studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

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 ...

Go-Feet Records Go-Feet Records was an English record label founded by, and predominantly used to release recordings by, the ska revival band the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America). The band had some chart success in the United Kingdom in the ...

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 ...

I Just Can't Stop It ''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, with the band credit ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

steel band The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...

socially conscious Social consciousness (or social awareness) is collective consciousness shared by individuals within a society.Roundhouse Studios with producer

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 ...

. Released in May 1981, ''Wha'ppen?'' was a commercial success, peaking at No. 3 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, though its singles were the least commercially successful the band had released up to that point. Fans' reaction to the album was mixed, with some finding the band to have "mellowed out," though the album gave the band a larger American audience than before. Critics were generally favourable towards the album, with praise given to the musicianship and lyricism. ''

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 ...

'' named it the 4th best album of 1981, while

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 ...

named it the 5th best. It has been re-released and remastered several times.

Background and concept

The Beat formed in 1978 and, according to Chris Woodstra, became "one of the earliest and most important

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 ...

revivalist groups" with their multiracial line-up and alternating lead vocals from toaster

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 ...

and guitarist

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 ...

. They were part of the two-tone music scene in the Midlands that mixed

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 ...

,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

,

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and politically and socially conscious lyrics. They briefly signed to

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 ...

for their debut single, a Top 10 cover of " Tears of a Clown," before creating

Go-Feet Records Go-Feet Records was an English record label founded by, and predominantly used to release recordings by, the ska revival band the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America). The band had some chart success in the United Kingdom in the ...

, on which they released their critically and commercially acclaimed debut album ''

I Just Can't Stop It ''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, with the band credit ...

'' (1980), which mixed political and personal lyrics with

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

and a punk energy. After ''I Just Can't Stop It'', the band felt they had to change their sound for their second album.

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 ...

of the band felt this may have been because of fellow two-tone band

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 ...

changing their musical style on their second album ''

More Specials ''More Specials'' is the second album by English ska band the Specials, released by 2 Tone Records in September 1980. After the success of the band's debut album, band member Jerry Dammers assumed the role as the band's leader and stirred them i ...

'' (1980). He felt that while the first Specials album was "very punkish with an edge," ''More Specials'' "was like

Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

, hotel music! Obviously they’d been on the road too long, that’s what we thought. We thought they’ve been on the road too long cause this is the kind of music we hear in them hotels when we tour round America – everywhere! But it still had a message and that was really successful for them. And maybe it was more successful for them because they challenged to change." Whereas the Beat had listened to reggae, dub and

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

bands like

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

and

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

when touring in preparation for their first album, several band members had become tired of the heavy bass work of dub music and the "thrashy" nature of punk rock when touring in preparation for their second album. Instead, the band began listening to

West African music The music of West Africa has a significant history, and its varied sounds reflect the wide range of influences from the area's regions and historical periods. Traditional West African music varies due to the regional separation of West Africa, y ...

, the influence of which can be heard on ''Wha'ppen?''. Ranking Roger noted: "What you listen to on your bus could dictate what your next album sounds like." The band's idea for ''Wha'ppen?'' was "not to keep the same, but to keep changing." Consequently, the band made ''Wha'ppen?'' more relaxed than its predecessor, while retaining the "melodies and catchy hook lines." Ranking Roger later described ''Wha'ppen?'' as "the most relaxed Beat album" and noted that "Californians and

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

, people like that – that album was made for them."

Writing and recording

After touring with

the Pretenders The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...

, the Beat began jamming to curate ideas for ''Wha'ppen?''. During this period, the band read letters from their fan club, one of which was from an American woman who told the band she attempted to use their music in fitness lessons but found it too fast. Roger noted: "It was a lovely written letter so we decided to tone it down a bit in the way that The Beat became what we call ' one-drop', where the

rim shot A rimshot is a percussion technique used to produce an accented snare drum backbeat. The sound is produced by simultaneously hitting the rim and head of the drum with a drum stick. The sound and various techniques The sound of rimshots can be ...

and the

snare SNARE proteins – "Soluble NSF attachment protein, SNAP REceptors" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to m ...

