Baggy Trousers

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This article is about the Madness song. For the clothing item, see wide-leg jeans.

"Baggy Trousers"
Single by Madness
from the album Absolutely
Released5 September 1980
Recorded1980
Genre
Length2:46
LabelStiff
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Madness singles chronology
"Night Boat to Cairo"
(1980) 		"Baggy Trousers"
(1980) 		"Embarrassment"
(1980)
Music video
"Baggy Trousers" by Madness on
YouTube

"Baggy Trousers" is a song by English ska/pop band

Graham "Suggs" McPherson and guitarist Chris Foreman,[2] and reminisces about school days. (Mike Barson also received a writing credit in error, the correct McPherson/Foreman credit being used for subsequent releases.) The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980.[3]

It was released as a single on 5 September 1980 and spent 20 weeks in UK charts, reaching a high of #3.[3] It was the 28th best-selling single of 1980 in the UK.[4]

In October 2017, American punk rock/hip hop band the Transplants released a cover version of the song on their Take Cover EP.

Music and lyrics

Suggs later recalled in an interview that "I was very specifically trying to write a song in the style of

Rule Britannia!" and all that",[5] having instead attended a comprehensive school
with much less strictly enforced discipline.

Music video

The music video of the song was shot in

Kronenbourg 1664
in which the band plays a slow version of "Baggy Trousers". The slow version was later released on the box set A Guided Tour of Madness under the title "Le Grand Pantalon".

Second vocalist Chas Smash is showed playing the harmonica in the video, but it was actually played by multi-instrumentalist Mike Barson.[8]

The video received great positive response from the public,[3] and was particularly important as it demonstrated the potential for television shows such as Top of the Pops to show a band's music videos instead of having them perform live.[3] Following the release of "Baggy Trousers", the public began to anticipate future Madness music videos.[3]

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album Absolutely, "Baggy Trousers" also appears on the Madness collections

Our House: the Best of Madness
. Its only appearance on a US Madness compilation is on Ultimate Collection.

The song was featured in the 2001 film Mean Machine, and was included in the accompanying soundtrack.[9]

In 2011, the song was slowed down to half its normal speed and was used for an advert for the

Kronenbourg 1664
'Slow' campaign (see above).

In 1983, Colgate used the song's melody in a television advertisement written by Jay Pond-Jones and Ric Cooper in which a group of kids including actor Lee Ross sing newly written lyrics about Colgate Blue Minty Gel toothpaste, a variant of which was later used in the United States.[10] The advert was seen as groundbreaking but had to be pre-approved by the band.[10] Pond-Jones said, "Many years later ... I found out how they actually quite liked it. Even now, Carl from the band introduces me to people as “the bloke who did the Colgate ad”."[10]

Track listing

7"

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Baggy Trousers"
2:46
2."The Business"Mike Barson3:14

12" (Record Store Day 2022)

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Baggy Trousers"
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
2:46
2."Le Grand Pantalon"
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
4:33
3."Disappear"
2:58
4."The Business"Barson3:14
5."That's The Way To Do It"Foreman2:50
6."On The Beat Pete"
3:05

Charts

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8
    .
  2. ^ Woodstra, Chris."Allmusic.com Absolutely Overview". Retrieved on 1 July 2007.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "The Madness Timeline: 1980". Archived from the original on 16 July 2009. Retrieved on 1 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Top 100 1980 - UK Music Charts". www.uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  5. ^ a b Young Guns go for it: Madness (BBC documentary)
  6. ^ "Madness on their best albums: "We were full of ideas!"". 15 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Madness get heroes' welcome on return to Glastonbury". NME. 28 June 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  8. ^ "SEVEN RAGGED MEN | Baggy Trousers". Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  9. ^ Mean Machine OST. Audio CD, Redemption, 2004, ASIN: B00005Y48T
  10. ^ a b c "Colgate | TV & Cinema Ads (archive) | Jay Pond-Jones". Jaypj.com. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  11. ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  12. ^ "Madness – Bagy Trousers" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque artiste commençant par M". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Baggy Trousers". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 2, 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  16. ^ "Madness – Baggy Trousers" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  17. Top 40 Singles
    .
  18. ^ "Madness: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  19. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1980". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1981". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  21. ^ "British single certifications – Madness – Baggy Trousers". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
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