We played all reggae, ska, power pop originals.

Wouldn't that be funny! I wrote all the material, played rhythm guitar, and fronted the band. Somewhere around 1986 I had put together my own band called 'The Human Element. I'm in the process of scanning and posting those to my site. The Police, Elvis Costello, Grahm Parker, The Clash, etc etc. they were just loads of fun! I saw and photographed a LOT of shows back then. I had always loved reggae and ska, and along with Madness, The Specials, Selector, and all the other 2 Tone bands.

I think it's wild that you were there too. I've always been a huge fan of the English Beat. Here are his recollections of the show and these are his photos from the show posted here:

Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger in particular were just amazing as you can see from these pictures and more that are posted by Joe Streno at his website. What stands out about the English Beat show was the pure energy of the band and the almost out of body experience I had watching them. They got us in to the club both times as the drinking age in New Jersey was 19 and we were all 18 or younger. They came in handy as the four of us got them from the same fake college (Whitman College I believe). We even took the necessary precaution of visiting Playland in the heart of Times Square that spring to procure the fakest looking fake IDs ever. However it was the Fountain Casino shows that stand out the most.

If memory serves we also saw UB40, David Bowie, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Police and many others. In between those two shows I spent the entire summer with 3 of my best friends hanging out, working summer jobs and going to concerts. In the last 2 days I found pictures from the English Beat show I saw on Apand the live set performed by Madness on August 23, 1983. Strangely they bookended the spring and end of summer of 1983 which was my senior year in high school. Nevertheless it has served as a touch point for two of the best shows I have ever seen. From what I can tell it had its heyday from 1981-1984 when the cream of the crop of popular bands played there as it was an easy stop between New York and Philadelphia. Does anyone remember the Fountain Casino in Aberdeen, NJ? I have vague memories of where it was exactly and what it looked liked.

Fountain casino aberdeen nj address