NW5
2008 single by Madness
"NW5" is a song by the band Madness, which was debuted live at the Brixton Academy in December 2006. The single was released in January 2008 on the band's own label, Lucky 7 Records, and entered the chart at No. 24 on 20 January 2008, and at No. 1 on the UK Independent Chart. It was very well received by fans and critics alike.
The song was subsequently included on their critically acclaimed 2009 album The Liberty of Norton Folgate and has become a regular at Madness concerts.
The song's title is a reference to the UK postal code area for the north London district of Kentish Town, from where the band originated. It was written by saxophone player Lee Thompson and pianist Mike Barson, who also wrote some of the band's other hits including "House of Fun".
The B-side "Bittersweet" is a cover of the Undertones song, recorded for the Dangermen Sessions.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "NW5".
“NW5” enters the record as 2008 single by Madness. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what single and Madness can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“NW5” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, single and Madness provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6955727. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2008 and 2009.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “NW5”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow NW5 primary sources, NW5 archive and single research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “NW5” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.