The (English) Beat “What Is Beat? The Best of the Beat”
The (English) Beat “What Is Beat? The Best of the Beat” 1983. Go Feet Records. 2 LP comp, one of Beat singles, album tracks and the other a “free album of extended remixes” called Frebe. While I might argue that their debut album I Just Can’t Stop It is the real best of the Beat album (from 1980, it went to #3 in the UK), this comp does pull several tracks: “Tears of a Clown” (originally by Smokey Robinson), “Mirror in the Bathroom” (one of my alltime faves), a different, a non-album version of “Stand Down Margaret,” “Best Friend,” “Rankin’ Full Stop” and “Twist and Crawl” (another top top track). There are two songs from 1981′s Wha’ppen?: “Doors of Your Heart” and “Drowning.” The single-only track “Too Nice To Talk To” from that era is also included (and that song appears on the Wha’ppen? CD reissue). There are a few from their third album Special Beat Service (1982, #21 UK, #39 US) like the amazing “Save It For Later” as well as “I Confess” and “Ackee 1-2-3″ plus the ‘83 single, a cover “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” (originally a hit for Andy Williams in ‘63) which was also on I Just Can’t Stop It in a slightly different arrangement.
Frebe remixes and bonus tracks: “Twist and Crawl,” “Save It For Later,” “Psychedelic Rockers,” “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Hands Off…She’s Mine,” “Tears of a Clown,” “Too Nice to Talk To,” “March of the Swivel Heads” (probably most recognized from the final scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), “Drowning,” “I Confess” and “Doors of Your Heart.”
Daily (maybe) pulls from the vault: 33-1/3, 45, 78, old, older, classic, new, good, bad. Subjective. Autobiographical. Occasionally putting a record up for sale.