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79-657: Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known primarily by his stage name Suggs , is a British singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor. In a music career spanning 45 years, he came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the ska band Madness , which released fifteen singles that entered the top 10 charts in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including " My Girl ", " Baggy Trousers ", " Embarrassment ", " It Must Be Love ", " House of Fun ", " Driving in My Car ", " Our House ", " Wings of

158-450: A "dub plate"), but as demand for them grew eventually sometime in the second half of 1959 (believed by most to be in the last quarter) producers such as Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid began to issue these recording on 45rpm 7-inch discs. At this point, the style was a direct copy of the American "shuffle blues" style, but within two or three years it had morphed into the more familiar ska style with

237-576: A 5th Madstock concert in 2009 to celebrate their 30th anniversary held on 17 July in Victoria Park, East London . The album reached #22 in the UK album charts. " The Harder They Come ", a cover of the Jimmy Cliff song, was released as the only single off this album and reached #44 in the UK charts. On 9 October 2015, Salvo reissued the album and video as a 1-CD/1-DVD set with four CD bonus tracks. Madstock!

316-409: A Dove " and " Lovestruck ". Suggs began his solo career in 1995, while still a member of Madness. Since then, he has released two studio albums and two compilation albums. His solo hits include " I'm Only Sleeping ", " Camden Town ", " Cecilia " and " Blue Day ". Suggs has also been an actor, with roles in films, theatre and television. He is married and is the father of two children. Graham McPherson

395-612: A cameo in the film, singing the track. Suggs worked with Morrissey between 1989 and 1990, singing backing vocals on the tracks " Piccadilly Palare " and " Sing Your Life ". From early 1990 to 1992, he co-managed The Farm and co-produced their first album Spartacus which reached number-one in the UK Album Charts and spawned the international hit " All Together Now ". He also produced their first single "Hearts and Minds" in 1984. Suggs has collaborated with Jools Holland twice on his Small World Big Band albums, firstly in 2001 with

474-428: A collaboration with reggae artist General Levy and the trombone talents of ska legend Rico Rodriguez . After completing his solo releases, Suggs returned to work with Madness on their first original album in fourteen years. Wonderful was released in 1999 and was followed by the cover album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 in 2005. In 2009, Madness released The Liberty of Norton Folgate which reached No. 5 in

553-622: A concert in London's Brockwell Park in aid of the victims. Also in 2005, Suggs collaborated with electronic group Audio Bullys on the track "This Road" from their top 40 album Generation . In 2006, Suggs performed the Madness song "My Girl" with the Ordinary Boys at the Brixton Academy which was released as a B-side on their UK hit single "Nine2five". In May 2008, Suggs and Chas Smash joined

632-660: A feature during the summer that the Specials song " Ghost Town " was a hit, although this work was in a slower, reggae beat. Most of the 2 Tone bands had multiracial lineups, such as the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America and Australia), the Specials , and the Selecter . Although only on the 2 tone label for one single, Madness was one of the most effective bands at bringing

711-623: A life performance at Kentish Town Forum in April. Ship of Fools , a collaboration with Paul Weller , appears on Weller's 2024 album "66." Suggs has acted in films such as The Tall Guy (1989) and Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1998). He starred in the Channel 4 drama The Final Frame (1990), in which he played a pop star named East. He also played a pop star (called Jason Wood) in the Press Gang episode "Friends Like These" in 1990. Suggs also appeared in

790-456: A member of an ethnic minority owing to his Scottish surname . To capitalise on the name he went as far as to create a myth about it, writing lines like "Suggs is our leader" on the walls and only answering to that name. After leaving school, he worked at a butcher's shop for eight months, his first proper job. He also worked as a painter and decorator. The first gig he went to was the Who supported by

