Tonight whilst I was watching The Stranglers performing at the Dome Concert Hall (review to follow), my colleague messaged me of the sad passing of Ranking Roger from The Beat, who he had co-founded in 1978.
In the early 1980’s the band were very popular, I can fondly remember seeing them perform live in Gateshead on 31st July 1982 with The Police, U2, Gang Of Four and Lords Of The New Church.
My favourite track of his was ‘Ranking Full Stop’ from their debut Top 3 UK album ‘I Just Can’t Stop It’. The Beat were rather successful with their blend of ska and had 5 Top 10 UK singles – ‘Tears Of A Clown’ (which incidentally had ‘Ranking Full Stop’ on the other side of the disc), ‘Hands Off…She’s Mine’ / ‘Twist And Crawl’, ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’, ‘Too Nice To Talk To’ and ‘Can’t Get Used To Losing You’.
Birmingham born singer Roger had been battling bad health since last summer when he suffered a stroke and then around the time of his new album in January it was conveyed to the general public that Roger had in fact been diagnosed with two brain tumours and lung cancer.
I do believe that Ranking Roger and The Beat strangely last performed in Brighton on 2nd March 2018 at the same venue (The Dome Concert Hall) with The Selecter- we reported on that gig – read our review HERE.
Roger’s surname was Charlery and he was only 56 years of age. A message on the official Beat website reads “RIP ROGER. He fought & fought & fought, Roger was a fighter. Sadly Roger past away a few hours ago peacefully at his home surrounded by family. Roger’s family would like to thank everyone for their constant support during this tough time. More to follow in the coming days. RIP ROGER!”
By accounts Roger has recently finished his biography with his co-writer, Daniel Rachel, and hopefully it will still be published by Omnibus Press over the coming months.
The band also released their 10 track new album entitled ‘Public Confidential’ on 25th January 2019. You can purchase the album HERE.
God bless Roger x
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