Just hold my hand while I come to a decision on it.
March 27, 2019 2:24 PM Subscribe
. Full Stop
posted by octothorpe at 2:33 PM on March 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 2:33 PM on March 27, 2019 [21 favorites]
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posted by ardgedee at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [30 favorites]
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posted by ardgedee at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [30 favorites]
This hit me a bit hard today. Too soon for Ranking Roger.
Happier times: Never You Done That, one of my favorite songs from the 80's with an impossibly young (22 yrs old!) Ranking Roger.
posted by vacapinta at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
Happier times: Never You Done That, one of my favorite songs from the 80's with an impossibly young (22 yrs old!) Ranking Roger.
posted by vacapinta at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
.
posted by Poeia8Kate at 2:44 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by Poeia8Kate at 2:44 PM on March 27, 2019
.
posted by salt grass at 2:45 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by salt grass at 2:45 PM on March 27, 2019
full stop
posted by Cosine at 3:03 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Cosine at 3:03 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Windopaene at 3:08 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by Windopaene at 3:08 PM on March 27, 2019
Here Roger takes lead on Stand Down Margaret on the short-lived O.T.T.
posted by nicwolff at 3:12 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by nicwolff at 3:12 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
I had no idea that he was that young. I was listening to him in highschool but we're the same age.
posted by octothorpe at 3:13 PM on March 27, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 3:13 PM on March 27, 2019 [15 favorites]
Ranking Full Stop and Mirror In The Bathroom live at the Quay Sessions. Both great performances.
I think What Is Beat? introduced me to the sound of British ska long before I'd heard of the Specials or Madness. My friends and I wore that casette out playing it in the car.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:16 PM on March 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
I think What Is Beat? introduced me to the sound of British ska long before I'd heard of the Specials or Madness. My friends and I wore that casette out playing it in the car.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:16 PM on March 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 3:22 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 3:22 PM on March 27, 2019
I am also surprised to find out he's only a couple of years older than I. Great memories.
posted by feersum endjinn at 3:25 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by feersum endjinn at 3:25 PM on March 27, 2019
.
posted by j_curiouser at 3:43 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by j_curiouser at 3:43 PM on March 27, 2019
full stop too soon .
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:46 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:46 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
I am also surprised to find out he's only a couple of years older than I. Great memories.
I've been having this happen a lot over the years with bands I used to see a lot, and it's been oddly bewildering. One notable example is Gwen Stefani. I used to see No Doubt a lot when they were still a full ska band with a horn section and everything, and If recall she's like just a couple of years older than I am. Which means she was probably well under 21 when I used to see them at all ages shows and I was like 15-16 ish.
Part of why it's bewildering is because they seemed so much older/adult than I was when seeing people on stage, and it's oddly perspective shifting.
posted by loquacious at 3:50 PM on March 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
I've been having this happen a lot over the years with bands I used to see a lot, and it's been oddly bewildering. One notable example is Gwen Stefani. I used to see No Doubt a lot when they were still a full ska band with a horn section and everything, and If recall she's like just a couple of years older than I am. Which means she was probably well under 21 when I used to see them at all ages shows and I was like 15-16 ish.
Part of why it's bewildering is because they seemed so much older/adult than I was when seeing people on stage, and it's oddly perspective shifting.
posted by loquacious at 3:50 PM on March 27, 2019 [5 favorites]
"I Just Can't Stop It" is certainly an artifact of its time -- one can't listen to it without thinking of Two Tone and the 80s ska wave -- but despite that it's an album which has aged remarkably well: it's still fun to listen to, it's still madly infectious, and while listening one can hear and understand the energy that captivated so many at the time.
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:57 PM on March 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Nerd of the North at 3:57 PM on March 27, 2019 [9 favorites]
Heard about this earlier today. Damn. Didn’t realize he was younger than me. Man, I loved that two-tone sound.
.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:16 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:16 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
i actually changed my name to rudy in 1986 because i was such a thorough fan of ska - both the music, and the principles of the two-tone ecosystem. this is indeed a significant loss.
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posted by rude.boy at 4:23 PM on March 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
.
posted by rude.boy at 4:23 PM on March 27, 2019 [11 favorites]
One Minute Closer (To Death) - whoops Time to Mek a Dime.
posted by humboldt32 at 4:25 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by humboldt32 at 4:25 PM on March 27, 2019
.
