Madness front-man Suggs has gone into detail about the band’s illegal past – and suggested they may all be criminals if not for their music.
In a new docuseries dedicated to exposing more about the band, the legendary vocalist admitted the youngsters were “at a crossroads” – with some even winding up in jail.
Before We Was We: Madness By Madness, which is set to air in May, delves deeper into Suggs’ own criminal history – and how they narrowly avoided becoming jailbirds.
Real name Graham McPherson, Suggs was arrested for fighting in public as a teen.
He used his nickname as a graffiti tag which he scrawled across buildings all over North London.
The 60-year-old singer admitted in the documentary: “Being in the band was like an extension of being in a gang – apart from the fact it wasn’t just us smashing up phone boxes and kicking traffic cones down the road together.
“It was at a crossroads. A lot of those people we knew at that time did get into serious crime,” Suggs revealed.
“We were all a little bit involved in that sort of thing and graffiti was the first thing. Music was a huge step in the right direction.”
But it wasn’t just the Baggy Trousers vocalist who was at risk of falling further into a pit of delinquency.
(Image: PA)
Lee “Thommmo” Thomspon – now 63 – was arrested for burglary aged just 11.
The saxophonist broke into singer Lynsey de Paul’s home with a friend.
The pair ate a bowl of cereal each, then “put the plates in the sink and left – we didn’t take nothing”.
If that wasn’t enough, keyboard player Mike “Barso” Barson, aged 62, along with guitarist Chris “Chrissy Boy” Foreman, 64, were notorious for regularly stealing records from a Camden record shop.
They didn’t stop there – they also nicked Lambretta scooters and Sellotape.
Barso ended up in prison by the time he was 18, while Thommo’s dad “gave up on him” and packed him off to reform school.
“That was pretty stupid,” Barso said in the documentary. “Me and my mate found a load of these long neon light bulbs and we were just smashing them.
“The police got called and we got caught. Because we’d been stopped by the police a lot of times, the judge decided he was going to make an example of us.”
(Image: © Martin Parr/MAGNUM PHOTOS)
The keyboardist continued: “He said ‘Remand without bail’. That was a short, sharp shock. We were in there for about three weeks and it was pretty horrible.”
Compelled to stay out of jail, Madness began meeting up instead to play music, inviting along trumpet player Carl “Chas Smash” Smyth, 62.
The band has since cycled through an impressive 15 members, with six remaining in Madness now.
The three-part docu-series, which will air on May 1, is inspired by the band biography of the same name.
Speaking about why they decided to get together to make the series, Suggs said: “It was the 40th anniversary of when we made our first record, and we thought it might be nice to do a book, one that wasn’t just about when we became successful, but about before we became successful, although we were all successful as kids in our own right, which you will find out watching this fantastic series.
Like what you see? Then fill your boots…
There’s MUCH more where that came from! Want all the jaw-dropping stories from the world of showbiz and up to the minute news from TV and soaps?
Well, we’ve got you covered with our showbiz, TV and soaps newsletters – they’ll drop straight into your inbox and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
We’ll bring you the inside track from telly expert Ed Gleave and soap specialist Sasha Morris. Oh, and your daily fix of Piers, Katie Price, Demi Rose and all your other Daily Star favs.
You can sign up here – you won’t regret it…
“The premise of the book was that we all got interviewed individually, and we thought maybe it would be nice to do a documentary like that because not all of the members of the band get to say their own bit, and I think that’s what made it interesting is that we all contradicted each other.”
Two members of band were present at the premiere of the series in London on Thursday night – although it wasn’t the usual glitzy launch fit for Hollywood A-listers.
A viewing was held in a 1972 caravan, originally built for the Morris Minor and converted into a cinema, and Suggs has to act as box office clerk, usher and popcorn seller.
He joked: “I can’t believe they’ve had me working at my own premiere. It’s a disgrace.”
Before We Was We: Madness By Madness is available exclusively on BT TV channel AMC and on demand through BT Player from May 1
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
