The English Beat, known as The British Beat in Australia and simply The Beat elsewhere, are a British ska revival band formed in Birmingham, England in 1978.
The original lineup of The Beat were together for just five years, splitting in 1984 after meeting with both critical and commercial success with their blend of ska, reggae and 2 tone. In that time, they toured with some of the biggest musical names on the planet, including R.E.M., The Specials, David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Clash and The Police. Since the breakup, they’ve performed together just once - in 2003 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. VH1’s Bands Reunited television show tried, unsuccessfully, to make the reunion a permanently going concern, but instead, the two singers from the original band - Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger - have fronted their own versions of the group.
Wakeling is the singer in The English Beat, who have continued to tour and record. They contributed a couple of brand new songs to a Scooby-Doo cartoon in 2013, and announced plans in 2014 for a new album the following year, set to be titled For Crying Out Loud. It is set to be paid for via crowdfunding - in particular, PledgeMusic - and will be their first proper release since summer 2012, when they dropped a box set titled The Complete Beat. Rhythm Epkins, Matt Morrish, Kevin Lum and Larry Young round out the current lineup of The English Beat.
Darren Criss
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