Dave Wakeling

Dave Wakeling
Dave Wakeling on stage in 2007
Background information
Birth name	David Wakeling
Born	19 February 1956 (1956-02-19) (age 55) Birmingham, England
Genres	Ska, Pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1978–present
Labels	I.R.S. Records
Associated acts	The Beat, General Public
Website	Dave Wakeling's website

Dave Wakeling (born David Wakeling, 19 February 1956, Birmingham, England) is an English rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is most famous for singing and writing songs for the 1980s 2-Tone band The Beat and also General Public.

Career

The first album by The Beat, I Just Can't Stop It, was a hit and singles from this album included "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Hands Off She's Mine" and "Can't Get Used To Losing You" which all entered the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. They also had UK hits from the albums Wha'ppen? and Special Beat Service. In 1983 The Beat disbanded, citing, "every great band only has three really good albums".

Wakeling then formed General Public with Ranking Roger in 1984 and they released their debut album, All the Rage. He would go on to record another two albums with General Public, Hand To Mouth (1986) and Rub It Better (1995), shortly after which the act would disband.

He then produced the soundtrack for the John Hughes film She's Having a Baby (1988), in which he also recorded the title track.

Wakeling released a solo album, No Warning, on I.R.S. Records in 1991 and has lived in California for a number of years. He regularly performs as The English Beat in North America.^[1]

Personal life

Wakeling currently resides in California with his wife Damessa and their two children, Max and Chloe.

Discography

• No Warning (1991 I.R.S. Records)

1. I Want More
2. No Warning
3. Remember in the Dark
4. Every Time You Look at Me That Way
5. Sensation
6. Freedom Fighter
7. One + One + One
8. Sex With You
9. I'm Not Ready
10. She's Having a Baby

Produced by Mark Goldenberg (tracks 1-9) & Steve Levine (track 10, from She's Having a Baby)

References

1. ^ http://www.davewakeling.com/bio/index.asp

Notes

• 1. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll, Third Edition (Fireside, 2001)
• 2. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Books, 2004)

External links

• Dave Wakeling's website
• IMDB.com
• The Official English Beat MySpace
• The Official General Public MySpace
• Only2Degrees Internet Talk Radio Show 2 May 2009
• [1]

Persondata
Name	Wakeling, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 February 1956
Place of birth
Date of death
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