Full-Blown Madness
Suggs Is Back and Fully Loaded
By Fred Spanner
“There were a load of vegans outside protesting about the evils of killing fish, so James Brown went and got six portions of fish and chips and chucked the lot out of the window at them. Those were the days.”
Born Graham McPherson, raised in Camden, and built from pure cheek and charm, Suggs turned a gang of nutty lads into one of Britain’s most legendary bands. From Baggy Trousers to Our House, he’s been soundtracking barbecues, boozy sing-alongs, and dodgy dancefloors for over four decades.
He’s got that rare mix: sharp as a pin but never takes himself too seriously. He’s a geezer philosopher in loafers and a pork pie hat. The ska scene might’ve been full of attitude, but Suggs gave it soul, humour, and a slice of pure London life. Whether he’s belting out a classic, spinning tales on the telly, or just holding court down the pub, the man’s got presence, and the kind that can turn an ordinary night into a full-blown knees-up.
Here we are, almost thirty years to the day when Suggs last graced our front cover. Let’s see how the decades have been treating him…
Do you remember the last time you were interviewed by Loaded, some 30 years ago?
I do, but it’s so bizarre that it was that long ago. I knew James Brown, and at the time I was working with the band, The Farm. We all had quite a wild time together in New York. I think it was his 30th birthday. He fell out of a car at one point.
I went to the Loaded office to do the interview, and there was a demonstration going on outside. There were a load of other magazines in that building, and one of them was Anglers Weekly, or something like that. There were a load of vegans outside protesting about the evils of killing fish. So James Brown went and got six portions of fish and chips and chucked the lot out of the window at them. Those were the days.
I can’t promise that, this time around. I was about to warm up a quiche. I could throw it around a bit if you like?
Haha! No, you’re alright. It was pretty loud last time, that’s for sure.
The first gig I ever went to was a Madness one. I stood at the back, ‘cause it looked like a fight would break out in the crowd at any minute. Have the fans slowed down a bit with age, or is there a new demographic coming through?
Oh, there’s definitely a new demographic, but there are still a few folk of my age who are still trying to go like they used to. I worry sometimes about heart attacks and that. Mostly, they tend to last for about four songs, then they get shuffled to the back. There are some younger folk coming along, too. We seem to be getting more popular. It’s really bizarre.
It’s funny what you said about the earlier gigs, because I was watching the Dance Craze documentary about the 2-tone era, and it was quite shocking just how young and wild everybody was. But then you think, it was just a year after punk, so people were still leaping about like lunatics. The energy was extraordinary, and still is to a certain extent.
I remember on a school trip to France, everyone in the bus was singing along to Baggy Trousers. Everyone knew the words, from the teachers to the cool kids, to the green-looking kids throwing up into a bucket at the front. We all became pals after finding that common ground. So, can Madness bring about world peace?
I fucking wish! The thing is, music is universal, and it always has an impact. From The Beatles onwards, it’s possible to affect the way people feel. I’ve got a similar story about that song. I was in Euston with Joe Strummer, who was rehearsing for something. We walked past this playground, and all these kids started singing Baggy Trousers. I was thinking, “I don’t want kids singing my songs. I wanna be cool like Joe Strummer.”
He told me it was great and such a privilege for kids to be so involved in my songs. And he was right, ‘cause we ended up doing matinee shows for those who were too young to get into the nighttime venues.
They were really wild, too. We had this magician on, ‘cause we thought they’d like it, and they just booed and shouted things like, “We can see your wires.” He left after the third gig. They just wanted to see the band.
When Driving In My Car premiered on TV, the presenter said you weren’t there as your partner was about to give birth. You were replaced by a ventriloquist dummy. Was I on the shrooms that night, or did it really happen?
That quite possibly happened as it was quite early in our careers. We were supposed to go on the kids' show, Magpie. I’d just started going out with my wife at that point and was otherwise engaged. I really didn’t fancy going on the show, and I was replaced by a ventriloquist’s doll. So possibly that became a concurrent theme when I wasn’t around. It obviously made us even more popular.
Can you settle a bet? Was part of the House of Fun video filmed in Great Yarmouth?
Yeah, that’s right, it was. ‘Cause Lee’s mum had moved down there. We were looking for a funfair and she knew the owner, so we got it one morning when it wasn’t open.
Something popped up on my phone the other day. It was a video of some Americans trying to work out what’s happening in certain videos. It’s like a random generator, and it chooses a video, and they have to try and work out what the fuck it’s all about. They didn’t get that it was about a kid trying to buy condoms and coming out with everything but that.
