The Beat and The English Beat. But Which Is Better?

The Beat - Live gig review. The Arches Glasgow. Feb 2014

The English Beat - Live gig review. ABC O2, Glasgow. Mar 2014

Despite being just too young to catch the 2-Tone bands in their prime I've always had a love of their music. My parents, I suppose, introduced me to The Specials but every child of the 1970s fell for Bad Manners and Madness on Top of the Pops. Once you got into it you would find The Selecter, The Bodysnatchers and start drifting towards the original Jamaican ska and reggae that these musicians were often covering, particularly Prince Buster. So I was old enough to see them on telly and to buy their music but by the time I was old enough to go to their gigs they had largely chucked it. They emerged at a time of skinheads and Margaret Thatcher and came across as a bunch of people from ordinary backgrounds just getting along and having fun (the reality was often a bit different). There are few live gigs better than a full blooded ska band, two hours of skanking should become the next fitness craze. Excellent Glasgow ska bands Esperanza or The Amphetameanies could maybe lead the way by creating a fitness DVD.

When The Specials and The Beat called it a day, some of them weren't ready to pack it in yet and when I was at Glasgow Uni they played the QMU as The Special Beat, with Ranking Roger, Horace Panter and Neville Staple amongst others. I had also seen Madness in the days before they dis-banded first time around, but the gig at Ingleston in 1992 has to go down as one of the worst concerts I've ever been to. First up were support acts 808-State and The Farm. Then, before Madness came on stage a battle broke out between various gangs that were in attendance: skinheads, ICF and Hibs Casuals. This involved scaffolding poles, chains and broken bottles. It seemed to take forever for order to be restored, whilst we all ran left and right, trapped inside the main Ingleston hall. Eventually once Madness came on, the hall lights were kept on throughout, they battered through a quick set and went off. The more successful ska gigs I went to were in smaller venues in Glasgow. In the more intimate setting of King Tuts I've seen a lively Neville Staples solo set whilst in contrast Terry Hall hid behind an amp for half the show as he sang his melodic solo stuff. The Selecter have played on and off over the years and I've seen them a few times put on a great show. With frontwoman Pauline Black (whose recent autobiography is a great read) they recently played in Oran Mor, a mixture of old and new material. Bad Manners have been touring since 1976 and always put on a barnstorming show and I even went to the recent Specials re-union at the SECC. Now they've got a taste for it they are back at the Barrowlands doing two nights later this year. Jerry Dammers is the one performer that I've never seen doing his ska/ 2-Tone numbers. I saw him perform as ringmaster in the concert to welcome Nelson Mandela upon his prison release in Wembley, London. The other time I have seen him live was fronting an 24 piece band in tribute to the Sun Ra Arkestra, as Jerry Dammers' Spatial A.K.A. Orchestra at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. It was a great night, if slightly bonkers. 

It was the political edge that Jerry Dammers brought to 2-Tone that appealed to me too. This was evident in the "2-Tone" name, the multi-racial make up of the bands and the many international influences in the music. The songs were often political too, in the sense that they were often about real things affecting people: teenage pregnancy, inner city violence, "too much fighting on the dancefloor", "Stand Down Margaret", Rhoda Dakar's anguished "The Boiler". This of course reached its zenith when Jerry Dammers penned "Nelson Mandela".

The Beat formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The original line up was Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling on vocals, with Andy Cox and David Steele on guitar and bass (both later to be found cavorting behind Roland Gift in Fine Young Cannibals), Everett Morton on drums and Saxa (who'd played with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken and Desmond Dekker) on saxaphone. Their first single was a cover of Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" and gave them their first top 10 hit. They also found success in the USA (as The English Beat as there was already a band called The Beat there) and Australia (as The British Beat).

The Beat is now made up by Ranking Roger singing alongside his son Murphy 'Ranking' Jnr, Everett Morton, and sometimes Mickey Billingham on keyboards (once of Dexy's Midnight Runners). Former frontman Dave Wakeling moved to America and now tours as The English Beat. Whether by chance or by design both versions of the band ended up playing Glasgow within a couple of weeks of each other which gave me the chance to decide, The Beat or The English Beat, which is better? There was only one way to find out.

