20 January 2006

Feargal Sharkey - Listen To Your Father

Zarjazz
JAZZ1 (JAZZY1 picture disc)
1984




Less than a year after singing Never Never for the one-off Assembly single, Feargal Sharkey did another great oddity.

Madness had been around for years and had just left Stiff Records to set up their own label. Peculiarly, they didn't kick off with their own stuff, but with this.

It is basically a Madness single with Feargal on vocals. It was written by Madness' Carl Smyth (aka Chas Smash), and Madness play all the music.

Like other Smyth songs such as Michael Caine, there's no clear meaning but somehow the words fit the music brilliantly; impressionism rather than literalism.

Madness shifted to a more reflective vibe for much of their remaining work (basically the Mad Not Mad album) as typified by the haunting elegant anti-Tory single Yesterday's Men. This, though, has all that gleeful pounding stomp we knew and loved them for.

A year later, autumn 1985, and Sharkey was back with his eponymous debut album and it's flagship single, the Maria McKee-penned A Good Heart. It was all a bit glossy and saccharine, lacking the kick of the Undertones, the emotional punch of Never Never and the kinetic bounce and boistrousness of Listen To Your Father.

At the end of 1985 Madness did a new year's eve concert at Hammersmith Odeon, and Sharkey came on and did Listen To Your Father with them (relased on the Mad Not Mad Party bootleg album if you can find it).

[MP3 deleted to make way for new ones. Sorry!]

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another MP3-transferring session (The Business, Madness) caused a memory spike. What WAS that other song they did? The one with that skinny, long-haired bloke?
Many hours later I realised I remmebered how great the song was, but not the song itself.
Many thanks for posting it. Now all I need to do is somehow transfer my The Madness cassette.

Anonymous said...

Could you post a new link for this one please? Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi,I cant seem to download it from Youdsendit would it be possible to upload it on a different site? Thanks again

merrick said...

Pushk2000, I've no doubt at all it's
Madness. Not only is it written by Chas and on Zarjazz, but I remember interviews at the time where both Madness and Feargal talked about it.

Anonymous said...

Used to have this on 12 inch! Genius song!

This blog gets better the further back you go?

(Can I have a copy ,please? Mine's 'gone missing' apparently!)

Lee

sajmo said...

Please send the MP3 link - I need this to restore a mixtape from '85 -thanks

merrick said...

Sajmo - I'll gladly send you the MP3, but only if you give me somewhere to send it to!

see the 'Deleted Tracks' bit in the sidebar.