Roger obituary ranking | The music

Roger's ranking, who died of cancer at the age of 56, was a vocalist and leader of the Beat band, one of the four major revival groups of British ska – with the Specials, Madness and the Selecter – who was born after punk in the late 1970s. The Beat's bloom was brief, but Roger was at the heart of the band's success in the early 80s, when he owned five Top 10 singles and two Top 5 albums in the UK before splitting into 1984. He owned credits Their most popular compositions, and alongside Dave Wakeling, co-singer, were also the band's "toaster", stylistically speaking on different sections of songs in a fashion popularized by the Deejays reggae from the late 60s and early 70s.

Later, he pursued solo projects and collaborations with various renowned groups and artists, including Big Audio Dynamite and Sting, before turning and recording with a reincarnation of the Beat, with whom he worked until his death.

Born in Birmingham from Roger Charlery to Jean-Baptiste, maker of tools, and his wife Anne Marie, two women from the Caribbean emigrants, he grew up in the Small Heath area, next to the Birmingham Football Field City. Aged 15 at the Archbishop Williams School, Roger was training with reggae sound systems when he was sucked into the local punk scene and became a drummer in a formation called Dum Dum Boys in 1978. At the beginning of their existence, they were supported by another fledgling band, the Beat, and Roger is so impressed by their music that he throws himself on board to join him. Less than a year later, the Beat was ranked 6th on the British charts with their first single, a Tears of a Clown version of Smokey Robinson that embodied what Roger called "happy music with sad words."

Based largely on Jamaican music themes from the '60s, but with a typically British flair and punk sensibility, the Beat, as well as Madness, Specials and Selecter, are quickly part of the 2-Tone movement, which takes its name of the independent label on which each group initially signed. Four of the Beat's top five singles were ranked in the Top 10, including their third album, Mirror in the Bathroom, which peaked at No. 4, and Too Nice to Talk To, No. 7. Their debut album, I Just Can & Stop It, was released in 1980 on their own Go Feet label and included their most discussed composition, Stand Down Margaret, which was banned by the BBC and which put forward the group of Roger who called for the resignation of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The album reached No. 3 in the charts, just like his follow up, Wha'ppen? in 1981.

Big tours followed with the Clash, the police, the Pretenders, David Bowie and Talking Heads, all fans. But within a few years, internal disagreements emerged and the group's star began to weaken. Their third album, Special Beat Service (1982), was significantly less popular than its predecessors, and despite recording their best singles ranking (No. 3) with an alluring cover of the Andy Williams song "Do not get used to not to lose you "in 1983, they broke up soon after.

Roger and Wakeling quickly formed a new group, General Public, initially composed of former members of Dexys Midnight Runners (Mickey Billingham and Andy Growcott), Specials (Horace Panter) and Clash (Mick Jones). With Roger as lead singer, they signed with Virgin Records and had an American Top 40 hit with Tenderness (1984). But otherwise, their poppy, dancy style, with reggae undertones, rarely encroached on the public consciousness. Two albums, All the Rage (1984) and Hand to Mouth (1986), had little impact and were disbanded in 1987.

In 1988, Roger released a solo album, Radical Departure, which, despite its title, does not differ much from the model established by the general public. In the early '90s, he went on to perform Special Beat with various Beats and Specials staff, touring the UK and Japan. In 1994, he and Wakeling reestablished and reconfigured the general public by moving to the United States, where they scored a hit in the Top 40 with a cover of the song Staple Singers, I'm Take You There. But they came to nothing with a mediocre album, Rub It Better, and were closed again in 1995.

Back home in Britain that year, Roger teamed up with Brummie compatriot Pato Banton to record a single inflatable reggae, Bubbling Hot, which reaches No. 15 in the UK. In 1996, he sang and brought a version of Big Without You, released by Sting as a single. Continuing his long association with Jones, he then became a member of Big Audio Dynamite for their latest studio album, Entering a New Ride (1997), before launching his second solo collection, Inside My Head, in 2001.

Lately, his musical life was centered on a revival band Beat with his daughter Saffren on vocals and his son Matthew in a toaster: in an agreement with Wakeling, who had a rival band Beat in the United States, Roger's troupe focused on tours in the UK and Europe, Wakeling musicians (known as English Beat in America) focused on the United States. Roger's band released albums in 2016 (Bounce) and 2019 (Public Confidential), and he loved being able to add new material to the old one. "Even though we are not as big as the first time, respect and credibility are still there," he said. "For me, these are great things to have."

Earlier this year, Roger announced that following a stroke and the discovery of two brain tumors, he had also been diagnosed with lung cancer.

He leaves five children.

• Ranking Roger (Roger Charlery), musician, born on February 21, 1963; died on March 26, 2019