Dave Wakeling was the front man of the British ska combo The Beat and here is a self-portrait he penned when the band was at the height of its fame
Dave Wakeling was the front man of the British ska combo The Beat and here is a self-portrait he penned when the band was at the height of its fame
1979 and 1980 were the glory years of the so-called “second wave” of ska music – first wave in Jamaica twenty plus years before and now the 2Tone wave came crashing out of Coventry. The Specials seized the charts by the scruff of the neck with a string of hits. And even WH Smith felt …
Heroes of 2Tone in the Record Mirror – from my archives!
Tony McMahon co-wrote Original Rude Boy – the authorised biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in the legendary group, The Specials
Neville Staple playing Gangsters!
In early 1981 The Specials and The Beat were set to play gigs in Northern Ireland to raise money for deprived children in Ulster
The Beat – Too Nice To Talk to
Ranking Roger in the Record Mirror – lead vocalist in The Beat or The English Beat as the band is called in the United States
Missing Words – The Selecter and Pauline Black
1980 was described by one newspaper as The Year of the Skinhead marking the revival of a subculture that took off aggressively in the late 1970s