Review:

on 2012-01-29 CharlesMartel Said:

In spite of what you may believe, the first time Michael Caine actually uttered those words was on this single - "My name is Michael Caine". And he never said "not a lot of people know that" either. Another urban myth popped. But in the song named after him, the one time Maurice Micklewhite had one of his greatest cameo appearances.

Getting actors to have cameo appearances in songs was nothing new. And it would be repeated again (ask Blur and Phil Daniels). But Madness built an entire song around that cameo. There is some hint that the song is actually about something else, hence the rather mournful aspect of it, but as with so much of Madness, that is not the point. Madness was about fun, and dancing and taking a look at life around you and finding the absurd in it. And no one was better at doing this than Madness. Yet despite which Michael Caine was a hit, it did mark a departure from that style to some extent. Maybe Madness were trying to branch out. Maybe the tensions between band members was beginning to surface in the music. Maybe Madness were just running out of time. Whatever the reason, this was the last good single Madness put out before they split up.
Rating: 7/10