The English Beat

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Birmingham, United Kingdom (1978 – 1983, 2005 – present)

The Beat, known in the United States as The English Beat (and the British Beat in Australia and New Zealand) in order to avoid confusion with Paul Collins’ band of the same name, was a popular Two Tone ska and pop music group. Formed in the English city of Birmingham in 1978, The Beat disbanded in 1983, but has reformed in the early 2000s with some of the original line-up.

One of the more popular and enduring groups of a short-lived trend, The Beat released three albums: “I Just Can’t Stop It” (1980), “Wha’ppen” (1981) and “Special Beat Service” (1982), and a string of excellent singles including “Mirror in the Bathroom”, the politically-charged “Stand Down Margaret” (which refers to controversial British PM Margaret Thatcher), “Save It For Later” and “I Confess”.

Although the group’s main fan-base was in the UK, they were also popular in Australia thanks to regular exposure on the government-owned rock radio station Triple J and the nationally-broadcast TV pop show Countdown. They had a sizeable following in the U.S., and a strong presence on that country’s college radio.

After the break-up of The Beat, Dave Wakeling (guitar, lead vocals) and Ranking Roger (vocals) went on to form General Public, while Andy Cox (guitar) and David Steele (bass guitar) formed Fine Young Cannibals with vocalist Roland Gift.

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Popular tags: ska, two-tone, 80s, new wave, 2tone  See more

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Top Albums

• I Just Can't Stop It
  The English Beat

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• Special Beat Service
  The English Beat

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• Beat This! The Best of The English Beat
  The English Beat

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• What Is Beat?
  The English Beat

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Top Tracks

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1		Mirror in the Bathroom			309
2		Save It For Later			207
3		Tears of a Clown			103
4		I Confess			91
5		Twist and Crawl			87
6		Can't Get Used to Losing You			79
7		Best Friend			70
8		Click Click			65
9		Ranking Full Stop			61
10		Too Nice to Talk To			56
11		Doors Of Your Heart			49
12		Two Swords			46
13		Sole Salvation			39
14		Drowning			37
14		Rough Rider			37

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