| I Just Can't Stop It | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Beat |
| Cover: | I Just Cant Stop It.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Genre: | |
| Label: | |
| Producer: | Bob Sargeant |
| Next Title: | Wha'ppen? |
| Next Year: | 1981 |
I Just Can't Stop It is the debut studio album by British ska band the Beat, released on 23 May 1980 by Go-Feet Records in the United Kingdom. It was released the same year in the United States on Sire Records under the band name The English Beat". In Australia, it was released on Go-Feet under the band name The British Beat.
The album was well-received; Rolling Stone raved that the music was "wild and threatening, sexy and sharp,"[1] while AllMusic later wrote it "was a stunning achievement", which has not been diminished by time.
The album was reissued on CD in 1990 by I.R.S. Records in the U.S, and in 2012 by Edsel Records in the UK and Shout! Factory in the U.S.[2]
The "Beat Girl" icon seen on the cover, and used on the band's merchandising, was designed by Birmingham-based cartoonist Hunt Emerson.[3]
At the end of 1980, I Just Can't Stop It appeared in numerous lists of the best albums of the year: NME ranked it third,[4] Sounds ranked it 13th, The Village Voice ranked it 21st and OOR ranked it 41st. In 1995, Spin ranked the album at No. 94 in its list of the "Top 100 Alternative Albums".[5] Fast 'n' Bulbous ranked the album at number 283 in its list of "The 500 Best Albums Since 1965".[6] A 2002 poll of KCPR DJs ranked it at No. 40 in a list of the "Top 100 Records of the 80s". Les Inrockuptibles included it in its list of "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll." Music journalist Simon Reynolds lists it as one of the five most important albums of "2-Tone and the Ska Resurrection" in his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984.[7] In 2016, Paste ranked I Just Can't Stop It at No. 48 on its list of the 50 best new wave albums.[8]
"Mirror in the Bathroom" was ranked at No. 3 in the NME "Singles of the Year" list and at No. 24 in Sounds "Singles of the Year" list. In 2003, Q ranked the song at No. 517 in its list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever".[9] In 2002, Gary Mulholland included the song in his list This Is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock. In 2001, Michaelangelo Matos included it in his list of "The Top 100 Singles of the 80s." In 2006, 97x ranked it at No. 186 in its list of "The 500 Best Modern Rock Songs of All Time." In 1990, Robert Christgau ranked "Twist & Crawl" at No. 10 in his list of the best songs of the 1980s.[10]
The U.S. release of the album on Sire Records added "Tears of a Clown" and "Ranking Full Stop", originally released as double A-sides of a single on 2 Tone Records in 1979 (TT 6). These tracks remained on subsequent CD reissues of the album.
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]
The Beat
Production and artwork
"Thanks to: John Peel, the Specials, Selecter, A/W Hunt Emerson"