869-544: A new show on the station five days a week entitled Afternoon Tea with Suggs which ran every weekday afternoon between 14:00 – 16:00. In August 2007, the show was given an extra hour and was on every weekday 13:00 – 16:00. It was produced by Mark Bingham . On 3 December, Suggs quit Virgin and Neil Francis took over his weekday afternoon slot with immediate effect. On 27 September, Suggs and Madness closed down Regent Street to perform for Absolute Radio's first birthday. On 2 May 2013, he appeared on

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948-607: A re-emergence of the traditional skinhead subculture . The early 1980s saw a massive surge in ska's popularity in Germany, leading to the founding of many German ska bands like the Busters, record labels and festivals. In Spain, ska became relevant in the 1980s in the Basque Country due to the influence of Basque Radical Rock , with Kortatu and Potato being the most representatives bands. Skalariak and Betagarri followed in

1027-633: A three-hour video countdown for the channel known as The 80s & 90s Mega Mix (on My5), with Suggs presenting the 1980s lists (Vernon Kay hosted the rundowns from the 1990s). Suggs is a patron of the charity Children in Need , and has frequently appeared on the annual television fundraiser, performing various Madness tracks with other celebrities. He has also been involved with Cancer Research UK and their "Busking Cancer" campaign, for which he performed live with Rod Stewart on HMS  Belfast in May 2009. Following

1106-441: Is that it derives from Johnson's word skavoovie , with which he was known to greet his friends. Jackie Mittoo insisted that the musicians called the rhythm Staya Staya , and that it was Byron Lee who introduced the term "ska". Derrick Morgan said: "Guitar and piano making a ska sound, like 'ska, ska". After World War II , Jamaicans purchased radios in increasing numbers and were able to hear rhythm and blues music from

1185-507: The 1964 New York World's Fair . As music changed in the United States, so did ska. In 1965 and 1966, when American soul music became slower and smoother, ska changed its sound accordingly and evolved into rocksteady . However, rocksteady's heyday was brief, peaking in 1967. By 1968, ska evolved again into reggae. The 2 tone genre, which began in the late 1970s in the Coventry area of UK,

1264-702: The BBC Radio 4 musical sitcom I Think I've Got a Problem , also starring comedian Phil Cornwell and written by Andrew McGibbon . He became a DJ on Virgin Radio with the show Virgin Party Classics , and was nominated for a Radio Academy Award in 2005. In 2006, Virgin launched the Party Classics radio channel, available via digital television. The channel was hosted by Suggs, but was short-lived, pulled just four months after it launched. The year 2007 saw him presenting

1343-612: The Dance Hall Crashers becoming known on the touring circuit. The mid-1990s saw a considerable rise in ska music's underground popularity, marked by the formation of many ska-based record labels, booking organizations and indie zines . While Moon Ska was still the largest of the United States' ska labels, other notable labels included Jump Up Records of Chicago , which covered the thriving midwest scene, and Steady Beat Recordings of Los Angeles , which covered Southern California's traditional ska revival. Stomp Records of Montreal

1422-584: The Pet Shop Boys on stage at a gig in London's Heaven nightclub where they performed a dance version of the Madness song " My Girl ". In 2010, Suggs and Mike Barson again worked with the Audio Bullys on their album Higher Than the Eiffel . They appear on the tracks "Twist Me Up" and "Goodbye". In 2024, Suggs appeared on the single Zombie Nation by Hastings rock band Kid Kapichi , and joined them on stage for

1501-496: The Southern United States in cities such as New Orleans by artists such as Fats Domino , Barbie Gaye , Rosco Gordon and Louis Jordan whose early recordings all contain the seeds of the "behind-the-beat" feel of ska and reggae. The stationing of American military forces during and after the war meant that Jamaicans could listen to military broadcasts of American music, and there was a constant influx of records from

1580-456: The "Cultural Exchange" feature of the BBC Radio 4 series Front Row , where he nominated a poem by John Betjeman ("On a Portrait of a Deaf Man"), as a piece of art work which he had found particularly meaningful. Suggs appeared twice with Madness on the British TV comedy show The Young Ones , first on the episode " Boring " in which the band performed "House of Fun". On the second series,

