Commercials don’t get much more ’80s than this, with Honda’s commercial for the Japanese-market City hatchback featuring English ska band Madness performing a bespoke song
Advertising from the 1980s doesn’t get much quirkier than when Honda teamed up with English ska band Madness to promote its latest hatchback of the day, the City.
Launched in 1981, the City was Honda’s smallest vehicle at the time, although it was still too big to qualify as a ‘kei car’. Sold in Europe as the very first Honda Jazz, it only ever came to Australia in two-seat ‘van’ form to bypass certain regulations.
While important for Honda at the time, the City is the sort of car that perhaps would have been completely forgotten as time went on were it not for it the most unique optional extras ever offered on a car: a motorcycle.
The first-generation Honda City is best-remembered due to another vehicle, the Motocompo, which was a 49cc foldable scooter available as an optional extra to stow away in the boot of the diminutive hatch
Called the Motocompo, this highly sought-after 49cc bike was designed to fold away into a simple rectangular shape so it could fit neatly in the boot of the City. It was only ever offered to the Japanese market between 1981-83.
Given this most unique of options-list items, Honda went all-out when it came to marketing it in Japan by teaming up with Madness to write a bespoke jingle to market it.
Entitled “In the City”, it’s quite the ear-worm in typical Madness fashion. The band themselves also featured, dancing and highlighting various features of the car – including its accompanying bike.
“In the City” never made its way onto any of the band’s albums, although a non-Honda version was released in 1982 as the B-side to their single “Cardiac Arrest”.
It wasn’t just a one-off collaboration, either. In the video below, you’ll find a compilation of all of these commercials, including some which feature one of the band’s other hit singles, “Driving In My Car”.
