General Public
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214664098
2008-05-24T17:50:52Z
86.9.20.203
{{Infobox musical artist | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| Name = General Public
| Img =
| Landscape = yes
| Img_capt =
| Background = group_or_band
| Origin = [[U.K]]
| Genre = [[rock music|Rock]]
| Years_active = 1980s, 1990s
| Label = [[I.R.S. Records|I.R.S.]]
| Associated_acts = [[The Beat (band)|The Beat]]<br />[[Dexys Midnight Runners]]<br />[[The Specials]]<br />[[The Clash]]
| URL =
| Current_members =
| Past_members = [[Dave Wakeling]]<br />[[Ranking Roger]]<br />[[Mickey Billingham]]<br />[[Horace Panter]]<br />[[Mick Jones (The Clash)|Mick Jones]]<br />[[Kevin White (musician)|Kevin White]]
}}
{{Refimprove|date=February 2008}}
The band '''General Public''' formed after the [[1983 in music|1983]] break-up of [[The Beat (band)|The Beat]] (known as The English Beat in North America). Ex-Beat vocalists [[Dave Wakeling]] and [[Ranking Roger]] joined up with keyboardist [[Mickey Billingham]] ([[Dexys Midnight Runners]]), bassist [[Horace Panter]] ([[The Specials]]) and drummer [[Andy "Stoker" Growcott|Stoker]] ([[Dexys Midnight Runners]]/[[The Bureau]]) to form the new band. Guitarist [[Mick Jones (The Clash)|Mick Jones]] of [[The Clash]] was also originally announced as a band member.
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General Public signed to [[I.R.S. Records]] and released ''[[All the Rage]]'' ([[1984]]). However, by the time the album was released, Jones was no longer a member of General Public, although he did play guitar on the majority of the album's tracks. [[Kevin White (musician)|Kevin White]] (who also played on the album) was now the group's official guitarist and sixth member.
In Britain, General Public had a minor hit with the [[eponymous]] track called "General Public", which reached #60. The band fared better in North America, where their second single "[[Tenderness (song)|Tenderness]]" was a top 40 hit in the US and Canada, reaching #27 on the U.S. charts.(Wakeling and Roger's previous band, The Beat, were stars in the UK but never had any top 40 hits in the US.) The track "Tenderness" was featured in the film ''[[Clueless (film)|Clueless]]'' (1995) and is used over the final credits.
For the follow-up album, White and Stoker were replaced by brothers Gianni and Mario Minardi [http://www.twinoakschurch.com/167470.ihtml] on guitar and drums, respectively. Despite featuring a track from the soundtrack to ''[[Weird Science (film)|Weird Science]]'', ''Hand to Mouth'' ([[1986 in music|1986]]) was significantly less successful than the debut album, and the band soon split up.
Roger and Wakeling worked on various solo projects for the next few years, before reuniting in 1994 to perform a cover of [[The Staple Singers]] hit "[[I'll Take You There]]" for the ''[[Threesome (film)|Threesome]]'' [[soundtrack]]. The song, credited to General Public, was a surprise top 40 hit in the US and Canada, and a minor hit (#73) in the UK.
The duo (now the only members of General Public) stayed together to release the album ''Rub It Better'' in [[1995 in music|1995]], recorded with the aid of producer [[Jerry Harrison]]. But sales were dismal, and Roger was tired of the grind of touring, so they soon broke up again.
Beginning in [[2000 in music|2000]], Dave Wakeling began calling his backing band alternately either General Public or The English Beat. He then toured (mostly in North America) as either "The English Beat featuring Dave Wakeling" '''''or''''' "Dave Wakeling & General Public". Aside from Wakeling, this new backing band featured no original members of The (English) Beat or General Public, although reportedly Ranking Roger and other Beat members turned up as guest performers at a handful of shows.
Wakeling and Roger reunited again in [[2005 in music|2005]] when The Beat officially reformed.
==Discography==
*''[[All the Rage]]'' 1984
*''[[Hand to Mouth (album)|Hand to Mouth]]'' 1986
*''[[Rub It Better]]'' 1995
*''[[Classic Masters (General Public album)|Classic Masters]]'' 2002
==See also==
* [[List of number-one dance hits (United States)]]
* [[List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{allmusicguide | id = 11:3iftxqe5ldke~T1 | label = General Public}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:General Public}}
[[Category:English musical groups]]
[[Category:I.R.S. Records artists]]
[[Category:New Wave groups]]
[[Category:Supergroups]]
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