Take It or Leave It

Before Mrs Thatcher's Britain had had a chance to become exactly that, a band called "The Invaders" were mooching about in London's Camden trying to get some gigs. That is proving easier said than done for the keyboard player-cum-organiser Mike Barson as he tries to spin half a dozen plates in the form of men who have varying musical skills, varying singing skills, zero plastering skills and an even more varying commitment to a band that was operating quite literally out of the back of two vans more suitable for delivering cabbages. Watching those charismatic live performers trying to get their act together, you'd never have put any money on them getting a gig in Dublin jail let alone the famous boozer the "Dublin Castle" in the first place, let alone a recording contract and a supporting turn for the much more successful "The Specials" - but thanks to some perseverance from the omi-patient "Barso"; to Suggs's entertainingly jerky presentation style and to a keyboard/saxophone-heavy sound that encompassed just about every genre from R&B and ska to reggae via classical, we end up with something that is really quite suitably called "Madness". There are no interviews as such, nor is this populated by music journos talking in retrospective hyperbole, indeed this film is almost as much of a mess as their lives were. Poor old Woody (the drummer) couldn't even find the recording studio on his moped and with North London rivalries never far from these lads, it's sometimes a wonder they survived intact long enough to take to a stage at all. It's the very unstructured randomness and approachability of this film that makes it watchable and you don't need to be a fan of them or their music to enjoy the mischief making that accompanied their rise to prominence. Not wishing to get all puritanical about it, but another thing that's really quite noticeable about this documentary is the complete lack of swearing throughout. None of the "Nutty Boys" seemed to need to be effing and jeffing all the way through which I felt added something quite personable to some enthusiastic shenanigans that were underpinned by quite a bit of (very) raw talent.