The English Beat

From mixing pop with politics surrounding the recession and a plea against Margaret Thatcher, to working for Greenpeace, and being part of the fire services The (English) Beat’s front man Dave Wakeling hasn’t stopped making music for the last few decades and now has come to realize that his original tracks are more relevant now than ever. The (English) Beat are here to make life’s lows into highs with music, which makes any crowd want to dance. BBM’s Frankie Salt speaks with Dave Wakeling about his passion for the life, the band, and how new members have shaped The (English) Beat over the course of time.

Hello Dave how have you been?

Yes I’m smashing thank you.

How have things been for you this year?

Fantastic. Working very hard and have had some really amazing shows. What with the re-releases and everything we seem to have more shows and it is a very busy time. Everyone is excited about our trip to Australia and New Zealand.

You are the only original member left is that correct? Do you ever wish to go back to the original band and see what music would come through from you guys all these years later – or do you think the fresh production from new members has helped your music to remain timeless?

Well I think it helps! People would maybe be a bit bored of us and we would probably be bored of each other. It depends, if everyone wanted to get back together for a few shows and see what came of it, I would be up for that. It might be like inviting the first five people you have ever been to bed with to dinner, you know, might be a bit boring really. I’ve seen some of my old friends reunite and it never takes long to realize why they broke up in the first place. I think things have their time. I think that they have feelings about the legacy of The Beat and the way in which the music hasn’t really dated like a lot of other stuff from the 80s has, and so I think I am very lucky in that respect.

You’re known as ‘The English Beat’ in America and then ‘The Beat’ everywhere else across the World, how does this affect you?

Well I think it helped in America as they like the word ‘English’ as much, as they are suspicious of the word ‘British’. The word ‘English’ reminds them of having a great Grandfather over there, whereas the British seems to mean the red coats are coming. There was a band already using the name in San Francisco so we had to change, but it worked out really for us.

‘Stand Down Margaret’ is probably your most political song, how and why did you create this track?

Well we weren’t any more political than any conversation at the local bus stop was. The only difference was that we put it in our pop songs whereas other pop groups would edit out these kinds of political points as though pop and politics shouldn’t mix. There had been a lot of protests against Margaret Thatcher at that time and we wanted to talk about it in more of a fun way. It seemed that people were complaining more about it than doing anything about it. Society used to take care about you but then people seemed to go against each other. I felt sorry with my nippers that culture wasn’t taking care of them.

Do you think your music has become more relevant again now with the economic crisis as at the original time that the Beat was born, we were also in a huge meltdown?

Yeah especially over here in America, we are played a lot more on the radio than we were when we first came over. It’s a shame that they were written in a recession in ’79 and that they are pertinent now. Everything over here is starting to be like that, people are blaming each other. I used to love America’s ability of freedom of speech and sport and culture, but now many of the lyrics such as ‘Get a Job’ are making sense nowadays. Maybe we need to go through it a few times before everyone realizes we are better working together.

You haven’t always just made music have you? How old were you when you were a firefighter? And you’ve also worked for Greenpeace?

Yes all of my family had been in the armed forces so they mapped me out to be a pilot. But in the fire service, I got to wear uniform, got to serve but I didn’t have to slit anyone’s throat, which worked well for me. In the 90s I worked for Greenpeace. It became unsustainable though as it grew to massive amounts, it was great that it became a household name though. The public is so aware now, kids recycle without being told to and such – Greenpeace are an inspiring charity which now promote more sustainable practices. In the five years I was there, people were so committed to it and I loved meeting with these inspiring people and I got to use my knowledge of the music industry. We brought out a CD recorded, mixed and mastered with U2 and REM etc. completely by solar power for charity.

That’s very cool, I like that. You are originally from Birmingham; did this affect your music?

Well it definitely affected me; particularly coming from Birmingham. Because there were so many car factories, people from every culture had to stand and work next to each other. I’m not saying it was an ethnic and racial paradise, but people were more tolerant of each other and would move around in the ethnicities whilst being polite. Skinheads surrounded us at one of our gigs who said they liked us, which was overwhelming if you looked at the mix of our audience, but still things were good in the crowd. Music was quite political when it came to the colour of your skin back then, look at Madness and The Specials.

From the essence of Soul to Reggae to Punk to Ska, with a definite hint of Jamaican sounds, there is no way to categorise your sound, how would you describe it?

What I really wanted to do was to make an all-inclusive sound of Dance music which would make people who couldn’t even dance that well – like me – want to dance. The basic pulse and beats of our favourite music such as Punk, Soul, Disco, 60s Pop, bit of African music. I love syncopated music as it lifts your spirits, when you have a positive soundtrack; it’s then that you can afford to put lyrics to the sounds, which cover the tragedies that circulate all of us in our everyday lives. We all have more in common than our differences.

What more do you want to achieve and what is coming up for you guys this summer?

I would love to work with Sir Paul McCartney before he shuffles off. If you could put in a word (laughing) we are even both left handed you know! I play with my cricket bat the way he plays with his bass guitar. Elvis Costello got to write with him and the Rolling Stone magazine said that I was up there with Costello at my finest so maybe I should cut that out and send it to him- I would just love to be able to tap into some everyday human emotions with him and make a real good track. But yeah, I am bringing out a new album next year. We have put the tracks on the back burner whilst we sort our re-release, which is very exciting.
Also, we can’t wait to get over to Australia. Thanks
BBM!

By Frankie Salt

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