My introduction to Dave Wakeling was a little unusual. Sure, I'd heard The English Beat as a kid growing up, (shout out to my Dad who had ALL of their vinyl), but the first time I saw the ska crooner pogoing around the stage was at a club show in a tiny college town in Illinois back in 2001. And that was 19 years after the last Beat record at the time, 1982's Special Beat Service.
Watching from the front of the crowd, I thought. "This guy hasn't lost a step." If you've seen a Beat show in the last 20 years, you probably had the same thought.
It's 2018, and yes, Dave Wakeling is still touring like a man 30 years his younger, but he's also recorded a new studio album, Here We Go Love, that contains a lot of the infectious energy that The Beat was known for.
In this World Cafe session, hear live recordings of new songs from the record and the stories behind them. Plus, the band performs classics like "Tenderness" and "Save it For Later." I'll also talk to Wakeling about his band General Public and the other spin off from The English Beat, Fine Young Cannibals.
We start with a live performance of "The Love You Give." Hear it all in the player above.
Copyright 2018 XPN