Ranking Roger, vocalist in The Beat died a few days ago aged only 56. Roger was diagnosed with two brain tumours and lung cancer following a mini stroke he suffered in August 2018. Born in Birmingham in 1963 as Roger Charlery, he was best known for his work in The Beat who released three albums during the early 80s: ‘I Just Can’t Stop It’, ‘Wha’ppen?’ and ‘Special Beat Service’. Roger joined The Beat as a vocalist in the late 1970s and helped develop the group's pioneering two-tone sound, a fusion of UK new wave, punk and ska revival.
The Beat The Two Tone Ska movement burst out of the Midlands in the late Seventies, It threw up four classic groups The Specials, Madness, The Beat and of course The Selecter. Now whilst lots of people went crazy for Madness I was always lured more to the driven soul mix of The Beat and the political edginess of The Specials. The Beat fused ska, reggae, punk, pop and new wave. There tracks were washed over superbly by the sax of the legendry Saxa. Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger’s vocals combated each other giving The Beat a certain harmony, melody and soul along with an irresistible dash of new wave/punk to some great songs.
The string of hits enjoyed by The Beat include Tears Of A Clown; Mirror in the Bathroom; Save It for Later; Too Nice to Talk To; Can’t Get Used to Losing You; Hands Off, She’s Mine and All Out to Get You. I still think that "Mirror in the Bathroom" is a perfectly packaged pop song whilst the band's version of "Can't Get Used To Losing You" is simply sublime. Roger was only in his mid to late teens when they had their first big hit, ‘Tears of a Clown’ at the end of 1979 and beginning of 1980, it was a double A-side with Ranking Full stop. The track, a cover of the Smokey Robinson Motown classic is quite possibly, one of the best covers of a song ever with such an up-beat, happy vocal to it. Tears Of A Clown was released in December 1979 and provided us with a pleasant winter juxtaposition opposite the Christmas Number One, Pink Floyd’s not so jolly Another Brick In The Wall. At the time, The Beat were so cool that even Sting wore a sleeveless Beat T-shirt in The Police video for Don't Stand So Close To Me which went to number 1 in the charts. The Beat made great music that still sounds as fresh and fantastic today as it did when it was first released nearly 40 years ago. Despite having several hit singles and albums The Beat never really gained the recognition that The Specials and Madness achieved. They are though, still many peoples favourite band of that era with their unique sound which was partly due to Roger‘s Jamaican style vocal delivery. After The Beat After his initial spell with The Beat and the various incarnations that followed, Roger also featured in both General Public and Big Audio Dynamite, among others, though it was for his early work that he is still best remembered. In 2006, The Beat featuring Ranking Roger recorded a new album that was mixed by Adrian Sherwood, however it remains unreleased. This version of the band also featured Everett Morton and Mickey Billingham (formerly a member of Dexys Midnight Runners and General Public.) on keyboards. Maybe one day it will see the light of day? In 2016, The Beat’s first new album in 30 years, ‘Bounce’ was released. Written by Ranking Roger, Mick Lister and Ranking Junior (Roger’s son), it was recorded in Roger's 'eco-friendly hideaway' – a round recording studio in his back garden, which he called The Pod. Bounce received many positive reviews which highlighted the band's passionately political edge. Roger went on to release the much acclaimed, Public Confidential album, in January this year and finished his memoirs which will be published in the spring. The first single from the Public Confidential album, 'Maniac' was playlisted on BBC Radio 6. RIP Roger When I was a kid of 12 in 1979. I was into all sorts of music. We were such a lucky generation to have really good music when we were young. The Beat still take me back to those days. Life was so innocent, music was so good and unique. My generation lived a dream that was really simple. We all came together for the love of the music no matter what genre: - punk, mod, disco, new romantics, reggae, heavy metal, pop. You name it, it was in the charts back then. It wasn’t just a musical legacy Roger left us, his continued promotion of the anti-racist message will live on forever. Roger had five children, including son Ranking Junior and daughter Saffren both of whom featured with Roger in a Beat revival band. With Roger’s death, another one of the bright lights of my musical childhood has gone. He was one of Birmingham's finest musical sons and the music he created will never be repeated again. With only a few exceptions, the current generation are too busy playing Xbox, watching You Tube and listening to Ed Sheeran to come up with anything like Two Tone did. Roger, my thoughts are with your family. You and your music will never be forgotten.
