One Step Beyond (song)

"One Step Beyond"
Single by Madness
from the album One Step Beyond...
B-side
  • "Mistakes"
  • "Nutty Theme"
Released26 October 1979 (1979-10-26)
Recorded1979
Length2:17
LabelStiff
Songwriter(s)Cecil Campbell
Producer(s)
Madness singles chronology
"The Prince"
(1979)
"One Step Beyond"
(1979)
"My Girl"
(1979)
Music video
"One Step Beyond" by Madness on YouTube

"One Step Beyond" is a tune written by Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster[1] as a B-side for his 1964 single "Al Capone". It was covered by British band Madness for their debut studio album of the same name (1979).[1] Although Buster's version was mostly instrumental except for the song title shouted for a few times, the Madness version features a spoken intro by Chas Smash and a barely audible but insistent background chant of "here we go!". The spoken line, "Don't watch that, watch this", in the intro is from another Prince Buster song, "Scorcher" — and is also used at the start of Dave and Ansell Collins' "Funky Funky Reggae" — whilst the next line "This is a heavy heavy monster sound" is taken from another Dave and Ansell Collins song, "Monkey Spanner". The first of those also became a trademark during the early promos of MTV, where the video was in heavy rotation.

According to Alan Winstanley, one of the producers, the released Madness version was a rough mix, created by taking the original 1 minute 10 second instrumental and repeating it, with the second half treated with an Eventide harmonizer to make it sound slightly different. Langer and Winstanley intended to do a full remix but found that the double-length rough mix had already been sent for mastering before they got the opportunity.[2]

The song is often used to begin live performances by the band.

  1. ^ a b Greene, Jo-Ann. "Madness – One Step Beyond..." AllMusic. Retrieved 13 June 2009.
  2. ^ Buskin, Richard (June 2006). "Classic Tracks: 'Our House' by Madness". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 13 June 2009.