1659-498: The 1990s and launching the genre into the public eye. Over the next few years, a string of notable ska and ska-influenced singles became hits on mainstream radio, including " Sell Out " by Reel Big Fish and " The Impression That I Get " by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, all of whom would reach platinum status with each of their respective albums. By 1996, third wave ska was one of the most popular forms of alternative music in

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1738-498: The 2 tone genre into the mainstream, with hits such as " One Step Beyond ", " Night Boat to Cairo ", and " Our House ". The music of this era resonated with white working class youth and West Indian immigrants who experienced the struggles addressed in the lyrics. Ska historian Albino Brown (of the radio program The Ska Parade ) coined the term "third-wave ska" (3rd Wave Ska) in 1989 and helped to catalyze such multi-platinum bands as No Doubt and Sublime . Third-wave ska originated in

1817-538: The 2008 romantic drama The Edge of Love starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller , playing the part of "the crooner" (also credited as Al Bowlly ) and singing Bowlly's hit "Hang Out the Stars in Indiana". In late 2011, Suggs began a nationwide UK tour of a new one man stage show entitled "LIVESUGGS". In the show, Suggs shared various anecdotes from his childhood to the present day, intertwined with musical numbers. The show

1896-617: The 2015 reissue, Charles Hutchinson of The Press was disappointed that Salvo's CD and DVD package did not match the occasion: "The running order is jettisoned on the CD, with four numbers consigned to bin ends, while the DVD needed to be more of a documentary." Russell Deeks of Songwriting magazine wrote, "They may have been a little bit rough around the edges in places on the day ... but their knockabout humour and unrivaled sense of showmanship were definitely undimished [ sic ] " Deeks noted that

1975-579: The Beatles' " And I Love Her ", and radically reinterpreted Bob Dylan 's " Like a Rolling Stone ". They also created their own versions of Latin-influenced music from artists such as Mongo Santamaría . The Skatalites, Lord Creator , Laurel Aitken , Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook , Jackie Mittoo , Desmond Dekker , and Don Drummond also recorded ska. Byron Lee & the Dragonaires performed ska with Prince Buster, Eric "Monty" Morris , and Jimmy Cliff at

2054-568: The City . The show, set in the Soho members club The Colony Room , aired on ITV London on Thursday nights. In October 2008, he presented a new culture series called Suggs' Italian Job which was aired on Sky Arts , following the singer around Italian culturally significant hot spots. In 2009, Suggs performed with Zoë Ball in Let's Dance For Comic Relief dancing to " You Can Never Tell " from Pulp Fiction but

2133-832: The City: My Journeys Through Disappearing London , which is partly based on his TV series Disappearing London . In October 2013, Suggs released his autobiography, Suggs: That Close . In August 2012, Suggs appeared at the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh as part of the Festival Fringe . In his show "Suggs: My Life Story in Word and Music", he talked about his early life and his search to find out more information about his father. He referenced his Misplaced Pages entry and stated that some published information relating to his early life

2212-551: The Gator" (which was Coxsone Dodd's number one selection). The first ska recordings were created at facilities such as Federal Records , Studio One , and WIRL Records in Kingston, Jamaica with producers such as Dodd, Reid, Prince Buster, and Edward Seaga . The ska sound coincided with the celebratory feelings surrounding Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962; an event commemorated by songs such as Derrick Morgan 's "Forward March" and

2291-539: The Sensational Alex Harvey Band in 1976. In 1976, Mike Barson , Chris Foreman and Lee Thompson formed the North London Invaders, which later became the band Madness. The original members recruited were John Hasler, Cathal Smyth and vocalist Dikran Tulaine . This six-piece line-up was stable until 1977, when Suggs took over the lead vocals and Tulaine left the band. After a decline in hits,

2370-733: The Skatalites ' "Freedom Sound". Until Jamaica ratified the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works , the country did not honor international music copyright protection. This created many cover songs and reinterpretations. One such cover was Millie Small 's version of the R&;B/shuffle tune, "My Boy Lollypop", first recorded in New York in 1956 by 14-year-old Barbie Gaye . Small's rhythmically similar version, released in 1964,