His age really got me, I mean OF COURSE the people that make the music that you first love when you are 13 are just barely older than you, but at 13 it's not by any means apparent.
Thank you Roger.
(also MeFi props to the first three comments upthread. Rude!)
posted by mwhybark at 4:28 PM on March 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
His age really got me, I mean OF COURSE the people that make the music that you first love when you are 13 are just barely older than you, but at 13 it's not by any means apparent.
Thank you Roger.
(also MeFi props to the first three comments upthread. Rude!)
posted by mwhybark at 4:28 PM on March 27, 2019 [7 favorites]
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posted by porn in the woods at 4:36 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by porn in the woods at 4:36 PM on March 27, 2019
Pallas' link to a relatively recent BBC Quay Sessions performance is fascinating. The music is great and well executed. The audience is, well, people that loved the Beat 35 years ago, and one of their children. It sounds great.
posted by mwhybark at 4:37 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mwhybark at 4:37 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
::sigh::
My intro to Roger and The Beat was this one on WMSE, yep, at ~12 in 1981.
Fucking cancer, y'all.
.
posted by droplet at 4:42 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
My intro to Roger and The Beat was this one on WMSE, yep, at ~12 in 1981.
Fucking cancer, y'all.
.
posted by droplet at 4:42 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Fucking hell.
I like what Mills posted; Roger brought so much joy into the world -- and I hope he had as much fun doing it as he seemed to. And Roger had the most winningest smile, and I always loved that about him.
Can't Get Used to Losing You
posted by vers at 5:17 PM on March 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
I like what Mills posted; Roger brought so much joy into the world -- and I hope he had as much fun doing it as he seemed to. And Roger had the most winningest smile, and I always loved that about him.
Can't Get Used to Losing You
posted by vers at 5:17 PM on March 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
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posted by not_that_epiphanius at 5:23 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 5:23 PM on March 27, 2019
He had the voice, the energy, and the smile that knocked teenage me off my feet.
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posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 5:37 PM on March 27, 2019
.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 5:37 PM on March 27, 2019
FYI Dave wakeling still tours regularly, he's sober, he sounds great, and he plays your faves.
posted by j_curiouser at 5:47 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 5:47 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
In high school someone made me a mix tape with Mirror In The Bathroom on it, and from then on I was hooked.
Thanks for the music....
.
posted by lumpenprole at 6:24 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Thanks for the music....
.
posted by lumpenprole at 6:24 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ranking Roger on vocals for Rock the Casbah with The Clash. Damn.
us little punks used to sing the lyrics to this song as "Fuck the Casbah"
posted by vers at 6:46 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
us little punks used to sing the lyrics to this song as "Fuck the Casbah"
posted by vers at 6:46 PM on March 27, 2019 [4 favorites]
.
This prompted me to listen to The English Beat, which made me realize how many cocaine-related and cocaine-adjacent memories I have related to The English Beat.
Fifty-six? Way too young.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:53 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
This prompted me to listen to The English Beat, which made me realize how many cocaine-related and cocaine-adjacent memories I have related to The English Beat.
Fifty-six? Way too young.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:53 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
My family moved to Manila in the early '80s, and as a young teenager who spoke zero English, one avenue thru which I both learned the language and (looking back) coped with lack of friends was pop music. Tenderness happened to be playing nearly everywhere in Makati almost all the time so I'm still very fond of it. Never You Done That, too - a lovely song. I played both for my toddler son this evening.
.
posted by shortfuse at 7:13 PM on March 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
.
posted by shortfuse at 7:13 PM on March 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
Thanks for posting this - I don't think I would've seen it otherwise. The English Beat were the best, absolutely the best fusion of a bunch of styles that merged into a totally new sound. He was too young.
posted by bluesky43 at 7:30 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by bluesky43 at 7:30 PM on March 27, 2019
FYI Dave wakeling still tours regularly, he's sober, he sounds great, and he plays your faves.
One of my best ska shows, ever!
Dave Wakeling + Special Beat Service (AFAIR?)
Bad Manners
THE SKATALITES. (!!!)
It was such a good show that Dave Wakeling and Co was the weak point and opener and everyone knew it and was totally ok and happy with that, including Dave and Co.
