''Rub It Better'' is the third studio album by the English new wave band

General Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

, released on 4 April 1995 by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. The band had not recorded together in almost 10 years.

Production

The album was produced by

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for ...

, former keyboardist and guitarist for

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

. The group chose to return to the ska and reggae sound of the Beat.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the album "a tuneful collection that deftly combines an assortment of reggae, rock and dance-pop colors--the trademark of the Beat and the first edition of General Public." ''

The Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published four days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postm ...

'' wrote that "the closest comparison is to B.A.D. (Big Audio Dynamite), whose leader, Mick Jones, was an honorary member of General Public for its first album and appears here again."

Track listing

# "It Must Be Tough" – 5:34 (

Dave Wakeling David Wakeling (born 19 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and General Public. Career Wakeling began his professional caree ...

, Michael Railton, Roger Charlery) # "Rainy Days" – 4:06 (Charlery, Railton,

Horace Panter Stephen Graham "Horace" Panter, (born 30 August 1953) also known professionally as Sir Horace Gentleman, is the bassist for the British 2 Tone ska band The Specials. Early life Panter was born in Croydon, Surrey and spent most of his formativ ...

) # "Hold It Deep" – 4:34 (Wakeling, Charlery, Railton,

Andy "Stoker" Growcott Andrew Growcott (a.k.a. Stoker) is a former member of the pop rock band Dexys Midnight Runners. After the Dexys broke up, he and another bandmate, Mickey Billingham, joined new wave band General Public. Growcott also played with Stephen Tin ...

) # "Big Bed" – 4:12 (Norman Jones, Wakeling, Charlery, Railton) # "Punk" – 3:05 (Charlery) # "Friends Again" – 5:41 (Wakeling, David Ricketts, Railton) # "It's Weird" – 5:50 (Charlery, Railton) # "Never Not Alone" – 4:21 (Wakeling, Charlery, Railton) # "Handgun" – 4:52 (Wakeling, Railton) # "Blowhard" – 4:38 (Wakeling, Railton) # "

Warm Love "Warm Love" is a hit song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. The song was included on his 1973 album '' Hard Nose the Highway''. It was a Top Forty single hit when released in April 1973.Yorke, Into the Music, p. 102 Jac ...

" – 3:35 (

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

) # "Rub It Better" – 5:32 (Charlery, Wakeling, Patrick Murray)

Personnel

General Public *

David Wakeling David Wakeling (born 19 February 1956) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known for his work with the band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and General Public. Career Wakeling began his professional caree ...

– vocals, guitar *

Ranking Roger Roger Charlery (22 February 1963 – 26 March 2019), known professionally as Ranking Roger, was an English musician. He was a vocalist in the 1980s ska band the Beat (known in North America as the English Beat) and later new wave band General ...

– vocals, programming *Michael Railton – keyboards, vocals *Norman Jones – percussion, vocals *Wayne Lothian – bass *Dan Chase – drums with: *

– guitars, keyboards, background vocals * Mick Jones – guitars *

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English guitarist and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of th ...

– guitars * Alex Weir – guitars *Chris Karn – guitars *Chris Manos – guitars *Marc Antoine Vouilloux – guitars * Saxa – saxophone *Andrew Gayle – saxophone *Tom Fabre – saxophone * David Longoria – trumpet/ trumpet solo "Friends Again" *Greg Smith – trombone *

Norton Buffalo Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951 – October 30, 2009), best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter, country music, country and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile ...

– harmonica *

Pato Banton Pato Banton (born Patrick Murray; 28 January 1961) is a reggae singer and toaster from Birmingham, England. He received the nickname Pato Banton from his stepfather: its first name derives from the sound of a Jamaican owl calling "patoo, patoo", ...

– toasting *Arlene Newson – background vocals *Andrea Gaines – background vocals *Sharon Celani – background vocals

References

{{Authority control General Public albums 1995 albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Jerry Harrison