The Beat

The UK’s multiculti “Two Tone” revolution lives on

Ranking Roger

From the storied Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra to the young, all-female Oreska Band, a quick look at the profusion of Japanese ska outfits reveals the music is more popular here than ever. Surveying the scene, it’s safe to say that at least as many of its sharp-dressing fans came to ska through its second wave, the “Two Tone” English incarnation, than through its ’60s Jamaican innovators.

In 1979, English bands ranging from the Specials, Madness and the Beat (known in the US as the English Beat) to the Clash and the Police began to fuse ska’s syncopated beats with the exploding passions of punk. The connection, says Beat frontman Ranking Roger over the phone from England, was immediate. “All the punkers were leaning toward reggae and ska. Then they started realizing that the reggae artists were saying exactly the same things that they were saying, so it made sense.”

What made Two Tone, named for the 2-Tone record label, unique were the racially integrated lineups of the bands, something that Roger says was normal for English musicians from working-class backgrounds. “To some it would have seemed unnatural, but for me coming from Birmingham, which is pretty multicultural, it would have been natural,” he recalls. “In the industrial cities like Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff, Manchester, there hadn’t really been a racial problem because everybody was too busy just trying to work hard and bring their families up.”
Starting with the albums I Just Can’t Stop It in 1980, Wha’ppen in ’81 and Special Beat Service in ‘82, the Beat reeled off a string of well-crafted hits, including an immortal cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown,” the infectious “Mirror in the Bathroom” and the politically charged “Stand Down Margaret,” which called for Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to resign.

After touring with David Bowie, the Police and the Clash, the band broke up in 1983 after declaring that every group has only three good albums in it. Roger and fellow frontman Dave Wakeling formed General Public with Mick Jones of the Clash, while guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele created the Fine Young Cannibals—both influential bands in their own right.
But through its bubbling rhythms and radical multiculturalism, the Beat’s legacy was lasting. “I think Two Tone had an effect on people without them realizing it,” Roger says. “Racism when we first emerged in 1979 was so high in the country. But after years of spreading this message of love and unity, you realize that a lot of people are racist through fear.

“Racism happens where there are no black people. These white people don’t know black people; they see them as a stereotype until they get to know them and then they go, ‘Oh my god, I thought you guys were all the same,’ or whatever. It’s important that you meet people of all races and listen to all different types of music to get half a clue.”

Roger adds that the multiculturalism Two Tone brought to the pop scene is now the norm: “Bands like the Black Eyed Peas are merging all types of stuff, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re doing exactly what the Beat did, except they’re not saying political things like ‘Stand Down Georgie.’ The merging of musics was very important to me, and I can see it in popular music now across the board.”

Despite a sold-out, one-off reunion of the original lineup at Royal Festival Hall in 2003, and following an unsuccessful attempt to bring all the members together on VH1’s Bands Reunited in 2004, Wakeling is not part of the current lineup. He tours as the English Beat, while Roger and two original members, along with Roger’s son Ranking Junior, tour separately as the Beat. “We’ve been doing it for the last three years, and we’ve been to Japan and Europe and Australia and New Zealand. So in a way I’ve just taken the name. I know that the guys from the Cannibals don’t mind it. The only person who seems to mind is Dave Wakeling. I don’t know why, and I’m not going to go into it, but when we come to the States, we’ll be known as the New English Beat.”

The band are currently putting the final touches on a new album slated for release next year, which Roger says updates the Beat’s ska, pop and punk roots with electronica influences. “We don’t have a label. We’re talking to different labels, but we may put it out on iTunes first, and once it’s sold its first five or ten thousand, companies are going to be very interested. There are many ways to go about it, and there are still several months to think about it.”

The invitation to Japan, it turns out, came through Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, whose recent popularity in Europe brought it in contact with the Beat. “Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra played in Glastonbury last year and then opened up for us in London. They know my agent and that’s how it came together on the tail end of our Australian tour,” says Roger.

“It’s only the last five years that I’ve been hearing about Japanese ska bands, and they’ve been coming to Glastonbury and playing the festivals. But when Special Beat used to go to Japan, me and Neville Staples, we would go past music stores and there was ska coming out and Japanese rapping to it, so we knew it was in their blood. When I come, I’ll be keen to hear more of these bands.”

Unit, Oct 12. See concert listings (popular) for details.

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