Absolutely (Madness album)

Absolutely
Studio album by Madness
Released 26 September 1980
Recorded 1980
Genre
Length 39:15
Label Stiff Records /
Union Square Music (2010 re-release)
Producer Clive Langer
Alan Winstanley
Madness chronology

Work Rest and Play
(1980)		 Absolutely
(1980)		 7
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone [2]

Absolutely is the 1980 second album from the British ska band Madness. It peaked at No. 2 in the UK album charts.

The album is named after one of the oft-said expressions of the band's then tour manager and sound man Tony Duffield.[3]

In 2009 and 2010, Madness re-released their entire back catalogue of studio albums up until 1999's Wonderful with a bonus CD and extra tracks. The re-release of Absolutely has seven bonus tracks plus an additional CD featuring a 1980 concert recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon.

Cover

The front cover sees the band standing in front of Chalk Farm tube station in Camden. When the original vinyl was released the first, more sombre, cover photograph was changed to a more animated pose after around 10,000 albums were pressed. The two sleeves can be distinguished by Mike Barson's holding of the umbrella: in the earlier pressing he holds it up to his chin while in the later, and subsequently used, releases the umbrella is on the ground.[4]

The inner sleeve features a London Underground-style roundel for a railway station called "Cairo East" on one side (this roundel later reappeared in the video for "(Waiting For) The Ghost Train" and a history of the group on the other.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Baggy Trousers" – 2:45 (McPherson/Foreman)
  2. "Embarrassment" – 3:13 (Thompson/Barson)
  3. "E.R.N.I.E." – 2:45 (McPherson/Foreman)
  4. "Close Escape" – 3:29 (Thompson/Foreman)
  5. "Not Home Today" – 2:30 (McPherson/Bedford)
  6. "On the Beat Pete" – 3:05 (Thompson/Madness)
  7. "Solid Gone" – 2:22 (Smyth)

Side two

  1. "Take It or Leave It" – 3:26 (Thompson/Barson)
  2. "Shadow of Fear" – 1:58 (McPherson/Barson)
  3. "Disappear" – 2:58 (McPherson/Bedford)
  4. "Overdone" – 3:45 (Thompson/Foreman)
  5. "In the Rain" – 2:42 (McPherson/Madness)
  6. "You Said" – 2:35 (McPherson/Barson)
  7. "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" – 2:01 (Barson/Woodgate/Bedford)

2010 re-release

CD 1

  1. "Baggy Trousers" – 2:45 (McPherson/Foreman)
  2. "Embarrassment" – 3:13 (Thompson/Barson)
  3. "E.R.N.I.E." – 2:45 (McPherson/Foreman)
  4. "Close Escape" – 3:29 (Thompson/Foreman)
  5. "Not Home Today" – 2:30 (McPherson/Bedford)
  6. "On the Beat Pete" – 3:05 (Thompson/Madness)
  7. "Solid Gone" – 2:22 (Smyth)
  8. "Take It or Leave It" – 3:26 (Thompson/Barson)
  9. "Shadow of Fear" – 1:58 (McPherson/Barson)
  10. "Disappear" – 2:58 (McPherson/Bedford)
  11. "Overdone" – 3:45 (Thompson/Foreman)
  12. "In the Rain" – 2:42 (McPherson/Madness)
  13. "You Said" – 2:35 (McPherson/Barson)
  14. "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" – 2:01 (Barson/Woodgate/Bedford)
  15. "In the Rain (Single Version)" – 2:48 (McPherson/Madness) (B-Side "My Girl" 12")
  16. "The Business" – 3:27 (McPherson) (B-Side "Baggy Trousers" 7")
  17. "Crying Shame" – 2:40 (Barson) (B-Side "Embarrassment" 7")
  18. "That's The Way To Do It" – 2:53 (Foreman) (B-Side "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" 7")
  19. "El Regresso De Los Palmas 7" – 2:48 (Barson/Bedford/Woodgate) (Spanish Version)
  20. "Swan Lake (Live)" – 2:37 (Tchaikovsky, arr. Barson) (B-Side "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" 12")
  21. "Release Me / Close Escape / Solid Gone" – – 5:06 (Miller/Williams/Yount/Foreman/Thompson/Smyth) (Patches Flexi disc)

Promo Videos (Enhanced CD content):

  1. "Baggy Trousers"
  2. "Embarrassment"
  3. "The Return of the Los Palmas 7"

CD 2

BBC Live in Concert – Hammersmith Odeon, 23 December 1980

  1. "One Step Beyond..." (live) – 2:51
  2. "E.R.N.I.E." (live) – 2:08
  3. "Mistakes" (live) – 2:35
  4. "Disappear" (live) – 2:15
  5. "Bed And Breakfast Man" (live) – 2:29
  6. "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" (live) – 2:20
  7. "Close Escape" (live) – 2:44
  8. "Overdone" (live) – 3:11
  9. "Not Home Today" (live) – 2:15
  10. "Razor Blade Alley" (live) – 3:16
  11. "My Girl" (live) – 2:45
  12. "Take It Or Leave It" (live) – 2:39
  13. "On The Beat Pete" (live) – 2:54
  14. "Embarrassment" (live) – 3:10
  15. "Shadow of Fear" (live) – 1:54
  16. "You Said" (live) – 2:29
  17. "In The Middle of the Night" (live) – 2:28
  18. "The Prince" (live) – 3:06
  19. "Baggy Trousers" (live) – 2:25
  20. "Rockin' in A♭" (live) – 2:01
  21. "Madness" (live) – 3:33

Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1980) Peak
position		 Total
weeks
Dutch Albums Chart[5] 2 43
German Albums Chart[6] 21 ?
New Zealand Albums Chart[7] 31 4
Norwegian Albums Chart[8] 26 4
Swedish Albums Chart[9] 15 3
UK Albums Chart[10] 2 47
US Billboard Hot 200[11] 146 ?

Singles

Date Single Chart Position
Sep 1980 Baggy Trousers UK No. 3
Nov 1980 Embarrassment (remixed for issue as a single) UK No. 4
Jan 1981 The Return of the Los Palmas 7 (remixed and extended for issue as a single) UK No. 7

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "Smash Hits magazine March 31 – April 13, 1983 page 10".
  5. ↑ Absolutely at Dutch Charts Retrieved 18 June 2013
  6. ↑ "Media Control Charts". charts.de. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  9. ↑ Steffen Hung (7 October 2011). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive". Chart Stats. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  11. ↑ "AllMusic". AllMusic. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.