The English Beat score a UK#4 hit with "Mirror In The Bathroom"

The English Beat : Mirror In The Bathroom

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On April 28 The English Beat had a new single in the UK charts. "Mirror In The Bathroom" debuted at UK#58 but it would peak at UK#4, the Beat's highest charting single until a slightly remixed version of "Can't Get Used to Losing You" returned to the charts in 1983. 

Dave Wakeling told A.V. Club how he came up with the lyrics :

The lyrics were written when I was working on a construction site. I’d had a couple of drinks the night before, and forgot to hang up my clothes to dry for the next day. It gets very wet on those construction sites, and it was the winter, so it was a snowy wet. I got into the bathroom and realized my clothes were all on the floor in a wet, sandy pile. So I hung them up and thought, “Well, if I steam them, at least I’ll be puttin’ ’em on warm.” I had a shower, and then I was shaving in the mirror, with the hangover and the wet clothes, and the thought of trying to break up frozen sand to put into the concrete machine was not that tasty. And I started talking to myself in the mirror, and said, “Dave, we don’t have to do this, mate. We don’t have to do this.” And in the mirror behind me, the door of the bathroom had a tiny little latch on it, and I said to myself, “The door’s locked. There’s only me and you. Just me and you here. We don’t have to do this.” And of course we did, because we needed money for Guinness that night. [Laughs.] 

 So on the motorbike we got, and skidded our way back to the construction site. And while I was on the bike, I was pondering it. “The door is locked, just you and me.” Had a nice feel to it. “Mirror In The bathroom.” That’s a great idea, but you can’t have a pop song called “Mirror In The Bathroom,” can you? That’s stupid. You’re meant to have pop songs called, “I Love You, Lady,” or something. Anyway the poem started, and continued during the day, and kept me warm while my clothes weren’t, and I’d got the germ of it from there. And when I heard David Steele’s bassline, I was like, “Wow, that poem I was writing on the motorbike fits it like a glove.” 

The B-side, "Jackpot", is a cover of a 1968 song by the Jamaican ska trio, The Pioneers.

The All Time Top Ten of The English Beat's Dave Wakeling

The English Beat : Mirror in the Bathroom

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IN April of 1980, the month The English Beat would release the UK#4 hit "Mirror in the Bathroom" b/w a cover of the Pioneers' song "Jackpot", singer and guitarist Dave Wakeling presented Smash Hits with his All Time Top Ten. It's a good list, mixing up reggae tunes with some eccentric rock from the likes of Captain Beefheart and Tim Buckley.