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General Public | |
|---|---|
 General Public in 1994, left to right:Ranking Roger andDave Wakeling | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | New wave |
| Years active |
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| Labels | |
| Past members |
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General Public were an Englishnew wave band, formed inBirmingham in 1983, by vocalistsDave Wakeling andRanking Roger ofthe Beat, and which also included former members ofDexys Midnight Runners,the Specials, andthe Clash. They are best remembered for their hits "Tenderness" (1984) and "I'll Take You There" (1994).
After the break-up ofthe Beat in 1983 (known as the English Beat inNorth America), vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger decided to continue working together in a new venture.[1] They joined up with keyboardistMickey Billingham (Dexys Midnight Runners), guitaristMick Jones (the Clash), bassistHorace Panter (the Specials) and drummerStoker (Dexys Midnight Runners/the Bureau) to form asupergroup of the UKpunk andska scene.[1] They named the band General Public and were rapidly signed toVirgin Records in the UK andI.R.S. Records in North America.
The band recorded and released the albumAll the Rage in 1984.[1] 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 for the album cover). Jones' replacement, guitarist Kevin White, also played on the album and was also listed as 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 track "General Public", which reached No. 60 in theUK singles chart in 1984.[2] The single's B-side "Dishwasher" (an instrumental mix of "Burning Bright" fromAll The Rage) became a surprise Top 40 hit in theNetherlands, after its use as a closing theme tune to thepop radio showAvondspits.[citation needed]
Later in the year, the band fared even better in North America, where their second single "Tenderness" was a Top 30 hit inCanada (No. 11) and the US (No. 27). The song's success benefited from appearing in theJohn Hughes filmsSixteen Candles (1984) andWeird Science (1985) from the time period, and it would later appear inAmy Heckerling'sClueless (1995) and in the horror filmDevil's Due (2014). Meanwhile, another General Public song, "Taking the Day Off" was featured inFerris 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.[1] 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 ofthe Staple Singers' hit "I'll Take You There" for theThreesome 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).[1]
"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 albumRub It Better forEpic Records in 1995, recorded in the US with the aid ofJerry Harrison, the former keyboardist and guitarist forTalking Heads producing.[1] Guests on the album included former bandmate Mick Jones, Saxa,Pato Banton, andChris 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.) The single "Rainy Days" met with limited success in the US, but fared better in some international markets, notably Brazil. Sales were less than earlier albums, however, and Roger became tired of traveling 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.[3]
"Ranking" Roger Charlery died at his home in Birmingham on 26 March 2019 at the age of 56.[4][5][6]
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] | CAN [8] | ||||||||
| 1984 | All the Rage
| 26 | 19 | ||||||
| 1986 | Hand to Mouth
| 83 | 84 | ||||||
| 1995 | Rub It Better
| — | — | ||||||
| "—" denotes released that did not chart | |||||||||
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Classic Masters
|
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[10] | AUS | CAN | NL[11] | NZ | US[12] | US Dance[13] | US Main[14] | US Mod[15] | GER[16] | ||||||
| 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 | "Come Again" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hand to Mouth | |||
| "Faults and All" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "Too Much or Nothing" | — | — | 83 | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | |||||
| "In Conversation" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | — | — | — | |||||
| 1994 | "I'll Take You There" | 73 | — | 7 | — | 8 | 22 | 1 | — | 6 | 71 | Threesome(soundtrack) | |||
| 1995 | "Rainy Days" | — | — | — | — | — | 93 | — | — | 40 | — | Rub It Better | |||
| "Warm Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
