The English Beat are one of the most influential acts to emerge from the early 1980s “Two-tone” scene which fuses traditional Jamaican ska, rocksteady, and reggae music with elements of punk and new wave. Alongside their peers including The Specials, Madness, and The Selector (to name a few), The Beat struck a chord with fans worldwide on the strength of hit singles “Mirror in the Bathroom,” and “Save It For Later.”
Eventually settling in California in the 1990s, Wakeling put down roots by starting a family and working for the environmental group Greenpeace. Music has remained a constant as he continues to play and tour under The English Beat moniker. He’s also made solo albums, and combined his passion for environmental preservation with his passion for songcraft by using a solar powered mobile studio to produce the Greenpeace benefit compilation Alternative NRG which features U2, R.E.M, and The Jesus & Mary Chain.
Wakeling makes his KCRW debut as our Guest DJ in conversation with KCRW DJ Nassir Nassirzadeh and he’s telling all. From being inspired to form a band after hearing the surreal poetry of Tim Buckley’s “Quicksand,” to the first thing groundbreaking teen movie director John Hughes ever said to him: “Anybody who's got the balls to put a bassoon on a pop song and make it a hit is my kind of guy. Hello, I'm John Hughes.”
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Plus, he’s got well-researched intel about the dancefloor-filling power of Soft Cell’s cover of “Tainted Love” and touching reflections on his own work. He breaks down his place within the larger John Hughes canon through a spin of his side project General Public’s “Tenderness.” He also shares a turning point moment where he realized that he’d written songs that mean as much to subsequent generations of music lovers as “what the four top songs of the ‘60s meant to me.” In a tip of the hat to one such fan, KCRW’s dearly departed Eric J. Lawrence, the set ends with a spin of The English Beat’s “Save It For Later.”
Be sure to check in with your favorite record store to see about snagging a copy of the Record Store Day x Black Friday double LP expanded edition of the band’s classic 1980 album, I Just Can’t Stop It. And hit the player to your left for the Guest DJ goods.