- Our House (Madness song)
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"Our House" 
Single by Madness from the album The Rise & Fall B-side "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" Released November 12, 1982 Format Vinyl record 7", 12" Recorded 1982 Genre Ska, pop, New Wave, rock, disco Length 3:23 Label Stiff Records Writer(s) Chris Foreman (music)
Carl Smyth (lyrics)Producer Clive Langer
Alan WinstanleyMadness singles chronology "Driving in My Car" "Our House" "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)"/"Madness (Is All in the Mind)" Music sample Our House"Our House" is a single by English ska/pop band Madness, from their UK album The Rise & Fall and their US compilation Madness.
Contents
About
Released in November 1982, it peaked at #5 in the UK singles chart and was their biggest hit in the United States, reaching #7 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. Though Madness produced many successful singles over a period of twenty years especially in their native United Kingdom, the enormous American popularity of "Our House" means that they are often regarded as one hit wonders in the USA (though technically they are two hit wonders in America, as their version of "It Must Be Love" also subsequently entered the US top 40). It won Best Song at the May 1983 Ivor Novello awards.[1]
A musical called Our House, featuring Madness songs, ran in London's West End between October 2002 and August 2003. A recording of the show was broadcast on BBC Three and was released as a DVD.[2] An altered version of the song was used in a Maxwell House commercial and the real version was featured in a montage for an episode of the BBC comedy, My Family. The original recording was also used as the theme for a 1998 ITV docusoap series, The Estate Agents, as well as for a 2004 American reality game, House of Dreams. The song also featured in a 2007-8 series of TV advertisements for Bird's Eye in which Suggs appeared, as well as an advertisement for the 2008 ABC reality game show Opportunity Knocks, and in episode 4 of season 3 of US TV show Brothers & Sisters, during the yard sale scene. In 2010, a mashup of Jingle Bells and Our House, created by New York music and audio branding company Expansion Team, was used in a Christmas time commercial for Verizon. In 1985 'Our House' was the theme song for a children's drama series, 'Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest. The version featured on the show was performed by the cast members.
The B-side, "Walking With Mr. Wheeze", is an instrumental with occasional scratch mix effects. The title is a play on "Groovin' With Mr Bloe", an instrumental hit of 1970 by the session group Mr. Bloe.
in 1984, Madness performed Our House on the episode Sick of The Young Ones.
In 2009, 'Nan's Christmas Carol', a Christmas special of The Catherine Tate Show, featuring the most popular character featured an appearance of Madness playing Our House outside Nan's flat, before she sends them away shouting 'This is madness!'
In 2010, in "It's The Great Pancake, Cleveland Brown", an episode of The Cleveland Show, after finding their home has been vandalised, Donna tells Cleveland "That's our house!", which Cleveland responds with "In the middle of our street? That's madness."
In 2011 a spoken word version was used in a UK advert for telecommunications firm Virgin Media.
Music video
The video depicts the band acting out the song's lyrics in an old mews house. The song's lyrics mostly describe the working class family lifestyle, and the band acts them out by portraying such a family in the video. The band plays their instruments in the living room, prepares for work and school as the 'family,' plays squash, and relaxes in a hot tub. The video also includes exterior shots of various other houses including Buckingham Palace. It was filmed near Willesden Junction.
Track listing
- 7" single
- "Our House" - 3:23
- "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" - 3:31
- French 7" single
- "Our House (Stretch mix)" - 3:45
- "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" - 3:31
("Stretch mix" is a mostly instrumental edit of the Extended mix)
- 12" single
- "Our House (Extended Mix)" - 6:00
- "Our House (7" Version)" - 3:23
- "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" - 3:31
- U.S. 12" single
- "Our House (Dance mix)" - 5:02
- "Mad House (Our House dub mix)" - 4:35
Cover versions
An instrumental mirroring the second verse and chorus of the song composed by Ira Newborn appeared in a scene of Sixteen Candles which was released two years after the song. It was composed after the studio was unable to use the song.
The song was also sampled by ska band Kid British on their 2009 single Our House Is Dadless.
Eminem and Limp Bizkit collaborated on a heavily modified version of the song in 2000.
The song's verse was parodied in the Horrorpops song "MissFit".
The song was sampled with Jingle Bells in a 2010 ad for verizon.
Charts
Country Peak
positionUnited Kingdom 5 USA 7 Australia 17 Switzerland 4 Sweden 1 Norway 4 References
External links
Categories:- 1982 singles
- Madness (band) songs
- Number-one singles in Sweden
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Songs written by Chris Foreman
- Songs written by Chas Smash
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