Forgive me if this is old news, but I was very excited to get the latest issue of Lewisham Life and discover that the Beat are headlining at Lewisham People's Day this year on 10 July.
I was a massive fan of the Beat when I was a teenager, as much if not more than the Specials and Madness. But I was too young to go and see them perform live and didn't have any older siblings who were into the same kind of music and willing to take me with them.
But last year I finally saw them play at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham and it was one of the most lively gigs I've seen for some time. On one of the hottest days of the summer, Rankin Roger tore up and down the stage like a man possessed, singing as if his life depended on it and getting the (mostly) older members of the audience bouncing about in front of the stage. The young crowd were rather bemused by the sight of us middle-aged and somewhat portly peeps getting all shouty and jumpy!
Rankin Roger, who is interviewed in Lewisham Life, still fronts the band but now with his son Murphy 'Ranking' Jnr instead of Dave Wakeling, who tours the USA with a group called the English Beat.
At Wychwood they did all the old faves - Mirror in the Bathroom, Stand Down Margaret, Can't Get Used to Losing You, Hands off She's Mine, Twist & Crawl etc etc - so if that performance was anything to go by, Lewisham is in for a treat.
4 comments:
I have never enjoyed People's Day even though I worked for it for ten years (designing the publicity as a freelancer) but this might prove an exception. It would be very timely to hear Stand Down Margaret performed live again. Sublime. Gives me goose bumps!
weren't The Beat known as The English Beat in the states?
James W
@ James W yes, as mentioned in the post.....!!
It was because there was already a band called The Beat over there I believe.
James
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