Mark Bedford

Mark Bedford onstage with Madness

Mark Bedford (born Mark William Bedford, 24 August 1961,^[1] Islington, North London), nicknamed 'Bedders', is a bass guitarist and former member of the band Madness.

Bedford attended William Ellis School in Kentish Town and met members of the North London Invaders when they played a gig there. He was asked along to a band rehearsal and found that the lads could play quite well. Bedford was friends with Gary Dovey who was playing drums with the band, but after a scuffle with sax player Lee Thompson, Dovey left the band. Bedford knew a drummer, and Daniel Woodgate was introduced as the final member of the then six-piece band.

Although not a major songwriting force within the band, Bedford wrote one of the band's more emotive songs "One Better Day" with Suggs. He was also responsible for co-writing "Not Home Today", "Disappear", "Return of the Los Palmas 7", "Deceives The Eye", "Stepping Into Line" and "Maybe In Another Life". The only song he ever wrote entirely on his own was "Mummy's Boy", which appeared on the band's debut album One Step Beyond....

Bedford played double bass on Robert Wyatt's recording of the Elvis Costello song 'Shipbuilding' in 1982.^[2]

After Madness split up for the first time in 1986, Bedford played bass with Voice of the Beehive,^[1] and in 1991 played bass on Morrissey's second studio album "Kill Uncle".^[3]

He later teamed up with ex-Higsons brass supremo Terry Edwards, and they formed Butterfield 8 along with various strong members of the jazz scene at the time.^[4] They released a single "Watermelon Man" and an album called Blow!. This was re-released in 2001 on the Sartorial Records label.

Bedford left Madness in 2009, after the release of The Liberty of Norton Folgate. He recently appeared in a TV advert with the group, promoting a popular beer, but he is no longer a member of the band. Bedders is a graphic designer and he runs his own printing business from a shop in east London.

In his spare time he often plays the bass in the Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra. He lives near Stoke Newington in London, and has two daughters, Alice and Olivia.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Strong, Martin C. (2002) The Great Rock Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-312-1, p. 638
2. ^ Look-in, Secrets of the Silly Seven, September 1983
3. ^ Rees, Dafydd & Crampton, Luke (1991) Rock Movers and Shakers: An A-Z of People Who Made Rock Happen, ABC-Clio Inc, ISBN 978-0874366617, p. 485
4. ^ Larkin, Colin (1992) The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music I-N, New England Publishing Associates, ISBN 978-1882267026, p. 1145

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Name	Bedford, Mark
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Date of birth	24 August 1961
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