*** Welcome to piglix ***

Work Rest and Play

Work Rest and Play
Work Rest and Play.jpg
EP by Madness
Released March 1980
Recorded 1979-1980
Genre
Length 12:02
Label Stiff Records
Producer Clive Langer
Alan Winstanley
Madness chronology
One Step Beyond...
(1979)One Step Beyond...1979
Work Rest and Play
(1980)
Absolutely
(1980)Absolutely1980

Work Rest and Play is an EP by British ska/pop band Madness. The EP was headlined by the song "Night Boat to Cairo", from the band's debut album One Step Beyond.... It entered the UK Singles Chart on 5 April 1980, reached a high of number 6.

After the release of "My Girl", the band felt that they had exhausted the material from One Step Beyond..., and did not want to release any more singles from the album. However, Dave Robinson, head of Stiff Records, disagreed. Eventually, a compromise was made, and the band decided to release an EP featuring one album track and three new tracks. The "Work Rest and Play" EP was the result.

The EP's success was largely down to "Night Boat to Cairo", which headlined the set and had an accompanying music video. The fourth song, "Don't Quote Me On That", was a commentary on press coverage which had tried to paint the band as racists who supported the National Front. Some of the band's shows had been disrupted by skinhead violence and, in a 1979 NME interview, Madness member Chas Smash was quoted as saying "We don't care if people are in the NF as long as they're having a good time." This was quoted to add to the speculation that Madness was a racist band supporting the National Front, although the band members denied those allegations.

A promotional 12" single was issued in the UK featuring "Don't Quote Me On That" backed with "Swan Lake" from the One Step Beyond... album. The version of "Don't Quote Me On That" is a different, shorter mix from the one eventually used on the UK EP, and seems to have been used in all European countries outside the UK. It can be heard during the opening titles of the Madness film Take It Or Leave It.


...
Wikipedia

...