2449-558: The TV channel HISTORY . During one episode, the team excavated a Covenanter tank , which had been buried in the chalky soil of Denbies Wine Estate near Dorking , Surrey for over 70 years. The tank was displayed at the vineyard for six months, before being removed for restoration. The second series, which began in November 2018, included a special WW1 episode. In 2021, Suggs returned to present on Channel 5, when MTV Studios in London produced

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2528-420: The UK Album Charts. Suggs – The Platinum Collection was released on 30 July 2007 on Warner Music , featuring a selection of Suggs best tracks from his two solo albums along with "Blue Day" and a remixed version of "Cecilia". In 2008, Suggs contributed vocals to a cover of Al Bowlly 's "Hang Out the Stars in Indiana" for the soundtrack for The Edge of Love composed by Angelo Badalamenti . Suggs also made

2607-529: The United Kingdom. The Specials recorded " A Message to You Rudy " in 1979, featuring Rico Rodriguez , who played trombone on both the original Dandy Livingstone recording and the Specials' version. The 2 tone movement promoted racial unity at a time when racial tensions were high in England. There were many Specials songs that raised awareness of the issues of racism, fighting and friendship. Riots in English cities were

2686-453: The United States. By the late 1990s, mainstream interest in third wave ska bands waned as other music genres gained momentum. Moon Ska Records folded in 2000, but Moon Ska Europe, a licensed affiliate based in Europe, continued operating in the 2000s and was later relaunched as Moon Ska World . In 2003, Hingley launched a new ska record label, Megalith Records . In the early 21st century, ska

2765-594: The United States. The Uptones from Berkeley, California and the Toasters from New York City —both formed in 1981 — were among the first active ska bands in North America. They are both credited with laying the groundwork for American ska and establishing scenes in their respective regions. In Los Angeles around the same time, the Untouchables also formed. While many of the early American ska bands continued in

2844-493: The United States. To meet the demand for that music, entrepreneurs such as Prince Buster , Coxsone Dodd , and Duke Reid formed sound systems . As the supply of previously unheard tunes in the jump blues and more traditional R&B genres began to dry up in the late 1950s, Jamaican producers began recording their own version of the genres with local artists. These recordings were initially made to be played on "soft wax" (a lacquer on metal disc acetate later to become known as

2923-552: The album was a cover of the Beatles song " I'm Only Sleeping " entering the UK Top 10 at No. 7. Its music video featured appearances from Madness bandmates Mike Barson and Chas Smash . This was followed by "Camden Town", a homage to Suggs's favourite part of London, which reached No. 14 in the UK. In December of that year, Suggs released The Christmas E.P. featuring his song "The Tune" (co-written with Mike Barson ) plus covers of " Sleigh Ride " and " Alright " by Supergrass . In 1996,

3002-510: The band broke up in 1986. Suggs has said that he felt "a bit lost" after the band split up, and he saw a psychotherapist on four occasions. After Madness' reformation for Madstock! in 1992 and 1994, Suggs went to work on his first solo album with the production help of reggae producers Sly and Robbie . In 1995 The Lone Ranger was released on Warner Music and peaked on the UK Albums Chart at No. 14. The first single to be released from

3081-485: The band jump on a beach trampoline and later collaged the individual shots together on a computer. Simon Tucker of the Louder Than War website called the album "musically tight with not a duff note," saying, "This album is a joy, an example of a band not understanding how influential they are or how loved until one magic moment brings it home for them." Trouser Press wrote, "the band sounds tight and in top form;

3160-559: The band performed "Our House" on the penultimate episode " Sick ". Suggs has hosted the celebrity karaoke game show Night Fever on the UK's Channel 5 . He was a team captain in the BBC music trivia game show A Question of Pop , hosted by Jamie Theakston , opposite Noddy Holder . He has also appeared as a guest on the BBC Two show Never Mind the Buzzcocks . He has co-presented two series of

