One Step Beyond...
Studio album by
Madness
Released19 October 1979[1]
RecordedSeptember 1979[2]
Studio
Genre
Length39:02
LabelStiff (Europe)
Sire (North America)
Producer
Madness chronology
One Step Beyond...
(1979) 		Work Rest and Play
(1980)
Singles from One Step Beyond...
  1. "The Prince (2-tone version)"
    Released: 10 August 1979
  2. "One Step Beyond"
    Released: 26 October 1979
  3. "My Girl"
    Released: 21 December 1979
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[7]
Mojo[8]
Q[9]
Record Collector[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]
Smash Hits6/10[11]

One Step Beyond . . . is the debut studio album by the British ska-pop group Madness, released by Stiff Records. 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.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

After the album's initial release, reissues were released in 2009 and 2014 by Union Square Music's collector's label Salvo,[15] each containing additional material such as video productions featuring the band.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."One Step Beyond"Cecil Campbell2:18
2."My Girl"Mike Barson2:44
3."Night Boat to Cairo"
3:31
4."Believe Me"
  • John Hasler
  • Barson
2:28
5."Land of Hope & Glory"Lee Thompson2:57
6."The Prince"Thompson3:18
7."Tarzan's Nuts"
2:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."In the Middle of the Night"
3:01
9."Bed and Breakfast Man"Barson2:33
10."Razor Blade Alley"Thompson2:42
11."Swan Lake"
2:36
12."Rockin' in A♭"Willy "Wurlitzer" Smith2:29
13."Mummy's Boy"Mark Bedford2:23
14."Madness"Campbell2:38
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 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.[16]

2009 reissue

Disc 1
The original album
The promo videos
No.TitleLength
1."The Prince" 
2."One Step Beyond..." 
3."Bed and Breakfast Man" 
4."My Girl" 
5."Night Boat to Cairo" 
Disc 2
The John Peel Session
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Prince"Thompson2:31
2."Bed and Breakfast Man"Barson3:24
3."Land of Hope & Glory"Thompson2:42
4."Stepping into Line"
  • Hasler
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
2:38
The bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."One Step Beyond" (7" single version)Campbell2:17
6."My Girl" (demo version with Mike Barson on vocals)Barson2:58
7."Mistakes" (B-side of "One Step Beyond")
  • Hasler
  • Barson
2:52
8."Un Paso Adelante" ("One Step Beyond" Spanish version)Campbell2:33
9."Nutty Theme" (B-side of "One Step Beyond" 12")
  • Thompson
  • McPherson
2:10
10."My Girl" (ballad version) (from Flexipop flexi disc)Barson2:28
11."Stepping into Line" (B-side of "My Girl")
  • Hasler
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
2:15
12."Un Passo Avanti" ("One Step Beyond" Italian version)Campbell2:22
13."Deceives the Eye" (Work Rest and Play EP)
  • Bedford
  • Foreman
2:00
14."The Young and the Old" (Work Rest and Play EP)
  • McPherson
  • Barson
2:04
15."Don't Quote Me on That" (Work Rest and Play EP)
  • Smyth
  • Barson
  • Foreman
  • McPherson
  • Bedford
  • Thompson
  • Woodgate
4:31
16."Razor Blade Alley" (Dance Craze live version)Thompson2:35
17."Night Boat to Cairo" (Dance Craze live version)
  • McPherson
  • Barson
3:12
18."One Step Beyond" (Dance Craze live version)Campbell2:53
Notes

