BEING OF GENERAL PUBLIC INTEREST
As the mainstays of the Beat (known in America as the English Beat, to distinguish them from a California power-pop band that had first dibs on the name the Beat), Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger always seemed on the verge of pop star success.
BEING OF GENERAL PUBLIC INTEREST
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Richard Grabel
As the mainstays of the Beat (known in America as the English Beat, to distinguish them from a California power-pop band that had first dibs on the name the Beat), Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger always seemed on the verge of pop star success. Their gigs were always jammed with very enthused crowds, a lot of people knew who they were, but still they were always a bit short of that real breakthrough.
Now, as the mainstays of General Public, Wakeling and Roger are set for another chance, and the odds seem a bit better. Mainly thanks to the heavy radio exposure of “Tenderness,” a bouncy, romantic single that manages to be both pretty and toughminded, General Public are on their way down the road to stardom—playing the bigger places, selling plenty of records. They are one of the few pairs of potential pop stars I know of whom I’d trust to not let it go to their heads.
Pop stars as a rule tend to be a selfabsorbed lot, unconcerned with much besides their own brilliance and success. The leaders of General Public are an exception.