THE ENGLISH BEAT
From Birmingham, England. Led by Dave Wakeling (vocals/guitar) with "Ranking Roger" Charlery (vocals/toasting), Dave "Shuffle" Steele (bass), Andy Cox (guitar), Lionel Augustus "Saxa" Martin (saxophone) and Everett Morton (drums). Emerging from the two-tone ska revival of the early 80's, The Beat (as they were called in their homeland) created a sound that was unique and all their own. They mixed world beat sounds into their ska roots and topped it with political commentary. At their zenith, Wakeling and Roger quit to form General Public. After the band broke up, members went in several different directions, all to some success. As of 2000, Wakeling has been touring with a revamped line-up in America, while Roger, Everett and even Saxa have toured the UK under the Beat banner. Some friction has developed because of these two separate camps resulting in Wakeling calling Ranking Roger's line-up "The Bit". The band did however reunite in 2003 without Cox and Steele for a live performance and again in 2004 for VH-1's "Bands Reunited" series. Cox and Steele formed Fine Young Cannibals and became the most successful members of the band. Today Cox has a duo called Cribaby with Japanese vocalist Yukari while Steele has formed Fried with American vocalist Jonte Short. Morton had a short career running two pubs before forming The International Beat and then rejoining the latest version of The Beat. Saxa continues to play local gigs with The Beat only, limited by his age and medical state (he has cancer). 1979-82.
see DAVE WAKELING, RANKING ROGER, BIG AUDIO DYNAMITE, INTERNATIONAL BEAT, SPECIAL BEAT, GENERAL PUBLIC, FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS.
DISCOGRAPHY:
| FULL RELEASES | SINGLES |
| I Just Can't Stop It | Tears Of A Clown/Mirror In The Bathroom/Hands Off She's Mine/Best Friend |
| Wha'ppen? | Doors Of Your Heart/Drowning |
| Special Beat Service | Save It For Later/I Confess |
| What Is Beat? | compilation/Hit It/Too Nice To Talk To |
| The Beat Goes On | compilation |
| Beats Per Minute | compilation/March Of The Swivelheads |
| Beat This | compilation |
OFFICIAL WEB PAGES: http://www.thebeatuk.com/ - http://www.twistandcrawl.com
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| Best Friend |
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| Doors Of Your Heart |
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| Drowning |
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| Hands Off She's Mine |
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| I Confess |
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| Mirror In The Bathroom |
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| Save It For Later |
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| Tears Of A Clown |
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| Too Nice To Talk To |
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