RANKING ROGER (1963 - 2019)

Roger Charlery, or as he was better known as Ranking Roger during his time with the British ska band, The Beat and later with General Public, has sadly passed away on March 27th at the age of fifty-six. The musician and vocalist had recently undergone surgery for two brain tumors and was also being treated for lung cancer.

Charlery was born in Birmingham, England of West Indian descent. As a teen, he was a drummer for the punk band, Dum Dum Boys before drifting in to the "two-tone" ska outfit, The Beat (or as they are know in this country, "The English Beat" for legal reasons) in 1978. This short-lived band didn't have a huge impact in America but they were wildly popular in their native Britain and Australia.  They had their first hit with a cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, "Tears of a Clown" in 1979 and followed that with the charting singles "Mirror In The Bathroom",  "Save It For Later", "I Confess" and "Can't Get Used To Losing You".

After The Beat broke-up in 1983, Roger and fellow band mate, Dave Wakeling went on to form General Public with one of their biggest hits, "Tenderness" reaching the U.S. top-forty but they called it quits in 1986. Ranking Roger briefly joined members of another ska band, The Specials to form, Special Beat, later he became a part of Big Audio Dynamite, Mick Jones' band he created after being fired from The Clash, during their final couple of years together in 1996 and recorded two solo albums. In his later years, he was part of The Beat revival tour that included his son, Matthew Murphy who goes by the name, "Ranking Junior".