Have you ever been in a bar with a karaoke when someone gets up and starts doing ‘American Pie’? It’s always a group of drunks where everybody thinks that the song is just the chorus. They forget that there’s all those verses, so then all of a sudden these drunk people are trying to read the lyrics, then it begins to degenerate and I’m just “WTF? Get me out of here” ‘American Pie’ falls into the same musical category as ‘Dancing Queen’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, they’re all bouncy, peppy, massively overplayed songs that quickly became so much a part of life that not liking them is like not liking your bed. These songs may be pretentious. They may be pompous; they may be ridiculous; they may be on the radio 24 hours a day; they may be inane. But they mean no harm. They do not threaten our faith in the universe. But for me, over-familiarity of them does breed contempt of them.
On its release in 1972, ‘American Pie’ reached the top of the charts in a matter of weeks, selling more than 3 million copies; and at eight and a half minutes long, this was no mean feat. It’s a song that I’ve rarely heard criticism of from musicians or even music critics. Because its over 8 minutes long any radio station will play it because if a DJ has to go to the bathroom, they’re like, “What can I do? What can I put on for eight-and-a-half minutes? Ahh yes, ‘American Pie’ of course! What do the lyrics mean? Don McLean's primary point in the song was that he was simply nostalgic for the music of his youth, which he could dance to, and that he felt the music of the late 60s had drifted quite a bit from the common rock n' roll roots they'd both shared. ‘American Pie’ is notable because it is not nostalgic for the decade that precedes it, but for the 50s, and particularly for the music of the late 50s, and particularly for the music of Buddy Holly. ‘American Pie’ really is ground zero for baby boomers nostalgia. "The day the music died" referred to in the lyrics is the 3rd February, 1959, when a small plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper crashed on its way to Fargo, North Dakota, with no survivors. To Don McLean, this was a tragedy beyond repair, not just because the music of the 50s - and Buddy Holly's in particular - was so beautiful and chipper and innocent but also because America itself was beautiful, chipper and innocent then too. All that changed for Don in the 60s and in his eyes not for the good. I acknowledge there are a couple of good lines in the song but there’s also some nonsensical stuff as well as him getting some digs in to some of his compatriots: The Jester is Bob Dylan I presume? Elvis is the King? And I think the “dirges in the dark” refers to Simon & Garfunkel. The Sergeants played a marching tune has got to be The Beatles. He seems to have a particular dislike of Mick Jagger referring to him as Jack Flash. Jagger was burnt on the candlestick because "fire is the devil's only friend", a not so subtle jibe at The Rolling Stones selling out to the devil in their later 60s album releases. As the song builds up it feels like he’s directly blaming The Stones and these other massively influential musicians for not giving a shit. I really can’t decide if the “lonesome teenage bronkin' buck with a pink carnation and a pickup truck” lyric is terrible or brilliant, but McLean does labour his analogies until you feel like you’ve been beaten to death with a sledgehammer (and not in the Peter Gabriel sense either). I’m making a big presumption that “The courtroom was adjourned, no verdict was returned” is a John F Kennedy theory because the courtroom didn't convict Lee Harvey Oswald for his assassination because he was murdered. Don Mclean’s lyrics seem to place him as a guy who thinks all the good stuff has happened already and nothing else good will ever happen again. Really Don? Why Don’t I Like it? I've always felt that ‘American Pie’ was a song I was supposed to love - but I never really did. Even when I was younger and didn't listen to the lyrics or