 On 5 October 1983 the band were rehearsing and discussing a possible television series , which was being written for them by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis . Barson then informed the band that he would not be able to take part , as he was tired of the music business and wanted to spend more time with his wife . They had recently relocated to Amsterdam . Barson agreed to finish recording the album Keep Moving ; he left after playing for the last time with the band at the Lyceum Ballroom on 21 December 1983 . After leaving the band James Mackie took Barson 's place appearing with Madness on the US hit television show Saturday Night Live on 14 April 1984 . After leaving the band , Barson returned to the UK for the filming of two music videos as he had played on the tracks , " Michael Caine " and " One Better Day " . He officially left the band in June 1984 , following the release of " One Better Day " , however finished live performance with the band in 1983 , Paul Carrack took Barson 's place whilst the band toured America in early 1984 . The six remaining members left Stiff Records and formed their own label , Zarjazz Records , which was a sub @-@ label of Virgin Records . In 1985 , the label released the band 's sixth album , Mad Not Mad . Barson 's keyboard parts were filled by synthesisers and Steve Nieve joined the band to take his place . In later years , frontman Suggs described the album as a " polished turd " . The album reached number 16 in the UK charts , which was the band 's lowest position on the album charts to date . Despite the poor chart showing , the album was listed as number 55 in NME 's All Time 100 Albums . The singles for the album fared even worse , with " Yesterday 's Men " peaking at number 18 in the UK charts . The subsequent singles , " Uncle Sam " and " Sweetest Girl " , failed to make the top 20 , which was a first for Madness singles . 
