''I Just Can't Stop It'' is the debut studio album by the British two-tone band the Beat, released on 23 May 1980 by Go-Feet Records in the United Kingdom. It was released the same year in the United States on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

, with the band credited as "The English Beat"; in Australia, it was released on Go-Feet under the band name "The British Beat". The album was well-received; ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' raved that the music was "wild and threatening, sexy and sharp," while

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

later wrote it "was a stunning achievement" which had not been diminished by time. The album was reissued on CD in 1990 by

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III and Jay Boberg in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and a ...

in the U.S, and in 2012 by Edsel Records in the UK and

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

in the U.S.

Artwork

The "Beat Girl" icon seen on the cover and used on the band's merchandising was designed by

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

-based cartoonist

Hunt Emerson Hunt Emerson (born 1952) is an English cartoonist. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His many comic strips and graphic novels have ...

Critical reception

At the end of 1980, ''I Just Can't Stop It'' appeared in numerous lists of the best albums of the year: ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' ranked it third, '' Sounds'' ranked it 13th, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' ranked it 21st and '' OOR'' ranked it 41st. In 1995, ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' ranked the album at No. 94 in its list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums". ''Fast 'n' Bulbous'' ranked the album at number 283 in its list of "The 500 Best Albums Since 1965". A 2002 poll of KCPR DJs ranked it at No. 40 in a list of the "Top 100 Records of the 80s". ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prim ...

'' included it in its list of "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll." Music journalist

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

lists it as one of the five most important albums of " 2-Tone and the

Ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

Resurrection" in his 2005 book '' Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984''. In 2016, '' Paste'' ranked ''I Just Can't Stop It'' at No. 48 on its list of the 50 best new wave albums. "

Mirror in the Bathroom "Mirror in the Bathroom" is a single by the British ska band the Beat, released as a single in 1980 from their debut studio album '' I Just Can't Stop It''. It reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart and consequently was their highest chart ...

" was ranked at No. 3 in the ''NME'' "Singles of the Year" list and at No. 24 in ''Sounds "Singles of the Year" list. In 2003, '' Q'' ranked the song at No. 517 in its list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". In 2002, Gary Mulholland included the song in his list ''This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock''. In 2001, Michaelangelo Matos included it in his list of "The Top 100 Singles of the 80s." In 2006, 97x ranked it at No. 186 in its list of "The 500 Best Modern Rock Songs of All Time." In 1990,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

ranked "Twist & Crawl" at No. 10 in his list of the best songs of the 1980s.

Track listing

The U.S. release of the album on

added " Tears of a Clown" and "Ranking Full Stop", originally released as double A-sides of a single on

2 Tone Records 2 Tone Records was an English independent record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone. It was founded by Jerry Dammers of the Specials and backed by Chrysalis Records. History J ...

in 1979 (TT 6). These tracks remained on subsequent CD reissues of the album.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. The Beat *

Dave Wakeling David Wakeling (born 19 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and General Public. Career Wakeling began his professional caree ...

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Ranking Roger Roger Charlery (22 February 1963 – 26 March 2019), known professionally as Ranking Roger, was an English musician. He was a vocalist in the 1980s ska band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and later new wave band General ...

– toasting, vocals * Andy Cox – lead guitar * David Steele – bass guitar * Everett Morton – drums * Saxa – saxophone Production and artwork *

Bob Sargeant Robert Sargeant (20 November 1947 – 13 July 2021) was a British musician and record producer. Life and career Born in North Shields, Sargeant played keyboards in various local bands before joining regional R&B band the Junco Partners in 1966 ...

– production * Alvin Clark – engineering * Mark Dearnley – engineering * Mike Dunne – engineering * Trevor Hallesy – engineering * Nick Rogers – engineering *

– artwork "Thanks to:

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

the Specials The Specials, also known as the Special AKA, were an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, J ...

, Selecter, A/W Hunt Emerson"

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:I Just Can't Stop It The Beat (British band) albums 1980 debut albums Sire Records albums I.R.S. Records albums Albums produced by Bob Sargeant