Dave Wakeling says ska music is more than just a genre. Wakeling, front man for The Beat (known in the U.S. as The English Beat), says it is a way to address pertinent social issues while still having ...

Dave Wakeling from The English Beat joined Alex Cohen in KPCC's studios for a chat about his career. Listen to two songs he performed here. Dave Wakeling's band, The English Beat, are known for hits ...

For 30 years, Dave Wakeling has been entertaining music lovers around the world with his bands The Beat, The English Beat and General Public. At one point in his life, Wakeling thought about becoming ...

Inspired by the first wave of punk in the U.K., the Beat combined the social critique of punk with the broader emotional and sonic palette of reggae. Formed in 1978, the English Beat (so named when ...

Dave Wakeling, who has fronted ska/reggae/rock band the English Beat for four decades, was recently talking to a friend who was about to retire from his job as a policeman in New York. They were ...

Born out of the 1980s 2 Tone ska revival, The English Beat featured smart, catchy lyrics bended with a patented mix of rock, ska and reggae. Composed of Dave Wakeling (lead vocals/guitars), Ranking ...

When the Third Wave ska revival hit big here in the mid-’90s, various bands – notably Orange County’s No Doubt, Reel Big Fish and Save Ferris – often gave stylistic tips of their checked hats to U.K.

Dave Pehling is website managing editor for CBS Bay Area. He started his journalism career doing freelance writing about music in the late 1990s, eventually working as a web writer, editor and ...

The King of Ska, Dave Wakeling, was a founding member of pioneering 2-tone band the English Beat. Formed in Birmingham, England in 1978 as a response to the height of UK economic melt-down of the time ...

Although his accent lingers, English Beat leader Dave Wakeling has been based in California for more than 20 years. “I’m a dude,” says the native Brit with a laugh. A former resident of Dana Point and ...

Dave Wakeling’s still got the beat. After three decades of touring, politicking and writing songs as guitarist and singer of English ska band the Beat (known as the English Beat here in the States), ...

One of the most important ska bands of all time, The English Beat helped revive the genre in the early '80s. Influenced by pop, punk and reggae, the group tackled political themes such as poverty and ...