By Jim Rowland
After the break-up of The bEAT in 1983 Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger decided to continue working together in a new venture which became General Public. They only managed two albums – 1984’s ‘…All The Rage’ and ‘Hand To Mouth’ two years later, both of which enjoyed greater success in the Ünited States than in their home country. This week sees both albums get a re-issue on vinyl for the first time since the original 1980s pressings.
The original idea behind General Public was for it to be a bit of a ska and punk ‘supergroup’, so they recruited keyboardist Mickey Billingham (Dexys Midnight Runners), bassist Horace Panter (The Specials) and drummer Stoker (Dexys Midnight Runners), originally along with Mick Jones from The Clash. Jones would depart from the project pretty early on, although his guitar does feature on some of the tracks from the first album ‘…All The Rage’.
Like contemporary acts Fine Young Cannibals, Fun Boy Three, Big Audio Dynamite and The Style Council, who all evolved from ska and punk bands The bEAT, The Specials, The Clash and The Jam, General Public moved into more radio-friendly pop territory, as was the trend in the mid-1980s, although there are faint echoes of The bEAT, especially their later material, scattered within.
On ‘…All The Rage’, the likes of ‘Hot You’re Cool’, ‘Never You Done That’, ‘As a Matter of Fact’ and ‘Where’s The Line?’ display a slick pop sound of the time, far removed from the work of Wakeling and Roger’s former band, whilst ‘Anxious’ and ‘Are You Leading Me On?’ have a much stronger reggae approach which does have a stronger connection to The bEAT.
The overtly pop single ‘Tenderness’ provided the band with their biggest chart placing in the United States, and remains one of the songs General Public are best remembered for, whilst the darker reggae/pop of ‘General Public’, the best track here for me, was their highest chart placing over here in the ÜK.
The second album ‘Hand to Mouth’ follows along similar lines, with most tracks, like ‘Come Again!’, ‘Faults & All’ and ‘Too Much Or Nothing’, heading even further into 80’s pop territory. The production is bigger and better than on the previous album, and there’s a greater use of brass. Despite the overtly pop approach, there is some particularly fine reggae respite on ‘Forward As One’, which features the distinctive sax work of former bEAT colleague Saxa, who crops up on occasion on both albums.
Very much of their time, ‘…All The Rage’ and ‘Hand To Mouth’ are good illustrations of how Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger’s song writing skills developed after their two-tone days, and make for interesting listening. These all new, good quality vinyl pressings come in good old fashioned black vinyl, which ironically is becoming a bit of a rarity these days.
- ‘…All The Rage’ and ‘Hand To Mouth’ are released on Friday (4 August).
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