Songfacts®:

• This was Madness' debut single. It is a tribute to the Jamaican Ska star Prince Buster. The band, who were originally named The North London Invaders, then Morris And The Minors, finally called themselves Madness, in homage to one of their favorite Prince Buster songs.
• Following the success of this song, Madness signed to Stiff Records and released another Prince Buster song, "One Step Beyond" which reached #7 in the UK.
• Prince Buster was Jamaica's first international star and one of the most important figures in the history of Ska. He was renowned for often using mouth-clicks for rhythm tracks. "Gangsters" by The Specials, which was released a month earlier and ignited the two-tone craze, is a reworking of Prince Buster's 1964 Ska classic "Al Capone." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for all above
• "The Prince" came together at a time when the UK ska scene was still tiny, which is how frontman Suggs wound up crossing paths with The Specials' Jerry Dammers at a gig at London's Hope & Anchor. Suggs told NME Dammers had nowhere to stay that night, "and given his teeth, he wasn't gonna pull a girl," so he crashed at Suggs' mum's flat.
  
  Somewhere around 3 a.m., Dammers announced that he was going to start his own label; "a British Motown," as he put it. Suggs laughed it off, pointing out that The Specials were playing to a couple dozen people in a basement. Three months later, Dammers called back to say he'd actually done it. The label was 2 Tone, and he wanted Madness to cut a record.
  
  Luckily, Madness had already been in Pathway Studios, and had three songs ready: "Madness," "My Girl," and "The Prince." They sent Dammers "The Prince," and he chose it as 2 Tone's second single. It climbed to #16 on the UK charts and launched the band's career, a moment Suggs now calls "a pivotal single, for sure."