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Originally Posted by Gavin B.
I think the Beat was the least commercial sounding of all of the 2 Tone Bands and has a more of a punk attitude than any of the bands. Maybe you've only heard W'happen or one of their later albums but that wasn't the original frontline of musicians that formed the first edition of the Beat. The Beat experimented with musical genres other than ska and reggae and was one of the earliest UK bands to incorporate dub into nearly all of their music. Selector was a great band and was largely ignored during the ska revival.
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Gotta heartily disagree with you on who is most commercial sounding. As for my experience with The Beat, I have only ever heard "I Just Can't Stop It" so thanks for the warning. I have two reasons for thinking that The Beat is the most commercial sounding of the 2 Tone bands: 1) I grew up hearing "Mirror In The Bathroom" alongside lots of unbearable Top 40 Pop crap like Rick Springfield and Air Supply. 2) The sax. I know, I know - Saxa is a real ska legend and all but when you put that much sax in 80s Pop - no matter how skillful it is, you end up with something that sounds at least a little bit like Foreigner.
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My personal feeling is that songs like Twist and Crawl and Mirror in the Bathroom were closer musically to punk rock than anything ever done by the Specials, Selector or Madness.
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I always have felt that punk's biggest connection to ska is in ska's fast skank guitar. That and the wild energy of the vocalist are what make The Selecter feel the 'most punk' to me. The Specials, Madness, and The Beat all seem about equally punk I guess.
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From a political view, the Beat's lyrics were less rude boy than the other 2 Tone bands, but closer to the punk perspective of the UK culture. Their first album I Just Can't Stop railed against the National Front, Margaret Thatcher and the injustices of the class system in the UK. The evidence is in the lyrics.
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Agreed.
EDIT: I posted this before I watched the video up in post #2: Punk debates aside - that's some good sh
it! Like I said, I probably should invest more time in The Beat...