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English Beat - I Just Can't Stop It |
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ALBUM REVIEWSPick of the Chick: Our Favorite Releases, 1999-Present |
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The 1997 movie Grosse Pointe Blank reintroduced folks to a slew of vintage tracks from the '80s. Instead of milking pop catalogues for their nostalgia trip, the movie-makers dug up fringe classics that were lost somewhere at the back of our collective memories. One of these tracks is the English Beat's "Mirror in the Bathroom" from their 1980 debut, I Just Can't Stop It. With its sleepy sax drifting atop a driving rhythm and intense vocals, "Mirror In The Bathroom" stands as one of the best tracks to emerge from the ska revival period of the early '80s. Along with other bands on the 2-Tone record label like the Specials and Madness, the English Beat were instrumental in introducing the rock world to ska music. Although the 2-Tone movement had little commercial success outside of the UK, these bands kept ska alive and inspired the latest wave of revivalists. Sire has just reissued the English Beat catalogue on CD, including I Just Can't Stop It. On this album, the English Beat blend ska rhythms with the pop flavorings of new wave to create a sound that's more accessible to a mainstream audience. Tracks like "Big Shot," "Twist And Crawl," and "Hands Off . . . She's Mine" invade your head and go straight to your feet via your ass--these cuts will make your whole body move. Other tunes such as "Ranking Full Stop" and "Jackpot" incorporate catchy toasting-style vocals, a Jamaican precursor to rap. The only real blemish on the album is the band's cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "Tears Of A Clown." It's hard to top a Motown classic, and the English Beat show just how difficult it is. The band redeems itself, however, with a great cover of "Rough Rider," a song written by ska patriarch, Prince Buster. Of course, it helps to have a ringer--Prince Buster's saxophonist was a member of the English Beat. It's nice to see I Just Can't Stop It back in print--I can finally retire my vinyl copy. Without the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack and rock's current flirtations with ska, I'm not so sure it would have happened. I Just Can't Stop It helped introduce the rock world to ska and is an excellent purchase for everyone except those with an aversion to highly danceable pop. PIGEONHOLE: Classic ska from the genre's first revival.
Andrew Helminger |
ENGLISH BEAT
