Ranking Roger, the beloved vocalist and toaster for 2 Tone-era ska legends The Beat and spin-off group General Public, died on Monday, just two months after he publicly revealed he’d been diagnosed with two brain tumors and lung cancer. He was 56. Read more about his life and music.

Just days before he’s set to release a new album recorded with his version of legendary 2 Tone-era ska act The Beat, frontman Ranking Roger on Monday revealed that, after suffering a stroke last summer, he was diagnosed with two brain tumors and lung cancer. Roger disclosed his medical issues via a nearly 9-minute video.

Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week’s releases include titles from Johnny Marr, Peter Buck, The English Beat, The Sisters of Mercy and King Blank.

Nearly four years after launching a campaign to fund the project, Dave Wakeling’s oft-touring incarnation of The English Beat is preparing to release a brand-new studio album — the first from Wakeling under the Beat imprint since 1982’s Special Beat Service. The album is now available for pre-order.

After years of touring under the English Beat banner, frontman Dave Wakeling now is turning his attention to recording brand-new music, launching a PledgeMusic campaign to help crowdfund a new record that would be the Beat’s first since 1982’s Special Beat Service.

Parents of young children or fans of cartoons in general may want to tune in to this afternoon’s installment of “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated” on the Cartoon Network: Today’s episode, “Dance of the Undead,” celebrates 2 Tone-era ska music and features two songs recorded just for the show by Dave Wakeling.

Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items about Midnight Oil, The Stone Roses, John Lydon, This Mortal Coil, The Specials, Pet Shop Boys, World Party, Mission of Burma, The Smiths and more — plus the latest Auto Reverse mixtape.

Beacon Audio recently launched a new video interview series and one of their latest installments features Dave Wakeling of The English Beat, who, in this five-minute clip, discusses the longevity of the Beat, how he learned to play guitar completely wrong (he’s right-handed, but plays as a lefty) and his favorite part of a concert.

Although neither band has formally announced the tour yet, The B-52s and Squeeze will pair up this summer for a run of U.S. shows — and dates are beginning to emerge online, with at least six concerts announced in June and July at venues in California, Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, Virginia and New York.

Squeeze will take advantage of their booking at the newly expanded two-weekend Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival to book a short run of California dates around the fest this April, plus at least one East Coast concert later in the month with contemporaries Dave Wakeling and The English Beat.

Tweet The Dave Wakeling-led reincarnation of 2 Tone-era ska act The English Beat and ska-punk survivors Fishbone will co-headline a month-long string of U.S. club […]