The Beat (known in the United States and Canada as the English Beat and in Australia as the British Beat) are an English band formed in Birmingham in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.
The Beat, consisting of Dave Wakeling (vocals, guitar), Ranking Roger (vocals), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums) and Saxa a.k.a. Lionel Augustus Martin (saxophone), joined by keyboard player Dave "Blockhead" Wright in 1980, released three studio albums in the early 1980s: I Just Can't Stop It (1980), Wha'ppen? (1981) and Special Beat Service (1982), and a string of singles, including "Mirror in the Bathroom", "Save It for Later", "I Confess", "Too Nice to Talk To", "Can't Get Used to Losing You", "Hands Off...She's Mine" and "All Out to Get You".
Career
1978–1983
The Beat formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978, during a period of high unemployment and social upheaval in the United Kingdom. Ranking Roger, one of the band's vocalists, added a Jamaican vocal flavour to the band's sound with his toasting style. Jamaican saxophonist Saxa added a Jamaican ska instrumental sound. Saxa (born Lionel Augustus Martin in 1930) had played saxophone with Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, and Desmond Dekker in the first wave of ska.
