Their first two studio albums peaked at No.2 – behind The Pretenders and The Police in 1980 – but Madness finally secure their first No.1 studio album with their lucky 13th release, Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie, hereafter called C’est La Vie. 

Proving that timing is everything, it tops the chart despite modest first week consumption of 18,024 units (10,324 CDs, 5,507 vinyl albums, 574 cassettes, 1,233 digital downloads and 386 sales-equivalent streams). 

Although it peaked at ...