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Wednesday 20 August 2014

The (English/British) Beat


 I was a fan of The Beat back in the day or The English Beat to our American friends and The British Beat to our Australian cousins.
I even recall going to see them in Tiffanys in Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow around 1980. I think it is now a casino.
They came to the fore during the Two Tone movement as a Ska revival band.
Although  I liked them at the time their music seems quite dated and poppy now and not a patch on the originals they were paying homage to. Great logos though.
I suppose however that white middle class youths like myself  in an at the time exclusively white environment owe a debt of gratitude to the likes of them and UB40 for introducing us to exciting new genres of music
Somewhat sadly they are still on the go on the retro circuit in the shape of two different bands following a Drifters like schism. In the blue corner The English Beat starring Dave Wakeling and in the red corner The Beat with Ranking Roger.
Let it go boys

The Beat - Hands Off ,,, She's Mine

The Beat - Can't Get Used to Losing You

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