This was also very, very early in that re-grouping and new later stage touring, like 90-91, maybe 92ish, and even with my then lower standards I could tell they were struggling and frustrated and doing a lot of eye contact with each other about wanting it to go better.
Bad Manners was insane. Fatty kept throwing entire 5 gallon buckets of water and ice out on the crowd, and this was at The Palace in Hollywood with its nice dance floors. At one point he was crowd surfing on an actual long board that looked like it may have been in the water that very day, and that was intense.
I'm assuming most everyone in this thread knows who Fatty Buster Bloodvessel is? No? We're talking a giant, remarkably hairless, bald, often shirtless and almost comically rubbery mountain of a man that's like three sumo wrestlers in an overinflated sumo suit, but with the kinetic velocity of a young cat with the zoomies. It took a lot of people to hold up that surf board.
Then he tried to stage dive and everyone went "Oh hell no!" and parted like the Red Sea beneath him and he came down like a surprised and very wayward orca on the wet parquet with a resounding great whopping clap of a belly flop and he must have slid across that wet floor bowling people over for 20-30 feet. It was like someone threw a manatee down a bowling alley lane. I so wish I had a cell phone video of this because it was like something out of a cartoon or a Pirate Corp$ comic. If he wasn't shaped like an elephant seal and moving at such an impressive velocity he probably would have done a full scorpion faceplant and slide on that wet parquet floor.
And just he got up and kept singing like some kind of mutant, like The Hulk or The Thing, just a lot smoother and kinda shaped like Patrick from Spongebob.
(Side tangent: I swear half the madness and insanity seen around the ska/party portions of the Pirate Corp$ books is based on real events at ska shows. I have so many memories of being at the Whiskey A-Go-Go and having images and flashes that look just like real life Pirate Corp$ panels where there's someone or multiple people high diving off the speaker stacks, someone falling off the balcony, drinks are being spilled, someone is in the middle of getting slapped in the face, there's a shoe and a pair of glasses in midair for some reason and too many people just comically upside down or sideways in the pit. I've been at ska shows where people were dancing so hard there just wasn't enough oxygen left in the building and people started fainting.
One of those people was me. I remember crawling, literally crawling out of the Whiskey one time just fuzzing and fighting blacking out and I was like 15, never smoked or drank a thing in my life. The doorman was like "oh shit no, drunkass kid with an X on his hand!?" and "buddy you cannot get sick there you need to go!" and I'm groaning and gasping "Nuh-uh air... need air. Gimme five... Oxygen.." on my hands and knees on the dirty concrete outside that crappy little bar. To his credit he let me back in when I got my wind back and cooled off and he could tell I was, indeed, sober as a Mormon Boy Scout. It was also one of the first of many times I felt strangely proud about harmlessly freaking out a seasoned professional and/or exceeding expectations and bending the rules. I remember him muttering something like "Holy crap, you're steaming and you just danced so hard you passed out. You guys are raging it in there!")
So, then (we're back at the Palace, different show) The Skatalites sauntered out real casual like and all smiles and just beaming at us, looking all tweedy and dapper, and they proceeded to just blow up the joint.
You know that really rich, warm tight place you can find in a really good jazz or delta blues jam, that really deep love and vibe? Maybe even some real Gospel? Yeah, that. It was all that.
I have never seen so many people just bouncing and happily dancing. Instead of the usual chaotic pit and skanking, it was brothers and sisters all locking arms and shoulders and just all grabbing on to each other, holding each other up and bouncing and skanking to that heavy, deep dub sound of the Skatalites. I don't care how cold your heart was, not a soul in that place didn't have a big fat smile on their face just beaming at everyone else.
It was such a diverse crowd, even for LA. We had all the sharply dressed mod boys and girls in their retro suits, skirts and dresses with slicked back hair and their best dancing shoes, and the big old Samoan rude boy scooter gangs with their gigantic black flight jackets covered in pins, badges, club letters and checkerboards, and the SHARPs and punks in spikey hair torn denim and leather and docs, and it was young and old and just so damn good. I would wager it may be the best show The Palace has ever seen before or since kind of good, and I've been to a lot of shows there.
I have seen many, many bands and artists on stage in my life, sometimes even working it from the backline or FoH as a tech. In all these years I have never seen another band so glad to be playing to a bunch of appreciative folks - especially younger people ready to dance! - and especially to so many young people of all shapes and colors just living the two-tone life they helped espouse and create.
