Keep Moving (Madness album)

Keep Moving is the fifth studio album by the English ska/pop band Madness. It was released in February 1984, and was their final album on the Stiff label. It's notably the band's last studio album to feature their keyboardist and founding member Mike Barson, before the band split in 1986.

Keep Moving
Studio album by
Madness
Released20 February 1984 (1984-02-20)
Recorded1983
StudioRecorded at AIR, London; Mixed at Genetic, Streatley
Genre
Length43:18
LabelStiff (UK)
Geffen (US)
Producer
Madness chronology
Madness
(1983)		 Keep Moving
(1984)		 Mad Not Mad
(1985)
Singles from Keep Moving (UK)
  1. "Michael Caine"
    Released: 30 January 1984
  2. "One Better Day"
    Released: 2 June 1984
Singles from Keep Moving (US)
  1. "Wings of a Dove"
    Released: 20 August 1983 (UK. Not issued as a single in the USA)
  2. "The Sun and the Rain"
    Released: 29 October 1983 (UK); 1984 (USA)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]

Keep Moving peaked at No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart, and two singles from the album reached the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] It also reached number 109 on the US Billboard 200, their highest position in the United States. The album received some good reviews, with Rolling Stone magazine giving the album four out of five stars, applauding the band's changing sound,[4] and NME ranking it number 13 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1984.[5] This was an improvement, as the last album reviewed by the magazine, Absolutely, was heavily criticised.[6]

The album was re-released in the United Kingdom in June 2010 on the Salvo/Union Square label, featuring bonus material. The reissue is a 2-CD set with the original album digitally remastered; the bonus content consists of associated singles, 12" mixes and B-sides. It also features liner notes written by comedian and Madness fan Phill Jupitus.

Background

On 5 October 1983, the band were rehearsing and discussing a possible television series, which was being written for them by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis. Barson then informed the band that he would not be able to take part, as he was tired of the music business and wanted to spend more time with his wife. They had recently relocated to Amsterdam.[7] Barson agreed to finish recording the album Keep Moving and left after playing for the last time with the band at the Lyceum Ballroom on 21 December 1983. After leaving the band, James Mackie[8] took Barson's place, appearing with Madness on the US hit television show Saturday Night Live on 14 April 1984. After leaving the band, Barson returned to the UK for the filming of two music videos, "Michael Caine" and "One Better Day", as he'd played on the tracks. He officially left the band in June 1984, following the release of the "One Better Day" single.[3] Paul Carrack took Barson's place whilst the band toured America in early 1984.

The album takes its name from a phrase used repeatedly in the 1970 post-apocalyptic film The Bed Sitting Room.[9]

The album cover was based on a suggestion by Stiff's boss Dave Robinson that it should reflect the forthcoming Olympics.[10]

USA/Canadian version

This pressing has a different running order to the UK version and includes the singles "Wings of a Dove" and "The Sun and the Rain" in place of "Waltz Into Mischief" and "Time for Tea" (although the cassette and CD both include all 14 tracks). The version of "The Sun and the Rain" used here, and also issued as a single in North America, has an edited outro, reducing the length by some 12 seconds. A vinyl picture disc version, using the USA/Canadian track listing, was also issued in the UK.

Track listing

UK
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Keep Moving"Cathal Smyth, Chris Foreman, Graham McPherson3:33
2."Michael Caine"Smyth, Daniel Woodgate3:37
3."Turning Blue"McPherson, Foreman3:06
4."One Better Day"McPherson, Mark Bedford4:06
5."March of the Gherkins"Lee Thompson, Michael Barson3:30
6."Waltz into Mischief"Smyth, McPherson3:36
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Brand New Beat"Thompson, Barson3:17
8."Victoria Gardens"Smyth, Barson4:32
9."Samantha"Thompson, Barson3:14
10."Time for Tea"Thompson, Foreman3:08
11."Prospects"Smyth, McPherson4:15
12."Give Me a Reason"Thompson3:26
Total length:43:18

US/CAN
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Keep Moving"Smyth, Foreman, McPherson3:33
2."Wings of a Dove"Smyth, McPherson3:02
3."The Sun and the Rain"Barson3:18
4."Brand New Beat"Thompson, Barson3:17
5."March of the Gherkins"Thompson, Barson3:30
6."Michael Caine"Smyth, Woodgate3:37
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Prospects"Smyth, McPherson4:15
8."Victoria Gardens"Smyth, Barson4:32
9."Samantha"Thompson, Barson3:14
10."One Better Day"McPherson, Bedford4:06
11."Give Me a Reason"Thompson3:26
12."Turning Blue"McPherson, Foreman3:06
Total length:42:41

2010 reissue
CD 1
The original album
  • The first disc contains the twelve tracks from the original UK album version and four promo videos.
The promo videos
  1. "Wings of a Dove"
  2. "The Sun and the Rain"
  3. "Michael Caine"
  4. "One Better Day"
CD 2
The bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Original releaseLength
13."Wings of a Dove"Smyth, McPhersonSingle A-side, 19833:00
14."Behind the 8 Ball"Barson, Bedford, Foreman, McPherson, Smyth, Thompson, WoodgateB-side of "Wings of a Dove"3:01
15."One's Second Thoughtlessness"Thompson, WoodgateB-side of "Wings of a Dove" 12"3:26
16."Wings of a Dove" (12" Blue Train Mix)Smyth, McPherson12" A-side6:10
17."The Sun and the Rain"BarsonSingle A-side, 19833:28
18."Fireball XL5"Thompson, MadnessB-side of "The Sun and the Rain"1:47
19."My Girl" (live at the Brighton Centre, March 1983)BarsonB-side of "The Sun and the Rain" 12"2:55
20."The Sun and the Rain" (12" Extended Version)Barson12" A-side4:42
21."Michael Caine" (12" Extended Version)Smyth, Woodgate12" A-side4:13
22."If You Think There's Something"BarsonB-side of "Michael Caine"3:09
23."Guns"McPhersonB-side of "One Better Day"3:16
24."Sarah"Thompson, MadnessB-side of "One Better Day" 12"3:45
25."Victoria Gardens" (remix)Smyth, BarsonB-side of "One Better Day" 12"3:54
Total length:46:44

Personnel

Chart performance
Chart (1984) Peak
position
Canadian Albums Chart[11] 66
German Albums Chart[12] 47
Swedish Albums Chart[13] 29
UK Albums Chart[14] 6
US Billboard Hot 200 109

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. Keep Moving at AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  2. Archived 25 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "The Madness Timeline: 1984". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved on 19 June 2007.
  4. Puterbraugh, Parke."Rolling Stone "Keep Moving" review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved on 1 August 2007.
  5. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  6. Marcus, Greil. "Rolling Stone "Absolutely" review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved on 1 August 2007.
  7. "The Madness Timeline: 1983". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved on 5 June 2007.
  8. Interviews with James Mackie, February 2006; November 2008
  9. "Madness Trading Ring". madnesstradingring.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
  10. "Madness on their best albums: "We were full of ideas!"". 15 November 2019.
  11. "Welcome to the LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA website | Bienvenue au site Web BIBLIOTHÈQUE ET ARCHIVES CANADA". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  12. "Madness - Keep Moving".
  13. Steffen Hung (10 March 2005). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  14. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  15. "British album certifications – Madness – Keep Moving". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
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