First up were The Beat playing the Arches. They were supported by Esperanza, an excellent (usually) 8-piece ska band from Glasgow. Many people had clearly come early to hear them, as the Arches was already filled for their support slot at 7.15pm. They were on stage recently at the Clutha pub on the night that the police helicopter fell onto it, killing and injuring several people, many of them friends of the band. Their sound was as energetic and tight as any time I've heard them before.

Ranking Roger and The Beat

Next up, Ranking Rodger brought The Beat on stage. Despite it being 20 years since I've seen him live he appears not to have aged, although he has grown spectacular dreadlocks. If any ska bands are considering bringing out a Ska-Fit DVD, he's your man to front it. Like a thoroughbred racehorse without a pick on him he spent the next 90 minutes sprinting left to right on stage, with his son Murphy Ranking Jnr (who has previously featured on the Ordinary Boys song "Boys Will Be Boys") as fellow front man, trying to keep up.

Starting with Whine and Grind/Stand Down Margaret (although he suggested it should now be Lie Down Margaret) they worked through all the old hits and a decent ska cover of The Clash song Rock The Casbah. The band were slick, apparently not following a setlist but whatever Ranking Roger decided should be next up, the drumming and beats excellent and there was a laid back chemistry between father and son up front. It was impossible not to dance and I had a smile on my face all night.

Next up were The English Beat, four weeks later in the ABC O2 on Sauchiehall Street. They were supported by...Esperanza, which lead to the worrying thought that I might be about to experience a very familiar night. However right from the off it felt very different. The crowd seemed smaller and more of a mixture of ages than were at The Beat (which had attracted more of the old timers). Esperanza were first up and well received. Whilst I enjoyed a chicken and chick pea curry from the catering stall, on stage next were Capone and the Bullets, stalwarts of the Glasgow ska scene in the 90s who have recently reformed. I remember seeing them playing in The Halt bar a couple of times and the fabulous trumpet playing always stuck in my mind.

Dave Wakeling and The English Beat

Finally Dave Wakeling and The English Beat came on stage. This was very much the Dave Wakeling show, as he was front of stage on lead vocals and guitar. Accompanied by a competent, if not the most rousing band. I found the drumming really just keeping time and the saxaphone a bit apologetic, whereas it appealed more to my brother's tastes. They are set up as the band originally were, with a stand in for the Ranking Roger role too, but it had less energy than the performance I'd seen a few weeks earlier, more stretching out songs with long solos. That was until Roddy Radiation joined them on stage. The lead guitarist and song writer from The Specials left them last month to "concentrate on solo projects". The direction some of these projects are taking was evident in the versions of three Specials songs he then blasted out, with a rockabilly edge: Concrete Jungle, Hey Little Rich Girl and Rat Race. He then went off stage to return for the final song "Mirror In The Bathroom".

Roddy Radiation steals the show

So both versions of The Beat were entertaining, but Ranking Roger was the most fun.

It was great to see Esperanza performing again after their recent traumas, and Roddy Radiation had all the best tunes. 

Sparks. Two Hands, One Mouth Tour. Glasgow.

Sparks at The Arches, Glasgow.

Gig review 25.11.2013

I will confess that Sparks touring didn't send me racing to buy a ticket, but my brother is a big fan of all this stuff and he did. So when he ended up being hospitalised and unable to use the ticket it fell to me. All that I really knew of Sparks was that as a young kid I found their performances on Top of the Pops funny, the lively wee one doing all the singing, the dour, tall one with the Hitler moustache staring blankly at the camera whilst playing keyboard. The only song I could sing you would be to ape the falsetto singing of "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us".