That mighty dub and jam still echoes in me today and is pretty directly responsible why I still like modern and historical dub music, dub-influenced minimal house and techno and all of that echoey, spacy but pulsing, dance-able noise that sounds like heaven or paradise is having a nice, warm party.
And I know I likely wouldn't have been into ska at all if it wasn't for The (English) Beat. I wouldn't have found the Specials, The Selector, The Skatalites and so on.
I also definitely wouldn't have understood so much about racism and class struggle at such a young and sheltered age, either.
I probably wouldn't have ever learned how to dance without the safe space that ska music provided for dancing that wasn't really couples or hook-up oriented. I wouldn't have been going out to all ages ska shows in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood at ages as young as 13-14?
I wouldn't have felt so comfortable with good deep house music shortly after that, or discovering trance/house dance.
And so I don't know if I'd be still dancing today without all of the above, or still DJing and trying to put on shows and share music - and the thought of not having any of that in my life is horrible.
Rest in music and peace, Rude Boy. You brought a lot of warmth into this world in ways you might never have expected. Darkness may rise again, but the dream lives on.
posted by loquacious at 9:33 PM on March 27, 2019 [29 favorites]
One of my best ska shows, ever!
Dave Wakeling + Special Beat Service (AFAIR?)
Bad Manners
THE SKATALITES. (!!!)
It was such a good show that Dave Wakeling and Co was the weak point and opener and everyone knew it and was totally ok and happy with that, including Dave and Co.
This was also very, very early in that re-grouping and new later stage touring, like 90-91, maybe 92ish, and even with my then lower standards I could tell they were struggling and frustrated and doing a lot of eye contact with each other about wanting it to go better.
Bad Manners was insane. Fatty kept throwing entire 5 gallon buckets of water and ice out on the crowd, and this was at The Palace in Hollywood with its nice dance floors. At one point he was crowd surfing on an actual long board that looked like it may have been in the water that very day, and that was intense.
I'm assuming most everyone in this thread knows who Fatty Buster Bloodvessel is? No? We're talking a giant, remarkably hairless, bald, often shirtless and almost comically rubbery mountain of a man that's like three sumo wrestlers in an overinflated sumo suit, but with the kinetic velocity of a young cat with the zoomies. It took a lot of people to hold up that surf board.
Then he tried to stage dive and everyone went "Oh hell no!" and parted like the Red Sea beneath him and he came down like a surprised and very wayward orca on the wet parquet with a resounding great whopping clap of a belly flop and he must have slid across that wet floor bowling people over for 20-30 feet. It was like someone threw a manatee down a bowling alley lane. I so wish I had a cell phone video of this because it was like something out of a cartoon or a Pirate Corp$ comic. If he wasn't shaped like an elephant seal and moving at such an impressive velocity he probably would have done a full scorpion faceplant and slide on that wet parquet floor.
And just he got up and kept singing like some kind of mutant, like The Hulk or The Thing, just a lot smoother and kinda shaped like Patrick from Spongebob.
(Side tangent: I swear half the madness and insanity seen around the ska/party portions of the Pirate Corp$ books is based on real events at ska shows. I have so many memories of being at the Whiskey A-Go-Go and having images and flashes that look just like real life Pirate Corp$ panels where there's someone or multiple people high diving off the speaker stacks, someone falling off the balcony, drinks are being spilled, someone is in the middle of getting slapped in the face, there's a shoe and a pair of glasses in midair for some reason and too many people just comically upside down or sideways in the pit. I've been at ska shows where people were dancing so hard there just wasn't enough oxygen left in the building and people started fainting.
One of those people was me. I remember crawling, literally crawling out of the Whiskey one time just fuzzing and fighting blacking out and I was like 15, never smoked or drank a thing in my life. The doorman was like "oh shit no, drunkass kid with an X on his hand!?" and "buddy you cannot get sick there you need to go!" and I'm groaning and gasping "Nuh-uh air... need air. Gimme five... Oxygen.." on my hands and knees on the dirty concrete outside that crappy little bar. To his credit he let me back in when I got my wind back and cooled off and he could tell I was, indeed, sober as a Mormon Boy Scout. It was also one of the first of many times I felt strangely proud about harmlessly freaking out a seasoned professional and/or exceeding expectations and bending the rules. I remember him muttering something like "Holy crap, you're steaming and you just danced so hard you passed out. You guys are raging it in there!")
