General Public
| General Public | |
|---|---|
|
Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling, 1994 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | New wave, 2 Tone |
| Years active | 1984–1987, 1994–1995 |
| Labels | I.R.S., Epic |
| Associated acts | The Beat, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Specials, The Clash |
| Past members |
Dave Wakeling Ranking Roger Mickey Billingham Horace Panter Stoker Mick Jones Kevin White Gianni Minardi Mario Minardi Michael Railton Norman Jones Wayne Lothian Randy Jacobs Thomas White Dan Chase |
General Public were a band formed by The Beat vocalists, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger, and which included former members of Dexys Midnight Runners, The Specials and The Clash. They are best remembered for their North American Top 40 hits "Tenderness" (1984) and "I'll Take You There" (1994).
Career
After the 1983 break-up of The Beat (known as The English Beat in North America), Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger decided to continue working together in a new venture. They joined up with keyboardist Mickey Billingham (Dexys Midnight Runners), guitarist Mick Jones (The Clash), bassist Horace Panter (The Specials) and drummer Stoker (Dexys Midnight Runners/The Bureau) to form a supergroup of the UK punk/ska/mod scene. The band was dubbed General Public and was signed to Virgin Records in the UK and I.R.S. Records in North America.
The band recorded and released the album All the Rage in 1984. Jones left General Public part way through the recording process, but he is listed in the album's inner sleeve credits as a group member (although he did not appear in any of the band photographs). Jones' replacement, guitarist Kevin White, also played on the album and was also listed an official group member. White's picture also appeared on the album's back cover.
In the UK, General Public had a minor hit with the eponymous track "General Public", which reached No. 60 in the UK Singles Chart in 1984.[1] The single's B-side "Dishwasher" (an instrumental mix of "Burning Bright" from All The Rage) became a surprise Top 40 hit in the Netherlands, after its use as a closing theme tune to the pop radio show Avondspits.
Later in the year, the band fared even better in North America, where their second single "Tenderness" was a Top 40 hit in Canada (No. 11) and the US (No. 27). The song's success benefited from appearing in the John Hughes films Sixteen Candles (1984) and Weird Science (1985) from the time period, and it would later appear in Amy Heckerling's Clueless (1995) and in the horror film Devil's Due (2014). Meanwhile, another General Public song, "Taking the Day Off" was featured in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
For the follow-up album, White and Stoker were replaced by brothers Gianni and Mario Minardi on guitar and drums, respectively. Hand to Mouth was significantly less successful than their debut album, and the band dissolved soon after its release. The 1993 reissue of the album includes "Taking The Day Off" and other non-album songs and remixes.
Roger and Wakeling worked on various solo projects for the next few years, before reconstituting General Public in 1994 to perform a cover version of The Staple Singers hit "I'll Take You There" for the Threesome film soundtrack. The new General Public line-up retained only vocalists Wakeling and Roger from previous incarnations; the vocal duo was now backed by Michael Railton (keyboards), Randy Jacobs (guitars), Wayne Lothian (bass), Thomas White (drums), and Norman Jones (percussion).
"I'll Take You There" was a Top 40 hit in the US and Canada and a minor hit in the UK (No. 73). Jacobs and White then left the group, and new drummer Dan Chase was brought in. The sextet released the album Rub It Better for Epic Records in 1995, recorded in the USA with the aid of record producer Jerry Harrison. Guests on the album included former bandmate Mick Jones, Saxa, Pato Banton, and Chris Spedding; ex-band members Horace Panter and Stoker also participated in the album's creation, co-writing one song apiece. (Stoker also received an "additional recording" credit.) Sales were less than earlier albums, however, and Roger became tired of travelling to America, and they soon broke up again.
Since 2004, Dave Wakeling has toured the US with a full backing band as The English Beat. They often perform General Public tracks.[2]
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [3] |
CAN [4] | ||||||||
| 1984 | All the Rage
|
26 | 19 | ||||||
| 1986 | Hand to Mouth
|
151 | 84 | ||||||
| 1995 | Rub It Better
|
— | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes released that did not chart | |||||||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Classic Masters
|
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS | CAN | NL | NZ | US | US Dance | US Main | US Mod | ||||||
| 1984 | "General Public" | 60 | — | — | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | All the Rage | |||
| "Dishwasher" | — | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Tenderness" | 95 | 50 | 11 | — | — | 27 | 15 | 39 | — | |||||
| 1985 | "Never You Done That" | — | — | — | — | — | 105 | 13 | — | — | ||||
| "Hot You're Cool" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | |||||
| 1986 | "Faults and All" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hand to Mouth | |||
| "Too Much or Nothing" | — | — | 83 | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | |||||
| "In Conversation" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | |||||
| 1994 | "I'll Take You There" | 73 | — | 14 | — | 8 | 22 | 1 | — | 6 | Threesome (soundtrack) | |||
| 1995 | "Rainy Days" | — | — | — | — | — | 93 | — | — | 40 | Rub It Better | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | ||||||||||||||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 224. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ Dave Wakeling Readies First New English Beat Album in 34 years, Blastecho.com, February 16, 2016, retrieved September 2, 2016
- ↑ "allmusic ((( General Public > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- ↑ "Results - RPM - Library and Archives Canada: Top Albums/CDs". RPM. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- ↑ "Canadian Recording Industry Association search results". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 12 April 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2010.