The American Edition

“My dad had a big speech about it,” singer, songwriter and guitarist with iconic '80s Birmingham, UK ska band The Beat – the “English” part of it was forced on them when it turned out there was a now-forgotten American band with that name – Dave Wakeling is on the line from a hotel in Colorado watching much of the State going up in smoke as bushfires engulf thousands of hectares of countryside. “He said, 'You know where you went wrong, don't you Dave?' I says 'No, what's your point?' 'I don't blame you guys, I blame The Beatles.' I'm thinking, 'What's the matter with him? Somebody's put something in the Milo tonight!' He said, 'They were the first smart Alecs who thought they could do the lot, weren't they? We're gonna write the songs, we'll sing 'em, we'll do the record sleeves, we'll do the lot. You never caught Frank Sinatra doin' that did you Dave? No, he was out shaggin' models! He had professionals in for the songwritin', Tin Pan Alley. You know what you could sing the piss out of, dontcha?' And I'm like, 'No, what?' And he goes, 'Can't Get Used To Losing You.'”

At this point Wakeling, who despite having lived in Los Angeles a good couple of decades now hasn't lost his Brummy accent, bursts into laughter. “The bugger was right anyway and it went to number three in the charts!”

The six-piece Beat came together in working-class Birmingham in 1978 and were always as committed to the head, with their socio-political songs, as the feet, with their more straightahead ska-pop, and as a mixed race band fitted the 2Tone philosophy perfectly. As it happens, it was another cover, a version of Smokey Robinson's Tears Of A Clown that initially saw them break out internationally, but the covers were matched by Wakeling's originals, like Mirror In The Bathroom, which peaked at #4, so his dad wasn't completely on the money. Three albums in, though, in 1983, the band fell apart, two members going off to form Fine Young Cannibals, Wakeling and Ranking Roger forming General Public, which eventually took Wakeling to the States, but the band's huge following soon prompted a variety of reunions and recombination's, including one with members of fellow 2Tone band The Specials. Today, just to confuse the issue, there are two Beats – The Beat in the UK and Wakeling's version, The English Beat, in the US.

“We tried to get one of those VH1 Band Reunited show happening – we got talked into one of them on the TV – but we only managed five out the seven – Dave Steele [bass] and Andy Cox [guitar], that went on to be the Fine Young Cannibals and then fell out with each other over it, they wouldn't have anything to do with it.”

The Beat's three albums recently received the remastered, expanded reissue treatment with labels on both sides of the Atlantic putting together very attractive packages, Australia being covered by Edsel Records, who have included all the non-album A- and B-sides, the many 12” mixes and live tracks, as well as the best of their BBC radio sessions from John Peel, Mike Read and David Jensen's shows, and DVDs of clips and TV appearances.

“It blew me away, four and a half stars in Rolling Stone just last week, and I got a smashin' namecheck for my lyrics, so I'm a really happy camper at the moment! Thirty years I've waiting for a good namecheck in Rolling Stone, for me lyrics,” Wakeling laughs, “and thirty years I've waited to come to Australia, and all my dreams are coming true – so long as I don't get caught in a wildfire in Colorado in the next two day!”

The English Beat will be playing the following shows:

Wednesday 29 August - Fowler's Live, Adelaide SA
Thursday 30 August - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Friday 31 August - The Zoo, Brisbane QLD
Saturday 1 September - Astor Theatre, Perth WA