So, then (we're back at the Palace, different show) The Skatalites sauntered out real casual like and all smiles and just beaming at us, looking all tweedy and dapper, and they proceeded to just blow up the joint.
You know that really rich, warm tight place you can find in a really good jazz or delta blues jam, that really deep love and vibe? Maybe even some real Gospel? Yeah, that. It was all that.
I have never seen so many people just bouncing and happily dancing. Instead of the usual chaotic pit and skanking, it was brothers and sisters all locking arms and shoulders and just all grabbing on to each other, holding each other up and bouncing and skanking to that heavy, deep dub sound of the Skatalites. I don't care how cold your heart was, not a soul in that place didn't have a big fat smile on their face just beaming at everyone else.
It was such a diverse crowd, even for LA. We had all the sharply dressed mod boys and girls in their retro suits, skirts and dresses with slicked back hair and their best dancing shoes, and the big old Samoan rude boy scooter gangs with their gigantic black flight jackets covered in pins, badges, club letters and checkerboards, and the SHARPs and punks in spikey hair torn denim and leather and docs, and it was young and old and just so damn good. I would wager it may be the best show The Palace has ever seen before or since kind of good, and I've been to a lot of shows there.
I have seen many, many bands and artists on stage in my life, sometimes even working it from the backline or FoH as a tech. In all these years I have never seen another band so glad to be playing to a bunch of appreciative folks - especially younger people ready to dance! - and especially to so many young people of all shapes and colors just living the two-tone life they helped espouse and create.
That mighty dub and jam still echoes in me today and is pretty directly responsible why I still like modern and historical dub music, dub-influenced minimal house and techno and all of that echoey, spacy but pulsing, dance-able noise that sounds like heaven or paradise is having a nice, warm party.
And I know I likely wouldn't have been into ska at all if it wasn't for The (English) Beat. I wouldn't have found the Specials, The Selector, The Skatalites and so on.
I also definitely wouldn't have understood so much about racism and class struggle at such a young and sheltered age, either.
I probably wouldn't have ever learned how to dance without the safe space that ska music provided for dancing that wasn't really couples or hook-up oriented. I wouldn't have been going out to all ages ska shows in the seedy underbelly of Hollywood at ages as young as 13-14?
I wouldn't have felt so comfortable with good deep house music shortly after that, or discovering trance/house dance.
And so I don't know if I'd be still dancing today without all of the above, or still DJing and trying to put on shows and share music - and the thought of not having any of that in my life is horrible.
Rest in music and peace, Rude Boy. You brought a lot of warmth into this world in ways you might never have expected. Darkness may rise again, but the dream lives on.
posted by loquacious at 9:33 PM on March 27, 2019 [29 favorites]
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posted by mistersquid at 9:39 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by mistersquid at 9:39 PM on March 27, 2019
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posted by equalpants at 10:28 PM on March 27, 2019
posted by equalpants at 10:28 PM on March 27, 2019
.
Too Nice to Talk to was the first single I bought. (at least the first one my memory is ready to admit to). Still great! The band had been churning out hits since 1979 at this point - but Ranking Roger would still only have been about 18. With complex bass and drum patterns, and great lyrics - they never sounded like a band that would still be having problems getting served a pint.
posted by rongorongo at 11:24 PM on March 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Too Nice to Talk to was the first single I bought. (at least the first one my memory is ready to admit to). Still great! The band had been churning out hits since 1979 at this point - but Ranking Roger would still only have been about 18. With complex bass and drum patterns, and great lyrics - they never sounded like a band that would still be having problems getting served a pint.
posted by rongorongo at 11:24 PM on March 27, 2019 [2 favorites]
Guardian Obit: The ska dandy who danced to his own beat
posted by rongorongo at 11:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 11:35 PM on March 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
The English Beat were one of my first favorite bands. I saw them - with Saxa! - on their first U.S. tour, and then, the next year or so, I saw them open for the Clash three sweaty nights in a row. Was there for the Beat as much for the Clash. I grow old and weird and forgetful but Rankin Roger's part of "The doors of your heart" still makes me BUMP BUMP.
posted by goofyfoot at 12:06 AM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by goofyfoot at 12:06 AM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ska was the first genre of music I really got into, so this hits hard.
