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Wha'ppen? by  ReleasedJune 1981Studio, London Length43:21 (CD) Bob Sargeant chronology
(1980)Wha'ppen?
(1981)
(1982)CD cover 1999 re-release

Wha'ppen? is the second album by the British  band  (credited on the US release as The English Beat), released in 1981 via  in the United Kingdom and  in the United States. After the critical and commercial success of  (1980), which mixed ska,  and  with social lyrics, the band changed direction on Wha'ppen?, taking influence from many other musical styles which were intriguing the band, including ,  and  music, while keeping reggae at its core. The fast pace of the band's previous work is also exchanged for a slower, mid-tempo pace. At odds with the music is the  and political lyrics. The band recorded the record at  with producer Bob Sargeant.

Released in June 1981, Wha'ppen? was a commercial success, reaching number 3 on the , 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.  named it the 4th best album of 1981, while  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  revivalist groups" with their multiracial line-up and alternating lead vocals from toaster  and guitarist . They were part of the  scene in the Midlands that mixed , ,  and politically and socially conscious lyrics. They briefly signed to  for their debut single, a Top 10 cover of "," before creating , on which they released their critically and commercially acclaimed debut album  (1980), which mixed political and personal lyrics with  and a punk energy.

After I Just Can't Stop It, the band felt they had to change their sound for their second album.  of the band felt this may have been because of fellow 2 Tone band  changing their musical style on their second album  (1980). He felt that while  was "very punkish with an edge," More Specials "was like , 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,  and  bands like  and  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 , 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 , people like that - that album was made for them."

Writing and recording

After touring with , 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 '', where the  and the  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."

"Everybody would write onto somebody else’s thing and a lot of the lyrics from the second album and the third album came in that way. It was a great way to get stuff together and say well that’s a band effort. Cause even like the smallest line from the drummer could get into the song. We used a lot of bits from headlines and stuff like that. It all came together and made sense."

—

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]s a consequence, through playing an embryonic song over and over, 'everybody sort of jostles for position' until [the band agreed] upon a satisfying arrangement." Bruce Dancis of  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 , , 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  and the pressures placed on the band by , who owned the band's label . 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  and playing in the  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  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  as well as instruments from African and , and is less abrasive and more mellow, mid-tempo and maturely paced than I Just Can't Stop It, which featured a -styled dense, hectic pace. The Beat felt that a  rhythmic emphasis on simultaneous rim shot and snare hits dominates the album.

Dave Wakeling of The Beat, playing with The English Beat in 2009

The album incorporates ,  and notable usage of studio space, as well as midtempo grooves drawn from an array of  cultures. According to , the album is a  record with "snaky grooves." He commented that the rhythms on the album "aren't solely ." 's saxophone work is said to "inevitably" guide 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 ,  and steel drums to the album.

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.  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."

"Doors of Your Heart" is a dreamy pop song dominated by saxophone and laced with . "Monkey Murders" incorporates  in a high-stepping fashion. While the only French influence on "French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)" is in its lyrical language, the song's musical arrangement mixes ,  and elements of . According to Jo-Ann Greene of , "Drowning" and "Dream Home in NZ" combine  with  experimentation reminiscent of . "Walk Away" is influenced by the , while "Over and Over" builds into a  groove. One critic described "Cheated" as being in a "bellicose dub" style." "Get-a-Job" is a pop song with influences from .

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  felt the album was more strongly political than its predecessor. The album was released during the , and according to Milo Miles of , 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  and , 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 , Ranking Roger draws similarities between eros and agape, where "everybody looks the same when the lights are out". The song features guest  vocals from Jamaican musician . "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 's dominance over the , while "Get-a-Job" concerns . "French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)" is in the .

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  which is believed to have inspired the name 'ska'. The album cover was designed by  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 June 1981 by the band's label . It was a success in the , reaching number 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 reached number 22 on the , 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 number 33 on the chart. In the United States, where the band was known as The English Beat, the album was their final on . 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  promotions in 50 college campuses. It reached number 126 on the US  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  who came out with their first album all guns blazing, then  was more like  and  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 , the band found that the ,  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,  re-released the album on CD in the US, while in 1999, Go-Feet and  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" to the track list. In June 2012,  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  tapes using 64 tracks over two  over a period of some three months.

Critical reception Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingA7/10

Wha'ppen? was released to a mostly positive reception from music critics. Mark Cooper of  rated the album four stars out of five and noted how the band "[defined] their 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  reviewed Wha'ppen? alongside the Specials'  EP. He felt the "collective spirit of a hot interracial band somehow captures the very essence of  popular music," complimenting the bands' 2 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 — /, , , , etc., etc."

Milo Miles of  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 , 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 "[t]he 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,  wrote in  that The Beat chose to "emphasise the reggae element" of their sound with Wha'ppen?. Jo-Ann Greene of  was favourable, calling Wha'ppen? "[a] splendid album that might not have the urgency of its predecessor, but was more adventurous and twice as interesting." David Dye of  called the album a "classic." More savoury towards the album was J.D. Considine in , who wrote that "although the band's musical skills are strong, the songs are disappointingly forgettable."  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 , Roger Sabin found it disappointing that the album's lyrics "express paranoia and despair in place of the old anger."

Legacy

 noted that, with their respective albums Wha'ppen? and , the Beat and  became 1981's most potent bands to possess "street credibility" in their mixing of rock music with "direct social and political comment." The  ranked Wha'ppen? at number 4 on their top ten "Albums of the Year" for 1981 list.  named it the 15th best album of 1981. The album ranked at number 23 on the 1981 ' critics poll of the year's best albums. , who curated the poll, ranked it at number 5 on his personal "Dean's List" of the best albums of the year. In 1993, drummer  of  listed Wha'ppen? as one of his favourite albums and as an influence. For their third album  (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 . 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  wrote how some of the album's lyrics "remain remarkably relevant: the -referencing 'I Am Your Flag', unemployment tune 'Get a Job' [and] 'Cheated', which was 'written about Rupert Murdoch defecating over the British media'."

Track listing

All songs by the Beat, unless otherwise noted.

Original release Side One "Doors of Your Heart" (The Beat, Colin Osborne) "All Out to Get You" "Monkey Murders" "I Am Your Flag" "French Toast (Soleil Trop Chaud)" (Joseph Jefferson) "Drowning" Side Two "Dream Home in NZ" "Walk Away" "Over and Over" "Cheated" "Get-a-Job" "The Limits We Set"