One Step Beyond...

One Step Beyond . . . is the 1979 debut album by the British ska-pop group Madness. The album, which was recorded and mixed in about three weeks, peaked at number two and remained in the U.K. Albums Chart for over a year.

One Step Beyond...
Studio album by Madness
Released	19 October 1979[1]
Recorded	1979
Studio	Eden and TW, London. Mixed at Genetic, Streatley, Berkshire
Genre	Ska pop 2 tone new wave[2]
Length	39:02
Label	Stiff, Sire
Producer	Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley
Madness chronology
One Step Beyond... (1979) Work Rest and Play (1980)
Singles from One Step Beyond...
"The Prince" Released: 10 August 1979 "One Step Beyond" Released: 26 October 1979 "My Girl" Released: 21 December 1979

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
Mojo	[6]
Q	[7]
Record Collector	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Smash Hits	6/10[10]

It was the first album produced by the Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley team, who would go on to work with artists such as Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Morrissey, Dexys Midnight Runners, They Might Be Giants, and David Bowie as well as producing many more Madness albums.

The "Nutty Train" photo on the sleeve, shot by Cameron McVey, was inspired by the photo of Kilburn and the High Roads roadie, Paul Tonkin, on the back-cover of their album, Handsome.[11]

The title track, released as a single, was originally written and recorded by the Jamaican ska musician Prince Buster. The spoken line, "Don't watch that, watch this ..." in the introduction is adapted from another Prince Buster song, "The Scorcher". Their first single, "The Prince", was a tribute to the musician. The other Prince Buster cover on the album, "Madness", wasn't listed on the original LP in the UK, nor many other territories. It was listed, however, on the North American release, primarily because it was issued as a single there.

After the album's initial release, two additional versions came out in 2009 and 2014. Each contained additional material such as video productions featuring the band.

The album has received praise from critics writing for multiple publications. It was ranked 90th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time as well.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"One Step Beyond"	Cecil Campbell	2:18
2.	"My Girl"	Mike Barson	2:44
3.	"Night Boat to Cairo"	Graham McPherson Barson	3:31
4.	"Believe Me"	John Hasler Barson	2:28
5.	"Land of Hope and Glory"	Lee Jay Thompson	2:57
6.	"The Prince"	Thompson	3:18
7.	"Tarzan's Nuts"	Chas Smash Barson Sydney Lee	2:24

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
8.	"In The Middle of The Night"	Chris Foreman McPherson	3:01
9.	"Bed and Breakfast Man"	Barson	2:33
10.	"Razor Blade Alley"	Thompson	2:42
11.	"Swan Lake"	Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; arranged by Barson	2:36
12.	"Rockin' in A♭"	Willy Wurlitzer	2:29
13.	"Mummy's Boy"	Mark Bedford	2:23
14.	"Madness"	Campbell	2:38
15.	"Chipmunks Are Go!"	Brendan Smyth Smash	0:51

Extra material

The 2009 reissue also includes the music videos for "The Prince", "One Step Beyond...", "My Girl", "Night Boat to Cairo" and "Bed & 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.[12]

Reissues

2009 reissue – bonus disc

1. "The Prince" (Thompson) [Peel Session] — 2:31
2. "Bed and Breakfast Man" (Barson) [Peel Session] — 3:24
3. "Land of Hope and Glory" (Thompson, Foreman) [Peel Session] — 2:42
4. "Stepping into Line" (Hasler, McPherson, Thompson) [Peel Session] — 2:38
5. "One Step Beyond . . ." (Campbell) [7" Single version] — 2:17
6. "My Girl" (Barson) — 2:58 [Recorded at Pathway Studio with 2-Tone single The Prince / Madness. Mike Barson: Vocal]
7. "Mistakes" (Hasler, Barson) — 2:52 [B-Side "One Step Beyond..."]
8. "Un Paso Adelante" (Campbell) — 2:33 ["One Step Beyond..." Spanish version]
9. "Nutty Theme" (Thompson, McPherson) — 2:10 [B-Side "One Step Beyond..." 12"]
10. "My Girl" (Ballad version) (Barson) — 2:28 [From Flexipop flexi disc]
11. "Stepping into Line" (Hasler, McPherson, Foreman) — 2:15 [B-Side "My Girl"]
12. "Un Passo Avanti" (Campbell) — 2:22 ["One Step Beyond..." Italian version]
13. "Deceives the Eye" (Bedford, Foreman) — 2:00 [Work Rest and Play EP]
14. "The Young and The Old" (McPherson, Barson) — 2:04 [Work Rest and Play EP]
15. "Don't Quote Me on That" (Smyth, Barson, Foreman, McPherson, Bedford, Thompson, Woodgate) — 4:31 [Work Rest and Play EP]
16. "Razor Blade Alley" (Thompson) — 2:35 [Dance Craze live version)
17. "Night Boat To Cairo" (McPherson, Barson) — 3:12 [Dance Craze live version]
18. "One Step Beyond . . ." (Campbell) — 2:53 [Dance Craze live version]