Far too young, keep skanking in heaven Roger.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:05 AM on March 28, 2019
Far too young, keep skanking in heaven Roger.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:05 AM on March 28, 2019
.
posted by misteraitch at 5:11 AM on March 28, 2019
posted by misteraitch at 5:11 AM on March 28, 2019
Madness, English Beat, Specials, General Public were all in my faves. Go in peace Ranking Roger. We'll miss you.
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posted by Sophie1 at 7:24 AM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Sophie1 at 7:24 AM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm surprised, too, to learn that he was only 56. Remarkable to imagine that these people I idolized were only a few years older than I was. At the time, the idea of producing a record would've seemed as possible as going to the moon. (Which, I suppose, is why they did and I didn't.)
I must've seen Julien Temple's "Save It For Later" video a hundred times, at least, when I was in high school. Watching it again, I'm chuckling at how all the markers of "hip" culture in the video—the books, the movies, the vintage Penguins—would become things I claimed on my own in my twenties. Subliminal messages? Maybe! And I never noticed until just now that when Roger tries to pull Turtleneck Introvert in to the dancing, the Turtleneck is reading Françoise Sagan's Aimez-vous Brahms?—one of whose main characters is named "Roger." Clever.
I must've seen Julien Temple's "Save It For Later" video a hundred times, at least, when I was in high school. Watching it again, I'm chuckling at how all the markers of "hip" culture in the video—the books, the movies, the vintage Penguins—would become things I claimed on my own in my twenties. Subliminal messages? Maybe! And I never noticed until just now that when Roger tries to pull Turtleneck Introvert in to the dancing, the Turtleneck is reading Françoise Sagan's Aimez-vous Brahms?—one of whose main characters is named "Roger." Clever.
I ran into Northern Irelandposted by octobersurprise at 8:53 AM on March 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I ran into Afghanistan
Dying to become a man?
I am your flag
Damn he was exactly the same age as me, which is to say, way too young to be keeling over. I LOVED the English Beat, even loved General Public, I had all the cassettes knocking around in a wooden box on the floor of my car for years and years and years. Still know every word to every song I think. Wow, what a shame and a loss.
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posted by mygothlaundry at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by mygothlaundry at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Joey Michaels at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2019
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2019
I didn't need this while pondering the mix-tape swap.
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posted by zengargoyle at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2019
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posted by zengargoyle at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2019
16 years old when the band formed in '78! 18 when the first album was released. Amazing, always loved him.
posted by gorbichov at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2019
posted by gorbichov at 1:42 PM on March 28, 2019
What a shame! In 1980, friends and I went to hear The Pretenders play at Woolsey Hall. None of us had ever heard of their opening act, The English Beat, but all of us came out of that concert thinking they were the highlight of the evening. They opened with Mirror in the Bathroom and it was amazing... so the next day I ran out and bought I Just Can't Stop It. Rest in Peace.
posted by carmicha at 1:47 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by carmicha at 1:47 PM on March 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
Still know every word to every song I think. Wow, what a shame and a loss.
When I was visiting my friend's tea/art/books space the soundtack was all Roger and Beat, and lately it's normally witch house, queer hip hop and other super eclectic electronica.
Mirror in a Bathroom comes on and we all know all the words, yep.
posted by loquacious at 2:28 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
When I was visiting my friend's tea/art/books space the soundtack was all Roger and Beat, and lately it's normally witch house, queer hip hop and other super eclectic electronica.
Mirror in a Bathroom comes on and we all know all the words, yep.
posted by loquacious at 2:28 PM on March 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Just listening to "Ranking Full Stop":
whenever I do, I am immediately engulfed in a daydream featuring a grade 2 classroom filled with kids who get amped up and up (as I do) with the verses, only to be utterly unable to stop (as I am also unable to) when the command 'you must stop!' finally comes.
Top 10 record for me.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 3:23 PM on April 1, 2019
whenever I do, I am immediately engulfed in a daydream featuring a grade 2 classroom filled with kids who get amped up and up (as I do) with the verses, only to be utterly unable to stop (as I am also unable to) when the command 'you must stop!' finally comes.
Top 10 record for me.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 3:23 PM on April 1, 2019
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