Originally formed under a climate of high unemplyment, social depravation and increasing racial tension, as a bi-racial group of working class lads from Birmingham, England, THE BEAT certainly had a lot to shout about in the early 1980's.
Fronted by singer Dave Wakeling and Roger Charlery (aka Ranking Roger) as backing vocalist/toaster, the band also included the likes of Everett Morton and legendary elderstatesman Saxa, named after his instrument. A six-piece in all, not only did they borrow heavily from reggae and other Jamaican rhythms, they filled out their sound with extra elements of soul,jazz and even calypso.
Their black/white profile immediately lumped them in
with ska-rivalists such as The Specials, Madness and The Selector, but deep down, the tag didn't fit.
"I never ever thought The Beat were a ska band," admits Ranking Roger, "Because we've always merged our music, the closest thing I would describe it as is punky reggae. Beat music is just timeless, and it's just dance music at the end of the day."
After releasing three critically acclaimed albums and a string of
infectiously catchy hit singles like 'Mirror In The Bathroon', 'Stand Down Margaret' (A reference to the former Brit PM, Thatcher) and Hands Off..She's Mine!', it seemed inconcievable that the band would split at the height of their fame, but in 1983, they did just that.
But then again, they never really went away, the band just took on various other mutations. Although Saxa had taken early retirement due to ill health, Wakeling and Ranking Roger set up General Public, while Andy Cox and Dave Steele made a name for themselves in The Fine Young Cannibals.
In many ways, it was almost inevitable that The Beat would reform,
particularly now as it's the fashion with most British bands of the 1980's, but truth is, The Beat have a lot of unfinished business to sort out.
"I've reformed The Beat because I know there's a lot of racism coming back," says Roger, "I thought our music was totally anti-racist and taught a lot of the younger generation about getting on with each other, regardless of what colour you are. I also believe that the youth nowadays need to be taught the same thing, and nobody is teaching them. The Beat have always been about awareness; being aware not just about racism; we deal with a lot
of things."
To help him in his mission, Ranking Roger has drafted into the fold his son Matthew Murphy (aka Ranking Junior) as a replacement for Wakeling who is currently in charge of The English Beat in America. The rest of Roger's line-up includes Mark 'Chico' Hamilton on sax and Micky Billingham (ex-Dexy's Midnight Runners and the man responsible for writing 'Come On Eileen').
At present, Dave Wakeling is doing The English Beat in America, but Roger is firmly holding onto the reins of The Beat. With another band called The Beat operating in California, it all gets very confusing, but Roger sets the record straight.
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"There is a band in California called The Beat as well,but we soon sorted that out" he says,"Years later we became quite good friends, I used to go to their gigs and stuff. I didn't think they were as good as us though."
With plans afoot to release their first album in 25 years, The Beat have been busy road testing a lot of new material all over the globe.
"We've put our footprints in a few places," Roger says, "and it's been a mixture of people coming out of the woodwork from 20-30 years ago, and a whole new generation of young blood who are totally into this music as well."
As regards their forthcopming UK dates, which also takes in Glastonbury, Roger perks up, "It's going to be happy. You're going to see a lot of heads bopping up and down, because it's not
the kind of music you can stand around and tap your toe to really. The factthat everyone on stage is going to be mad as well, you can't resist."
"Usually, all I can say about a Beat gig is that they're all different, even the way the music is played, but the vibe is always the same - it's always a bonefide, positive happy vibe. People always leave our concerts with smiles on their faces."
Having been a life-long fan of The Clash, Ranking Roger is also introducing a cover of 'Rock The Casbah' into the set. "We sing the chorus as it is, 'Shareef don't like it', but the verses are like toasting," he enthuses,
"You really have to hear it to understand it, because if you're going to do a cover version of a tune you have to make sure it's good, if not better than the original ordon't even bother doing it. And our version of 'Rock The Casbah' is brilliant. Mick Jones loves it, and I know Joe (Strummer) would have been proud of it if he was alive today."
Roger cites the ska-tinged 'How Do You Do?' and 'Fire Burn' - a song about the wars in Iraq and Afganistan - and 'Baby Love', penned by Ranking Junior as some of the other tracks to look out for. Ranking Junior was also part of The Ordinary Boys who enjoyed a big hit a couple of years ago with 'Boys Will Be Boys', but he's also putting his own talents into The Beat.
"He's got one called 'Baby Love'," admits his proud dad, "and obviously, the girls will love him for it. It's one of them that could get into the charts quite easily."
The Beat are obviously making up for lost time. On this form, they can't go wrong...Can they?
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