music, something about the song rubbed me up the wrong way, maybe it was simply that it felt like it’d never end! But everyone else seemed to love this song so I figured there was just something wrong with me. I mean, there is something wrong with me, but maybe not with regard to this! My exposure to Don McLean has been pretty much the same as everyone else. First time I heard American Pie on the radio it was okay, but after the first hundred times it was starting to grate with me. Over the next fifty-thousand times I’ve heard it I now detest it, and have spent the last ten years of my life trying desperately to avoid it at all costs, so great is my desire to not be subjected to McLean’s warbling, overly long, pretentious ramblings about the state of music in the 60s. Unlike some, including Don McLean himself, personally I don't see ‘American Pie’ as being a masterpiece of poetry at all - it's kind of like the Forrest Gump of rock songs. It’s the musical equivalent of an old man waving his fist at a young person in anger, saying that nothing that they can do will ever be better than what was done back in the 50s. I’m sorry but that’s not what music is about, it’s supposed to be about progress, developing styles, being innovative yet Don McLean implies its over saying basically that nobody can do it better than them back then. If I couldn’t hate the song any more, for true horror there’s the Madonna remake, featuring background vocals by of all people, Rupert Everett. She seems to have missed the point of the song, as around that time she was being fairly innovative with her electro-folk style tracks.
There was a Don McLean quote I read online where someone asked him, “What’s ‘American Pie’ about?” And he said, “It’s about how I never have to work again if I don’t want to.” Ironic then that he did one mediocre thing really well and then made a shitload of money off of it and has never had to do anything else again. Interesting too that after the whole Michael Jackson, “Art versus the Artist” stuff going at the moment people forget that in 2016 Don McLean pleaded guilty in court to domestic violence! At the end of the day I just find ‘American Pie’ tired, overlong and overplayed and I don't need to hear it ever again. Did Any Good Things Come From It? There is only one positive I can come up with about ‘American Pie’ and that’s it (allegedly) gave us ‘Killing Me Softly’ which is a beautiful song. It was supposedly written by Lori Leiberman after seeing Don McLean perform ‘American Pie’ in concert. So if the plane never crashed then Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens never die then Don McLean never writes ‘American Pie’, there is no Fugees remake and consequently there is no ‘Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ and we couldn’t have that – could we?
U2's 'The Joshua Tree' album was released to the world 32 years ago in March 1987. It was an incredible album from a band that was still relatively early in their career, but was it the pinnacle or did they go on to bigger and better things? 'The Joshua Tree' was the band’s fifth album and they would again tap Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois up to produce it. It went number one in both the UK and US selling 25 million records and counting. It was nominated for four Grammys in 1988 winning two, one of which was the biggest prize Album of the Year. In reality, The Joshua Tree is the point at which U2 became the biggest musical act in the world. The album was the culmination of all the things U2 had worked so hard to accomplish and they did it their way and with integrity. The first three songs alone are jaw droppingly brilliant. “Where the Streets Have No Name” has to be one of the best album openers of all time with it’s goosebump producing guitar and drum. Throughout the album is a spectacular blend of ebullience, contemplation, anger and compassion. There is little that could be improved and it really is a masterpiece. And I must say, "With Or Without You" is one of my all time favourite tracks.