3239-824: The death of his sister-in-law Alanah in 2012 from pancreatic cancer , he organised a fundraising night for Pancreatic Cancer UK called An Evening with Suggs and Friends . Another event was held at Porchester Hall in London in March 2014. A third charity gala took place in March 2015. Suggs is a member of the Useless Information Society (founded 1995), a society of journalists, writers and entertainers which focuses on esoteric information and has released books such as The Book of Useless Information . Other members include or have included Keith Waterhouse , Richard Littlejohn , Noel Botham , Ken Stott and Brian Hitchen . In August 2009, Suggs published his first book, Suggs and

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3318-473: The difference between R&B and ska beats is that the former goes " chink -ka" and the latter goes "ka- chink ". Famous ska band the Skatalites recorded "Dynamite", "Ringo" and "Guns of Navarone". One theory about the origin of ska is that Prince Buster created it during the inaugural recording session for his new record label Wild Bells. The session was financed by Duke Reid, who was supposed to get half of

3397-638: The early 1990s and their influence is visible outside the Basque Country in punk-rock bands like Ska-P , Boikot and many others that have gained importance in the Spanish rock and punk rock scene and festivals. The Australian ska scene flourished in the mid-1980s, following the musical precedents set by 2 Tone, and spearheaded by bands such as the Porkers . Some of the Australian ska revival bands found success on

3476-592: The first American ska punk band to find mainstream commercial success, with their 1994 album Question the Answers achieving gold record status and peaking at number 138 on the Billboard 200 . In 1995, punk band Rancid , featuring former members of Operation Ivy, released the ska punk single " Time Bomb ", which reached number 8 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks , becoming the first major ska punk hit of

3555-565: The first bands of genre. Then bands like Spitfire , Distemper , Leningrad and Markscheider Kunst became popular and commercially successful in Russia and abroad in the late 1990s. Japan established its own ska scene, colloquially referred to as J-ska , in the mid-1980s. The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra , formed in 1985, have been one of the most commercially successful progenitors of Japanese ska. Latin America's ska scene started developing in

3634-463: The history of ska into three periods: the original Jamaican scene of the 1960s; the 2 Tone ska revival of the late 1970s in Britain, which fused Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with the faster tempos and harder edge of punk rock forming ska-punk ; and third wave ska , which involved bands from a wide range of countries around the world, in the late 1980s and 1990s. There are multiple theories about

3713-493: The mid-1980s. Latin American ska bands typically play traditional ska rhythms blended with strong influences from Latin music and rock en Español . The most prominent bands include the Grammy nominated Desorden Público from Venezuela and Grammy awarded Los Fabulosos Cadillacs from Argentina, who scored an international hit single with " El Matador " in 1994. By the early 1980s, 2 Tone-influenced ska bands began forming throughout

3792-423: The musical traditions set by 2 Tone and the mod revival , bands such as Fishbone , the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Operation Ivy pioneered the American ska punk subgenre, a fusion of ska and punk rock that typically downplayed ska's R&B influence in favor of faster tempos and guitar distortion . In 1986, No Doubt , a ska punk band was formed. They were one of the more mainstream ska bands that set

3871-562: The national music charts, most notably Allniters , who had a number 10 hit with a ska cover of " Montego Bay " in 1983. The 30 piece Melbourne Ska Orchestra has enjoyed success in recent years, touring internationally, including sets at Glastonbury and Montreux Jazz Festival . A Russian (then-Soviet) ska scene was established in the mid-1980s in Saint Petersburg as a kind of anglophone opposition to more traditional Russian rock music. Strannye Igry , AVIA and N.O.M. were among

3950-577: The newly penned song "Cracks in the Pavement". Suggs has twice been a guest presenter on the BBC's long-running chart show Top of the Pops , once in 1995 and again in 2005. In 2006, Suggs was the main presenter of the BBC London series Inside Out , a weekly programme for Londoners looking at surprising stories in the capital. He was part of Declan Donnelly 's Boy Band on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway

