Verbal Ästhet

“Our House” was released in November 1982 as the lead single from The Rise & Fall and became Madness' biggest international hit. It reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and, in 1983, became the band's biggest American success by reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also won Best Pop Song at the 1983 Ivor Novello Awards. The Rise & Fall was not released in the United States at the time, instead, “Our House” was included on the American compilation Madness in 1983, helping introduce the band to a much wider US audience. The song grew out of Chas Smash's idea that the band members should write songs about their different family backgrounds. While the others did not pursue the idea, Smash turned his own experience of family life into a warm and nostalgic portrait of a busy working-class household.