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 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.
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.
RIP Roger.
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