[kj] English Beat

[jpwhkj at aol.com]

Unfortunately I'm going to miss SLF this time round - they are indeed 
excellent, and now have their original bassist back after the guy from 
the Jam filling in for many years.

Likewise the Selector are worth a trip. Seeing them cover Pressure Drop 
a few years back is one of my top gig moments...

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Cooper <mike at coopersurf.fsnet.co.uk>
To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!) 
<gathering at misera.net>
Sent: Wed, 22 Mar 2006 11:56:23 +0100 (CET)
Subject: RE: [kj] English Beat

   I am unashameably going to name drop here but Rankin Roger is a very 
good friend of mine. He still runs The Beat as The Beat and anything 
else just is not as far as he is concerned!!! At the moment they are 
playing 2 to 3 gigs a week all over the shop and pulling a lot of 
people. Roger's son Matthew or Rankin Junior is also the other vocalist 
and he also guests from time to time with the Ordinary Boys. The two of 
them together bouncing around is just great. The drummer is original 
and the guitarist is a punk rocker who runs the legendary Market Tavern 
in Birmingham, but I can't remember their names. The Beat (proper) are 
actually finishing off a third album which Roger is producing, which 
should be out in a month or two and the stuff I have heard is as good 
as anything before. Roger is possibly the nicest bloke I have ever met, 
friendly down to earth, funny and full of wonderful stories from the 
early days whcih I could listen for hours. They have a lot of label 
interest and are currently looking at the options. They are playing 
Brum next Friday with Neville Staples from The Specials and I for one 
can't wait.



  Saw Selector support Stiff Little Fingers on Monday and they were 
brill too. Pauline Black is just GREAT a goddess and I have never seen 
anyone enjoy singing that much before. There are also two Selectors 
doing the rounds two but most people seem to ignore the one without 
Pauline singing so if they are coming near you check first.



 Roger is also a Killing Joke fan by the way and knows Jaz.






 ========================================
Message Received: Mar 22 2006, 05:38 AM
From: GregSlawson at aol.com
To: gathering at misera.net
Cc:
Subject: [kj] English Beat

Just saw English Beat (the ONLY ska band that EVER got any regular 
commercial radio airplay in the US, with the exception of the song "Our 
House", of course). Dave Wakeling was the only original member. Not as 
good as their tours a few years back, mainly because there wasn't a 
Ranking Roger-type vocalist. They also played every one of their songs 
significantly slower than on the albums (both the fast and slow songs). 
They did play a few very good new songs, including a ridiculously great 
song called "How Can You Stand There" (a fast ska/pop number), which 
criticizes those who are not political. This song is even better than 
any song they did on their 3 albums--I kid you not. I also heard that 
Ranking Roger is touring with his own Beat and calling it "Twist and 
Crawl". Any news on either band recording in the future?
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