4029-407: The off-beat guitar chop that could be heard in some of the more uptempo late-1950s American rhythm and blues recordings such as Domino's " Be My Guest " and Barbie Gaye's " My Boy Lollypop ", both of which were popular on Jamaican sound systems of the late 1950s. Domino's rhythm, accentuating the offbeat, was a particular influence. This "classic" ska style was of bars made up of four triplets but

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4108-520: The official Madness website, he has stated: I was born in Hastings on a stormy evening on 13 January 1961. I only lived with my mum, so we were free agents. She was a singer in the pubs and clubs. We moved to Liverpool then London. I lived with relations in Wales for a while and came back to London. Because I was an only child, I was pretty insular and stubborn. All the upheaval made me lazy academically, so by

4187-431: The origins of the word ska . Ernest Ranglin claimed that the term was coined by musicians to refer to the "skat! skat! skat!" scratching guitar strum. Another explanation is that at a recording session in 1959 produced by Coxsone Dodd , double bassist Cluett Johnson instructed guitarist Ranglin to "play like ska, ska, ska", although Ranglin has denied this, stating "Clue couldn't tell me what to play!" A further theory

4266-472: The programme Salvage Squad , one restoring a Model T Ford , and one restoring a Ruston-Bucyrus 10RB in which a group of engineers restored rare old machinery. Some other items restored included a steamroller , a ploughing engine called "Margaret", a Blackpool "Coronation" tram , a Scammell Mechanical Horse , a Revopak garbage truck , various boats, World War II tanks, early C20 motor launches, railway locomotives and vintage cars. In 2005, he filmed

4345-541: The punk scene in the late 1980s and became commercially successful in the 1990s. Although some third-wave ska has a traditional 1960s sound, most third-wave ska is characterized by dominating guitar riffs and large horn sections. By the late 1980s, ska had experienced a minor resurgence of popularity in the United Kingdom, due to bands such as the Burial and the Hotknives . The 1980s and 1990s also heralded many ska festivals, and

4424-646: The record label Bad Time Records due to their movie This Is New Tone. New Tone now has a vague definition and is used to describe the modern ska scene in general. Madstock! Madstock! is the first live album by ska / pop band Madness , released on 2 November 1992 (see 1992 in music ) by Go! Discs . The album includes highlights from Madness' first concerts since their disbanding in 1986, on 8 and 9 August 1992 at Finsbury Park in London . The bill included Flowered Up , Gallon Drunk , Ian Dury and The Blockheads , Morrissey and Madness . The full concert

4503-465: The same year and performed " It Only Takes a Minute " by Take That . In 2007, Suggs starred in a series of Birds Eye commercials which feature the Madness song " Our House ". An online game featuring Suggs was also based on the commercials. In December 2007, he narrated a one-off documentary for ITV on the London music venue the Hammersmith Palais , which had closed down in 2007. The programme

4582-533: The series Disappearing London for ITV in the London area, in which he investigated architectural and other curiosities that are vanishing. The series won three Royal Television Society awards with Suggs winning the award for "Presenter of the Year". A second series was filmed in 2006 for transmission in early 2007. In 2005 he filmed a similar one-off programme for the BBC entitled A Picture of London by Suggs , which featured

4661-418: The sing-along enthusiasm of the crowd makes the disc particularly infectious." AllMusic 's Evan Cater was less positive, saying, " Suggs ' decision to sacrifice vocal quality for exuberance is more excusable than the unimaginative arrangements of the songs, which vary little from the original studio recordings. Moreover, the singles-heavy song selection ... is a little boring for serious fans." Commenting on

4740-418: The song "Oranges and Lemons Again" and then with "Jack O the Green" in 2003. He also played with Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in 2003 for a television special where they performed two songs with veteran ska singer Prince Buster . In July 2005, shortly after the terrorist attacks in London , Suggs and Chas Smash performed the Bob Marley song "So Much Trouble in the World" with Billy Bragg at

