THE BEAT #1
The Beat you’ll be most familiar with are the Brummie ska band formed by Dave Wakeling and the late Ranking Roger in 1978 They released three strong studio albums and a bunch of hit singles before parting ways in 1983. Wakeling and Rogers would go on to form General Public, while other band members continued on as The International Beat. Various versions of the band have reformed and intermingled over the years, often known as The English Beat when playing abroad, to avoid confusion with our second The Beat, as I'll try to explain below.
THE BEAT #2
Our second band called The Beat formed in L.A. in 1979 and released an acclaimed debut album of power pop gems. Lead singer Paul Collins originally fronted The Nerves, the band most famous for the original version of Hanging On The Telephone (written by Jack Lee, made famous by Blondie). Curiously, this version of The Beat soon after changed their name to Paul Collins’ Beat to avoid confusion with The Beat #1. Regardless of this, their record company threatened The Beat #1 with a lawsuit due to the fact that Collins’ The Beat were the first to release an album in the US (even though The Beat #1 got to the name first). Despite being later dropped by CBS, Collins has continued to record and tour with the band through to the present day.
THE BEAT #3
Our third band appear to have formed in New Jersey in the late 90s. Also known as The Beat Polka Band or Mike Costa & The Beat, though they have released a couple of records purely as The Beat, most notably the cheekily titled Meet The Beat.
As you say a hard choice
ReplyDeleteBoth I and 2 are good but it's the Brummie Beat for me
2 is fine, but it's 1 all day long for me.
ReplyDeleteIt’s Election Day here. I’m going to cheat, of course. Nobody is going to vote for No. 2, and I’m a fan of Mr. Collins, so 2 it is, but c’mon, it has to be 1, doesn’t it? Not to worry. I’ll call this whole thing a sham next Tuesday. It’s the American way. - Brian
ReplyDeleteNumber 1 for me - one of those unimpeachable debut albums (which they never really bettered)
ReplyDeleteFor more Beat, look towards Power-Pop gold from 1981: The Look - I Am The Beat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6X17dWibsM&ab_channel=vincecat069
A no-brainer for me this week - It's #1. I don't think I'll ever tire of the ska of '78.
ReplyDelete#2 was good, but it could only ever be #1 for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad to see No 2 get Brian's vote but... you know what's coming... it has to be No 1 for me too. Very much tied up in memories of a really vivid, musically (and otherwise!) exciting time in my life.
ReplyDelete