2014 reissue

Original album
'Fab Toones!' rehearsal tape, 1979
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."Nutty Sounds"
  • McPherson
  • Thompson
  • Bedford
  • Foreman
3:13
17."Mistakes"
  • Hasler
  • Barson
2:53
18."Sunshine Voice"
  • Hasler
  • Barson
3:32
19."My Girl"Barson2:50
20."Memories"Foreman2:31
21."Believe Me"
  • McPherson
  • Barson
2:39
22."Lost My Head"
  • McPherson
  • Barson
2:24
23."Razorblade Alley"Thompson2:33
24."Land of Hope & Glory"Thompson2:47
25."Mummy's Boy"Bedford2:21
26."In the Middle of the Night"
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
2:51
27."You Said"
  • McPherson
  • Barson
2:21
28."Stepping into Line"
  • Hasler
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
2:29
29."Bed and Breakfast Man"Barson4:15
Downloads
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
30."Madness"Campbell2:20
31."My Mates"
  • Bedford
  • Barson
2:40
32."Shop Around"
3:01
33."There's Always Something There to Remind Me"
4:05
34."Swan Lake"
  • Tchaikovsky
  • arranged by Barson
2:49
35."Rockin' in A♭"Wurlitzer2:09

Singles

Singles and EP from the album

Music videos

Five promotional music videos were filmed to promote the singles from this album. All of these, with the exception of “The Prince” (which was in fact a Top of the Pops performance only released in the UK) 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.

Song name Music video release year Director
“The Prince” 1979 (Top of the Pops Performance Clip) Unknown
“One Step Beyond” 1979 Chuck Statler
“Bed and Breakfast Man” 1979 Unknown
“My Girl” 1979 Unknown
“Night Boat to Cairo” 1980 Unknown

Chart performance

Original album

Chart (1979) Peak
position 		Total
weeks
Austrian Albums Chart[17] 11 10
Finnish Albums Chart[18] 23 6
Dutch Albums Chart[19] 22 12
German Albums Chart[20] 14 37
New Zealand Albums Chart[21] 27 9
Norwegian Albums Chart[22] 24 7
Swedish Albums Chart[23] 12 7
UK Albums Chart[24] 2 78
US Billboard Hot 200[25] 128 9

30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Chart (2009) Peak
position 		Total
weeks
UK Albums Chart[26] 67 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1980) Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 46

Singles

Date Single Chart Position[26] 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
Apr 1980 "Night Boat to Cairo" UK 6 8

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[28] Gold 100,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] Platinum 300,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel

Additional personnel
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.
Technical
2009 reissue
2014 reissue

References

  1. ^ "Madness – One Step Beyond... (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 19 October 1979. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  2. ^ "The Madness Timeline – 1979". Madness official website. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c 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.
  4. ^ a b 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. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "Madness: One Step Beyond". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  7. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). "Madness". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  8. ^ "Madness: One Step Beyond...". Mojo. No. 192. London. November 2009. p. 112. ISSN 1351-0193.
  9. ^ "Madness: One Step Beyond...". Q. London. p. 118. ISSN 0955-4955. As acutely observed as The Kinks, as saucy as Ian Dury and as raucously tuneful as The Jam ...
  10. ^ Wilson, Lois (December 2009). "Madness – One Step Beyond". Record Collector. No. 369. London. ISSN 0261-250X. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  11. ^ Starr, Red (15–28 November 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits. Vol. 1, no. 25. London. p. 31. ISSN 0260-3004.
  12. ^ Simpson, Dave (25 November 2014). "Suggs and Mike Barson of Madness: how we made One Step Beyond". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Edwards, Terry (2009). Madness' One Step Beyond... (33 1/3). Continuum. p. 67. ISBN 978-0826429063.
  14. ^ "Madness – Discography". 45cat.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Salvo". Union Square Music. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  16. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Madness - One Step Beyond (35th Anniversary Edition)". www.shieldsgazette.com.
  17. ^ Steffen Hung. "Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  18. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. p. 178. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  19. ^ One Step Beyond ... at Dutch Charts Retrieved 18 June 2013
  20. ^ "Media Control Charts". charts.de. Retrieved 18 September 2013.[dead link]
  21. ^ Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  22. ^ Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  23. ^ Steffen Hung. "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  24. ^ "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  25. ^ "AllMusic". AllMusic. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  26. ^ a b Madness at Official Charts Company Retrieved 21 June 2013
  27. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1980. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  28. ^ "French album certifications – Madness – One Step Beyond" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 12 March 2022. Select MADNESS and click OK. 
  29. ^ "British album certifications – Madness – One Step Beyond". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.

External links

Madness
Authority control databases
Categories