"House of Fun" | ||||||||||
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Single by Madness | ||||||||||
from the album Complete Madness | ||||||||||
Released | 14 May 1982 | |||||||||
Format |
7" 12" CD |
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Recorded | 1982 | |||||||||
Genre | Pop, ska, 2 tone, new wave | |||||||||
Length | 2:58 | |||||||||
Label | Stiff | |||||||||
Writer(s) |
Lee Thompson (lyrics) Mike Barson (music) |
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Producer(s) | Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley | |||||||||
Madness singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"House of Fun" is a song by English ska/pop group Madness, credited to Mike Barson and Lee Thompson. It was released as a one-off single on 14 May 1982 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending nine weeks in the charts. The song was re-released in 1992, reaching number 40. It is the band's only number one single in the UK and in 2015 the British public voted it as the nation's 8th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
The song was originally recorded under the title "Chemist Facade", without the "Welcome to the House of Fun" chorus. However, while the song was being recorded, head of Stiff Records Dave Robinson demanded that the band add a chorus, to ensure the song was a hit. Upon hearing this, band member Mike Barson immediately wrote the "Welcome to the House of Fun" refrain on his piano.
However, at this point, the song was already recorded, and the management decided not to re-record the whole song. Instead, the recording was edited, and the chorus instruments and vocals dubbed onto the recording. This proved to be difficult, mainly due to technical limitations at the time, and it resulted in the first part of the word "Welcome" being cut off. Due to this, the chorus seemed to begin "Elcome to the House of Fun", so lead singer Suggs was forced to overdub the word "Welcome". Although this proved to be a tough task, it was completed successfully.
"House of Fun" is composed in the key of D, written in common time. It is a pop song which moves at an upbeat 126 beats per minute. The song is written in simple verse-chorus form, ending with a repeating chorus fade out (the original 7" release version/mix ends with a sudden keyboard "crash", followed by fairground organ music). The song begins solely with eight drum beats, before the keyboard, bass guitar, electric guitar, trumpet and saxophone are all introduced simultaneously.