MADNESS (ONE STEP BEYOND) MUSIC VIDEO

ANALYSIS

Music videos usually include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics.

This still shows the performers dressed in genre appropriate clothing, the man at the front is warring a parker jacket. These are extremely popular in mod culture and are also commonly related to ska.

There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.

This screenshot shows a link between the lyrics and the visuals. There aren’t many vocals in the song however there is a narrative in the intro. The narrator, Chas Bash says “hey you”, the man in the shot then sits up and acts as if he is the person being spoken to.

Music genres have their own music style and iconography.

Ska music videos are nearly always based in an urban working class setting as the music was usually popular among working class subcultures such as Mod’s and Skinheads.

There is likely to be voyeurism, Particular in the treatment of women.

The are no women in the actual music video, nor are there any verbal or visual sexual references through out the entire video. Therefore this rule does not apply to this particular music video.

There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artists/vocalists.

The only proper close ups in the video are of Chas Smash, this is obviously because he is the only vocalist in the video, It is also because madness are recognised as a band in their songs and not as individuals which is the explanation for why there are many more shots of the band as a whole rather than individuals.

There is likely to be intertextual reference either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.

The only vaguely intertextual reference I can find in the video is the mini saxophone which seems to be a popular prop across many of madness's videos.