Never Bettered For me though, U2 never bettered 'The Joshua Tree'. Its follow up, 'Rattle and Hum' started them on the downhill spiral, it was always going to have the bad luck of following up Joshua Tree and in that respect I still think it does quite well. With the exception of 'Achtung Baby' which almost reaches the heights, subsequent albums were self-absorbed experimental forays with U2 overestimating their talent. The downhill curve really started to steepen with the release of 'POP', who had lots of the same topics and themes from their previous albums but just didn't quite deliver. In effect they fell off a cliff with 'POP'!! Some really long term fans say U2's last earnest album was 'War' and they sold out starting with 'The Joshua Tree' but I’m not having that. I know it's hard for fans that got into U2 after 'Achtung Baby' and later to understand that they’d already reached their peak but it's true. And don't get me wrong either, after getting used to the 'Achtung Baby' it turned out to be their second best album for me. But they really haven't done anything special since then. The nineties and noughties really were patchy decades, yes they had occasional highs, indeed ‘Beautiful Day’ probably saved their careers and their legacy when it came out. I won't say they were terrible because they weren't, but what U2 have done since 1993 just doesn't do it for me any more. Interestingly, when I now go back and listen to the albums I do love of theirs, such as 'The Joshua Tree', 'War' and 'The Unforgettable Fire' I still enjoy them a lot. Pinnacle For me, the peak U2 years were from 1983 to 1993. That doesn't mean everything after that has been crap, it's just that my enjoyment level hasn't been that consistent. I think 'War', 'The Unforgettable Fire' and 'The Joshua Tree' as a run of early albums was incredible for such a young band, always going up in big steps. The energy in tracks like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "Pride" and "New Year’s Day" is incredible. Just watch the video below and you'll understand.
Any critic or true music fan who doesn’t appreciate the mastery and impact of “The Joshua Tree” is simply not being honest with themselves or others. The album has had untold impact on the popular music scene for over thirty years. Whatever the consensus on the recent offerings from the band, “The Joshua Tree” deserves respect for what it was and has come to signify. I can therefore only reach the conclusion that yes, it was the band’s pinnacle.
Back in the eighties and nineties, Michael Jackson was the biggest music star in the world. A documentary that aired on TV this week, ‘Leaving Neverland’ left viewers with the opinion that he was also a predatory paedophile. On top of this, numerous radio stations around the world, including (allegedly) the UK’s biggest station Radio 2 have banned the playing of his records.
For me this brings up a number of issues: Guilty or Innocent? First off I’d ask the question as to whether it’s now trial by documentary and virtue signalling. Are you not innocent until proved guilty anymore? Michael was acquitted of these crimes in an LA court a number of times but I guess dead man don't sue and so there are opportunists who will make money from making claims. The mother of one of the men in the documentary has already called her son a pathological liar because he was never with Michael alone. But it seems these days the facts don't matter. There are a lot of unresolved issues with the complaints of these two accusers and their families. Not only the hush money that was paid by Jackson, but considering these relationships lasted years, other possible motives need clearing up. In many ways it’s scary how he was found not guilty. But the men who started this and featured in the documentary actually testified in court that he did nothing wrong, but now they say he did! So when did they lie? Then or now? This is the question that both these guys and their parents need to be asked. In this age of #MeToo these two guys who have made the accusations but said the opposite under oath in courts of law, are now being believed without question or evidence. You have to question the parent’s judgement and motives too. There’s nothing wrong taking young fans and parents to spend a day with a pop star, but sleepovers are completely another level. Let’s say back in the day Madonna had begged my parents for me to stay over for a full night, I know for sure they’d have said ‘No’. It’s a long way from normal for adults to have sleepovers with kids no matter if they famous or not. So what kind of parent in their right mind would seriously let their child go to a sleepover with a single adult male? Plus, you’d have thought that If anything did go on, there must have been changes in the child's behaviour when they got home, especially when they were asked to go back for another night.
I suspect we’ll never know 100% if he was guilty or innocent but I must admit that paying millions in hush money is not the actions of an innocent man nor is openly sleeping with children that aren’t your own – whether anything went on or not - what normal adult does that? Other Musical Paedo’s There is a certain hypocrisy over the media banning Jackson’s music. Yes, the likes of Gary Glitter have been rightly ostracised and punished for his heinous crimes against children and his work is no longer heard on the media, but it probably wouldn’t be heard anyway because it’s of its time, you don't hear much else of that glam genre now. What it does beg is the question of why Michael Jackson has been zeroed in for removal from the airwaves? Is it just he’s an easy target? What about all the other singers and showmen that targeted young girls and boys especially during the rock n roll era? Why are their legacies not being destroyed too? Why is Bill Wyman still hiding in plain sight? Mandy Smith has admitted numerous times she was underage when they first had sex. Are the media going to stop playing Rolling Stones records? Even Wyman himself has said she was 13 when he started a sexual relationship with her so I've never understood why he’s never had his collar felt by the police.
