RhoDeo 1249 Aetix

Hello,  I just found out that most unfortunately Sharebee links are likely no longer doing the business, I guess 4,5 years is an age in computer terms , Badongo and Megaupload gone, Rapidshare cleaning out all unpaid old links. Anyway it preceeds the banking crash, in short the world has changed a lot in this ever speeding world. There's more than 3000 links here and re-upping say about half is too much for me, so if you come a dead link just ask for a re-up and I will.....

Today one of the most popular and influential bands of the British ska movement.... N'Joy

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The six member band consisted of Dave Wakeling on vocals and guitar, Andy Cox on guitar, David Steele on bass, Everett Morton on drums, Ranking Roger on vocals and toasting, and foundational first wave ska legend Saxa on saxophone. The band crossed over fluidly between soul, reggae, pop and punk, and from these disparate pieces they created an infectious dance rhythm. Along with their contemporaries The Specials, The Selecter, and Madness, The Beat became an overnight sensation and one of the most popular and influential bands of the British ska movement.

By Christmas of 1979, The Beat were riding high in the UK charts with their first single, a smoking remake of the classic Smokey Robinson tune "Tears of a Clown". Over the course of the next five years The Beat toured relentlessly and released three studio albums: "I Just Can't Stop It", "Wh'appen", and "Special Beat Service".

In 1980, the band decided to form its own 2-Tone-inspired label, Go-Feet (distributed by Arista). A string of hit singles followed in the U.K., including "Mirror in the Bathroom." Their debut LP, I Just Can't Stop It, combined the early hits with other pop/ska-oriented material. "Stand Down Margaret," with its anti-Thatcher stance, found the band moving in a more political direction, leading to several benefit gigs for "radical" causes. Musically, the Beat slowed down the tempo for a more traditional reggae sound showcased on 1981's Wha'ppen. This direction failed to bring the chart success of its predecessor. Featuring a more pop-oriented approach, 1982's Special Beat Service helped the band increase its U.S. fan base through MTV exposure of "Save It for Later" and "I Confess.".

Despite their huge success, The Beat didn't stop singing and acting on the problems caused by the noise in this world. They donated all the profits from their highly successful single version of "Stand Down Margaret" to the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament. They donated their music to causes including the anti-nuclear benefit album "Life in The European Theatre", "The World of Music and Dance" album focusing on indigenous people's art, and lent their voice to The Special AKA's freedom cry "Free Nelson Mandela", to name but a few. Every great band only has three really good albums. And true to form, The Beat decided to call it quits after their third album, "Special Beat Service".  the bandmembers decided to split up early the following year. Wakeling and Ranking Roger went on to form General Public, and Cox and Steele formed Fine Young Cannibals

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Wha'ppen? Well their early fans might ask, but The (English) Beat were growing up fast, and for every member of the Two Tone army that bemoaned the lack of punk fire found here, they enlisted a new recruit taken with their maturing sounds and more diverse stylings. The album's taster "Drowning," coupled with another album track "All Out to Get You," may have disappointed chartwise, barely breaking into the Top 25, but it did not reflect the fate of the full-length, which soared to Number Three. It spun off a further single, "Doors of Your Heart," that didn't quite make the Top 30, but it's surprising it charted at all, considering it's flip, "Get a Job" was also pulled from the album. So what had happened?

The Beat - Wha'ppen? (flac 331mb)

01 Too Nice To Talk To 3:07
02 Doors Of Your Heart 3:46
03 All Out To Get You 2:45
04 Monkey Murders 3:09
05 I Am Your Flag 2:53
06 French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud) 3:28
07 Drowning 3:52
08 Dream Home In NZ 3:11
09 Walk Away 3:11
10 Over And Over 2:40
11 Cheated 3:28
12 Get-A-Job 3:10
13 The Limits We Set 4:15
14 Psychedelic Rockers 3:52
15 Hit It 3:02
16 Which Side Of The Bed? 4:11
 
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After two UK Top three albums, the Beat were forced to settle for a placement just outside the Top Twenty with Special Beat Service. But in the US their sun was on the ascendant, and a band who had yet to place a platter into the Top 100 suddenly found itself with a Top Forty hit album. The singles that barely scratched the charts in the UK found happy homes in the clubs, slotting nicely around the mix of New Wave and burgeoning New Romantic numbers American clubbers craved.

And so "I Confess" with its Joe Jackson-esque piano line, Dave Wakeling's sweet vocals soaring towards heaven, the jazzy sax, all cossetting the insistent drums and bouncing tablas; the fast and furious "Jeanette" with its French street flair and ever more surreal rhymes; "Save It"'s superb blend of jangly Byrd- esque guitars and stomping beats; "Salvation"'s nod to mod that hints at The Jam's "Beat Surrender" which arrived the same month; and the calypso party atmosphere of "Ackee," all set listeners feet tapping.

These were the ones that hit with the DJs, but the whole set was equally worthy, and moves onto the dancefloor with abandon. Producer Bob Sargeant gives it all a bright and brash sound, which may not have favored more reggae-heavy numbers like "Spar Wid Me" and "Pato and Roger a Go Talk," but The Beat were diving into the New Wave with gusto, and the production emphasizes those currents. In it's own way Service was just as musically adventurous as its predecessor, and boded well for the group's future. Or would have if The Beat hadn't celebrated their success by promptly calling it a day. The music however lives on in all its glory.

The Beat - Special Beat Service (flac 382mb)

01 I Confess 4:30
02 Jeanette 2:47
03 Sorry 2:32
04 Sole Salvation 3:05
05 Spar Wid Me 4:30
06 Rotating Head 3:24
07 Save It For Later 3:33
08 She's Going 2:09
09 Pato And Roger A Go Talk 3:19
10 Sugar & Stress 2:55
11 End Of The Party 3:29
12 Ackee 1 2 3 3:11
13 What's Your Best Thing 3:47
14 March Of The Swivel Heads 3:31
15 Cool Entertainer 3:32
16 A Go Talk (Tappy Luppy Dub) 8:38

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The Beat - Bonus Beat (12' and Dub Versions) (  flac 500mb)

01 Hands Off... She's Mine (Extended) 4:35
02 Twist & Crawl (Extended) 5:00
03 Stand Down Margaret (Dub) 3:32
04 Too Nice To Talk To (Dubweiser) 4:58
05 Psychedelic Rockers (Dubweiser) 5:30
06 Doors Of Your Heart (Extended) 5:30
07 Drowning (Dub) 5:13
08 Hit It (Extended) 6:29
09 Which Side Of The Bed? (Extended) 7:27
10 Save It For Later (Extended) 4:53
11 What's Your Best Thing (Dub) 3:49
12 Cool Entertainer (Extended) 5:50
13 Jeanette (Extended) 4:08
14 March Of The Swivel Heads (Extended) 5:14
15 I Confess (Dave Allen Remix) 5:45

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previously re-rip-up

The Beat - I Just Can't Stop It (  flac 265mb)

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