I’d forgotten what a great video that was. Even the bit of the little kid who walks up to the doorway of the chemist’s shop, randomly.
Do you think Health and Safety would allow you to make those kinds of videos these days? Wings Of A Dove being a case in point.
Well, in Baggy Trousers, Lee was just attached to a crane through a hook on his belt. Dave Robinson, who ran Stiff Records, helped us make the most interesting videos he could. Top Of The Pops only showed one video each week, so it had to be a good one. They had to make an impact.
Dave had the foresight to buy this clip of a van parachuting out of an aeroplane, from a French advert he’d seen on holiday. It didn’t really fit Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day), so we had to wait for the right opportunity. When Wings Of A Dove came along, we had to use it.
Then we’re all in the back of the van, pretending we’re falling, and someone threw a stuffed vulture in. It was fun, and I think that’s what resonates. There was nothing about those videos that was contrived. We really were just having a laugh.
We spent a day or two coming up with whatever ideas we had, and we’re all extroverts, so with seven of us, it was a competition to see if we could outdo each other.
Madness has always been about fun and mischief, but you’ve never been afraid to tackle difficult subjects, too. I seem to remember Dave Lee Travis being horrified about the subject matter of Cardiac Arrest.
Oh, yeah! Those were the days. Those pompous old DJs, they were so egotistical. I remember being on a kids' TV show around about that time. We were mucking around in foam, having fun and all that. He came over and threw me quite hard across the floor. It was quite scary. The big hairy cornflake monster. He definitely didn’t like us.
I was speaking to Gary Numan last night, it seems that Steve Wright (God rest his soul) took a bit of a dislike to his songs, even at one point apologising to listeners for the BBC “forcing” him to play them.
It’s weird, isn’t it? I have to say, he was okay to me, and I liked him, but it was all that fake clapping. And when you did an interview on that show, they’d always edit it. I remember him saying, “Don’t worry, Suggsy, we’ll make you sound good.” What, like I didn’t sound good anyway? Without your ‘magic’, I wouldn’t be here???
As well as the highs, there have been a few lows during your career. How awful was it getting stuck in a lift with Cherry from Hot Gossip?
Haha. Yeah, they were all done up in suspenders and stockings and all that. It was during a series of times we got banned from Top Of The Pops. On one occasion, Lee was wearing a T-shirt that said ‘I need the BBC like a hole in the head.’ They took exception to it and various other things we did. Like one member holding up the number of his brother, who was in prison at the time.
They used to get us there early so we were ‘contained’, but they didn’t realise we’d found another way to get into the BBC building, through the members’ bar. There was a really nice Irish commissionaire there who really liked us.
So we’d basically spend eight hours in this subsidised bar before going on stage, and because we were miming, we didn’t feel any great sense of responsibility to do anything but fart around.
So, we saw Hot Gossip getting in the lift. There were six of them and seven of us, and the lift held ten. No one wanted to be left behind (obviously). Needless to say, the lift plummeted to the basement, and we were stuck there for some time. I don’t think anyone got pregnant, thankfully.
I remember my mum watching you on Top Of The Pops and commenting that you couldn’t be making much money as there were too many of you.
Ha! Very pragmatic. It’s true. I’d be a very, very rich man if I were an Elvis Costello, for instance. Yeah, you halve it with tax, then share it seven ways. I mean, I’ve done very well, I’m not complaining at all, but she was right, especially in the early days.
My uncle and aunt used to watch Top Of The Pops. He’d be reading the newspaper until Pan’s People came on. Fifteen million people used to watch that show. Extraordinary.
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert, where you played on the roof of Buckingham Palace, must have been a career high.
We’d been lucky to stagger from one great moment to another, but I didn’t see that coming. We were about to announce a Christmas tour, and for publicity purposes, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
We got the invite from the Queen and everyone’s going mad: my family and my mum. We were supposed to be playing out the front, but there were so many big acts, they were running out of space as they all wanted their own grand pianos. There wasn’t enough time to fit us all in, then some bright spark suggested putting us on the roof. I’m not saying it stole the whole thing, but certainly it was a very epochal moment for us.
There was a guy who said he was going to project some things while we played. It turned out they were pictures of buses and blocks of flats, which was a charming paradox as we were on the roof of Buckingham Palace.
Tell us a bit about Shednanigans.