 

 My brother though has kept closer tabs on them. He is a big fan of 80s electronic music, particularly anyone touched by Giorgio Moroder, as Sparks were in the late 70s, a move that finally pushed them into becoming an electronic duo. He recommended looking up later albums, such as Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins (1994). That then lead me to find the curio which is The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman (2009), a radio musical that relocates the Swedish director in Hollywood. The breadth of their music is pretty unique, from glam rock, to pop, to electronica and now musicals. I thought that they were always a duo of the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, but you can see on the TOTP footage above that they started out with drummers and guitarists too. I also thought that they were German or English, but although their influences are largely European and they spent a lot of their early career in England and Europe, they are from Los Angeles.

Listening to them in the car before seeing them live I was surprised to find that my kids liked them a lot. The repetitive, sometimes witty or acerbic lyrics seemed to strike a chord. My oldest son called them a modern version of Ivor Cutler, a longstanding favourite of my children. I think he might be on to something there.



Anyway, to The Arches on Monday night to see what a live show by Sparks turns out to be. Aged 65 and 68 years now, they look suspiciously similar to their appearance on footage from 40 years ago, particularly in singer Russell's jet black hair with Phil Oakey style asymmetrical cut. As they have been playing as Sparks since before my first birthday, it was not surprising that there was a mixture of ages amongst the crowd, which was pretty packed and plenty of them were singing along to all tunes.

Sparks take to the stage at The Arches, Glasgow

On stage they line up as you expect, Ron on keyboards (with the Roland brand changed to "Ronald"), Russell cavorting and singing. With the first five tracks they show that they are going to give us the full range of their stuff, with two from albums in 1974, one from 1979 and two from 2003. In the middle of the set Ron dons a beret to talk and play through a couple of tracks from their 22nd studio album, the 2009 pop musical "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman" that they are working up as a film. This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us felt slightly subdued but still got the crowd bouncing. They finished the set with (I think during Suburban Homeboy) Russell pushing Ron off the keyboards at the end. As he sheepishly moved centre stage he suddenly burst into the most ludicrous and unexpected dance, arms windmilling and crowd yelping. Their encore was more electronic and lively with some of the best stuff of the night (When Do I Get To Sing "My Way", Tryouts for the Human Race, The Number One Song In Heaven) and sent everyone home happy.

Sparks - Ron is about to cut loose

It is all a bit contrived and some of their stuff can be very middle of the road, but they were innovators in their day and inspirational for many musicians. I wouldn't ever criticise anyone for ploughing their own furrow. Good luck with the Ingmar Bergman thing!

Africa Express and other Collaborations

I had tickets for 2 very different, but in some ways similar, events this week. Rodge Glass is an author/ editor who has been based in Glasgow for several years. Known for his recent books "Bring Me the Head of Ryan Giggs" and his biography of Glasgow institution Alasdair Gray, he is moving back to Manchester which was an excuse for an evening in the Old Hairdresser's in Renfield Lane, hosted by "Rodge", to raise money for a Middle Eat charity under the title "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peaceniks, Love and Understanding". It featured musicians playing short sets, alternating with writers performing readings. There was a fantastic collection of local worthies at the event such as the above mentioned Alasdair Gray, Ewan Morrison (author of the excellent Tales From The Mall), Kirstin Innes, Allan Wilson. Music was supplied by Beerjacket, Rick Redbeard (off of The Phantom Band), Paul Carlin (off of Dananananakroyd), a full bloodied performance by Adam Stafford and the evening finished off beautifully by Emma Pollock (off of The Delgados). Star turn for me was author Alan Bissett (author of Pack Men, The Incredible Adam Spark) who performed an exert from his one man play "The Red Hourglass". I went straight home and bought a ticket for the full thing which after a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe he is doing at The Arches in November. It finished off the evening nicely to win the raffle and get a pile of books and cds from some of the above. All there was left for me to do was to fight my way through the lighting trucks and curious gawpers to find my car on the Glasgow streets getting used by a crew filming "The Fast and the Furious 6". Thankfully they'd decided my car wasn't what the film needed in it and it had been left in peace. (That's my brother's birthday present sorted!).

