Main content

Sue Lawley's castaway is musician and Madness frontman Suggs.

Suggs made his name as front man of 80s pop phenomenon Madness and impressed a whole generation with his unique style of singing, silly dancing and fondness for making the mundane the subject of his songs, such as Baggy Trousers, inspired by memories of school. Although his cockney accent is part of his singing style, he was actually born in Hastings and moved to London as a child. His singer mother was perhaps a subconscious inspiration, but Suggs didn't have any particular ambitions in his teens. He dropped out of school and did what a lot of teenage boys do - formed a band with his friends.

Madness, a seven-piece gang of friends, became a huge success. Their first single 'The Prince' went to number 16 in 1979 and three years later they had a number one with House of Fun. In seven years they had 20 singles in the top twenty UK chart and travelled the world playing to large audiences. Now Madness occasionally meet up and play their hits list, and Suggs has launched a successful solo career and is also working in TV, hosting Night Fever on Channel 5 and captaining a team on 麻豆社1's A Question of Pop.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Is That All There Is? by Peggy Lee
Book: A concise book of Italian verbs
Luxury: A nucleus of bees

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 24 May 2002 09:00
麻豆社 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Sir Aaron Klug

Next

Sue Johnston

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • The Kinks

    Village Green Preservation Society

    • The Kings Are The Village Preservation Society.
    • Essential.

  • Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

  • Clash

    London's Burning

    • Clash on Broadway.
    • Epic.

  • Prince Buster

    Al Capone

    • Fabulous Greatest hits.
    • Sequel Records.

  • Sir John Betjeman

    On A Portrait Of A Deaf Man

    • Banana Blush.
    • Virgin.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Peggy Lee

      Is That All There Is?

      • Lieber & Stoller Songbook.
      • Connoisseur Collection.

  • Van Morrison

    Cleaning Windows

    • The Best of Van Morrison.
    • Polydor.

  • Julie London

    Cry Me a River

    • That's Jazz.
    • EMI.

  • Book Choice

    • A concise book of Italian verbs

  • Luxury Choice

    • A nucleus of bees

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Suggs

Broadcasts

  • Sun 19 May 2002 11:15
    麻豆社 Radio 4
  • Fri 24 May 2002 09:00
    麻豆社 Radio 4

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast