"Our House" is a song by British ska and pop bandMadness. 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 band portrays a working-class family in the video, including one with a stubbly face, dressed in an apron and bonnet, playing the mother. The band members perform with their instruments in the living room, as they prepare for work and school. In some scenes, the family plays squash and relaxes in a hot tub. The video also includes exterior shots of 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 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. A parody was used in a promo for the new Disney Channel Original SeriesThe Owl House. In Chile, the song was used in the theme song of Chilean Canal 13TV seriesPapá Mono. The song has been adapted into an anthem by fans of football clubAston Villa to refer to centre back Kortney Hause. This song has also been adapted for the Australian-run Chemist Warehouse for their TV Spot commercials and in store radio. Replacing the lyrics "Our House, in the middle of our street" with "Chemist Warehouse, in the middle of our street" as referring to a Chemist Warehouse being close to or near a residential or urban area.
