The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius

Some 35 years ago sax player Lee Thompson helped introduced an entire generation to Ska music when as part of Madness they exploded on to the music scene on the crest of the 2-Tone wave. Now in the time between various Madness gigs and duties El Thommo has been filling that gap since 2011 by forming his own Ska Orchestra, with the aid of fellow Madness member and bassist Mark Bedford, to recreate and pay homage to those authentic Ska and Reggae rhythms that burst out of Jamaica in the mid to late 1960’s that influenced him and the band so much. 

Since then The Orchestra have been performing all over to rave reviews and the next logical step was to put that sound on record which has resulted in the release of debut album “The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius”, with the title itself paying tribute to the lady who opened and ran the Alpha School for Boys. The album features their takes on many Ska classics like Baba Brookes’ ‘Gun Fever’, Jackie Mittoo’s ‘Napoleon Solo’, ‘EasternStandard Time’ by Don Drummond plus in amongst all these great instrumentals is the  single release, featuring Bitty Mclean on vocals, a take on Desmond  Dekker’s mighty, mystical 'Fu Man Chu'. The album has been co-produced by Mike Pelanconi aka Prince Fatty who has worked with the likes of reggae greats Dennis Alcapone, Little Roy and Winston Francis as well as helping introduce us to the delights of the talented Hollie Cook.

The Benevolence of Sister Mary Ignatius is available from all major and local outlets NOW!

The (English) Beat

I was a real big fan of The Beat, who formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978, against a back drop of high unemployment, social upheaval and racial tension, and rose to prominence with the arrival of 2-Tone in late 1979. I feel they were very much underrated and it was always The Specials and Madness whom seemed to get all the plaudits. Maybe the throw awayish nature of first single, a cover version of the Motown hit by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "Tears of a Clown" and the rushed feel to debut album ‘Just Can’t Stop It’ (1980), with its covers of Prince Buster songs meant they were easily dismissed as another band riding on the shirt tails of The Specials. However I think this is harsh and that with some of their b-sides and the follow up album ‘Wha'ppen?’ (1981) they have been up there with some of the best sociopolitical bands going. They did score regularly and well in the main stream charts with songs including “Mirror In the Bathroom", “Hands Off She's Mine”, “Too Nice To Talk To” and “Best Friend”.

Although The Beat's main fan base was in the United Kingdom, the band was also popular in Australia, partly due to exposure on the radio station Triple J and the TV show Countdown. They also had a sizable following in North America, where the band was known as The English Beat for legal reasons (to avoid confusion with the American band The Beat) and received strong support from modern rock radio stations such as KROQ in Los Angeles and KYYX in Seattle. They toured worldwide with well-known artists such as David Bowie, The Clash, The Police, The Pretenders, R.E.M., The Specials, and Talking Heads. Members of the band often collaborated on stage with The Specials and in the early 1990s, Roger joined members of The Specials to form Special Beat, which toured and released two live albums. They supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and participated in the collaborative recording "Nelson Mandela".


 After the break-up of The Beat in 1983, Wakeling (guitar, vocals) and Ranking Roger (vocals) went on to form General Public, while Andy Cox (guitar) and David Steele (bass guitar) formed Fine Young Cannibals with vocalist Roland Gift. Everett Morton and Saxa formed The International Beat fronted by Tony Beet. Ranking Roger also briefly joined Mick Jones' post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite and performed at several live shows with the band. However, the band broke up shortly after he joined when its last album was shelved by the record company. Meanwhile, "March of the Swivelheads," an instrumental version of the Beat's song "Rotating Head," was used in the climactic chase scene of 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off; the band was listed in the end credits as "The (English) Beat".

In the 1990s, Roger recorded his solo début; a reggae-oriented album entitled Radical Departure. In 2001, Roger released another solo album, Inside My Head, which included traditional reggae and ska with influences of electronica, jungle, and dub. Ranking Roger's son, Ranking Junior, has followed in his father's footsteps. In 2005, he appeared on The Ordinary Boys' single "Boys Will Be Boys" and is a current member of The Beat in the UK.


In 2003, The Beat's original line-up, minus Cox and Steele, played a sold-out one-off gig at the Royal Festival Hall. In 2004, the VH1 show Bands Reunited tried unsuccessfully to reunite the original line-up.
In 2006, the UK version of The Beat, featuring Ranking Roger and Morton, recorded a new album that was mixed by Adrian Sherwood, but it remains unreleased. After Dave Blockhead left the band, he was replaced on keyboards by Mickey Billingham formerly a member of Dexys Midnight Runners and General Public.
Wakeling fronts the US version as the "The English Beat". In 2009, Wakeling toured co-headlining with Reel Big Fish and also discussed plans to release new material in 2009.


Both the UK and USA versions of the band tour frequently and both recently celebrated the 30th Anniversary of The Beat


Original Line-up

Dave Wakeling - Guitar / Lead Vocals

Ranking Roger - Vocals

Andy Cox - Guitar

David "Shuffle" Steele - Bass

Everett Morton - Drums

Saxa - Saxophone

Dance Craze - The Original 2-Tone Book

Hey you, don’t read that, read THIS! This is the heavy, heavy monster book, the nuttiest read around! It’s 

also the only introduction you’ll ever need to the boss sound of the 1980s: THE SPECIALS! MADNESS! THE BEAT! BAD MANNERS! THE SELECTER! and The BODYSNATCHERS! 

With a saucy portion of Judge Dread thrown in for good measure...

Researcher Paul Hallam had this to say about the book....

"Basically it’s the text from the 1981 (Dance Craze) magazine, with postscripts epilogues and much more. Several pages at the back taken from sounds of that era - dress like a rude boy for under a tenner - coach trips to marakesh for £30.00 (how long did that take in 1980?), and 30 plus unseen pictures taken by photographer David Arnoff in Los Angeles 1980 of the Specials/Madness/Selecter and The Beat." 


It’s in HMV stores from Monday 12th December and online to pre-order now at Facebook and Acid Jazz