| "Baggy Trousers" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Madness | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| from the album Absolutely | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | September 5, 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Ska/Pop | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 2:46 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Stiff Records | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Graham McPherson Chris Foreman Mike Barson |
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| Producer | Clive Langer Alan Winstanley |
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"Baggy Trousers" is a song by English ska/pop band Madness from their 1980 album Absolutely. It was written by lead singer Suggs and guitarist Chris Foreman[1], and reminisces on school days. (Mike Barson also received a writing credit in error, the correct McPherson/Foreman credit being used for subsequent releases). The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980.[2]
It was released as a single on September 5, 1980 and spent 20 weeks in UK charts, reaching a high of #3.[2] It was the 11th best-selling single of 1980 in the UK.
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The music video of this song was shot in a school and park of Kentish Town.[2] The band's saxophone player, Lee Thompson decided he wanted to fly through the air for his solo, with the use of wires hanging from a crane.[2] The resulting shot is one of the most popular of any Madness music videos. Thompson recreated the moment live at the band's reunion concert in 1992, Madstock!, during the band's 2007 Christmas tour, the 2009 Glastonbury Festival as well as at a 2011 TV advert for Kronenbourg 1664 in which an aging group plays a slow version of Baggy Trousers.[3]
The video was met with a great critical response from the public,[2] and was particularly important as it now allowed television shows such as Top of the Pops to show the band's music video, taking strain off the band.[2] Following the release of "Baggy Trousers", the public began to anticipate future Madness music videos.[2]
In addition to its single release and appearance on the album Absolutely, "Baggy Trousers" also appears on the Madness collections Divine Madness (a.k.a. The Heavy Heavy Hits), Complete Madness, It's... Madness, Total Madness, The Business and Our House: the Best of Madness. Its only appearance on a US Madness compilation is on Ultimate Collection.
The song was featured in the 2001 film "Mean Machine", and was included in the accompanying soundtrack.[4]
In 2011 the song was slowed down to half its normal speed and was used for an advert for Kronenbourg 1664 'Slow' campaign.
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