Madness' documentary movie Take It or Leave It.

Personnel

• Graham "Suggs" McPherson – lead vocals
• Mike Barson – keyboards
• Chris Foreman – guitars
• Mark Bedford – bass
• Lee Thompson – saxophones, backing vocals, lead vocals on tracks 5 and 10
• Dan Woodgate – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Cathal "Chas Smash" Smyth – backing vocals, "various shouts and fancy footwork", lead vocals on tracks 1 and 15

NOTE: Smyth was not an official member of the band at the time of the album's recording or release. He would formally join Madness only a few weeks after One Step Beyond... was issued in October 1979.

• John Hasler – minder

Technical

• Clive Langer – producer
• Alan Winstanley – producer
• Stiff Records – cover artwork
• Julian Balme – cover artwork
• Eddie King – cover artwork
• Cameron McVey – front cover and band photography
• Chris Gabrin – back cover photography

2009 reissue

• Tim Turan – remastering
• Bob Sargeant – producer on John Peel sessions
• Malcolm Brown – engineer on John Peel sessions
• Bob Jones – engineer on John Peel sessions
• Madness – producer on bonus tracks 6 and 10
• Martin "Cally" Callomon – design, art direction
• Kerstin Rodgers – photography
• Irvine Welsh – liner notes

2014 reissue

• Tim Turan – remastering
• Stevie Chick – liner notes

Chart performance

Original album

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Year-end charts

Singles

References

1. ^ "Releases". Record Mirror. 20 October 1979. p. 5. ISSN 0144-5804
2. ^ "The Madness Timeline – 1979". Madness official website. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
3. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "Madness". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. 4th ed. Simon & Schuster. p. 508. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
4. ^ Greene, Jo-Ann. "One Step Beyond... – Madness". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
5. ^ "The 50 Best New Wave Albums". Paste. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
6. ^ "Releases". Record Mirror. 20 October 1979. p. 5. ISSN 0144-5804
7. ^ Simpson, Dave (25 November 2014). "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond". The Guardian
8. ^ Edwards, Terry (2009). Madness' One Step Beyond... (33 1/3). Continuum. p. 67. ISBN 978-0826429063.
9. ^ "Madness – Discography". 45cat.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
10. ^ "Salvo". Union Square Music. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
11. ^ Bushell, Garry (27 October 1979). "Chipmunks are go". Sounds. p. 38. ISSN 0144-5774
12. ^ Pearson, Deanne (27 October 1979). "Blue Feat". NME. p. 47. ISSN 0028-6362
13. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Madness – One Step Beyond (35th Anniversary Edition)". shieldsgazette.com^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Steffen Hung. "Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
15. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish). 1st ed. Helsinki: Tammi. p. 178. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
16. ^ One Step Beyond ... at Dutch Charts Retrieved 18 June 2013
17. ^ "Media Control Charts". charts.de. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
18. ^ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
19. ^ Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
20. ^ Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
21. ^ "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
22. ^ "AllMusic". AllMusic. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
23. ^ "Official IFPI Charts Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 11/2025" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
24. ^ Madness at Official Charts Company Retrieved 21 June 2013
25. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. 1980. Archived 21 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 April 2022.

Further reading

• Draper, Jason (2008). A Brief History of Album Covers. London: Flame Tree Publishing. pp. 200–201. ISBN 9781847862112. OCLC 227198538