(November 2025) Episode 695 is THE (English) BEAT. One will observe the lack of 80s pop/rock acts in the Project. This is because I spent my teens rejecting music popular with peers while adhering to classic rock orthodoxy. The Beat is an group I didn’t hate, but I didn’t listen to them because others did. Their new wave/ska mixture is very distinctive for its time and place but, as the three Beat albums in the last decade by, separately, Ranking Roger and Dave Wakeling show, it does not sound dated. By the time they morphed into GENERAL PUBLIC, the obligatory 80s synths and gated drums were added, which turns me off.

Favourite album: I Just Can’t Stop It

Favourite song: Mirror in the Bathroom

Compared to expectations: same

Recommendation: The three original Beat albums are decent, especially for a certain 80s nostalgia.