hits at the same time and that’s the main emphasis. So we did 'Doors of your Heart' and 'Monkey Murders' and along with a few others and that was the kind of style for that album in the end." The band found it difficult to write lyrics while on tour, so they each bought a notepad, jotted down ideas, kept them for several days and then passed them onto other band members, who then wrote their own ideas onto the sheet. This communal fashion of writing songs was not unlike their approach to writing ''I Just Can't Stop It'', as the lyrics of both albums were created when several band members would propose lyrics, and after passing these lyrics around the group, the whole band decided on what to retain and reject. As the band's musical influences were disparate, the band wrote the music in a more complex fashion, where, " a consequence, through playing an embryonic song over and over, 'everybody sort of jostles for position' until he band agreedupon a satisfying arrangement." Bruce Dancis of '' Mother Jones'' believe this contributed towards the gentler, moodier sound of ''Wha'ppen?'' in comparison to ''I Just Can't Stop It''. ''Wha'ppen?'' was recorded at Roundhouse Studios,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in 1981 and produced by Bob Sargeant. While this was the same studio that the band's debut album was recorded in, ''Wha'ppen?'' was recorded in only half the time and half the budget, due to the expenses of

digital recording In digital recording, an audio signal, audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or Color, chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is s ...

and the pressures placed on the band by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, who owned the band's label

Go-Feet Records Go-Feet Records was an English record label founded by, and predominantly used to release recordings by, the ska revival band the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America). The band had some chart success in the United Kingdom in the ...

. Five guest musicians appear on the album, most notably guest keyboardist Dave "Blockhead" Wright, who was 38 when working on the album and had taken with him many years of experience, having notably worked with

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (vocals, guitars) and Colin Moulding (vocals, bass), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing ...

and playing in the

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

steel band the Casanovas. The album was engineered by Mark Dearnley and mastered at The Town House.

Composition

Music

''Wha'ppen?'' moves the Beat into a variety of musical directions as they incorporate disparate influences into their music. While, like its predecessor, ''Wha'ppen?'' still uses the basic elements of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

at its core, it uses the genre as a foundation for rhythmic experiments. The album was greatly influenced by the band members' growing individual collections of

African music The continent of Africa is vast and its music is diverse, with different regions and nations having many distinct musical traditions. African music includes the genres like makwaya, highlife, mbube, township music, jùjú, fuji, jaiva ...

as well as instruments from African and

Chinese music The music of China consists of many distinct traditions, often specifically originating with one of the country's various ethnic groups. It is produced within and without the country, involving either people of Chinese origin, the use of tradit ...

, and is less abrasive and more mellow, mid-tempo and maturely paced than ''I Just Can't Stop It'', which featured a

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

-styled dense, hectic pace. The Beat felt that a one drop rhythmic emphasis on simultaneous rim shot and snare hits dominates the album. The English Beat 1

The album incorporates

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

percussion,

steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...

s and notable usage of studio space, as well as midtempo grooves drawn from an array of

Third World The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Southern Cone, NATO, Western European countries and oth ...

cultures. According to

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 ...

, the album is a

worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...

record with "snaky grooves" and a variety of rhythms beyond the group's signature

riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...

s, which are retained only in part. Saxa's saxophone work guides the album and displays an eclectic style, with both loud and quiet parts, while his "long-growl ballad solos" are resumed on the album from the Beat's previous work. Guest musicians contribute

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

s and

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

s to the album. "Doors of Your Heart" is a dreamy pop song dominated by saxophone and laced with

dub music Dub is a musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style.Dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in Jamaican reggae, p.&nb ...

. "Monkey Murders" incorporates Spanish guitar in a high-stepping fashion. Sung in

Dominican Creole French Dominican Creole French is a French-based creole, which is a widely spoken language in Dominica. It can be considered a distinct dialect of Antillean Creole. History It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of ...

, "French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)" is a cover of "Soleil Trop Chaud" (1974) by Dominica-based

Gramacks Gramacks (or "Les Gramacks", also spelled with two Ms) was a cadence-lypso group from Dominica. Biography The band is from Saint-Joseph, a village from Dominica. The group was formed in 1970, after a band from Roseau failed to show up to perfo ...

which mixes

Cadence-lypso Cadence-lypso is a fusion of cadence rampa from Haiti, Jazz, Blues and calypso music, calypso from Trinidad and Tobago that has also spread to other English speaking countries of the Caribbean. Originated in the 1970s by the Dominican band Exil ...

and

Afrobeat Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and soul influences. With a focus on chanted vocals, complex i ...

. According to Jo-Ann Greene of

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 ...

, "

Drowning Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

" and "Dream Home in NZ" combine

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

with

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

experimentation reminiscent of

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

. "Walk Away" is influenced by the

Motown Sound Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, while "Over and Over" builds into a

steel band The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...

groove. One critic described "Cheated" as being in a "bellicose dub" style." "Get-a-Job" is a pop song with influences from

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

.

