FESTIVAL - Suggs (Madness), a bouncy eighties ska troublemaker

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

His father abandoned the family home when he was barely three years old. He was raised by Edith Gowell, his Welsh-born mother, who was trying to make a living as a jazz singer. On the official Madness website, he shares some of his memories of that time: "She used to pick up gigs in pubs and jazz clubs. We moved around a lot during my childhood: Liverpool, relations in Wales and finally London (...) I was pretty lazy at school!

How did he come by this unlikely pseudonym? It would appear that he chose it himself by leafing through a jazz dictionary and coming across a certain Pete Suggs, an American musician from Kentucky who is much less well known today than he is! "With my typically Scottish surname, it suited me that people only knew me as Suggs. It avoided derogatory remarks," he later confided.

Although the band existed before Suggs joined in 1977, it was not until then that Madness began to carve out a reputation for themselves. In 1979, they made their recording debut on ska label 2 Tone Records with the single "The Prince". In doing so, they joined The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat, the other big names in the revival movement.

In just three years, the seven-member band (including clownish percussionist-dancer Chas Smash) racked up hits with their mix of bouncy ska, reggae references and unstoppable pop choruses: "One Ste Beyond" and "My Girl" (1979), "Baggy Trousers" and "Embarrassment" (1980), "Shut Up" and "Grey Day" (1981) or the masterful "Our House" (1982), although the aptly named album "The Rise & Fall" was already showing signs of weakness, and also revealed the first signs of dissension, leading to a hiatus around 1986. Since 1992, however, the merrymakers have been back together. Essentially, they like to keep the flame alive, sporadically releasing new recordings that attempt to maintain the same gentle madness ("Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da" in 2012) or flirt with a more serious vision (the ambitious "Theatre Of The Absurd: C'est La Vie" in 2023).

Alongside Madness, Suggs has also attempted a few solo exercises. In 1995, his debut "The Lone Ranger" was produced by the famous Jamaican musicians and producers Sly & Robbie. However, the relevance of his cover of"Cecilia" (Simon & Garfunkel) and that strange Christmas version of "Sleigh Reid" are questionable...

Suggs has also exercised his protean talent on the big screen, on television, on stage (for a one-man show entitled "Live Suggs" in 2011) and on radio (as a DJ on BBC6 and Virgin), among other activities. Although he's now putting his foot down, the sixty-something continues to work tirelessly on new projects and, as his heart is in the right place, continues to support charities such as Children In Need and cancer research...

This summer at the Cactus Festival in Bruges:

Like many summer events, the Cactus in Bruges has begun to unveil its line-up for the 2026 edition, to be held from July 10 to 12 in the enchanting setting of Minnewater Park. English band MADNESS will headline on July 11, and EDITORS will fill the same role on July 12. Other names on the bill include Zwangere Guy, The Haunted Youth, Aldous Harding and Osées.

All info and bookings on cactusfestival.be.

Photo: Suggs (right) and Chas Smash (left) on the Grand Place in Brussels (Belgium) in September 1981, looking for souvenir postcards!