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Gavin B. · 01-21-2010, 09:46 AM

The Dubwise Beat

The Beat's I Just Can't Stop It reaches a landmark age of 30

Stand Down Dub- The Beat 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the (English) Beat's release of their first album I Just Can't Stop It in the USA. From my perspective, I Just Can't Stop It was the most significant pop music release of the 80s decade and still remains one of the five greatest releases from the post punk generation.

The Beat was the last of the celebrated 2Tone bands to release an album. The Beat had formed in 1978 and released a single on the Special's 2Tone label but went on to form their own label, Go Feet, to record, produce and distribute their first album. The Specials, The Selector and Madness had all released well received but slow selling albums in the USA and the Beat's release of their first stateside album was delayed because of legal wrangling over their use of the name "The Beat" because an American band held the copyright to the name "The Beat." Hence the use of "English Beat" by the band as their name on all their American releases.

The Beat were the most musically accomplished of the 2Tone ska bands with three frontline vocalists capable of leading their own band. Their songwriting contained sophisticated political and social commentary on the rise of Thatcherism in the UK, the racist attitudes of the National Front, unemployment and class resentment in Great Britain. The Beat also came up with imaginative arragements for cover songs like Smokey Robinson's Tears of a Clown and an unlikely version of the Andy Williams 60s hit, Can't Get Used to Lonsing You. The Beat's biggest strength their own pop sensibilities which went beyond the confines of the ska revival movement.

The first song I ever heard by the Beat was Whine and Grind/Stand Down Margaret which became the anti-Thatcher anthem of the post-punk era. When I was in London in 1980, the song had a ubiquitous presence in record shops, night clubs, and on radio stations. Stand Down Margaret was the even selector's choice in the Jamaican run dancehalls I visited in Brixton in the fall of 1980 where Linton Kwesi Johnson, Culture and Mikey Dread were performing. Stand Down Margaret had more of a contemporary reggae dancehall one drop reggae beat, which was very different from the trademark 2Tone ska revial riddim.

30 years have past, but each time I hear Stand Down Margaret it summons all these memories of my year long visit and internship as an aspiring American journalist in Londontown. To mark the occasion I'm presenting this rare dubwise version of Stand Down Margaret that I bought in 1980 as a 12" vinyl single. I converted the vinyl recording into a high quality MP3 file, cleaned up and remixed the sound and posted it on YouTube yesterday. I've never seen this dub version available anywhere in the United States. The dub version may be available on a UK Beat anthology that I'm unaware of, but I think Stand Down Dub has fallen completely out of issue.

01-21-2010, 09:46 AM	#7 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	The Dubwise Beat *The Beat's I Just Can't Stop It* reaches a landmark age of 30 Stand Down Dub- The Beat** 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the (English) Beat's release of their first album I Just Can't Stop It in the USA. From my perspective, I Just Can't Stop It was the most significant pop music release of the 80s decade and still remains one of the five greatest releases from the post punk generation. The Beat was the last of the celebrated 2Tone bands to release an album. The Beat had formed in 1978 and released a single on the Special's 2Tone label but went on to form their own label, Go Feet, to record, produce and distribute their first album. The Specials, The Selector and Madness had all released well received but slow selling albums in the USA and the Beat's release of their first stateside album was delayed because of legal wrangling over their use of the name "The Beat" because an American band held the copyright to the name "The Beat." Hence the use of "English Beat" by the band as their name on all their American releases. The Beat were the most musically accomplished of the 2Tone ska bands with three frontline vocalists capable of leading their own band. Their songwriting contained sophisticated political and social commentary on the rise of Thatcherism in the UK, the racist attitudes of the National Front, unemployment and class resentment in Great Britain. The Beat also came up with imaginative arragements for cover songs like Smokey Robinson's Tears of a Clown and an unlikely version of the Andy Williams 60s hit, Can't Get Used to Lonsing You. The Beat's biggest strength their own pop sensibilities which went beyond the confines of the ska revival movement. The first song I ever heard by the Beat was Whine and Grind/Stand Down Margaret which became the anti-Thatcher anthem of the post-punk era. When I was in London in 1980, the song had a ubiquitous presence in record shops, night clubs, and on radio stations. Stand Down Margaret was the even selector's choice in the Jamaican run dancehalls I visited in Brixton in the fall of 1980 where Linton Kwesi Johnson, Culture and Mikey Dread were performing. Stand Down Margaret had more of a contemporary reggae dancehall one drop reggae beat, which was very different from the trademark 2Tone ska revial riddim. 30 years have past, but each time I hear Stand Down Margaret it summons all these memories of my year long visit and internship as an aspiring American journalist in Londontown. To mark the occasion I'm presenting this rare dubwise version of Stand Down Margaret that I bought in 1980 as a 12" vinyl single. I converted the vinyl recording into a high quality MP3 file, cleaned up and remixed the sound and posted it on YouTube yesterday. I've never seen this dub version available anywhere in the United States. The dub version may be available on a UK Beat anthology that I'm unaware of, but I think Stand Down Dub has fallen completely out of issue. Last edited by Gavin B.; 03-16-2010 at 12:19 PM.