Ranking Roger
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
eggae roots, working with Pato Banton (who had made his debut on the English Beats last album) and releasing his
eggae-oriented solo debut, Radical Departure, on IRS. In the early 90s, Roger assembled Special Beat, which gathered personnel from the English Beat and the Specials, and found success touring the U.K. and Japan and performing tunes from both groups repertoires. In 1994, Roger and Wakeling reunited General Public and scored a hit with a cover of the Staple Singers Ill Take You There from the film Threesome; after the album Rub It Better appeared in 1995, though, the group called it quits again. Roger subsequently toured with Big Audio Dynamite and recorded with Sting, Death in Vegas, and Pato Banton again. He also appeared on the debut solo album by Radical Departure drummer Fuzz Townshend, whod gone on to work with Pop Will Eat Itself and Bentley Rhythm Ace. In 2001, Roger released another solo album on Paras, titled Inside My Head; some of the record was raditional reggae and ska, but other tracks showed that Roger had been keeping abreast of electronica, specifically the
eggae connection of jungle and the influence of dub.
