Born on January 13: Suggs (Madness), the sweet  English ska madness from the 80s

We have always known him by his stage name, but born in Hastings in 1961, Suggs bears the very British name (Scottish even by his father) of Graham McPherson.

His father left the family home when he was barely three years old. He was therefore raised by Edith Gowell, his mother of Welsh origin, who tried as best she could to earn a living as a jazz singer. On the official Madness website, he shares some memories of this time: "She scrounged up performances in pubs or jazz clubs. We moved a lot during my childhood: Liverpool, to friends in Wales and finally ended up in London. (..) At school, you could say that I was rather lazy!"

How did he inherit his improbable pseudonym? It seems that he chose it himself while leafing through a jazz dictionary and stopping by chance on a certain Pete Suggs, an American musician from Kentucky who is now much less well-known than him! "With my typically Scottish surname, it suited me that people only knew me as Suggs. It avoided derogatory remarks," he would later confide. 

If though the group existed before his arrival on vocals in 1977, Madness only began to carve out a small reputation for itself from that point on. In 1979, they took their first steps on the ska label 2 Tone Records with the single "The Prince". They thus joined the other tenors of the revival movement including The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat.

In just three years, the seven-member band (including clownish dancer-percussionist Chas Smash) racked up hits with their mix of bouncy ska, reggae references and unstoppable pop refrains: "One Step Beyond" and "My Girl" (1979), "Baggy Trousers" and "Embarrassment" (1980), "Shut Up" and "Grey Day" (1981) and the masterful "Our House" (1982), although the aptly named album The "Rise & Fall" showed some signs of weakness and also revealed the first dissensions that led to a hiatus around 1986. Since 1992, however, the merry pranksters are back together. They mainly enjoy keeping the flame alive by releasing new recordings sporadically, despite everything, that try to keep the same gentle madness ("Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da" in 2012) or to flirt with a more serious vision (the ambitious "Theater Of The Absurd: C'est La Vie" in 2023). 

Alongside Madness, Suggs also tried some solo stints. In 1995, his first attempt "The Lone Ranger" was produced by famous Jamaican musicians and producers Sly & Robbie. However, one can question the relevance of his cover of "Cecilia" (Simon & Garfunkel) and the strange version of "Sleigh Reid" calibrated for Christmas... Suggs also tried his protean talent on the big screen, on television, on stage (for a one-man show called eLiveSuggse in 2011), on radio (as a DJ on BBC6 and Virgin) among other things. Even though he's now taking his foot off the pedal, the sixty-year-old tirelessly continues to refine new projects and, as he has a heart of gold, always supports associations such as Children In Need and cancer research…

This summer at the Cactus Festival in Bruges:
Like many summer events, the Cactus Festival in Bruges has begun unveiling its lineup for the 2026 edition, which will take place from July 10th to 12th in the enchanting setting of Minnewater Park. The English band MADNESS will headline on July 11th, and EDITORS will do the same on July 12th. Other names such as Zwangere Guy, The Haunted Youth, Aldous Harding, and Osées have also been announced. All information and tickets are available at cactusfestival.be. Don't wait too long, as some ticket types are already sold out!

(Stéphane Soupart - Tr.: MH - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)
Photo: Suggs (right) and Chas Smash (left) on the Grand Place in Brussels (Belgium) in September 1981 looking for souvenir postcards!