Dave Wakeling just signed a record deal. About an hour ago. And he’s reeling.
The English Beat frontman, who turns 50 next month, is traversing Los Angeles highways on his way home from the meeting with the record executives, and he’s ebullient.
“It’s a bit of a dream come true,” says Wakeling, who signed a deal with an indie label for two full-length albums, including an acoustic record of English Beat and General Public tracks.
Things are going swimmingly for Wakeling, who brings his new version of the English Beat to Denver tonight, Grand Junction on Saturday and Telluride on Sunday. When he’s not touring, Wakeling is coach Dave on his kid’s soccer team and assistant coach Dave on his kid’s basketball team. (“Which is something,” he says, “given that I don’t know how to play basketball, being from England.”)
He’s fitter than ever, thanks in part to his Pilates workout addiction. And he’s performing with more energy and a better voice than he did in the ’70s, he says not so modestly.
“Things are going oddly well,” Wakeling says, recognizing that he has missed his turn on Sunset Boulevard. “I can sing ‘I Confess’ and hit the falsetto every night, whereas it used to be very hit and miss.”
Regardless of missed turns and Wakeling’s better-than-ever outlook, his English Beat isn’t what it used to be. While he says live recordings of the band’s latest incarnation sound tighter and more alive than the band in its original 1978-’83 incarnation – which featured Wakeling alongside vocalist/MC Ranking Roger, guitarist Andy Cox, bassist Dave Steel, saxophonist Saxa and drummer Everett Moreton – he can say whatever he wants.
That’s because Wakeling owns the trademark and is the only original member in the current touring outfit. His lone-survivor status is not for lack of trying.
“I haven’t been able to get anybody else,” he says of his former bandmates, who reunited briefly in 2003 for a short U.K. tour. “There was a formal invitation … but Andy Cox doesn’t do any pop music anymore, and David just wants to be a producer. Saxa just plays with his church on Sundays – he’s getting ready to take the first tenor chair in the Celestial Orchestra.
“And I’m still in touch with Roger, and we agreed two years ago that we would work together, but unfortunately somebody got ahold of him and persuaded him to try and make a Beat record by himself.”
The magic of the Wakeling-Roger connection was undeniable in English Beat tracks such as “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Click Click,” “Rankin’ Full Stop” and the band’s unforgettable cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown.”
The idea that either would perform without the other is sacrilege to many Beat fans. Ultimately Wakeling was the primary songwriter. He doesn’t feel good about it, but he has put a stop to two of Ranking Roger’s planned U.S. tours because he planned to perform under the English Beat moniker.
“I find it a bit harsh for him to be singing my songs but not invite me,” Wakeling says. “I hope he doesn’t do anything to damage the long-term legacy of the band. A lot of people were sad we split up after three records, but we had promised each other that we wouldn’t let it continue after the magic was gone. So we didn’t.”
He doesn’t want to see his band’s legacy tarnished like The Specials, who recorded an album minus their songwriters. “That diminished their whole catalog,” he says.
The way a band is billed – particularly a partial band such as the English Beat – is a gray area. Sometimes it’s the promoter peddling the misnomer. “Sometimes,” says Wakeling, “I’ve showed up for solo gigs and it says, ‘English Beat, General Public and Dave Wakeling.’ ” But Wakeling is perfectly OK performing with his newish band as the English Beat.
“I’m happy to be the English Beat because the vast majority of the songs I’m playing are English Beat and the vast majority of English Beat songs are songs that I either wrote all the music to or all the music and lyrics to,” he says.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
English Beat
SKA REVIVALISTS|Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave.; 8 tonight with Twelve Cents for Marvin opening | $15|information: nipp.com; tickets: ticketweb.com
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KRIS KRISTOFFERSON The man writes the songs, but he sings them too. His show tonight at the Paramount is “an evening with …” meaning there’s no opener. And Kristofferson doesn’t really need one, either.
TOM HEINL There’s something about Tom Heinl’s voice that recalls early Johnny Cash. The music has nothing to do with Cash’s early catalog, and that’s a good thing. Heinl sings about the underbelly with the understanding, compassion and humor of someone who has been there. Let’s hope when he plays the Hi-Dive on Tuesday he’ll let loose with “Halfday Vacation,” which includes this gem: “I’m smoking those cigarette buds from a neighbor’s jug and drinking some cooking sherry/One last beer – I put some ketchup in there – that’s a poor man’s Bloody Mary.” Now that’s hard-earned wisdom.
GOGOL BORDELLO Straight from the Eastern Bloc (via New York City) comes this flash flood of sweat, vodka and spit. If ever there were a gypsy-punk band, Gogol Bordello is it. Singer Eugene Hutz is the real thing, and he won’t be afraid to walk that walk on Wednesday when the band opens for Cake at the Fillmore.
– Ricardo Baca
