When we reported on the dueling reissue campaigns by Edsel and Shout! Factory over the catalogue of The (English) Beat, it was pretty clear that each had its own distinct advantages. Shout! Factory's The Complete Beat box set lacked some of the bonus content and all of the video footage in Edsel's 2CD/1DVD expansions of each of the ska band's three albums. On the other hand, they were going to include The Beat in its burgeoning series of live shows from the fabled US Festival. Now, we have some details of that release to pass along to you.
The Beat were the only band in the two-year history of Steve Wozniak's brilliant, failed outdoor festival to play a set for both festivals in 1982 and 1983. Both times, they played alongside several legends of the post-punk and New Wave scene, including The Ramones, The Clash, The Police, The Talking Heads, INXS, Wall of Voodoo and Men at Work. While the band wasn't long for this world after that second date, wrapping things up with the great What is Beat? compilation later that year, they put in two spirited performances that deservedly rank toward the top of the heap during both festivals.
It was a question, of course, as to which one of the performances was getting a release from the label, ever since the set was confirmed for inclusion with online orders of The Complete Beat. The answer? Both. The Beat's US Festival package - the first official live release from the band - will feature both shows on CD and DVD; nine tracks from the 1982 show and seven from the 1983 stand will be featured on the CD, a fitting highlights disc. The DVD, however, will feature both sets in their entirety. That's a 12-song set in 1982 and 14 cuts the following year.
And, happily, the package won't be reserved exclusively for anyone who bought Shout! Factory's box set; it'll be released on its own this September 18. Hit the jump for a full breakdown of the package, and keep an eye on this post when Amazon links go live!
The English Beat, Live at The US Festival (Shout! Factory, 2012)
Disc 1: CD
- Twist & Crawl
- I Confess
- Doors of Your Heart
- Sugar & Stress
- Two Swords
- Hands Off...She's Mine
- Save It for Later
- Too Nice to Talk To
- Mirror in the Bathroom
- Jeanette
- Spar Wid Me
- Get-A-Job/Stand Down Margaret
- Tears of a Clown
- Ackee 1 2 3
- Ranking Full Stop
- Jackpot
Tracks 1-9 recorded live at The US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernadino, CA - 9/3/1982. Tracks 10-16 recorded live at The US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernadino, CA - 5/28/1983.
Disc 2: DVD
- Twist & Crawl
- Doors of Your Heart
- I Confess
- Get-A-Job/Stand Down Margaret
- Sugar & Stress
- Spar Wid Me
- Two Swords
- Hands Off...She's Mine
- Save It for Later
- Too Nice to Talk To
- Mirror in the Bathroom
- Jackpot
- Mirror in the Bathroom
- Doors of Your Heart
- Two Swords
- Jeanette
- I Confess
- Too Nice to Talk To
- Spar Wid Me
- Get-A-Job/Stand Down Margaret
- Tears of a Clown
- Ackee 1 2 3
- Twist & Crawl
- Ranking Full Stop
- Save It for Later
- Jackpot
Tracks 1-12 recorded live at The US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernadino, CA - 9/3/1982. Tracks 13-26 recorded live at The US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernadino, CA - 5/28/1983.
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Thanks for the news. I was torn between getting the Shout! box set or the Edsel reissues individually. I went with Edsel and I'm impressed. But this is great news. I'll be buying this.
I got both ... and the liner notes in the new US Festival CD/DVD claim that Oingo Boingo also played both festivals! Have not had time to watch/listen to it yet, or I'd report back.
Have now watched DVD. The resolution is the best you can expect from TV in 1982/3, but the sound is great and the picture is crisp. Nicely done. And I hadn't noticed until now there's a song I'd never heard before: "Sugar & Stress." As far as I can tell this is the only place it appears (on the CD too).
"Sugar & Stress" is on their third album, "Special Beat Service."
By both US Festival dates, the Beat were putting on very solid but unsurprising shows . . . about as close to a "greatest hits" set as possible, so this set isn't overwhelming for me. I'd kill to hear one of their more chaotic and envelope-pushing early sets!
It's a bit odd to refer to the CD as a "highlights" disc, as that obscures the fact that it contains one version of every tune from the two concerts - the sets were (roughly) 75% identical. The 12- and 14-song concerts share 10 songs! That goes a long way to showing the stagnation that was slowly killing the band, which I'd love to know more about. In 30 years, neither of the two singers has ever come close to making music as sweet and memorable again, and even the unexpected commercial success of two lower profile members (in Fine Young Cannibals) ended suddenly with nothing new in its wake.
Also, the cover is hideous.
Also, the idea that this is the first ever official live release from the band is ludicrous; a completist will have live versions (mind you, not from the same shows) of nearly every song here. More than half a dozen from b-sides and CD singles, and nearly all the rest (and more) from an official 2004 live DVD which features 20 different tracks, including "Stranger On The Shore" - a song that, unlike "Sugar & Stress" actually does never appear on any other Beat release.
Wow, John! I must have been half asleep when I typed that. Maybe I was skimming for an ampersand! I thought I'd heard the song before but then when I looked at the original CDs I couldn't find the title. I give up :).
Hey, it happens to the best of us from time to time!