The Return of the Los Palmas 7

Infobox Single
Name=The Return of the Los Palmas 7


Artist=Madness
from Album=Absolutely
Released=January 16, 1981
Format=7"
12"
Recorded=1980
Genre=Ska/Pop
Length=2:34
Label=Stiff Records
Writer=Mike Barson (music) Daniel Woodgate (music) Mark Bedford (music)
Producer=Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Chart position=* #7 (UK)
Reviews=
Artist=Madness
Last single="Embarrassment"
(1980)
This single="The Return of the Los Palmas 7"
(1981)
Next single="Grey Day"
(1981)Extra tracklisting
Album = Absolutely
Type = studio
Tracks = ;Side One
# "Baggy Trousers"
# "Embarrassment"
# "E.R.N.I.E."
# "Close Escape"
# "Not Home Today"
# "On the Beat Pete"
# "Solid Gone";Side Two
# "Take It or Leave It"
# "Shadow of Fear"
# "Disappear"
# "Overdone"
# "In the Rain"
# "You Said"
# "The Return of the Los Palmas 7"Extra tracklisting
Album = Divine Madness
Type = Compilation
prev_track = "Embarrassment"
prev_no = 6
this_track = "The Return of the Los Palmas 7"
track_no = 7
next_track = "Grey Day"
next_no = 8

"The Return of the Los Palmas 7" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness, written by Mike Barson, Mark Bedford and Daniel Woodgate. Woodstra, Chris.cite web|url= http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:a9fixqq5ldhe |title= "Allmusic.com Absolutely Overview" Retrieved on July 7, 2007.] The song was Woodgate's first credit as a songwriter, and was released as the band's 7th single on January 16, 1981. cite web|url= http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1981/text.htm |title= "The Madness Timeline: 1981" Retrieved on July 7, 2007.] The single reached number 7 in the UK, and remained in the charts for 7 weeks. The single release was slightly different from the album version, and was roughly 30 seconds longer.

The song is mainly instrumental, except for some ad-libbing by Chas Smash at the beginning, the sound of "Waiter!" approximately 42 seconds into the track, and "Good night!" at the very end. Dave Robinson, head of Stiff Records, was keen on Madness recording another instrumental track, especially after the success of "One Step Beyond". The resulting song was not as ska influenced as their earlier songs, and was played heavily on BBC Radio 2. This helped Madness gain a new generation of older fans.

Music video

.

The video mainly features the band in the cafe, switching between a greasy spoon scene, and an elegant restaurant scene. Around the half-way mark of the video, the band are also shown dressed as cowboys in Kenwood Park. These three scenarios are interspersed between random clips. It is these clips of random events or people which make up the bulk of the video. The video was only filmed two weeks prior to the release of the single, which may explain why so much of the video is random footage, as opposed to footage of the band.

The clips which are interspersed throughout the video are chronologically summarised below, as well as giving the approximate time the clip makes an appearance.

Clips used

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album "Absolutely", "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" also appears on the Madness collections "Divine Madness" (a.k.a. "The Heavy Heavy Hits"), "Complete Madness", "It's... Madness Too", "The Business", "Our House" and "Ultimate Collection".

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "The Return of the Los Palmas 7".

*7" Single
#"The Return of the Los Palmas 7" (Barson/Woodgate/Bedford) - 2:04
#"That's The Way To Do It" (Foreman) - 2:51

*12" Single
#"The Return of the Los Palmas 7" (Barson/Woodgate/Bedford) - 2:04
#"My Girl (Demo Performed by Madness and The Prince)" (Barson) - 2:27
#"That's The Way To Do It" (Foreman) - 2:51
#"Swan Lake (Live)" (Tchaikovsky arr. Barson) - 2:34

*Included with the 12" Single was a copy of the first edition of "The Nutty Boys" comic. The demo version of "My Girl" is notable for being the only officially released Madness track to feature a lead vocal by Mike Barson.

Notes