I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into the world of ‘socials’. My kids were telling me to get involved, and my management was too. Even coming here today, I was filled with this slight dread as we’re in a building close to the BBC where I used to do a lot of local radio interviews. It would be a whole fucking day of like, Anglers Weekly and stuff.
It’s a shame that local papers and local radio are dying out. It’s all social media these days. But it can be liberating, ‘cause you’re just doing what you want and having a laugh. You have to take it seriously and factor it into your work somehow. To be honest, when you’ve got a mind like mine, there’s plenty going on.
It’s great that I can just sit there procrastinating about daytime TV and old vinyls. Finally, there’s a point to that old shed.
I noticed that Warwick Davis turned up to one of your gigs recently and made an appearance on stage.
Oh, he’s such a funny bloke. You must interview him. A really great guy. He was on holiday in the area with his girlfriend. He got in touch and stayed around afterwards to have a few drinks in the hotel.
Are you a fan of nostalgia, or do you prefer to keep looking ahead?
Ah, modern nostalgia. It ain't what it used to be. I suppose I go through phases. I mean, don’t wallow in it. Have a look back, but don’t stare too hard. For instance, I’ve just got my vinyl out of storage, and I’ll set aside some time to look at it all.
Being caught watching my own videos is worse than being caught watching porn. “What are you doing, Dad?” ‘Oh, it just came on by accident, I didn’t put it on!”
No Suggs interview would be complete without a mention of Chelsea FC. Any predictions for this season?
It’s very unpredictable at the moment. Bournemouth are doing very well. We were in great form when we beat Paris Saint-Germain, and I thought we were off to a good start. It’s just gone up and down since. The usual Chelsea, really. You’re never filled with too much optimism, and that’s just the way it goes.
We’ve had a few injuries, and there have been so many changes, it’s hard to know exactly what the team is at the moment. Maybe we can now settle into a team that’s a bit more permanent. We should make the top four.
There are some (including myself) who would say Blur’s Parklife album would have sounded very different without the Madness influence. Were you a fan?
Yeah, I used to see them around Camden quite a lot. Damon has said in the past that they came here to get that connection with us and other elements of British music. I wouldn’t take all the credit, but yeah, you’re probably right.
It was like, not ‘ante’ but not directly related to American music, and that was us, and Bowie, of course. They were all around. You’d see Oasis in The Good Mixer and Blur down the road. It was fun to watch. It was like watching your kids growing up. Don’t do what I did, kids!
You’re about to embark on your Hit Parade tour, with Squeeze in support. Could there be a better excuse for a night out?
I don’t think so. I mean, we’ve played with so many great bands, I wouldn’t put anyone down. Squeeze fits the bill nicely. They’ve written so many great songs. It’s a long night, and you don’t want to miss any of it. You’re watching two headline acts back-to-back.
We’ve been thinking of going to America with them. They’re bigger than us over there, so there’s been talk of doing something similar, which I think would be really good fun.
Have your touring shenanigans calmed down a bit since Madness and UB40 threw the marble fireplace out of Rod Stewart’s hotel room window in 1984?
I was on the front page of the Daily Mail. It said ‘Suggs Wrecks Rod Stewart’s Suit’. They forgot to put the ‘e’ at the end. It conjured up an image of me ripping up Rod’s pink latex trousers.
It was Rod’s hotel suite, and we were sitting on this huge mantlepiece, which proceeded to fall off the wall. So we got the idea to lug this ten-ton marble mantlepiece out of the window. I think we blamed UB40 at the time, but we were in on it, too.
What does your backstage rider consist of these days? I hear you are teetotal?
Not completely, but I have taken my foot off the gas a great deal. I was going a bit fast along the old motorway, metaphorically speaking. A lot of the band doesn’t drink. Except in the dressing room. If we don’t drink it, the crew will take it, but we also like to have something on the bus on the way home.
Are there any Warwick-Davis-like surprises in store on the Hit Parade tour?
I don’t think we can compete with him coming on dressed up as a policeman, but you never know.
Dare I ask if there’s any new material in the works?
Mike sent me some new stuff recently, and I’ve been writing too. I was driving to Marseille recently, as I wanted to go to the restaurant from The French Connection, where Gene Hackman went. It was still there, but while I was eating, my car got broken into. It turned out that mine was one of five that it happened to.
The only thing they stole was this bag full of songs I was writing. So if anyone hears some French rapper doing lyrics that sound remarkably like mine, then let me know.
Grab your Hit Parade tickets here