Dave Wakeling (born David Wakeling, 19 February 1956, in Birmingham, England) is a rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for singing and writing songs for the 1980s ska bands The Beat (known as The English Beat in the U.S., as an L.A.-based band of the era had established use of the "Beat" name) as well as General Public.

The Beat's sound was born when Dave and his bandmates started speeding up Reggae tunes, making the songs even more lively and danceable. Around the same time, local Birmingham band, and eventually fellow ska icons, The Specials were developing a similar sound, but while the Specials dealt almost exclusively with political issues, the Beat mixed in romantic themes.

The Beat rode ska's second wave out of Birmingham along with The Specials and The Selecter from Coventry. The first single was the double A side Tears of a Clown/Ranking Full Stop released on Two Tone. which reached #6 in the U.K, encouraging music legend Saxa to join the group. Saxa, who was fifty at the time, had previously lent his saxophone-playing talents to the Liverpool-era Beatles, as well as ska stars Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, and Laurel Aitken.(referenced from "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll.")

Chart Info

The first Beat album, I Just Can't Stop It (1981), was and early project out of EMI's first digital studio. Notables singles from this album included Twist & Crawl, Mirror in the Bathroom, and Hands Off She's Mine (with the latter two reaching the U.K. top ten, while another single, "Best Friend," broke the top 30.) Only Michael Jackson's Thriller had more singles go into the UK top 10 charts that year.

The second Beat album, "Wha'ppen?" (1982) was supported by extensive touring, including a U.S. Tour with The Pretenders and the Talking Heads. The album yielded more U.K. hits, including "Too Nice To Talk To" (#7), and " All Out To Get You" and "Doors of Your Heart," both of which broke the U.K. Top 40.

In 1984, the newly-formed General Public released " All the Rage," featuring the single "Tenderness," which charted at #27 on the U.S. Charts and received considerable play on MTV. Both the English Beat and General Public received strong support throughout their careers from modern rock radio stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles. (last three grafs referenced from "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll" and "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits.")

Wakeling has lived in California for a number of years, & he regularly performs as The English Beat in North America.

Single

Trivia

• In 1989 David Wakeling gave Hazel O'Connor away at her wedding to Artist, Kurt Bippert on Venice Beach, California, covered by HELLO magazine.
• While in Los Angeles David stayed briefly in Douglas Fairbank's, AKA (Zorro) old House.

References

• 1. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, Third Edition (Fireside, 2001)
• 2. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Books, 2004)

External links

• Dave Wakeling's Website