Madness was founded in London in by Graham 'Suggs' McPherson, Chas Smash, Mike Barson, Chris Foreman, Lee Thompson, Mark Bedford, and Dan Woodgate. The band was already active before '79 and played under different names. In the year of '79 the group would get the name Madness, after a song by the Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster. The debut of Madness 'The Prince', released on the 2-Tone label, was a tribute to Prince Buster, who once recorded the song 'Madness'.
In the meantime, Madness had exchanged 2-Tone for Stiff, which released Madness' most important albums and singles until 1985. The men of Madness have a sense of humour. This is also reflected in their videos. The songs were performed with typical dance steps, which radiated that ska as a genre and the ska dance were possible for everyone. Besides their humour, they also released songs with a serious undertone.
