Our House (Madness song)



"Our House" is a song by British ska and pop band Madness. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, The Rise & Fall, on 12 November 1982. The song charted within the top ten in multiple countries, being the band's biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The song won Best Pop Song at the May 1983 Ivor Novello Awards.

About
Released in November 1982, it peaked at #5 in the UK singles chart. In 1983, "Our House" was their biggest hit in the US, reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the US rock chart the song peaked at #9, and also reached #21 on the US dance chart. It received constant airplay by radio stations.

The B-side, "Walking With Mr. Wheeze", is an instrumental song. The title is a play on "Groovin' With Mr. Bloe", an instrumental hit of 1970 by the session group Mr. Bloe.

Music video
The video depicts the band acting out the song's lyrics in an old Victorian terraced house. The song's lyrics mostly describe the working-class family lifestyle, and the band act them out by portraying such a family in the video. The band play their instruments in the living room, prepare for work and school as the family play squash and relax in a hot tub. The video also includes exterior shots of various other houses including the "Playboy Mansion", Stocks House in Aldbury, Hertfordshire, and Buckingham Palace. The property that featured in the video is a terrace house on Stephenson Street in north west London, near Willesden Junction.

In popular culture
In 1984, Madness made a guest appearance in the series 2 episode "Sick" of The Young Ones performing "Our House". They had previously appeared in series 1 performing "House of Fun".

In 1985, "Our House" was the theme song for a children's drama series, Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest.

A musical called Our House, featuring Madness songs, ran in London's West End between October 2002 and August 2003. A recording of the show was broadcast on BBC Three and was released as a DVD.

The song also featured in a 2007-08 series of TV advertisements for Bird's Eye in which Suggs appeared. It was also used in Maxwell House ads in Canada.

At the 2012 Olympic Games Madness performed "Our House" in the closing Olympic ceremonies during an elaborate light show with scores of dancers.

In Chile, the song was used in the theme song of Chilean Canal 13 TV series Papá Mono.

Track listing

 * 7" single
 * 1) "Our House" – 3:23
 * 2) "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" – 3:31


 * French 7" single
 * 1) "Our House (Stretch mix)" – 3:45
 * 2) "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" – 3:31


 * US 7" single
 * 1) "Our House" - 3:20
 * 2) "Cardiac Arrest" - 2:58

("Stretch mix" is a mostly instrumental edit of the extended mix)


 * 12" single
 * 1) "Our House" (Extended Mix) – 6:00
 * 2) "Our House" (7" Version) – 3:23
 * 3) "Walking with Mr. Wheeze" – 3:31


 * U.S. 12" single
 * 1) "Our House (Dance mix)" – 5:02
 * 2) "Mad House (Our House dub mix)" – 4:35