It popped up again in 1980 in a very unlikely form; The Beat (a.k.a. The English Beat) played it in the studio this way:
Here's the lyric (as sung by The Beat):
Guess there's no use in hangin' 'roundNice, yes? Want to learn how to play it? Here's a chart for the original. It's not too hard for a beginner guitarist.
Guess I'll get dressed and do the town
I'll find a crowded avenue
Though it will be empty without you
I can't get used to losing you
No matter what I try to do
Gonna spend my whole life through
Loving you
Called up a girl I used to know
After I heard her say "Hello"
Couldn't think of anything to say
Since you're gone it happens every day
I can't get used to losing you
No matter what I try to do
Gonna spend my whole life through
Loving you
Can't get used to losing you
No matter what I try to do
Gonna spend my whole life through
Loving you
I'll find another, wait and see
Who am I kidding, only me
'Cause no one else could take your place
Guess that I am just a hopeless case
Can't get used to losing you
No matter what I try to do
Gonna spend my whole life through
Loving you
Can't get used to losing you
No matter what I try to do
Gonna spend my whole life through
Loving you
The Beat play it in a more difficult key and just a touch faster. I copped their arrangement many years ago and learned it to some of my friends for a one-off concert in which we were going to blow people's minds with how good this arrangment is. But at the last minute we found out our drummer had to go to Korea on a business trip that couldn't be postponed. We were lucky to find a substitute drummer on short notice and he was good but he didn't grok ska. Oops! Then it turned out that the guy who was slated to sing it had no idea how it went even though I had given him 2 CDs of it months earlier. Dude had great pipes. Big problems above the shoulders, though.
Anyway, rather than embarrass ourselves by playing it badly, I decided not to play it at all. Woulda been fun with the original drummer; he was a gem. Comfortable in any style you like. But we didn't have any real-time links with Korea at the time. And if course if the singer had bothered to learn it, that might have made a difference, too. I could have sung it but we didn't have enough earplugs for all the people who came out to hear the other guys sing. I usually carry some in my guitar case but I only had a few pairs that night. Oh well.
I'm babbling again. So what? Nobody's reading me except you. As I was about to say, if you want to hear how it would have sounded when we played it, you should seek professional help. But fortunately that is easily available.
Listen to the Beat play it a dozen times in a row and call me in the morning.
Get Well Soon!
Dr. Ska
