The end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one…
It was at this point that Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger recruited Stoker (drums) and Mickey Billingham (keyboards) of Dexy's Midnight Runners, Horace Panter (bass) of The Specials, and former Clash guitarist Mick Jones to formed General Public. Their first album, "...All The Rage", met with fantastic success, charting high in the U.S., U.K. and even winning the band a coveted Juno award in Canada for Best New Artist in 1984.
After the fantastic success of "...All The Rage", the band spent two years writing and recording their follow-up, "Hand to Mouth". Like "Whappen" before it, this sophomore effort was more introspective and than their first album, taking fans along with him in Dave's continual exploration of the light and dark side of human emotion. The album was a critical and fan favorite, and spawned two hit singles, "Too Much or Nothing" and "Come Again".
After the second General Public Album, Dave and Roger went different directions to follow their own muses. For his part, Dave went on to produce the soundtrack and record the title track for the John Hughes film "She's Having a Baby". After that he recorded his first solo record, "No Warning". The album maintained the pop sensibilities for which General Public had been known, and in addition exposed even more of the mind and emotions of the man behind.
