Herbert Anchovy
Email Address*: cannon52@aol.com
Dear CB,

As we approach the 20th anniversary of your first Madstock concert I thought I would take this opportunity to share my memories of it with you and the other readers.

Back in 1992 I was a young,slim, ennergetic buck of an 18 year old. I was into all sorts of music at the time, bits of heavy metal, bits of hip hop, bits of dance etc..but I’d only actually got into Madness 6 years previously thanks to a bout of measles and a 2 week stint off school. I genuinly never thought I would ever see you in concert. The nearest I got to seeing you live was watching a mates grainy video of Dance Craze. So there I was happily picking up your singles at the odd record fair, singing along to the odd time you were played on the radio (I do remember Gary Davies once playing Madness at a Radio 1 roadshow and him telling all the listeners how much he missed the band) and that was it. Then, out of the blue, it all goes potty. Divine Madness is released and everyone remembers why they loved the band in the first place. For me I felt vindicated about all the times I’d put you on the Jukebox in my local and seeing people sing or dance along! Flicking through the! old ‘gig guide’ on ceefax I couldnt believe my eyes “The Magnificent 7 Ride Again” shouted the headline! I couldnt believe it! In the space of a few months I’d gone from never thinking I would ever see the band to you releasing a mega selling album and reforming for a gig! Life was good & once I got paid I would spend a large chunk of my meagre salary on a ticket for me and my lady friend of the time. Come pay day I’m on the phone to the ticket office, but wait, the gig is sold out! Noooooo! This is where it all gets a little strange. To cheer ourselves up my girlfriend and me decide to book a holiday in Cornwall that would mean us being there over the weekend of the gig. So we come off the phone with the ticket agency and straight onto a B&B. Anyway, a couple of days later my girlfriend gets a call from a friend of a friend who tells us of a coach agency that still has some spaces remaining for the gig due to cancellations but we’d have to get a coach fr! om…Cornwall! St Austell to be precise. How uncanny is that? ! If we’d not booked that holiday, to that part of the world we wouldnt have made it! To cut a long story short we went to the gig and it was a fabulous day and we loved every minute of it. It was the first time I’d ever been to a ‘big gig’ having only seen bands in pubs & clubs previously (including the Nutty Boys at the Duchess in Leeds)!

Hope you dont mind me sharing this with you (and sorry its a bit long) but it genuinly was a great time in my life and one I will always remember fondly!

Take Care
Cheers
Herbert Anchovy

Dear Herbert
That’s a great story. I’m glad you made it.
thanks, CB