Lyrics

''Wha'ppen?'' continues the socially-concerned, angry lyrics from the Beat's previous work, with songs displaying downbeat views of numerous social and personal troubles. Ed Ward of

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

felt the album was more strongly political than its predecessor. The album was released during the

1981 England riots In April and July 1981, there were riots in several cities and towns in England. The riots mainly involved Black English youth clashing with police. They were caused by tension between Black people and the police, especially perceived racist dis ...

, and according to Milo Miles of ''

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 ...

'', the songs address relevant issues to the riots including the "fears tearing daily life apart" and "the tactics, however brutal, that everyone uses to cope," with several songs in particular being cautionary and dread-ridden with a plea for unity. Angst is prevalent throughout the lyrics of "All Out to Get You", "A Dream Home in NZ" and "Monkey Murders", while "Drowning" is also downbeat. "I Am Your Flag" intensely attacks

jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, while "Over and Over" attacks the "cult of violence." Beyond the political themes, several songs also concern depressed romances. According to Christgau, opening song "Doors of Your Heart" is a "unity rocker" where "love means eros and agape simultaneously, and Wakeling finds that dread blocks the way to both, and Roger advises him to stop his fighting." In the song's reggae toast, Ranking Roger draws similarities between eros and agape, where "everybody looks the same when the lights are out". The song features guest

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

vocals from Jamaican musician

Cedric Myton Cedric Constantine Myton (born 1947) is a Jamaican Rastafari reggae musician who was a founding member of the roots reggae band The Congos. Career Myton was born in Old Harbour, Jamaica. He began his singing career with the group The Bell St ...

. "All Out to Get You" and "Monkey Murders" highlight tensions raised by "a society in quiet desperation," while "Drowning" is about the death fantasy of a harried business man. According to Greene, "Cheated" and "Get-a-Job" both "take headers into the paucity of British life and opportunities in general." Of the two songs, "Cheated" tackles

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

's dominance over the

British media There are several different types of mass media in the United Kingdom: television, radio, newspapers, magazines and websites. The United Kingdom is known for its large music industry, along with its new and upcoming artists. The country also has ...

, while "Get-a-Job" concerns

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

. "French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)" is sung in

Dominican Creole French Dominican Creole French is a French-based creole, which is a widely spoken language in Dominica. It can be considered a distinct dialect of Antillean Creole. History It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of ...

. Miles felt the "bracing fervor" of the music turns the lyrically bleak songs into "sharp exhortations to dance all over one's troubles," with "Drowning" being an "eerie variation" in regards to its gliding and dipping, breezy beat and "suicide-is-sensuous fable" lyrics. ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' shared these sentiments, finding the loping music, effervescent sax and playful mixing of vocalists to "almost obscure the songs' depressing views of personal and social troubles," something they felt was "not out of character" for the band." Ranking Roger noted: "The music was happy, the lyrics sad. We always had a yin-yang thing going."

Release and promotion

Careful consideration went into the album title, and proposed albums names included, among many titles, ''Misdemean'' and ''Dance Yourself Stupid''. The final name, ''Wha'ppen?'', is a Jamaican term – frequently used by Ranking Roger to his bandmates – meaning "what's going on?". Heather Augustyn, in her book ''Ska: An Oral History'', found the name to be very similar to "Wha'up Skavoovie?", a 1960s Jamaican phrase used by Cluett Johnson of

Clue J & His Blues Blasters Clue J & His Blues Blasters were a Jamaican band of the late 1950s and early 1960s led by Cluett Johnson, who were one of the first bands to play ska. Several of the band's members went on to join The Skatalites. History Formed in the late 195 ...

which is believed to have inspired the name 'ska'. The album cover was designed by

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 ...

and the Beat. Exemplifying the lighthearted side of the band, the back cover of the album shows snapshots of the band in sunny weather. ''Wha'ppen?'' was released in the United Kingdom in May 1981 by the band's label

Go-Feet Records Go-Feet Records was an English record label founded by, and predominantly used to release recordings by, the ska revival band the Beat (known as the English Beat in North America). The band had some chart success in the United Kingdom in the ...

. It was a success in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, peaking at No. 3 and staying on the chart for 18 weeks, although the album's singles were less successful than their earlier singles. "Drowning" and "All Out to Get You" were released as a double A-side ahead of the album in April 1981, which peaked at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, at the time their-joint lowest placing, whereas "Doors of Your Heart" was released as the second and final single in June with "Get-a-Job" on the B-side, only reaching No. 33 on the chart. In the United States, where the band was known as the English Beat, the album was their final 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 ...

