Beat Generation
Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation" in 1948 to characterize a perceived underground, anti-conformist youth movement in New York. The name arose in a conversation with writer John Clellon Holmes. Kerouac allows that it was Huncke, a street hustler, who originally used the phrase "beat", in an earlier discussion with him. The adjective "beat" could colloquially mean "tired" or "beaten down" within the African-American community of the period and had developed out of the image "beat to his socks", but Kerouac appropriated the image and altered the meaning to include the connotations "upbeat", "beatific", and the musical association of being "on the beat", and "the Beat to keep" from the "Beat Generation" poem.
Ranking Roger
Roger became a punk rock fan as a teenager and was the drummer in the Nam Nam Boys before joining ska revival pioneers The Beat in the late 1970s. The Nam Nam Boys first gig was with The Beat and his burgeoning friendship with them meant he began to gatecrash their gigs, take the mic and start toasting. He had appeared on stage toasting and singing with them many times before officially joining the band. His energetic style and Jamaican-influenced vocals, paired with Dave Wakeling were crucial in distinguishing the band from the other second-wave ska bands. The Beat released three albums: the critically acclaimed and seminal "I Just Can't Stop It" (1980), "Wha'ppen?" (1981) and "Special Beat Service" (1982).