On a grander scale this Tuesday night was another evening of artists jamming and collaborating, this time under Damon Albarn's supervising eye as he brought his Africa Express thing to Glasgow for the first time. Africa Express has being rumbling on for 6 years now under Damon Albarn's beady eye, but with funding as part of the cultural Olympiad this year Africa Express now literally has a train taking them between towns on a short UK tour which will end in London in a few days time. The sell-out show last night in Glasgow went on for the best part of 4 hours over 2 stages in The Arches tunnels beneath Central Station and with DJs taking the stage playing on for another couple of hours afterwards apparently (I was in bed by then).

Damon Albarn with Afel Bocoumb

It kicked off with Malian singer Afel Bocoumb, joined by Damon for a couple of songs and then he was off. That was the way the rest of the night went. There was no main conducter or stage presence, no headline act directing traffic, but one or two songs by a collection of people, then off, 5-10 minutes of the crew changing things around, then one or two songs from the next mob. This was a shame as it made it all a bit episodic but is inevitable with so many musicians involved. Longer sets were then taking place on the second stage. When I've seen some of these African musicians before they mananged to convey a much more natural coming and going of collaborations on stage within a standard show. Carl Barat was up next with Rizzle Kicks and others doing a bouncy version of his Libertines song "Don't Look Back Into the Sun", going into the Rizzle Kicks' own "Down With the Trumpets". If at times the Western musicians felt a bit B-list, it was African musical royalty all the way. Bassekou Kouyate playing Ngoni alongside the silky voice and broad smile of Fatoumata Diawara and then Amadou playing guitar whilst John McLure of Reverend and the Makers sang the Clash’s "Train in Vain".

Bassekou Kouyate and Fatoumata Diawara

Things I wasn't expecting? I found hearing the rap and hip hop artists live conveyed the energy and
spontanaiety of the various MC's such as whilst singing Dead Prez's "It's Bigger Than Hip Hop", and earlier Baltimore's Rye Rye were more impressive than any recorded rap/ hip hop stuff which never really grabs me and Baaba Maal, who I've never really listened too until now, oozed charisma when he was briefly on stage.

The problem at times wasn't the quality of the music on show, but the quantity. Some people I'd been looking forward to seeing were off again before you knew it. With no ringmaster or supervising stage presence to introduce people you had to try to guess who they were at times, and with 80 musicians advertised it was beyond me who I was watching at points in the show despite doing a bit of homework before going. "Was that big guy with the beard playing guitar at the back of the stage Romeo Stodart from the Magic Numbers?", "Which one is Jack Steadman?", "Rokia Traore, she's the one with the shaved head who sang on the Gorillaz song and Mim Sulemain the one with crazy hair, yes?" Damon flitted distractedly on and off stage, avoiding being the star turn and trying to let the music tell its own story. In a lot of ways having so many performers dilutes the individual talents and risks being less than the sum of its seperate parts. Being so spoilt for choice I looked at the line-ups for the various venues and grumbled about the ones I wouldn't see who weren't coming to Glasgow (eg Gruff Rhys is always an entertaining performer and Nneka I've bought tickets for before at King Tuts and never seen as she cancelled, you lucky Cardiff and Bristol people). One highlight that I need to try to track down to hear more of was Jupiter and Okwess International mixing African drums with Hammond organ sounds, making a funk-filled noise that wasn't upstaged when they were joined on stage by 3 bagpipers "Mull of Kintyre" style. Its not often that a Scottish crowd gives it a nonchalant "oh yeah, that'll be bagpipes" but in a night when everything but the kitchen sink was being thrown at the audience they just got the same warm applause everyone else was given.
 

Jupiter & Okwess International at The Arches, Glasgow

It is clear that the musicians are having a lot of fun, and there was no evidence of egos clashing as the bonhomie built up on board their train seemed to carry onto the stage, but the good natured feel of musicians and crowd meant it simmered along all night without quite coming to the boil. There are a few acts I've pencilled in to seek out their music as the bits on show were tantalisingly brief for some. However it felt like the kind of night that would have benefited from a programme of notes, but maybe that just reveals my personality. At the end of the night after 4 hours I was leaving the venue wanting more, and that surely is the point of it.

(And they're still filming Fast and Furious on the Glasgow streets at night down here.)