Mirror in The Bathroom
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From The "English" Beat's initial release "I Just Can't Stop It". Love this tune, love the horns - real fun stuff. The Beat were formed in Birmingham, England in 1978. Ranking Roger, one of the band's vocalists, added a Jamaican vocal flavor to the band's sound with his toasting style. Jamaican saxophonist Saxa (b. Lionel Martin, 1930, aka Papa Saxa) added a Jamaican ska instrumental sound. Saxa had played saxophone with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Desmond Dekker in the first wave of ska (as well as with The Beatles in their Liverpool days). He joined The Beat to record their first single, "Tears of a Clown", a cover version of the Motown hit by Smokey Robinson.
Notable singles from the first album included "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Mirror In the Bathroom", "Hands Off She's Mine" and "Best Friend". The second Beat album, Wha'ppen? was supported by extensive touring, including a U.S. tour with The Pretenders and Talking Heads. The album yielded more U.K. hits, with "All Out To Get You" and "Too Nice To Talk To," both of which broke the U.K. Top 40. The Beat received strong support from modern rock radio stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles and KYYX in Seattle.
Although The Beat's main fan base was in the United Kingdom, the band was also popular in Australia, partly due to exposure on the radio station Triple J and the TV show Countdown. The Beat had a sizable following in North America, where the band was known as The English Beat for legal reasons (to avoid confusion with the American band The Beat). The Beat toured the world with well-known artists such as David Bowie, The Clash, The Police, The Pretenders, REM, The Specials, and Talking Heads. Members of the band often collaborated on stage with The Specials. In the early 1990s, Roger joined members of The Specials to form the new band Special Beat, which toured and released two live albums. They supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and participated in the collaborative recording "Nelson Mandela."
Comments (5)
I cannot believe I just came across this!! How did I miss this post?
When I was 14, our family had just moved to Miami from Seattle, and I had recently been falling in love with The English Beat (as i knew them). I lOVED this song but my favorite was "Save it for Later".
A few months later, 2 of my friends from Seattle came down to visit, and we went to see the English Beat at the University of Miami. The band that opened was none other than R.E.M., and we had JUST started to hear of them....Radio Free Europe was just being played. We had so much fun, and looking back it seems kind of funny that we barely knew of this opening band REM and we totally psyched to see The English Beat........
Oh and I remember KYYX very well!! It turned me on very young to some great alternative/new wave greatness.
BTW-- Didn't Roger form General Public after the EB? I remember "Tenderness".
WOW, Jags - you shoulda posted this one!! Cool little background story there. Talk about moving as far away and still staying in the US as possible. Seattle to Miami - now that's a hike!
Yeah, I was not happy with my dad about it at the time (not a good age to leave your friends so far behind). But as you know, oh wise one, one door closes and another opens! (I guess that just means I eventually met other people to hang out with).
Ah grasshopper - so wise for your years
course when that 2nd one don't open - you got problems :-)
I hear ya.....that was a long time ago, and many doors have opened and closed since then! I guess that's all part of our journey ---uh, you know, I guess.
lol!