General Public

As with some Genre's of music they come and go and bands either reinvent themselves or they go there separate ways. The ska revival saw many groups emerge and one of those were The Beat. They split in 1983 and members separated and the Fine Young Cannibals and General Public were to emerge from the ashes.

General Public was born in 1984 and they enjoyed a short period of fame. The members consisted of The Beat vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger and they formed a super group of sorts when they enlisted Mick Jones of The Clash, Horace Panter of the Specials and Dexys Midnight runners Stoker and Mickey Billingham. They fused the sound of Ska and Punk and the band signed to Virgin Records in the UK and IRS records in America to start work.

The debut album 'All the rage' was released but during the recording Mick Jones left the band although he contributed to the band music on some of the tracks he was replaced by Kevin White. The album was a big success in America and peaked at number 26, in the UK it did not chart. They had a minor hit in the UK with the self titled single which reached 60 in the UK single charts, also the release of 'Tenderness' just limped inside the top 100 in the UK but the single peaked at 27 in the American charts. The latter song also featured in some big American films such as Weird Science and sixteen Candles.

The follow up album 'Hand to Mouth' was released but made little impression in the UK and America and 3 single releases failed to make the grade on either side of the pond. On that evidence the band split and went there separate ways. In all the band released 2 studio albums and 8 singles.

The band did get back together in the mid nineties albeit a different line up still led by Dave and Roger sales were still poor and the band was put to rest. There music still carries on with Dave Wakeling playing the Beat and General Public in his own band but the beat still continues.