Others on thin ice include Jimmy Page and Chuck Berry. Then there’s Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 14 year old cousin. There’s also John Peel who admitted in his book that he never asked the age of the girls he slept with in the early days, yet nothing happened to him or his reputation. R Kelly seems to be a different kettle of fish. He’s in court for kiddy-fiddling yet his music is still being played by the media. But will they ban his records when he’s found guilty? Watch this space! Climate of Abuse and Litigation In the whole climate of sexual abuse today, even just suspicion is enough to ruin someone. It's doesn't matter about guilt or not, especially in show business. I don't know if Michael Jackson did it or not, it's only suspicion and you can’t put a dead man on trial. As I’ve already said, paying hush money was not the cleverest thing to do, but I’d guess his legal advisors would have suggested it. That being said it still doesn’t prove anything. He was investigated, trialled and nothing was found, now he’s dead his accusers are changing what they testified in court, for what reason? Justice, or a payout? It does seem very easy these days for people to come out of the woodwork and say this happened or that happened yet there is no proof. And how expensive is it for these peoples to go to court to clear their name? How much did it cost Cliff Richard? Michael Jackson went to court on a number of occasions, each time he was found innocent, it cost him a fortune, did the people who accused him have to pay back the money? No, that was his loss, so why go to court unless you have to? These people say they lied on oath but now they have changed their minds. How do we know they aren't lying now? Genius or Weirdo? Michael Jackson was a musical genius and that should not be denied. I’d say music is music, I listen to the songs not judge who is singing or who wrote it. I can separate art from the artist and if the mood takes me I'll still listen to Michael Jackson. Let's face it he was a weird but very talented person and his music is still fantastic. Even if he was guilty, he's dead. He personally sees no benefit when his music gets played today. Meanwhile, all the other people who receive his royalties lose out. Not to mention Michael's children, yes, I know Paris has a knack for rubbing people up the wrong way, but the boys seem to legitimately be decent kids. Prince commented in an interview last year that he can't sing or dance, but would really like to do good in this world so why hurt them because of what their father may or may not have done? Music is about our own memories. I have no idea if Jackson did any or some of the stuff he's accused of and nor do the media. It's just another witch hunt, Michael Jackson is not here to defend himself. He was a brilliant musician, a seriously screwed up individual and in all honesty, I’m pretty sure he's guilty but there’s no proof and probably never will be. So move on folks. Enjoy his music for what it was and turn it off if you find him, his music or his legacy offensive.
Back in 1979, the ‘Two Tone’ revolution was for me, a great time for music. At the time I was never really into the political lyrics, it was all about the rhythms, the bass and the drums. Amongst this movement The Specials were almost godlike. So now move forward to 2019 and we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the formation of The Specials and the legendary Two-Tone label with the release of ‘Encore’.
