The Podcast for our 11/20 Show with Dave Wakeling is Up
Written by admin on November 21, 2009
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (47.8MB)
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Podcast (feed-2): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:19 — 50.6MB)
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The Podcast for our 11/20 Revenge of the 80s Radio show is up and available at the end of this post. The second hour features a conversation with Dave Wakeling of the and General Public.
Wakeling’s music has always been politically charged, with classics like “Stand Down Margaret” and “Tenderness” coming quickly to mind, and his genuine concern is personified by his involvement in charity and humanitarian causes throughout his career. Wakeling is currently touring North America with the English Beat (Ranking Roger leads another “Beat” band in the UK) and says he will be releasing some new music in 2010.
Wakeling’s signature sound mixes elements form early punk, ska, new wave and soul. His musical creativity gave the Beat and General Public an advantage when writing and performing their more politically-oriented tracks; the bands played fun, danceable music while bringing the themed message out and not sounding too preachy. The “preachy” factor, historically, may have been popular in the 1960s, but diminished the intent and popularity of bands from the early 80s onward. Wakeling talks about straddling that line in our conversation, where he also discusses:
- The unorthodox way he learned to play guitar
- How he met Ranking Roger and formed what was to be the English Beat
- Politics and music
- His thoughts on issues of today
- His tour and upcoming new music
Wakeling’s constantly-updated tour information can be found on his official website.
In the first hour, we play classic alternative tracks form artists including The Little Girls, Big Audio Dynamite, Aneka, Jason & the Scorchers ad Wall of Voodoo.
