In Britain,
The (English) Beat
were moving very much in the wrong direction, as their chart placements made clear.
"Save It for Later"
released in April 1982, barely made the Top 50,
"Jeanette,"
their new album's taster, just brushed Number 45,
"I Confess"
didn't even chart, probably because it's flip
"Sole Salvation"
was also culled off the album, while
"Ackee 1 2 3"
played outside the Top 50.
The slippage had started with
Wha'ppen
, as the group had veered sharply away from their frenetic roots,
Special Beat Service
would take them even further from their early
punk
-fired fury. Still,
still boasted cultural themes, its angry and angsty lyrics sharply edging the set.
Service
didn't even have that, and after two Top Three albums, the group were forced to settle for a placement just outside the Top Twenty.
But in the US their sun was on the ascendant, and a band who had yet to place a platter into the Top 100 suddenly found itself with a Top Forty hit album. The singles that barely scratched the charts in the UK found happy homes in the clubs, slotting nicely around the mix of
New Wave
and burgeoning
New Romantic
numbers American clubbers craved.
And so
with its
Joe Jackson
-esque piano line,
Dave Wakeling
's sweet vocals soaring towards heaven, the jazzy sax, all cossetting the insistent drums and bouncing tablas; the fast and furious
"Jeanette"
with its French street flair and ever more surreal rhymes;
"Save It"
's superb blend of jangly
Byrd
- esque guitars and stomping beats;
"Salvation"
's nod to
mod
that hints at
The Jam
's
"Beat Surrender"
which arrived the same month; and the
calypso
party atmosphere of
"Ackee,"
all set listeners feet tapping.
These were the ones that hit with the DJs, but the whole set was equally worthy, and moves onto the dancefloor with abandon. Producer
Bob Sargeant
gives it all a bright and brash sound, which may not have favored more
reggae
-heavy numbers like
"Spar Wid Me"
and
"Pato and Roger a Go Talk,"
but
The Beat
were diving into the
with gusto, and the production emphasizes those currents. Songs like
"Sugar & Stress"
where the sax storms across the driving rhythm, whilst still retaining the
Brit-Beat
flavor of the guitars and keyboards were a revelation. Even a more downbeat number like the gorgeous
"End of the Party"
glows under his attentions.
In it's own way
was just as musically adventurous as its predecessor, and boded well for the group's future. Or would have if
hadn't celebrated their success by promptly calling it a day. The music however lives on in all its glory. ~ Jo-Ann Greene