On this day, 31 October 1985, ska/pop band Madness played Cardiff University on their Mad Not Mad tour.
In 1985, the band released their sixth studio album, Mad Not Mad. Mike Barson’s usual keyboard parts were filled by an emphasis on synthesisers provided by Steve Nieve of the Attractions.
In later years, frontman Suggs has described the album as a "polished turd". The album reached number 16 in the UK charts, which is the band's lowest position on the album charts to date. Despite the poor chart showing, the album was listed as number 55 in NME's "All Time 100 Albums".
The singles for the album fared even worse, with "Yesterday's Men" peaking at number 18 in the UK charts. The subsequent singles, "Uncle Sam" and "Sweetest Girl", failed to make the top 20, which was a first for Madness singles.
Setlist
Keep Moving
Samantha
Take It or Leave It
Michael Caine
Mad Not Mad
Grey Day
My Girl
Tomorrow's Dream
House of Fun
4BF
(The Madness cover)
Yesterday's Men
Blue Skinned Beast
Night Boat to Cairo
Time
It Must Be Love
(Labi Siffre cover)
Burning the Boats
Shut Up
Madness
(Prince Buster cover)
Embarrassment
I'll Compete
Our House
Encore:
Uncle Sam
Baggy Trousers
Encore 2:
The Sweetest Girl
(Scritti Politti cover)
One Step Beyond
(Prince Buster cover)
