DS Book Club – Soul Salvation: A Gen X Love Letter To The English Beat by Marc Wasserman

The English Beat formed in 1978, blending ska, pop, punk, soul, and reggae; their unique sound helped bolster a generation of music that showed heart, but also pushed back on conservative politics. While neither of those were out of place for a band from England growing up and trying to survive Margaret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister, they left a legacy on their own with kids in both England and America. Enter Marc Wasserman, a teenage fan from New Jersey. Wasserman details his adolescence and how the English Beat helped him survive his teenage years while detailing the band’s rise and fall in his book, Soul Salvation: A Gen X Love Letter to the English Beat. The book starts with a foreword by Jay Bogert, co-founder of IRS Records. Bogert tells the story about signing The En...