Night Boat to Cairo

"Night Boat to Cairo"
Artwork for 1993 UK rerelease
Single by Madness
from the album One Step Beyond... and Work Rest and Play
Released	1980 / 1993
Recorded	1979
Genre	Ska pop 2 tone
Length	3:31
Label	Virgin
Composer(s)	Mike Barson
Lyricist(s)	Graham McPherson
Producer(s)	Clive Langer Alan Winstanley
Madness singles chronology
"My Girl" (1979) "Night Boat to Cairo" (1980) "Baggy Trousers" (1980)
"The Harder They Come" (1992) "Night Boat to Cairo (re-release)" (1993) "Lovestruck" (1999)

"Night Boat to Cairo" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness from their debut 1979 album One Step Beyond.... It was written by Mike Barson and Suggs and was also included on the 1980 EP Work Rest and Play, which peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 30 in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands. The song was later re-issued in the UK in 1993 following the success of the re-issued version of "It Must Be Love" but failed to reach the top 40, peaking at number 56. It was remixed slightly for inclusion on the band's eponymous 1983 album compiled for the United States. The song is featured in the 2011 Wii video game Just Dance 3.

The song is often used by Madness to close live concerts, and "Night Boat" has passed into cockney rhyming slang as a term for a giro, or unemployment benefit cheque.^[1]