2014 reissue - Featuring 14 rehearsal demos from Fab Toones

1. "Nutty Sounds" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (McPherson, Thompson, Bedford, Foreman) — 3:13
2. "Mistakes" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Hasler, Barson) — 2:53
3. "Sunshine Voice" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Hasler, Barson) — 3:32
4. "My Girl" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Barson) — 2:50
5. "Memories" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Foreman) — 2:31
6. "Believe Me" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (McPherson, Barson) — 2:39
7. "Lost My Head" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (McPherson, Barson) — 2:24
8. "Razorblade Alley" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Thompson, Barson) — 2:33
9. "Land of Hope and Glory" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Thompson, Foreman) — 2:47
10. "Mummy's Boy" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Bedford) — 2:21
11. "In the Middle of the Night" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (McPherson, Foreman) — 2:51
12. "You Said" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Barson) — 2:21
13. "Stepping into Line" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (McPherson, Bedford) — 2:29
14. "Bed and Breakfast Man" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Barson) — 4:15

In addition, the remaining 6 tracks from "Fab Toones" were not included on the CD due to space constraints. However, these tracks were available as downloads

1. "Madness" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Campbell) — 2:20
2. "My Mates" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Bedford, Barson) — 2:40
3. "Shop Around" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy) — 3:01
4. "There's Always Something There to Remind Me" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Burt Bacharach, Hal David) — 4:05
5. "Swan Lake" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Tchaikovsky, arranged by Barson) — 2:49
6. "Rockin in A♭" (Rehearsal 28 April 1979) (Willy Wurlitzer) — 2:09

Singles

Singles and EP from the album:

• "The Prince" (2-Tone single version)/"Madness" (2-Tone single version)
• "One Step Beyond" (single mix)/"Mistakes" on the 7" Single, "One Step Beyond" (12" Mix)/"Mistakes"/"Nutty Theme" on the 12" single – October 1979
• "My Girl"/"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"/"Don't Quote Me On That" – March 1980
• "Tarzan's Nuts"/"Night Boat To Cairo" – Stiff 4338, The Netherlands, 1980
• "Don't Quote Me On That" (4:08 Mix)/"Swan Lake"

Chart performance

Original album

Chart (1979)	Peak position	Total weeks
Austrian Albums Chart[13]	11	10
Dutch Albums Chart[14]	22	12
German Albums Chart[15]	14	37
New Zealand Albums Chart[16]	27	9
Norwegian Albums Chart[17]	24	7
Swedish Albums Chart[18]	12	7
UK Albums Chart[19]	2	78
US Billboard Hot 200[20]	128	9

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Chart (2009)	Peak position	Total weeks
UK Albums Chart[21]	67	1

Singles

Date	Single	Chart	Position[21]	Weeks
Sep 1979	"The Prince" (single version)	UK	16	11
Nov 1979	"One Step Beyond"	UK	7	14
Jan 1980	"My Girl"	UK	3	10
Aug 1992	"My Girl"	UK	27	4
Feb 1993	"Night Boat to Cairo"	UK	56	2

Personnel

• Graham McPherson (Suggs) – lead vocals
• Mike Barson (Monsieur Barso) – keyboards
• Chris Foreman (Chrissy Boy) – guitars
• Mark Bedford (Bedders) – bass
• Lee "Kix" Thompson – saxophones, backing vocals, lead vocals on tracks 5 and 10
• Dan Woodgate (Woody) – drums, percussion

with:

• Cathal Smyth (Chas Smash) – backing vocals, 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.

Additional personnel

• John Hasler – minder

References

1. "Madness – One Step Beyond... (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 19 October 1979. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
2. "The 50 Best New Wave Albums". Paste Magazine. 30 August 2016.
3. Greene, Jo-Ann. "One Step Beyond... – Madness". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
4. Christgau, Robert (1990). "Madness: One Step Beyond". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
6. "Madness: One Step Beyond...". Mojo. London (192): 112. November 2009. ISSN 1351-0193.
7. "Madness: One Step Beyond...". Q. London: 118. As acutely observed as The Kinks, as saucy as Ian Dury and as raucously tuneful as The Jam ...
8. Wilson, Lois (December 2009). "Madness – One Step Beyond". Record Collector. London (369). Retrieved 1 September 2016.
9. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Madness". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 508. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
10. Starr, Red (15–28 November 1979). "Madness: One Step Beyond...". Smash Hits. London: 31.
11. Simpson, Dave (25 November 2014). "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond" – via www.theguardian.com.
12. "ALBUM REVIEW: Madness - One Step Beyond (35th Anniversary Edition)". www.shieldsgazette.com.
13. Steffen Hung. "Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
14. One Step Beyond ... at Dutch Charts Retrieved 18 June 2013
15. "Media Control Charts". charts.de. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
16. Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
17. Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
18. Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
19. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
20. "AllMusic". AllMusic. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
21. Madness at Official Charts Company Retrieved 21 June 2013

External links

• One Step Beyond... at Discogs (list of releases)