I received some correspondence from the daughter of Clancy Eccles, the ska legend, I posted about a few months back:
----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Farrah Phoenix Date: Mar 9, 2007 8:23 PM
Hi,
You wrote an article about my father Clancy Eccles last year
http://goretro.typepad.com/edna_million/2006/11/clancy_eccles.html.
However, i found it today March 9th 2007. The reason why I came across
it was due to googling his name to show a friend his Bio. You came up
in the Blog Section. While I was reading, I found myself remembering my
childhood and how proud I was of him. He was my best friend to the very
end. I thank you for writing something so positive about a man who
should have been known for so much more.
If you haven't already, go back through the archives and check out the Clancy Eccles post!
I love when things like this happen. This is the second bit of correspondence I got this month from relatives of musical legends happy to see their family member being recognized and remembered by fans. (The other was someone looking for a copy of the Sandy Sarjeant video for a relative of hers. I linked to it a while back, it has unfortunately been removed from YouTube by some German company, but I don't have a copy of it. Let me know if you have this or know of how I can purchase a copy!)
I was watching VH1's bands reunited featuring the English Beat today and, although I still throw out an English Beat song now and again when I DJ, hearing some of the songs featured in the show I had to immediately listen to a couple albums. Then I wondered, "Is there anyone who reads my blog that doesn't know of The English Beat? A travesty for sure!". I certainly hope not, but just in case, I wrote up a brief history and posted some sample mp3s - then you must buy one or two English Beat albums. For shame. FOR SHAME!
The English Beat was formed in Birmingham in 1978 consisting of six members: Dave Wakeling (vocals and guitar), Everett Morton (drums), Ranking Roger (vocals and
toasting), Saxa (saxophone - originally played with Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker), Andy
Cox (guitar), and David
Steele (bass). This multi generational multi racial lineup fused ska, pop, rock, punk, reggae, and soul influences into a unique danceable sound. Cool article here. The heyday of The English Beat's success was during what was known as the Two Tone or Second Wave of ska, which blended elements of the 60s Jamaican ska movement into the punk rock movement of the time (along with The Clash, The Specials, Selecter). The band's first album, I Just Can't Stop It (1980) is by far my favorite, their second album Wha'ppen (1981) kind of missed the mark for me, but they seemed to come back to their sound in Special Beat Service, although with a little more 80s cheese. Of course, "Mirror In The Bathroom" (YouTube)(mp3) is on that album, which is the song that most people are familiar with (it was also featured in 1997 John Cusack flick Grosse Pointe Blank), followed by "Save It For Later" (YouTube), and "Stand Down Margaret" (mp3).
The band (originally called The Beat) changed their name to The English Beat because of the existence of Paul Collin's Beat, to avoid confusion.
After the three albums mentioned above, the band split up basically due to Dave and Roger's desire to pursue a more financially lucrative gig, and a bunch of interesting groups were formed. First, Dave and Roger teamed up and formed General Public, along with an all-star 80s lineup featuring Mickey Billingham on keyboards (Dexy's Midnight
Runners), Horace Panter on
bass (The Specials), and
Mick Jones on guitar
(The Clash) and of course Saxa on saxophone. After they split again both pursued individual careers - David produced and recorded for soundtracks and humanitarian causes and Roger released some solo albums and worked with various groups including Mick Jones' group Big Audio Dynamite. Saxa and Everett Morton formed the International Beat, which really stayed true to The Beat's original sound along with some former members of Dexy's Midnight Runners (check out YouTube video below). And Andy Cox and David Steele joined with singer Roland Gift and formed the Fine Young Cannibals, who had several major hits.
Current Ranking Roger and Everett play with a reincarnation called The New English Beat in the UK (who are playing a St Patrick's Day show with The Specials in Dublin, Ireland - I'd be jealous but I'm going to see Holly Golightly that day so I'm not sad!), while Dave Wakeling based out of California has performed with a reincarnation of The English Beat with him as the only original member - performing Beat, General Public and newer songs. However, The English Beat will be touring this summer with the reincarnated version of INXS, and it is rumored that Rankin Roger and Everett and possibly others may join the English Beat for this tour. Stay posted on Dave Wakeling's website. The Beat UK website has some great videos, downloads of wallpapers, and lots of photos you should check out, too!
Buy my favorite English Beat Album:
Watch a video of a performance of my favorite English Beat song - Rankin' Full Stop and a promo video for The International Beat:
