The English Beat Goes on with Dave Wakeling at Stephen Talkhouse

When the British Two Tone Ska movement launched in the UK in the late ‘70s, great ska/rock-steady acts like The Skatalites, Prince Buster and Desmond Dekker were founding influences. Inspired by the rebellious nature of the nascent punk scene, a generation of youth fused the former genre’s aggression with the sounds of their ska forebearers to address and defuse racial tensions in Thatcher-era Britain. Among the predominantly multiracial acts leading the charge at the time were The Specials, The Selecter, Madness and The Beat (known as The English Beat in the States).

Fast forward to 2025 and Dave Wakeling’s English Beat has carried on his band’s legacy (not without a number of detours along the way) with an upcoming stop in the Hamptons. Following the release of 1982’s Special Beat Service, the last album by the original group, myriad off-shoot groups emerged over the past few decades — General Public, Fine Young Cannibals, The Beat featuring Ranking Roger and The Beat starring Dave Wakeling. With Ranking Roger having passed in 2019, and with Beat founding members Andy Cox and David Steele creatively M.I.A., Wakeling has continued on waving The English Beat banner. Demand for The English Beat has been unwavering despite the last album featuring the original line-up being four-decades-plus old. It’s a development Wakeling finds gratifying.

“I’m shocked that on Sirius/XM, there are something like 10 or 12 of our songs spread all over the channels between [The English Beat and General Public],” he said.

When you think about the impact The English Beat had on third-wave ska outfits that commercially blew up in the ‘90s (Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Let’s Go Bowling), it’s hard to believe the former’s original run was from 1978 to 1983. Wakeling, whose roots lay in being a successful competitive swimmer and water polo player, recalls how quickly things came together once he pivoted from the pool to music and started writing songs when he was about 17. It was during this time the core of what would become The Beat—Wakeling, bassist Steele, guitarist Cox and drummer Everett Morton — came together. Toaster Ranking Roger and legendary ska saxophonist Saxa were later recruited.

“I met Andy [Cox], who became the other guitarist in The Beat, at school,” Wakeling recalled. “We played a couple of times, got an apartment together and then moved to the Isle of Wight. Then we wrote some songs, talked about being in a group, moved back to Birmingham and started a group. Within about six months I think, we did the first gig. Not many months later, we were number 6 in the charts. None of us could believe it.”

Between the myriad UK hits The Beat started landing (“Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Save It for Later,” “Tears of a Clown”) and the band’s infectious live show, they were an in-demand support act for a number of high-profile tours with headliners that included Talking Heads, The Police, The Clash and The Pretenders. The 1980 tour with Chrissie Hynde’s crew was also The Beat’s first run through America, which Wakeling remembers being a combination of culture shock and life lesson.

“All we knew of America was violent TV programs where everyone looks like a cop, a criminal or an informer of some sort,” the Birmingham native recalled. “On the tour, we did very well and surprised some people. But the Pretenders were going through turmoil. Their playing was fantastic but the parties were getting completely out of hand, night after night. The police were at the hotel the next morning. The tour finished successfully enough but then sadly, about a month and a few more weeks later, half The Pretenders were dead.”

Touring/recording burnout caught up with the English Beat and as new-time parents, Wakeling and Ranking Roger chose to form General Public in 1983 (Steele and Cox re-emerged with new vocalist Roland Gift a year later as Fine Young Cannibals). General Public’s 1984 debut All the Rage featured ex-Clash guitarist Mick Jones playing on six of the songs (although Wakeling points out he was never an official band member) and yielded the international Top 40 hit “Tenderness.” A cover of The Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There” for the soundtrack to the 1994 dramedy Threesome yielded another Top 40 hit a decade later. In the end, geography proved to be General Public’s downfall with Wakeling decamping to California and Ranking Roger remaining in the UK.

“With Roger living in England and me in America, it cost $10,000 just to do a rehearsal,” Wakeling explained. “The timing and scheduling were really difficult.”

Nowadays, The English Beat is enjoying the kind of nostalgia-fueled success New Wave acts ranging from Duran Duran and Squeeze to Depeche Mode and OMD are experiencing on the road. And in having the combination of longevity and a rich canon to pull from, Wakeling has found the perfect cross-generational presentation that keeps fans repeatedly coming out to shows.

“Generally, at a concert you want to keep them moving and keep up the enthusiasm,” he said. “Quite often, the audience chooses what song they want to hear next. We have a set list, but we also keep an eye on the crowd. Do they want something a bit faster? Do they want something a bit slower? Are they starting to flag and need a break? Everyone is going through really testing times at the moment. You can see it in people’s faces. They feel relieved to have a nice dance within your own peer group, go home and nothing controversial or outrageous happened.”

The English Beat will be appearing on May 2 and May 3 at Stephen Talkhouse, 61 Main St., Amagansett. For more information, visit stephentalkhouse.com or call 631-267-3117.