Hello, good evening and welcome…
There was much to be excited about, growing up as a kid in the late seventies and early eighties; Subbuteo, Chopper Bikes, Dracula ice pops, Grange Hill…but especially music. There was such a diverse mix of music to be heard in the charts – with an accompanying variety of styles to be seen on the streets. When I wasn’t kicking a football out on the road, I spent much of my time listening to the family AM radio and recording songs with static interference on my trusty tape recorder.
We had only a handful of television stations and you’d have to scour the newspapers or TV guides to see which programmes may offer up some music. Thursday evenings meant Top of the Pops and it would mean so much to see the band you followed climbing up the charts. Fortunately for me, ‘my band’ had an uncanny ability to notch up hit after hit.
From 1979 to 1986, Madness spent a whopping 241 weeks in the UK singles charts as they became the first band ever to see their first 20 singles reach the UK Top 20. They were of course famed for their brilliantly executed videos which were smart, original and funny but their television appearances were often just as enjoyable to watch; they were just not as often seen. So, what started out as a few scribbles on a piece of paper one evening morphed into this project, documenting their TV appearances worldwide between 1979 and 1986.
And here’s the list. I’m not claiming it’s complete however hopefully it’s not far off. The dates provided are either when the appearances were filmed or broadcast; sometimes shows were broadcast live of course. There are gaps to fill in and I’ll try do updates from time to time; any extra information would of course be much appreciated!
I’ve included details of some official VHS releases as clips from these would’ve sometimes been shown on television programmes. I have however left out programmes where only promo videos were shown. There were some performances recorded but never broadcast so I haven’t gone there either. Performances were generally mimed unless I’ve stated otherwise. I’m afraid I can’t provide copies of appearances (there are many I don’t have myself), for sale or otherwise; this is simply a list which may be of interest to some of you out there. I will however post links to appearances which I can find online and upload some others when I can too. Be sure to check out the ‘Credits’ page, you may find some interesting links there.
Mr. Wheeze
Last updated: 18/11/23
www.madnessontv.com 