YouTube [the actual song starts about a minute and a half in]
Madness are one of three acts to have appeared on all of the first three Now albums. All those runs come to a halt on this volume but they can still claim a presence thanks to this first release on their Zarjazz label, a song written by Chas Smash himself (I believe most of Madness also play instruments on the track: they certainly appeared with him on TotP. As well as launching the label, this was also the official start of Sharkey's solo career and given this pedigree (he'd had his first Top 5 hit the previous year fronting the Assembly's 'Never Never') expectations may have been pretty high but in the end even the release of a mullet-tastic picture disc couldn't propell it any higher than 23 and it drifted into near oblivion; as far as I'm aware the only CD release of this song was on an obscure re-issue of 'You Little Thief' (and even that was the 12" mix).Weirdly, though, one place it did find a home was the cassette deck of the family car, so it's a song that (aptly enough) I strongly associate with my childhood. I was decidedly pleased to find
the 7" you see illustrated there, not only for this reason but because 'Listen To Your Father' is something of a corker, a vaguely Northern-soulish stomper that you wouldn't have blamed Madness for keeping to themselves (except that the rhyme of "good" and "mood" wouldn't really work in a London accent I suppose). As it is, though, Feargal got it and his vocal performance makes you wish he hadn't stopped singing to become a spokesman for the very record industry that is refusing to sell this track to you, should you want to buy it.
Also appearing on: Now 6
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