. To promote ''Wha'ppen?'' in the US, copies of the album, alongside specially pressed EPs consisting of material previously unavailable in the US, were used in

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

promotions in 50 college campuses. It reached No. 126 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and spent six weeks on the chart. Fans of the band were mixed in their reaction to ''Wha'ppen?''; Ranking Roger recalled that the album was "weird" in that it was more relaxed than the "really up and dancey" ''I Just Can't Stop It'', commenting that: "I don't know what people thought, but when it came out people were like, 'what's happened to The Beat?'." Fans in the UK felt the album saw the band leave their ska sound behind and had followed the Specials in having "mellowed out." Roger recalled: "It's a lot like

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 ...

who came out with their first album all guns blazing, then the second album was more like

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments owned by Mood Media. The name ''Muzak'', a blend of music and the popular camera brand name Kodak, has been in use since 1934 and has been ...

and

Spanish music Spanish music may refer to: *Music of Spain, music of the Spanish people in Spain *Latin music, though note that not all Latin music are in Spanish ''Spanish music'' may also refer to the music of Spanish-speaking countries: *Music of Argentina * ...

and we thought, 'hey up what's going on? It's modern cowboy music or something?' – but people still got into it, they still think of it as a classic." Nonetheless, when the Beat toured

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the band found that the

surfers Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

,

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

s and "beach bums" of the state were enjoying the album. Roger felt that this was when he "realised how brilliant this band was at merging in such a subtle, sophisticated way and not in a pushing it in your face way." In 1987,

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 ...

re-released the album on CD in the US, while in 1999, Go-Feet and

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

released a new, CD version of the album in the UK digitally remastered from the original masters by Sargeant at the Townhouse Studio, the same studio it was originally recorded in. This version has new artwork and adds the hit "

Too Nice to Talk To "Too Nice to Talk To" is a non-album single by British ska/ new wave band The Beat, released on 5 December 1980 by Go-Feet Records. It peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has since been included on CD reissues of the band's se ...

" to the track list. In June 2012,

Edsel Records Demon Music Group Limited (DMG; formerly Object Enterprises Limited from 19821991 and Music Collection International Limited from 19912000) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-iss ...

released deluxe editions of ''Wha'ppen?'' and the band's other studio albums, with each deluxe edition including bonus material and an extra DVD. The album was also included in the band's 2012 box set '' The Complete Beat'' alongside the band's other albums among other material. ''Wha'ppen?'' was re-released on heavyweight vinyl only by Demon Records in August 2013. This version was remastered from the original

reel-to-reel Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...

tapes using 64 tracks over two 32-track recorders over a period of some three months.

Critical reception

''Wha'ppen?'' was released to a mostly positive reception from music critics. Mark Cooper of ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' rated the album four stars out of five and noted how the band " efinedtheir sound over a whole album, realise their strengths (most notably the individuality of each performer) and, in general, settle down." He felt that while ''I Just Can't Stop It'' consisted "largely of singles, imaginative covers, odd bits," ''Wha'ppen?'' is comparatively "a settled Beat product with a consistent sound – lazy, sunny, sinuous, sexy. And still pushy." John Swenson of ''

Musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

'' reviewed ''Wha'ppen?'' alongside the Specials' ''

Ghost Town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

'' EP. He felt the "collective spirit of a hot interracial band somehow captures the very essence of post World War II popular music," complimenting the bands' two-tone style as "a true melding of the interracial musical spirit that has produced so much of the greatest music of the past two decades —

Stax Stax can refer to: * StAX, (Computer Programming) Streaming API for reading and writing XML in Java * Stax Ltd, a Japanese brand of electrostatic headphones * Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, ...

/Volt,

Little Feat Little Feat is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George, bassist Roy Estrada (both formerly of the Mothers of Invention), keyboardist Bill Payne, and drummer Richie Hayward in ...

,

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

,

the Butterfield Blues Band The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was an American blues and blues-rock band from Chicago. Formed in the summer of 1963, the group originally featured eponymous vocalist and Richter-tuned harmonica, harmonicist Paul Butterfield, guitarist Elvin Bi ...

, etc., etc." Milo Miles of ''

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 ...

'' wrote that: "Except in sheer pep, ''Wha'ppen?'' marks an advance for the English Beat: truly complex love-and-jealousy tales, politics that are more keenly defined." He said that, alongside

Kid Creole and the Coconuts Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Coati Mundi (musician), Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin ...

