GENERAL PUBLIC BIOGRAPHY

General Public sprang from the ashes of The English Beat. After that band broke up in early 1983, frontmen Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger carried on with General Public, recruiting Micky Billingham (formerly of Dexy's Midnight Runners) on keyboards, "Stoker" on drums, Horace Panter (formerly of ska/two-tone act The Specials) on bass and Kevin White on guitar to round out the line up. They recorded their debut LP ALL THE RAGE which, in a flip flop of their Beat days, garnered a U.S. hit with "Tenderness" In 1984.

In 1985 they replaced White and "Stoker" with the Minardi Brothers, Mario on drums and Gianni on guitar. Their second LP, HAND TO MOUTH, followed in early 1986. This LP failed to produce a hit single and did not fare as well as its predecessor and soon, General Public was history. Both Wakeling and Roger pursued solo careers.

General Public reunited in 1995 for a new L,P RUB IT BETTER, on Sony Records (produced by Talking Heads' Jerry Harrison) and produced tunes for the Sony Pictures film THREESOME. A tour ensued, but Roger grew tired of the grind the team again split. In 2000, Wakeling started calling his solo act's back-up band "General Public" and to this day he tours as Dave Wakeling and General Public. Ranking Roger and other members of both The English Beat and General Public have reportedly joined Dave Wakeling in some performances. They are touring through early 2003.

GENERAL PUBLIC I.R.S. DISCOGRAPHY

Albums & EPs

Produced by General Public
Engineered, Recorded & Mixed by Gavin McKillop and Colin Fairley
Assisted by Tim, Johnny, Biggles, J.J., Barney and Carb
Recorded and mixed at Air London, The Townhouse, The Manor, Redan Genetic and The Lot
Mastered by Gordon Vicary at The Townhouse Cover by Chris Morton
Photography by Peter Ashworth
Costumes by Bassia
Management: Tarquin Gotch of Curve Management, assisted by James Wylie, Vanessa Bennett and Lionel Martin

Musicians:
Dave Wakeling vocals & guitar
Ranking Roger vocals, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion
Micky Dillingham keyboards and vocals
Horace Panter bass
"Stoker" drums
Kevin White guitar

AdditionalMusicians:
Mick Jones guitar
Justine Carpenter vocals on tracks 2 & 5
Saxa saxaphone on track 1
Gary Barnacle saxaphone on track 10
Steve Sidwell trumpet on track 9
Bob Porter bassoon on track 2
The Aswad Brass Section (Eddie Thornton, Michael Rose & Vin Gordon) horns on track 3

Track Listing:

1. Hot You're Cool (General Public) 3:47
2. Tenderness (General Public) 3:34
3. Anxious (General Public) 4:19
4. Never You Done That (General Public) 4:08
5. Burning Bright (General Public) 4:30
6. As A Matter Of Fact (General Public) 5:22
7. Are You Leading Me On (General Public) 3:09
8. Day-To-Day (General Public) 3:28
9. Where's The Line? (General Public) 4:09
10. General Public (General Public) 4:22

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by General Public, Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley
Remixes by John "Jellybean" Benitez (cut 1) & Arthur Baker (cuts 2 & 3)

Musicians:
Dave Wakeling vocals & guitar
Ranking Roger vocals, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion
Micky Dillingham keyboards and vocals
Horace Panter bass
"Stoker" drums
Kevin White guitar

Track Listing:

1. Tenderness (extended dance mix) (General Public) 6:00
2. Never You Done That (dance mix) (General Public) 4:08
3. Never You Done That (dub mix) (General Public) 4:08

Produced by General Public, Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley
Remixes by Arthur Baker (cuts 1 & 2)
Track 3 Recorded Live at The Channel, Boston, MA, 04 December 1984

Musicians:
Dave Wakeling vocals & guitar
Ranking Roger vocals, keyboards, bass, drums and percussion
Micky Dillingham keyboards and vocals
Horace Panter bass
"Stoker" drums
Kevin White guitar

Track Listing:

1. So Hot You're Cool (hot dance mix) (General Public) 5:09
2. So Hot You're Cool (cool dub mix) (General Public) 8:04
3. Day To Day (Live) (General Public) 3:16

Produced & Mixed by David Leonard, Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger
Engineered by John Shaw, Tim Baldwin, Kent Wagner and Sidney Burton Jr.
Assisted by Tim, Johnny, Biggles, J.J., Barney and Carb
Recorded at The Abattoir, Birmingham, U.K. and Genetic Studios, Streatley, U.K.
Mixed at Mission Control, Boston, U.S.
Cover painting by Martin Burgoyne
Photography by Peter Ashworth
Design by C More Tone
Special Thanks to Tarquin Gotch & Emma Dixon of Curve Management, Vanessa Bennett of Abacus (MAS), James Wylie, David Peters, Digby Cleaver, John Richards, Martin Rushent, Sid Payne, Andy Deininger, Bodies by Fisher, Boston & of course, the Babies

Musicians:
Dave Wakeling vocals & guitar
Ranking Roger vocals & keyboards
Micky Dillingham keyboards & vocals
Horace Panter bass
Mario Minardi drums
Gianni Minardi guitar

AdditionalMusicians:
Saxa saxaphone
Justine Carpenter & Sandra Loban vocals
Pato Banton toasting
Gaspar Lawal percussion
Chris Cameron brass arrangements
Steve Brennan violin
Digby Cleaver rap

Track Listing:

1. Come Again (General Public) 3:42
2. Faults And All (General Publicr) 3:33
3. Forward As One (General Public) 6:07
4. Murder (General Public) 4:20
5. Cheque In The Post (General Public) 3:37
6. Too Much Or Nothing (General Public) 4:23
7. Love Without The Fun (General Public) 3:27
8. In Conversation (General Public) 5:42
9. Never All There (General Public) 4:02
10. Cry On Your Shoulder (General Public) 3:53
    Additional tracks on 1993 re-release:
    
11. General Public (12" version) (General Public)
12. Limited Balance (General Public)
13. All The Rage (General Public)
14. Taking The Day Off (General Public)
15. Day To Day (live) (General Public)
16. Where's The Line? (live) (General Public)
17. Tenderness (live) (General Public)
18. Hot You're Cool (live) (General Public)

Review Coming Soon!

Singles

Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley

Review Coming Soon!

A-Side Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley
B-Side Produced by General Public

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley
Additional production & mixing by Arthur Baker

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by General Public with Gavin MacKillop & Colin Fairley

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by David Leonard, Dave Wakeling & Ranking Roger
(B-Side from the Motion Picture Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

Review Coming Soon!

Produced by David Leonard, Dave Wakeling & Ranking Roger

Review Coming Soon!

Compilations & Soundtracks

THE BEAT GOES ON (IRS-13086): features two songs by General Public and eleven by other English Beat spinoff acts.
IRS GREATEST HIPS, VOL 4 (13096) includes "Tenderness"
LIVE FOR LIFE (IRS5731) includes a live version of "Tenderness"
MARK OF THE BEAST (#Free-666): features "General Public"
ON THE CHARTS: IRS RECORDS 1979-1994 (IRSD-29695) includes "Tenderness"

GENERAL PUBLIC LINKS & OTHER COOL STUFF

While sites devoted to The (English) Beat are plentiful, there's little devoted strictly to General Public:

The General Public page at a cool UK Beat fan site.
The Trosuer Press General Public page.
Read the lyrics to "Tenderness" here...
A 1986 newspaper article gives a glimpse back in time...
Read a review of a "Roger-less" General Public concert.