50 free Madness (Band) trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Madness band trivia quiz covers the whole story of the Camden Town ska-pop institution, from the North London Invaders and a tribute single to Prince Buster on 2 Tone, through the Stiff Records years of One Step Beyond, Absolutely, 7 and The Rise & Fall, to Mike Barson's departure, the split, The Madness, Madstock! at Finsbury Park and the long second act that ended with a first ever number-one album in 2023. The questions dig into the songs themselves — who wrote them, what they are about, the working title of 'House of Fun', the banana van behind 'My Girl', the sampled actor on 'Michael Caine', the steel drums on 'Wings of a Dove' — as well as the films, the Honda adverts, the Olivier-winning musical, the roof of Buckingham Palace and the 2012 Olympics. Around a third are easy for any 80s music fan; the rest are for people who own the box set. We never quote lyrics, so it is all about the facts. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's band and single articles and the interviews they cite, and each explanation adds one more thing worth knowing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Madness formed in 1976 in which part of north-west London?
Camden Town
They were regulars at the Dublin Castle pub there, and in 2020 got a stone on the Camden Music Walk of Fame.
Q 02Madness took their name from a song by which Jamaican ska artist, honoured in their first single?
Prince Buster
The debut single 'The Prince' was a tribute to him, and 'One Step Beyond' was a cover of one of his B-sides.
Q 03Prior to settling on Madness, the band briefly went by which name?
Morris and the Minors
They had started out in 1976 as the North London Invaders.
Q 04Suggs was once thrown out of the band for too often preferring to do what instead of rehearsing?
Watch Chelsea
Keyboardist Mike Barson kicked him out; he was let back in by 1978 after filling in temporarily on vocals.
Q 05What is Suggs's real name?
Graham McPherson
He was born in Hastings in 1961 to a Scottish father and a Welsh jazz-singer mother.
Q 06Madness's first single, 'The Prince' (1979), came out on which label founded by Jerry Dammers?
2 Tone Records
The label's contract let acts leave after one single, and Madness promptly did.
Q 07Which label released the debut album One Step Beyond... and most of the band's early-80s hits?
Stiff Records
Label boss Dave Robinson also insisted that 'House of Fun' needed a chorus, which was then dubbed on after the fact.
Q 08Which producing duo debuted with One Step Beyond... and later worked with Elvis Costello, Dexys and Bowie?
Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley
The album was recorded and mixed in about three weeks and stayed on the chart for more than a year.
Q 09The 'Nutty Train' sleeve photo on One Step Beyond... was inspired by a roadie for which band?
Kilburn and the High Roads
Cameron McVey shot it; Ian Dury's earlier band had used a similar pose on the back of Handsome.
Q 10The song 'One Step Beyond' was originally the B-side of which 1964 Jamaican ska single?
Al Capone
Buster's version was mostly instrumental; the Madness version added a spoken intro from Chas Smash.
Q 11How many UK number-one singles have Madness had?
1
'House of Fun' in 1982 is the only one, though it also topped the Irish chart along with 'Wings of a Dove'.
Q 12'House of Fun' was originally recorded under what working title, prior to a chorus being added?
Chemist Facade
The keyboardist wrote the chorus on the spot at the label boss's insistence, and it had to be edited into the finished recording.
Q 13Which Madness song was their biggest US hit, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100?
Our House
It was written by Chas Smash and Chris Foreman and won Best Pop Song at the 1983 Ivor Novello Awards.
Q 21'Wings of a Dove' featured a gospel choir and which other unusual instrumentation?
Steel drums
It peaked at number 2 in the UK and number 1 in Ireland, and later turned up in 10 Things I Hate About You.
Q 22Which Madness song has passed into cockney rhyming slang as a term for a giro, or benefit cheque?
Night Boat to Cairo
Written by the keyboardist and Suggs, it has one long verse followed by an even longer sax-led instrumental, and often closes their gigs.
Q 23Which 1981 single, the first from the album 7, marked a darker departure from the band's ska sound?
Grey Day
The keyboardist wrote it back in the North London Invaders days; people have suggested it is about nuclear holocaust, which he found amusing.
Q 14Suggs said he deliberately wrote 'Baggy Trousers' in the style of which artist?
Ian Dury
He contrasted his own school memories with Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall', which came from a public-school world he did not know.
Q 15'It Must Be Love' was a cover of a 1971 song by which singer-songwriter?
Labi Siffre
Madness took it to number 4 in 1981 and number 6 again on re-release in 1992.
Q 16Which 1980 Madness single did Lee Thompson write about his teenage sister's pregnancy?
Embarrassment
The real story had a happy ending once his niece was born; the song reached number 4.
Q 17The keyboardist got the idea for 'My Girl' from a co-worker while doing what job?
Delivering bananas in a van
The workmate kept saying 'my girl did this, my girl did that'; Barson sang the original demo himself.
Q 18Which Hollywood actor introduced himself by name on a 1984 single, sampled specially for it?
Michael Caine
The song is about an informer during the Troubles; the actor only agreed after his daughter told him how popular the band were.
Q 19Who sang lead vocals on the 1984 single about an informer, in place of Suggs?
Chas Smash
He also took lead on 'Wings of a Dove' and the spoken intro to 'One Step Beyond'.
Q 20'Driving in My Car' was notable for sampling what into its percussion using a Fairlight synthesiser?
Motor car noises
Revving engines and honking horns became instruments, an unusual use of sampling in 1982 outside hip hop.
Q 24Madness's 1981 film in which the members played themselves recreating their early days was called what?
Take It or Leave It
They financed it themselves; Chris Foreman called it 'a semi-serious film, more a documentary'.
Q 25The Rise & Fall (1982) was often compared to which Kinks album?
The Village Green Preservation Society
Initially conceived by Chas Smash as a concept album about childhood nostalgia, it was never released in the US.
Q 26On which TV comedy did Madness perform 'Our House'?
The Young Ones
The anarchic sitcom regularly booked bands to play in the middle of episodes.
Q 27Which Japanese company used Madness in a series of TV commercials for a hatchback and a folding scooter?
Honda
They sang 'In the City' and a reworked 'Driving in My Car' for the Honda City and Motocompo.
Q 28Which member's departure was announced in January 1984 after he tired of the music business and moved to Amsterdam?
Mike Barson
He had been the band's musical lynchpin, and had taken to hiding his face in photographs before he left.
Q 29On 4 October 1983 the band were discussing a TV series being written for them by which comedy duo?
Ben Elton and Richard Curtis
That was the meeting at which the keyboardist announced he was leaving, so the series never happened.
Q 30After leaving Stiff, the six remaining members formed their own label, a Virgin sub-label called what?
Zarjazz Records
Its name is a nod to the 2000 AD comic slang; the later reunion-era label was Lucky 7.