, the Beat "have an instant-legend aura about them, weaving an eccentric path between black and white, calculation and craziness, that's hard to follow," and wrote that they "are still incubating their most powerful music." At the end of 1981, Swenson wrote that " e things that might have gone sour on the English Beat— their potentially narrow ska genre, their message- mongering, their stake in a movement — have all been guarded against." He noted a lightheartedness to ''Wha'ppen?'' and felt that the music is "linked to, not fettered by, ska, and their messages are delivered (again) with a degree of lightheartedness. Singers and players are darting and fluid, and this welcome effort thumbs its nose at sophomore slump." Among retrospective reviews,

Martin C. Strong Martin Charles Strong (born 1960 in Musselburgh) is a Scottish music historian known for compiling discographies of popular music including ''The Great Rock Discography''. Strong has been described in broadsheet newspaper profiles as a "compile ...

wrote in ''The Great Rock Bible'' that the Beat chose to "emphasise the reggae element" of their sound with ''Wha'ppen?''. Jo-Ann Greene of

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 ...

was favourable, calling ''Wha'ppen?'' " splendid album that might not have the urgency of its predecessor, but was more adventurous and twice as interesting." David Dye of

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

called the album a "classic." Less savoury towards the album was J. D. Considine in ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'', who wrote that "although the band's musical skills are strong, the songs are disappointingly forgettable." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' said that: "Although not out of character for the group, it's the only one of their three albums that isn't essential listening." In '' The Rough Guide to Rock'', Roger Sabin found it disappointing that the album's lyrics "express paranoia and despair in place of the old anger."

Legacy

''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' noted that, with their respective albums ''Wha'ppen?'' and ''

Sandinista! ''Sandinista!'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, gospe ...

'', the Beat and the Clash became 1981's most potent bands to possess "street credibility" in their mixing of rock music with "direct social and political comment." The ''

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 ''Wha'ppen?'' at No. 4 on their top ten "Albums of the Year" for 1981 list. ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' named it the 15th best album of 1981. The album ranked at No. 23 on the 1981

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

' critics poll of the year's best albums.

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 ...

, who curated the poll, ranked it at No. 5 on his personal "Dean's List" of the best albums of the year. In 1993, drummer

Philip Selway Philip James Selway (born 23 May 1967) is an English musician and the drummer of the rock band Radiohead. He combines rock drumming with electronic percussion. Selway was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Radiohead in ...

of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

listed ''Wha'ppen?'' as one of his favourite albums and as an influence. For their third album ''

Special Beat Service ''Special Beat Service'' is the third studio album by the British ska band the Beat, released on 1 October 1982 by Go-Feet Records. Like the rest of their material, it was released in the US under the name "the English Beat". It peaked at No. 3 ...

'' (1982), also their last before their initial split, the Beat combined the musical styles of ''I Just Can't Stop It'' and ''Wha'ppen?''. Bob Sargeant noted that working on the album caused him to build on his fascination of ethnic sounds within his own work, where he crosses sounds from genres such as African and

Creole music The term Creole music () is used to refer to two distinct musical traditions: art songs adapted from 19th-century vernacular music; or the vernacular traditions of Louisiana Creole people which have persisted as 20th- and 21st-century la la and zy ...

. He told '' Black Music & Jazz Review'' in 1983: "I enjoy crossing cultures. It's a general trend now, but I feel like I've been doing it a few years. Basically the 2-Tone explosion was the first significant musical trend to take that direction. Mind you, for me this has come probably from working with the Beat, especially ''Wha'ppen'', that featured a lot of African rhythms, which certainly changed the aspect of things in my life." In 2012, Paris Pompor of ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' wrote how some of the album's lyrics "remain remarkably relevant: the

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

-referencing 'I Am Your Flag', unemployment tune 'Get a Job' nd'Cheated', which was 'written about Rupert Murdoch defecating over the British media'."

Track listing

All songs by the Beat, unless otherwise noted.

Original release

CD reissues

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''Wha'ppen?'' 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 ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

,

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*

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 ...

– vocals * Andy Cox – guitar * David Steele –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Everett Morton –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Saxa –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

Additional musicians *Dave "Blockhead" Wright – keyboards * "Have a Go Bobby" Sargeant –

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

*

Cedric Myton Cedric Constantine Myton (born 1947) is a Jamaican Rastafari reggae musician who was a founding member of the roots reggae band The Congos. Career Myton was born in Old Harbour, Jamaica. He began his singing career with the group The Bell St ...

– extra vocals on "Doors of Your Heart" *Dick –

steel drum The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared Trinidad and Tobago’s national in ...

*Saltin –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

Technical personnel * Bob Sargeant – producer * Mark Dearnley – engineer *

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 ...

, the Beat – sleeve design

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control The Beat (British band) albums 1981 albums Sire Records albums I.R.S. Records albums Worldbeat albums Albums produced by Bob Sargeant