English Beat: Wha'ppen?

English Beat: Wha'ppen?

1981

Sire Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl & Compact Disc

Track Listing: Vinyl Version: 1. Doors of Your Heart  2. All Out to Get You  3. Monkey Murders  4. I Am Your Flag  5. French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)  6. Drowning  7. Dream Home in NZ  8. Walk Away  9. Over and Over  10. Cheated  11. Get-a-Job  12. The Limits We Set

CD Version: 1. Too Nice to Talk To  2. Doors of Your Heart  3. All Out to Get You  4. Monkey Murders  5. I Am Your Flag  6. French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)  7. Drowning  8. Dream Home in NZ  9. Walk Away  10. Over and Over  11. Cheated  12. Get-a-Job  13. The Limits We Set  14. Psychedelic Rockers  15.  Hit It  16. Which Side of the Bed...?

Alright, today's discussion? Which 2nd wave British ska band put out the most disappointing 2nd album that you ended up liking 20 years later?

Again, this could turn into a pretty interesting debate if such record-gazing arguments are your thing. The English Beat put out a flat-ass classic with "I Just Can't Stop It" which is one of the most kinetic, catchy records ever made.  Then they followed it up with the sloooow, dubby, all-over-the-place "Wha'ppen?" where the Beat drop the bpm's and expand their musical palette into areas like calypso, dub reggae, and conga. The whole things a little darker, paranoid and atmospheric.  The snap and bite is taken out of the rockers and replaced with suspicion. You could almost imagine the band selling their souls to Satan himself for the albumful of  hooks they produced with "I Just Can't Stop It." The hooks on "Wha'ppen?" are very human indeed. Why, it's the "Candy-O" of 2nd wave ska!

You almost get the feeling the album would totally sink if it wasn't for the beautiful recording, which is nice and snappy, yet low, rounded and boomy. Beautiful sound that sucks you into the dubbier stuff like "Drowning." The first dozen times or so I heard this album it just would quietly sneak past me without making much of an impression outside of a few head-nods. But slowly, I would recognize the woozy pop at the center of "Doors of Your Heart" and the nagging vocal hook on "Cheated." The recent CD reissue from Shout Factory remedies this a bit by making the great, rump-shaking, non-album single "Too Nice to Talk To" the opening track. Perfect. Can't believe the band didn't think of it. Something to get you going and after that track's nervous jitter, "Doors of Your Hear" feels like a huge, sweet relief.

Again, it takes awhile for this stuff to sink in. And a lot of folks have kids and lives and shit. See, I sit in a cubicle all day and have no children, so I have all the time in the world to listen to "Wha'ppen?" a gazillion times as "The Limits We Set" slowly morphs into a great song. Or maybe that's working against me? Maybe this album sounds better after you're able to manage 40 minutes away from the kids to luxuriate into the big, slow, warm bath that is "Drowning" and "Walk Away."  I guess I could totally see the appeal in this case. If the debut is too frantic/punk for you and the follow-up is too pop, this might be just right...

The CD version I have is the one included in the 2012 "The Complete Beat" box set. It's a great disc because the band was churning out some pretty solid non-album singles and B-Sides around this time, such as "Psychedelic Rockers" which sounds like "Too Nice to Talk To" turned inside out.   "Which Side of the Bed...?" would have been a highlight if they would have included it on "Wha'ppen?" I've never quite warmed up to "Hit It" but it sure does sound great tacked on to the end of the album, providing a bit of uptempo fun. 

I'm drunk. Let's listen to some music...Here's "Doors of Your Heart" by The English Beat...Enjoy...