Ska Boom-Episode 018: The Story Behind "It Must Be Love" by Madness

Ska Boom - An American Ska & Reggae Podcast

On this episode, I focus on the story behind the Madness song “It Must Be Love” which along with "Our House" is the song most Americans are familiar with by the band. Each of them charted in the top 40 with Our House hitting #7 and It Must Be Love at #33 in 1983. Madness came along at just the right time for me. I was a newly minted teenager when their music entered my consciousness and wouldn’t leave. Where The Specials were angry and confrontational, Madness was funny in a very English way. And “It Must Be Love” was one of the first love songs that made sense to me and it served as the soundtrack to my first high school romance. It later became a regular addition to cassette mix tapes I made during the 80s and early 90s for potential girl friends I was trying to impress. It was a bold choice to include on any mix tape particularly if the feeling wasn’t mutual. It must have hit a chord with many other like me the song remains one of the band's most popular and continues to be a mainstay of their live set list. "It Must Be Love" has a very interesting back story.Did you know that the song is a cover version of the original by Labi Siffre? Did you know that Siffre had a Top 15 hit with the song on the UK charts in 1971? Did you know that Madness did not want to record and release the song?Please note: The music clips included in this podcast fall under the “Fair Use Doctrine” as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. The law allows for use of music clips for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices