We lost Ranking Roger from the English Beat (or just plain The Beat if you were English).
It's not very often I go to a show by one of my favorites and the opening band was awesome. Happened to me with The English Beat. Saw them open for Talking Heads at the Hollywood Palladium in 1980. Not too long after that I saw them open for The Clash at the same venue.
There was a ska revival going on at the time, but this band was different. The brought in elements of R&B and punk for a totally unique sound.
Ranking Roger was one of the two vocalists.
The Beat - Can't Get Used to Losing You b/w Spar Wid Me (Go-Feet 1983)
During their lifetime they put out three albums and a bunch of singles. This particular one is cover of a tune made popular by Andy Williams. A cover of Smokey Robinson's Tears of Clown was also in their repertoire.
Roger is on the left in the photo below.
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