"One Step Beyond" is a tune written by Jamaican ska singer Prince Buster[1] as a B-side for his 1964 single "Al Capone".

The spoken line, "Don't watch that, watch this", in the intro is from another Prince Buster song, "Scorcher" — and is also used at the start of Dave and Ansell Collins' "Funky Funky Reggae" — whilst the next line "This is a heavy heavy monster sound" is taken from another Dave and Ansell Collins song, "Monkey Spanner".

According to Alan Winstanley, one of the producers, the released Madness version was a rough mix, created by taking the original 1 minute 10 second instrumental and repeating it, with the second half treated with an Eventide harmonizer to make it sound slightly different.

Langer and Winstanley intended to do a full remix but found that the double-length rough mix had already been sent for mastering before they got the opportunity.

[3] The video also features Chas Smash, performing the lead vocals, although he was not at the time a member of the band.

The Spanish release of the song also featured slightly different cover art, although the photograph used was from the same photoshoot.

Even though the lyrics are performed by Chas Smash, he does not feature on the photograph, because he was not a full member of the band at the time.