4819-465: The songs to release. The guitar began emphasizing the second and fourth beats in the bar, giving rise to the new sound. The drums were taken from traditional Jamaican drumming and marching styles. To create the ska beat, Prince Buster essentially flipped the R&B shuffle beat, stressing the offbeats with the help of the guitar. Prince Buster has explicitly cited American rhythm and blues as the origin of ska: specifically, Willis Jackson 's song "Later for

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4898-537: The stage for many up and coming bands. Two hotspots for the United States' burgeoning ska scenes were New York City and Orange County , California. In New York, Toasters frontman Robert "Bucket" Hingley formed the independent record label Moon Ska Records in 1983. The label quickly became the largest independent ska label in the United States. The Orange County ska scene was a major breeding ground for ska punk and more contemporary pop-influenced ska music, personified by bands such as Reel Big Fish and Sublime . It

4977-403: The third single from the album, a version of the Simon & Garfunkel song " Cecilia ", became his most successful release, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and being certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry . The final single to be released from the album was "No More Alcohol", charting at No. 24. In 1997, Suggs recorded the song " Blue Day " for Chelsea F.C. with Chelsea players. It

5056-409: The time I got to Quintin Kynaston school in St John's Wood I didn't bother much, I stayed onto the sixth form for social security reasons, and got two O-levels and a CSE on the way. I met Mike Barson hanging around Hampstead School . Suggs got his nickname from randomly sticking a pin in an encyclopaedia of jazz musicians (hitting Peter Suggs) while he was still in school, to avoid being labelled as

5135-454: Was Canada's primary producer and distributor of ska music. Additionally, many punk and indie rock labels, such as Hellcat Records and Fueled by Ramen , broadened their scope to include both ska and ska punk bands. Asian Man Records (formerly Dill Records ), founded in 1996, started out primarily releasing ska punk albums before branching out to other music styles. In 1993, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones signed with Mercury Records , becoming

5214-433: Was Jamaica's first commercially successful international hit. With over seven million copies sold, it remains one of the best selling reggae/ska songs of all time. Many other Jamaican artists would have success recording instrumental ska versions of popular American and British music, such as Beatles songs, Motown and Atlantic soul hits, movie theme songs and instrumentals (007, Guns of Navarone). The Wailers covered

5293-404: Was a fusion of Jamaican ska rhythms and melodies with punk rock 's more aggressive guitar chords and lyrics. Compared to 1960s ska, 2 Tone music had faster tempos, fuller instrumentation, and a harder edge. The genre was named after 2 Tone Records , a record label founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials . In many cases, the reworking of classic ska songs turned the originals into hits again in

5372-444: Was alive, wouldn't he? Yeah, he must be dead, poor bugger. Three years later in 2012, Suggs learned, through reading this very Misplaced Pages article, that his father had died in 1975. Suggs spent three years of his childhood in his mother's hometown of Haverfordwest , Wales, and had just started at a grammar school there when his mother moved to London. He then went to the Quintin Kynaston comprehensive school at St John's Wood . On

5451-569: Was born on 13 January 1961 in Hastings to a Scottish father, William Rutherford McPherson (1935–1975) and Welsh mother, jazz singer Edith Gower. The couple had married in the Paddington area of London in 1960 and Suggs was raised in Hastings by his mother. His father had left by the time Suggs was three. In a 2009 interview, Suggs responded when asked about what happened to him: I don't know, but what I've heard hasn't been good: heroin, injecting his eyeballs with paraffin, being sectioned. He must be dead now. I mean, he would have got in touch if he

5530-515: Was broadcast on BBC Four on Christmas Eve. In February 2008, Teachers TV broadcast Suggs in a one-off "Teaching Challenge". The challenge required Suggs to return to his secondary school, Quintin Kynaston School in North London, and teach a music lesson to a group of GCSE students. In this lesson he was assisted by vocalist Paul Curtis , his voice coach Been Cross and his valet S.I. Boy. The class performed Curtis's "Name It You Got It". Also in 2008, he presented his own chat show titled Suggs in

