Baggy Trousers

This article is about the Madness song. For the clothing item, see wide-leg jeans.

"Baggy Trousers" is a song by the English ska and pop band Madness from their second studio album Absolutely (1980). It was written by lead vocalist Graham "Suggs" McPherson and guitarist Chris Foreman,^[2] and reminisces about school days. (Mike Barson also received a writing credit in error, the correct McPherson/Foreman credit being used for subsequent releases.) The band first began performing the song at live shows in April 1980.^[3]

"Baggy Trousers"
Single by Madness
from the album Absolutely
Released	5 September 1980
Recorded	1980
Studio	Eden (London)
Genre	Ska[1] 2 tone pop
Length	2:46
Label	Stiff
Songwriter(s)	Graham McPherson Chris Foreman
Producer(s)	Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Madness singles chronology
"Night Boat to Cairo" (1980) "Baggy Trousers" (1980) "Embarrassment" (1980)
Music video
"Baggy Trousers" by Madness on YouTube

It was released as a single on 5 September 1980 and spent 20 weeks in UK charts, reaching a high of #3.^[3] It was the 28th best-selling single of 1980 in the UK.^[4]

In October 2017, American punk rock and rap rock band the Transplants released a cover version of the song on their debut extended play Take Cover.

Music and lyrics

Suggs later recalled in an interview that "I was very specifically trying to write a song in the style of Ian Dury, especially the songs he was writing then, which [were] often sort of catalogues of phrases in a constant stream."^[5] He contrasted "Baggy Trousers" with Pink Floyd's 1979 single "Another Brick in the Wall": "I was writing about my time at school. Pink Floyd had that big hit with 'teacher, leave those kids alone'. It didn't really relate to me, because I hadn't been to a public school where I was bossed about and told to sing "Rule Britannia!" and all that",^[5] having instead attended a comprehensive school with much less strictly enforced discipline.

Music video

The music video of the song was shot in Kentish Town in northwest London: at the Kentish Town C of E primary school on Islip Street and the Peckwater Estate.^[3] The band's saxophonist, Lee Thompson decided he wanted to fly through the air for his solo, with the use of wires hanging from a crane.^[3] This was inspired by seeing Peter Gabriel flying during a Genesis concert.^[6] Thompson recreated the moment live at the band's reunion concert in 1992, Madstock!, during the band's 2007 Christmas tour, and the 2009 Glastonbury Festival^[7] as well as in a 2011 TV advert for Kronenbourg 1664 in which the band plays a slow version of "Baggy Trousers". The slow version was later released that same year on the box set A Guided Tour of Madness under the title "Le Grand Pantalon".

Second vocalist Chas Smash is showed playing the harmonica in the video, but it was actually played by multi-instrumentalist Mike Barson.^[8]

The video received great positive response from the public,^[3] and was particularly important as it demonstrated the potential for television shows such as Top of the Pops to show a band's music videos instead of having them perform live.^[3] Following the release of "Baggy Trousers", the public began to anticipate future Madness music videos.^[3]

Appearances

In addition to its single release and appearance on the album Absolutely, "Baggy Trousers" also appears on the Madness collections Divine Madness (a.k.a. The Heavy Heavy Hits), Complete Madness, It's... Madness, Total Madness, The Business and Our House: The Original Songs. Its only appearance on a US Madness compilation is on Ultimate Collection.

The song was featured in the sports comedy film Mean Machine (2001), and was included in the accompanying soundtrack.^[9]

In 2011, the song was slowed down to half its normal speed and was used for an advert for the Kronenbourg 1664 'Slow' campaign (see above).

In 1983, Colgate used the song's melody in a television advertisement written by Jay Pond-Jones and Ric Cooper in which a group of kids including actor Lee Ross sing newly written lyrics about Colgate Blue Minty Gel toothpaste, a variant of which was later used in the United States.^[10] The advert was seen as groundbreaking but had to be pre-approved by the band.^[10] Pond-Jones said, "Many years later ... I found out how they actually quite liked it. Even now, Carl from the band introduces me to people as “the bloke who did the Colgate ad”."^[10]

Track listing

7"

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Baggy Trousers"	Graham McPherson Chris Foreman	2:46
2.	"The Business"	Mike Barson	3:14

12" (Record Store Day 2022)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Baggy Trousers"	McPherson Foreman	2:46
2.	"Le Grand Pantalon"	McPherson Foreman	4:33
3.	"Disappear"	McPherson Mark Bedford	2:58
4.	"The Business"	Barson	3:14
5.	"That's The Way to Do It"	Foreman	2:50
6.	"On the Beat Pete"	Lee Thompson Madness	3:05

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1980–1981) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 30 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 23 France (IFOP)[13] 30 Ireland (IRMA)[14] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 6 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 3 UK Singles (OCC)[18] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1980) Position Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 100 Chart (1981) Position Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20] 91

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[21]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.