‘Encore’ is The Specials first new music for 37 years. The ten track album was produced by Specials’ founding members Lynval Golding, Terry Hall, and Horace Panter alongside Danish producer Torp Larsen. It’s actually the first time Golding, Hall and Panter have recorded any new material together since the band’s legendary 1981 number one, Ghost Town. Notable as missing from the line-up is the original band leader Jerry Dammers. I understand from a recent Mojo magazine article that he attempted and failed to legally prevent the band from releasing new music, believing that it would smear The Specials’ legacy. Well let me say Encore enhances rather than smears the bands legacy. I loved the old-school Specials but this is not that same up-beat punky ska they used to produce, this sounds completely different. This is how a band should mature. It’s still very relevant to today without being stale in its sound. Like I say, it doesn't really sound like The Specials of the 80's, but then I wasn't expecting it to, after all we’re not in 1980 anymore! It is quite different, but the sound is still unmistakably The Specials. With its anti-racism lyrics, stuff about modern day society, social media etc, these are thoughtful songs about modern problems, albeit the same old problems. The songs on here have meaning. There’s funk, ska, reggae and some great piano and horn parts. Indeed some of it is actually a bit Clash-like. If you are looking for just an old-school ska album then this is not for you, go dig out The Beat’s recent new album if that’s what you want. ‘Encore’ is starkly relevant to 2019, and this is what it should be, not a nostalgic tribute to 2-Tone. The Tracks The album opens with a disco-style cover of The Equals’ ‘Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys’. It makes me want to stick on a Crombie, stone parallels and Royal brogues and go strutting down the road. In reality it’s actually one of the albums weaker songs, maybe it would have benefited from a more explosive opening? ‘Vote For Me’ largely picks up where ‘Ghost Town’ left us back in 1981. It's quite depressing to see how far Britain hasn't come since then, what with our politically and economically divided society. It all goes to prove The Specials are just as relevant today as they were back then. The lyric "You're all so drunk with money and power, inside your ivory tower, teaching us not to be smart", hits the nail firmly into today’s self-seeking politicians heads. The cover of the Fun Boy Three’s ‘The Lunatics Have Taken over the Asylum’ which follows ‘Vote For Me’ goes down a similar road and is perhaps a little too self-referencing, but in these Brexit times you can understand why they included it.
To me ‘Breaking Point’ sounds like a Tom Waites tune. Everything about it implies that he must have been a very strong influence. Another cover that is really well reworked is the old Valentines track, ‘Gun Fever’ now remade as ‘Blam Blam Fever’. Next up is ‘The Ten Commandments’, a song that expresses the female experience in 2019. Now this track is loosely based on a very sexist Prince Buster tune. What The Specials have done though is to spin the lyrics round to mean the opposite of the original. With some biting and fearless lyrics, there’s a very strong influence coming in from both women’s rights movement and in particular the 2018, #metoo stirring. Clever move too that Saffiyah Khan performs the vocal duties on this track. For those who don’t know her, Saffiyah Khan was the girl wearing The Specials T-shirt that faced off the EDL in Birmingham with a big smile on her face.
The final track, ‘We Sell Hope’ is very close to the original Specials work. It hits their emotional sweet-spot, doom-laden whilst anthemic at the same time. Its a solemn reggae ballad, that never actually feels like it’s trying too hard to recapture old glories. Terry Halls sings “do what you need to do without making others suffer”, indirectly acknowledging the best you can do in a world run by madmen is to be the common sense we all want to see. Is It Worth It? I must admit that on first listen I wasn’t too sure, but with each listen it has improved, and I would say definitely do not write it off, it’s worth it. Encore has ultimately proved my doubts well and truly wrong. The album is a brilliant, concise, cutting social commentary coalesced with some excellent music. To complement it, if you do want some old Specials, the "Greatest Hits Live" second disc is a very enjoyable bonus and may act as a small compensation for those buying this album for simply nostalgic reasons. I know some people will absolutely hate ‘Encore’, but I say keep an open mind. if you’re open to the fact that it's not completely the original line up and that over the years they were always going to evolve and have a slightly different sound to what you remember then you'll enjoy the album for what it is - without harking back to the 80's! Overall it's an uplifting, modern, extremely dark and moody album. Remove yourself from who is and is not in the band and listen to a mature sound and a very well engineered album. Admittedly, ‘Encore’ could equally be a Fun Boy Three album as a Specials album and would it have been any better if Jerry Dammers had been involved? I’m not sure!
