One Step Beyond...



'One Step Beyond. . .' is the 1979 debut album by the British ska-pop group Madness. It was ranked 90th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.

The album, which was recorded and mixed in about three weeks, peaked at number two and remained in the UK Albums Chart for over a year.

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.

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.

Side one

 * 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" (Barson / Hasler) — 2:28
 * 5) "Land of Hope and Glory" (Chris Foreman / Lee Jay Thompson) — 2:57
 * 6) "The Prince" (Thompson) — 3:18
 * 7) "Tarzan's Nuts" (Smash / Barson) — 2:24 [A cover of "Tarzan's March" written by Sydney Lee]

Side two

 * 1) "In the Middle of the Night" (McPherson / Foreman) — 3:01
 * 2) "Bed & Breakfast Man" (Barson) — 2:33
 * 3) "Razor Blade Alley" (Thompson) — 2:42
 * 4) "Swan Lake" (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky; arr. Barson) — 2:36 [Very similar arrangement to The Cats' version]
 * 5) "Rockin' in A♭" (Willy Wurlitzer; Bazooka Joe cover) — 2:29
 * 6) "Mummy's Boy" (Mark Bedford) — 2:23
 * 7) "Madness" (Campbell) — 2:38
 * 8) "Chipmunks Are Go!" (C.Smash / Brendan Smyth) — 0:51

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.

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 28/4/79)" (McPherson / Thompson / Bedford / Foreman) — 3:13
 * 2) "Mistakes (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Hasler / Barson) — 2:53
 * 3) "Sunshine Voice (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Hasler / Barson) — 3:32
 * 4) "My Girl (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Barson) — 2:50
 * 5) "Memories (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Foreman) — 2:31
 * 6) "Believe Me (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (McPherson / Barson) — 2:39
 * 7) "Lost My Head (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (McPherson / Barson) — 2:24
 * 8) "Razorblade Alley (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Thompson / Barson) — 2:33
 * 9) "Land of Hope and Glory (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Thompson / Foreman) — 2:47
 * 10) "Mummy's Boy (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Bedford) — 2:21
 * 11) "In the Middle of the Night (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (McPherson / Foreman) — 2:51
 * 12) "You Said (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Barson) — 2:21
 * 13) "Stepping into Line (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (McPherson / Bedford) — 2:29
 * 14) "Bed and Breakfast Man (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (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 28/4/79) (Campbell) — 2:20
 * 2) "My Mates" (Rehearsal 28/4/79) (Bedford / Barson) — 2:40
 * 3) "Shop Around" (Rehearsal 28/4/79) (Robinson / Gordy) — 3:01
 * 4) "There's Always Something There to Remind Me" (Rehearsal 28/4/79)" (Bacharach / David) — 4:05
 * 5) "Swan Lake" (Rehearsal 28/4/79) (Tchaikovsky, arr. Barson) — 2:49
 * 6) "Rockin in A♭" (Rehearsal 28/4/79) (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"

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 or 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