R.I.P. Ranking Roger

This place is starting to feel like the obituary pages, but Ranking Roger deserves to be remembered and celebrated. Pull out something from the Beat or General Public tonight. You won't be disappointed. In fact, chances are, you'll smile and wonder what happened to that pork pie hat that made you look so sharp all those years ago.

Ranking Roger had a solo single in 1988, not long after General Public dissolved, that got a few plays on MTV's '120 Minutes' before disappearing into the abyss. For whatever reason, this song has always stuck with me. The last time I played it here was back in 2013 when I posted four remixed and extended versions from the 12" single. Let's listen to the album version from 'Radical Departure' today. "So Excited" was co-written by Dave Wakeling during the General Public days and would have fit in quite nicely on 'All the Rage.' In fact, a couple of members of that band played on this song.

I'm not sure if the rift between Ranking Roger and Wakeling was resolved, but they did share the stage in 2017. That's a good sign. As we have been reminded several times in recent days, life's too short. Don't wait to mend fences.

So Excited