Suggs puts on a typically eccentric display at Madness docuseries screening in London

Madness front-man Suggs commanded attention in London’s Leicester Square on Thursday night at the mini-premiere of the band’s new docuseries.

The 60-year-old singer (real name Graham McPherson), who headed up the group as they found fame in the early 1980s, took to the red carpet alongside band-mate Chris Foreman.

Suggs rocked an eccentric yellow checked three-piece suit with an over-sized bow-tie, a burgundy smoking jacket and a cane.

He added shades to the look as he posed outside the Odeon Luxe, joined by leather-clad Chris, 64.

Guitarist Chris – AKA Chrissy Boy – was far more casual, in a flat cap and jeans.

They were also joined by Ben Timlett, the co-director of the docuseries, titled Before We Was We: Madness By Madness.

The show is a three-part original which chronicles the rise of one of the biggest and most loved bands in British culture.

The event on Thursday was what is believed to be the world’s smallest premiere event.

Pitched up outside the world-famous Odeon, the home of glitzy blockbuster premieres, the viewing was held in a 1972 caravan, originally built for the Morris Minor and converted into a cinema.

There wasn’t even room for staff, so Suggs had to take on the role of box office clerk, usher and popcorn seller.

On the red carpet, Suggs said: ‘I can’t believe they’ve had me working at my own premiere. It’s a disgrace.’

He then went on to talk about why they decided to make the docuseries, adding: ‘It was the 40th anniversary of when we made our first record, and we thought it might be nice to do a book, one that wasn’t just about when we became successful, but about before we became successful.

Although we were all successful as kids in our own right, which you will find out watching this fantastic series.

‘The premise of the book was that we all got interviewed individually, and we thought maybe it would be nice to do the documentary like that because not all of the members of the band get to say their own bit, and I think that’s what made it interesting is that we all contradicted each other.’

In the documentary, Suggs reveals how he and his bandmates were on a dangerous criminal path before being saved by music.

Suggs – who used the moniker for a graffiti tag before keeping it on as his stage name – was arrested for fighting in public, while his bandmates dabbled in burglary and shoplifting and even ended up in prison.

‘Being in the band was like an extension of being in a gang — apart from the fact it wasn’t just us smashing up phone boxes and kicking traffic cones down the road together,’ the crooner says in new documentary, set for release next month. ‘It was at a crossroads. A lot of those people we knew at that time did get into serious crime.

‘We were all a little bit involved in that sort of thing and graffiti was the first thing. Music was a huge step in the right direction.’

The band also featured saxophonist Lee ‘Thommo’ Thompson, now 63, who was caught committing burglary aged 11. 

He broke into singer Lynsey de Paul’s home with a friend where they eat cereal before they ‘put the plates in the sink and left – we didn’t take nothing’.

Along with songwriter and keyboardist Mike ‘Barso’ Barson, 62, and Thommo would also steal records from a shop in Camden on a regular basis, as well as Lambretta scooters and Sellotape.

While Thommo’s father ‘gave up on him’ and sent him to reform school, Barso went to prison when he was 18.

‘That was pretty stupid. Me and my mate found a load of these long neon light bulbs and we were just smashing them. The police got called and we got caught,’ he recalls. ‘Because we’d been stopped by the police a lot of times, the judge decided he was going to make an example of us.

‘He said, ‘Remand without bail’. That was a short, sharp shock. We were in there for about three weeks and it was pretty horrible.’

The trio, along with trumpet player Carl ‘Chas Smash’ Smyth, 62, then started to meet up to play music. Suggs and other band members joined later.

Over the years there have been 15 members of Madness, with a remaining six still in the group. 

AMC UK will premiere Before We Was We: Madness by Madness, a three-part original docuseries which chronicles the rise of one of the biggest and most loved bands in British culture on 1 May at 9PM.

All three episodes of the show, which was adapted from the critically acclaimed band biography of the same name will be available on AMC and on demand on BT TV.  Stream Our House and watch the new 4K version here.