The roots of The Beat are planted in the unlikely turf of the Isle of Wight. It was here that young Birmingham college students David Wakeling and Andy Cox disembarked from the ferry at Cowes in late 1977 to seek their fortune. They were there on the promise of a wage making solar panels for a company owned by Andy’s brother-in-law. As Dave toldSmash Hits magazine:
We had lots of time to play guitar, because there’s not much to do on the Isle of Wight, not in the winter. So we decided that we ought to do something about the group... start getting something together.
They placed a small ad in an island paper seeking a bassist that referenced ‘Shake Some Action’ by the Flaming Groovies. The only fish to bite was David ‘Shuffle’ Steele, who was a local. In one of those small strokes of luck that add up to make a viable career, he had an offer to start his training as a mental nurse in Birmingham, so all three relocated back there. At almost the exact same time, the fledgeling Specials were cutting and shutting punk and ska a short distance away in Coventry, Wakeling and his cohorts were looking to do the same with reggae. The process was slow, but such classic Beat tunes as ‘Twist and Crawl’, ‘Best Friend’ and ‘Big Shot’ took shape at this time. All three held down full-time jobs and shared the pain of finding a drummer who would understand this weird hybrid music they were grasping at. It was Shuffle who pulled the golden thread by asking casually at the hospital where he worked if anyone knew a sticksman – Everett Morton’s name came up. At the next rehearsal, he sat befuddled while the trio powered through their mini-set and then, after a long pause, said it was fresh, different and yes, he was in.
The Beat hit the Birmingham live circuit soon after and an early date was supporting a punk group called the Dum Dum Boyz. Their drummer was one Roger Charlery, nicknamed Ranking Roger, born in Birmingham of St Lucian parents. As soon as he heard the Beat, he knew he had to jump ships, being both dazzled by their songs and knackered from pounding away out of sight behind the kit, which hardly suited the attention-seeking rude boy. As the Dum Dum Boyz didn’t gig too often, he was already a familiar presence on the Brum circuit in his plentiful spare time, jumping up to toast with anyone who would tolerate him invading the stage. One such amenable outfit was UB40 and they even offered Roger a berth with them. By now, he had a competing offer from The Beat and their more aggressive style chimed better with him; thus by the summer of 1979, four had become five. Saxa was spotted by the band playing in a shabby city pub soon after and made an offer on the basis that he would be a session player when they got into the studio. After only two warm-up gigs, the veteran Jamaican saxophonist was sold and asked to join full-time. Wakeling explained toSmash Hits in 1980 how this gave The Beat an unmistakeable twist:
He brought a whole jazz feel to it. Suddenly you could have a punky song and you’d get a slow, mournful jazz solo played over it that really puts it in a different vein.
And warming to his theme forbullz-eye.com:
...the tone of Saxa’s saxophone was pretty unique. And you have to be able to play the saxophone very well to get to emulate that tone. It’s more like a clarinet than a kazoo. A lot of younger players tend to overblow, t