5609-552: Was characterized by a guitar chop on the off beat —known as an upstroke or 'skank'—with horns taking the lead and often following the off-beat skank and piano emphasizing the bass line and, again, playing the skank. Drums kept 4 time and the bass drum was accented on the third beat of each four-triplet phrase. The snare would play side stick and accent the third beat of each 4-triplet phrase. The upstroke sound can also be found in other Caribbean forms of music, such as mento and calypso . Ernest Ranglin asserted that

5688-452: Was eliminated. He also appeared in an episode of Australian music quiz show Spicks and Specks on 15 April that year. In 2015, Suggs appeared as a panelist on QI , in series L episode 15. In 2016, he performed with Madness on the ITV comedy Benidorm . In 2017 and 2018, Suggs presented two series of the archaeology programme WW2 Treasure Hunters alongside detectorist Stephen Taylor on

5767-470: Was here that the term "third wave ska" was coined and popularized by Albino Brown and Tazy Phyllipz (hosts of the Ska Parade radio show) to describe the new wave of ska-influenced bands which were steadily gaining notoriety; and Brown wrote the first treatise on ska's third wave in 1994. The San Francisco Bay Area also contributed to ska's growing popularity, with Skankin' Pickle , Let's Go Bowling and

5846-771: Was mostly absent from the radio, though there were exceptions.  In 2017, Captain SKA reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart with " Liar Liar GE2017 ." In 2018, the Interrupters broke into the U.S. charts with their single "She's Kerosene." By 2019, several publications started wondering aloud whether a "fourth wave" of ska was about to emerge. The term New Tone to describe a fourth wave of ska has started to pick up traction. The term New Tone originates from new ska band Bad Operation, to describe their two-tone sound and their city of New Orleans. The term has been popularized by

5925-644: Was recorded on 8 and 9 August 1992 using the Fleetwood Mobile recording studio, and then produced and mixed by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley at their Westside Studios in London. Seven tracks were chosen from day one and eleven from day two. The cover photographs were taken by rock photographer Jill Furmanovsky in The Hague in the Netherlands , where Madness were playing a warm-up gig for Madstock on 6 August. Wanting to create an action shot, Furmanovsky had

6004-424: Was released on a corresponding video. Both the album and video are now out of print. However, a DVD of the concert is available in the box set A Guided Tour of Madness . The concert briefly spawned a series of biennial Madstock events (the name sometimes rendered with no exclamation mark) in 1994, 1996, and 1998 (this last Madstock is available on DVD). In December 2008 the band announced that they would be staging

6083-472: Was the official song for the team for the FA Cup , which Chelsea eventually won. The song reached No. 22 in the UK charts. In 1998, Suggs released his second solo album, The Three Pyramids Club , on Warner Music , which was produced by Steve Lironi. The first and only single to be released was "I Am" charting at No. 38 in the UK. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to The Avengers . The album includes

6162-585: Was untrue, adding that he would get bored in interviews and make things up. He confirmed that although he was born in Hastings, the family moved around and he spent much of his early life in Wales. He stated that his father left when Suggs was three, not before he was born. Suggs is married to singer Bette Bright , who is the vocalist of the 1970s British band Deaf School . They met through their connection with Clive Langer , married in 1981 and formerly lived in Holloway. Ska Music historians typically divide

6241-494: Was well received by critics. In 2003, Suggs appeared as Joe's dad in the stage musical Our House , featuring the songs of Madness, for a limited run in London's West End . The show then ran at Isis Prison, Woolwich. In November 2012, Suggs reprised his role of Joe's dad in the 10th Anniversary Concert of the musical Our House in aid of Help for Heroes . Suggs was a principal and original DJ on BBC Radio 6 Music when it launched in March 2002. He worked with Bob Monkhouse on

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