...by Madness, 1979.
We'd had punk, we'd had new wave - now it was time for the new ska wave, brought to us by The Specials (Message To You, Rudy), The Beat (Mirror in the Bathroom), The Selecter (Missing Words), and of course the 6 and only Nutty Boys, Madness!
OSB is their debut album, and is sheer, unadulterated, goodnatured fun - from the catchy, goofy title track, through the wistful sitcom scenarios of "My Girl" and "Bed and Breakfast Man" (echoes of Kinks, premonitions of Blur), to the - well, let's face it - nutty signing-off a cappella "Chipmunks Are Go".
In keeping with the true spirit of ska, no existing tune is sacred enough to be spared from ska treatment - here the theme from Swan Lake is given its own rudeboy rendition.
The album is produced by Langer and Winstanley, who by now have an amazing track record of studio successes, but were really just beginning, 31 years ago (ancient history, eh?).
The result is a rich and fulsome sound, with plenty of punch, ensuring that the album has withstood the tests of time and digital remastering extremely well - in fact, sometimes it's a little TOO polished.
Maybe the nutty boys weren't all that nutty, and didn't always walk closely in tandem, live in the same house and walk funny - I'm sure they didn't always laugh and have a great time.
The thing is, it's difficult to find evidence to the contrary - and that joyous spirit of ska '79 stays with us today.
9/10.
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