Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1984


Michael Caine (song)

Buy Michael Caine (song) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




"'Michael Caine'" is a song by British band Madness, released on 30 January 1984 as the first single from their album 'Keep Moving'. The song was written by Carl Smyth and Daniel Woodgate, Retrieved on June 27, 2007. and features Smyth on lead vocals in place of usual Madness vocalist Suggs. "Michael Caine" spent eight weeks on the British chart, peaking at number 11.

Lyrical content



(pictured in 1979), whom the song is named after.

The song is about an informer during the Troubles, and the lyrics suggest a state of paranoia and mental disintegration. It is named after English actor Michael Caine and includes his vocal samples, recorded specifically for this song. The song's hook, a repetition of Caine introducing himself by name, recalls his role in the 1960s spy film 'The Ipcress File', in which his character, Harry Palmer, repeats his name while trying to stay sane under torture.

When he was approached to appear on the record, Caine initially turned it down, but his daughter on hearing his decision made him change his mind, telling him how popular they were.

Speaking of the song's lyrics and the idea behind the use of Caine's name, Carl Smyth told 'Record Mirror' in 1984, "The record's about informers. If you think of informers who are current news then that's a clue. At the same time, I wouldn't do a song just about Michael Caine it's not a tribute or anything like that. I was trying to think of who could be used to illustrate it, and his name seemed right his film 'The Ipcress File' had the sort of atmosphere I wanted to create we even used some of the phrases."

Music video



The music video was also based on 'The Ipcress File', and featured a lightbulb being shot, as seen in the title sequence from the television spy series 'Callan'. A photograph of Michael Caine from the 60s is also seen being shredded in the video. The video took longer to complete than usual, due to being shot on 35mm film as opposed to 16mm. As a result, Mike Barson is absent for much of the video; he had a plane to catch, and could not stay for the whole filming session.

Formats and track listings



*'7" single'

#"Michael Caine" (Smyth/Woodgate) - 3:39

#"If You Think There's Something" (Barson) - 3:08

*'12" single'

#"Michael Caine (extended version)" (Smyth/Woodgate) - 4:08

#"Michael Caine" (Smyth/Woodgate) - 3:39

#"If You Think There's Something" (Barson) - 3:08

Charts



References



Category:1984 singles

Category:Madness (band) songs

Category:1984 songs

Category:Stiff Records singles

Category:Songs written by Chas Smash

Category:Song recordings produced by Clive Langer

Category:Songs about actors

Category:Cultural depictions of British men

Category:Cultural depictions of actors

Category:Songs about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)

Buy Michael Caine (song) now from Amazon

<-- Return to songs from 1984



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1095036767.