Fun Boy Three: Waiting (Chrysalis Records/1983)

The Fun Boy Three was an offshoot project of ex-members of The Specials; Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple. After The Specials' single for “Ghost Town” peaked at number one on the UK charts, Golding, Hall and Staple left the band to form The Fun Boy Three.

The band had near-instant success in the U.K. with their first few singles which all reached the Top 20 and their self-titled debut album which reached the Top 10. The album had a spare sound with tribal drumming and chanting, Terry Hall's deadpan vocals and background vocal support from Bananarama. The band also returned the favor by contributing to Bananarama's “Really Saying Something” single.

The Fun Boy Three's follow-up and would-be final album, Waiting , was produced by Talking Head David Byrne. It featured full-arrangements in a significantly more classical-pop vein. It features David Byrne on guitar and ex-Specials trumpet player Dick Cuthell as well. Byrne's production really does suit the songs well. And the results are a cohesive, satisfying listen.

There are a few tangos (“The Tunnel Of Love” and “The Things We Do”) a few socio-political songs (“The More I See The Less I Believe” and “The Pressure Of Life”), a few darkly comical autobiographical songs (“Well Fancy That” and “We're Having All The Fun”), music hall via reggae (“The Farmyard Connection”) and the bands' arrangement of “Our Lips Are Sealed”, which was co-written by Hall with Jane Wiedlin. It's a poignantly darker version of The Go-Go's classic bubblegummy rendition.

All in all an awesome record. Definitely a sleeper of an album. Highly recommended.

Here's the video review:

The English Beat: The Hall At MP, Brooklyn, NY (3/3/2017)

The English Beat were, along with The Specials, Madness and others, part of the U.K. 2 Tone ska revival in the late 1970's. The had a slew of hits in the U.K. and a few in the U.S., namely "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Save It For Later" and "I Confess". They broke up in 1983 (spin-off groups included General Public and Fine Young Cannibals) and have recently reformed. The English Beat has always been something of a third-string favorite band of mine, yet I've always immensely enjoyed their small catalog of three albums. I've certainly never thought to see them live, until now.

The new band features Dave Wakeling and six new able-bodied members. The band confidently took the stage dressed in matching black Fred Perry polo shirts (reportedly shoulder checking various audience members on the way) and were sprightly, tight and well-rehearsed. The certainly exceeded my expectations as far as reproducing their danceably spare sound. They're touring ostensibly to celebrate the band's forthcoming Here We Go Love album, which is due this Summer. It will be the bands first studio album in thirty-four years. The band sampled two new tracks from the album ("The Love You Give Last Forever" and "Said We Would Never Die").

The band reminded the audience just how many classic tracks they had: "Twist & Crawl", "Doors Of Your Heart", "Too Nice To Talk To", "I Confess", "Hands Off She's Mine", "Save It For Later", their cover of "Tears Of A Clown" and "Mirror In The Bathroom". Wakeling and company even pulled out "Tenderness" (his later band, General Public's biggest hit). It was a great show by fine band.

Special thanks to Laurel.