Absolutely (Madness album)

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***Absolutely*** is the 1980 second album from the British ska band Madness. The album reached number 2 in the UK album charts.

*Absolutely* spawned some of the band's biggest hits, most notably "Baggy Trousers", which peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart. "Embarrassment" reached number 4 in the charts, and the instrumental song "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" climbed to number 7. Although the album reviews were generally less enthusiastic than those of *One Step Beyond...*, they were mostly positive. Robert Christgau gave the album a favourable B- grade, but *Rolling Stone* awarded the album just one out of five stars. *Rolling Stone* was particularly scathing of the ska revival in general, stating that "*The Specials* wasn't very good" and Madness were simply "the Blues Brothers with English accents".

In 2009 and 2010, Madness re-released their entire back catalogue of studio albums 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.

## Album title

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

## 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.

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

1. "In the Rain (Single Version)" (McPherson, Madness) (B-Side "My Girl" 12") – 2:48
2. "The Business" (McPherson) (B-Side "Baggy Trousers" 7") – 3:27
3. "Crying Shame" (Barson) (B-Side "Embarrassment" 7") – 2:40
4. "That's The Way To Do It" (Foreman) (B-Side "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" 7") – 2:53
5. "El Regresso De Los Palmas 7" (Barson, Bedford, Woodgate) (Spanish Version) – 2:48
6. "Swan Lake (Live)" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; arranged by Mike Barson) (B-Side "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" 12") – 2:37
7. "Release Me / Close Escape / Solid Gone" (Miller, Williams, Yount, Foreman, Thompson, Smyth) (Patches Flexi disc) – 5:06

BBC Live in Concert – Hammersmith Odeon, 23 December 19801. "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

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

## Personnel

Madness
* Graham McPherson (Suggs) – lead vocals; percussion
* Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) – piano; organ; vibraphone; marimba; harmonica
* Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) – guitars; sitar; slide guitar
* Lee Thompson (Kix) – tenor; baritone saxophones
* Daniel Woodgate (Woody) – drums; fire extinguisher
* Mark Bedford (Bedders) – bass guitars
* Cathal Smyth (Chas Smash) – backing vocals; trumpet; lead vocals on "Solid Gone"

Production
* Clive Langer – producer
* Alan Winstanley – producer

## References

1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephan Thomas. "Absolutely". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
2. ↑ Marcus, Greil (19 February 1981). "Madness:Absolutely". *Rolling Stone*. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The Madness Timeline: 1980". Retrieved on 19 June 2007.
4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau Madness album reviews". Retrieved on 1 August 2007.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marcus, Greil. "Rolling Stone "Absolutely" review". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved on 1 August 2007.
6. ↑ [1] Archived 18 January 2004 at the Wayback Machine
7. ↑ "Smash Hits magazine March 31 – April 13, 1983 page 10".
8. ↑ *Absolutely* at *Dutch Charts* Archived 11 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 18 June 2013
9. ↑ "Media Control Charts". charts.de. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
10. ↑ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
11. ↑ Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
12. ↑ Steffen Hung (7 October 2011). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
13. ↑ "UK Singles & Albums Chart Archive". Chart Stats. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
14. ↑ "AllMusic". AllMusic. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.

## External links

* Template:Discogs master

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