Sire / London/Rhino
1982
Special Beat Service
About This Album
In Britain, The (English) Beat were moving very much in the wrong direction, as their chart placements made clear. "Save It for Later" released in April 1982, barely made the Top 50, "Jeanette," their new album's taster, just brushed Number 45, "I Confess" didn't even chart, probably because it's flip "Sole Salvation" was also culled off the album, while "Ackee 1 2 3" played outside the Top 50.

The slippage had started with Wha'ppen, as the group had veered sharply away from their frenetic roots, Special Beat Service would take them even further from their early punk-fired fury. Still, Wha'ppen still boasted cultural themes, its angry and angsty lyrics sharply edging the set. Service didn't even have that, and after two Top Three albums, the group were forced to settle for a placement just outside the Top Twenty.

But in the US their sun was on the ascendant, and a band who had yet to place a platter into the Top 100 suddenly found itself with a Top Forty hit album. The singles that barely scratched the charts in the UK found happy homes in the clubs, slotting nicely around the mix of New Wave and burgeoning New Romantic numbers American clubbers craved.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,5,7,8,9,11 and 12)

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