One Better Day

"One Better Day"
Single by Madness
from the album Keep Moving
Released	June 2, 1984
Format	7" 12"
Genre	Pop/Ska, Reggae
Length	4:06
Label	Stiff Records
Writer(s)	Graham McPherson (lyrics) Mark Bedford (music)
Producer	Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Madness singles chronology
"Michael Caine" (1984) "One Better Day" (1984) "Yesterday's Men" (1985)
Music sample One Better Day Keep Moving track listing Side One "Keep Moving" "Michael Caine" "Turning Blue" "One Better Day" "March of the Gherkins" "Waltz into Mischief" Side Two "Brand New Beat" "Victoria Gardens" "Samantha" "Time for Tea" "Prospects" "Give Me a Reason"

"One Better Day" is a song by British band Madness from their 1984 album Keep Moving. The song was written by Graham McPherson and Mark Bedford.^[1] The song was released as a single in the UK, and spent 7 weeks in British charts peaking at number 18.^[2]

The single was a last minute choice, as "Victoria Gardens" from the same album was originally slated to be the album's second single.^[2] The remixed version of "Victoria Gardens" intended for the A-side was instead included as a bonus track on the 12" single. This was the last single under the Stiff Records label, before the band's creation of their own label, Zarjazz Records.^[2]

Music video

As the single was the final release under Stiff Records, the label did not want to film an accompanying music video, and the band had to fund it themselves.^[2] Mike Barson flew from Amsterdam especially to be a part of the video.^[2] The resulting music video was filmed in Arlington Road, just outside "Arlington House". Incidentally, "Arlington House" is the first line of the song, and was a local homeless refuge, one of the Rowton Houses.^[2]

Most of the video shows the band members as homeless people, except a few clips showing them performing the song. It also shows Suggs dancing with his wife Bette Bright, who plays a homeless woman in the video.

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album Keep Moving, "One Better Day" also appears on the Madness collections Divine Madness (a.k.a. The Heavy Heavy Hits), Utter Madness, Total Madness, The Business and Our House: the Best of Madness. It did not appear on any of the band's US compilations.

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "One Better Day".

• 7" Single

1. "One Better Day" (McPherson/Bedford) - 4:06
2. "Guns" (McPherson) - 3:14

• 12" Single

1. "One Better Day" (McPherson/Bedford) - 4:06
2. "Guns" (McPherson) - 3:14
3. "Victoria Gardens" (Smyth/Barson/Smyth) - 4:01
4. "Sarah" (Thompson/Madness) - 3:43

Notes

1. ^ ""Allmusic.com Keep Moving Overview"". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r12190.  Retrieved on June 27, 2007.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} ""The Madness Timeline: 1984"". http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1984/text.htm.  Retrieved on June 27, 2007.