I Just Can'tStop It is the debut album by UK2 tone band the Beat. The album was released in 1980 via Go Feet Records in the UK. It was released the same year in the US on Sire Records under the band name "The English Beat". Well received from the start, publications such as Rolling Stone raved that the music was "wild and threatening, sexy and sharp." AllMusic later said " was a stunning achievement", which has been undiminished by time. The song "Mirror in the Bathroom" featured in the films Grosse Pointe Blank and in RocknRolla, while the song "Hands Off...She's Mine" featured in the film 50 First Dates.
Accolades
At the end of 1980, I Just Can't Stop It appeared in numerous lists of the greatest albums of the year: NME ranked it 3rd, Sounds ranked it 13th, The Village Voice ranked it 21st and OOR ranked it 41st. In 1995, Spin ranked the album at number 94 in their list of the top "100 Alternative Albums". Fast 'n' Bulbous ranked the album at number 283 in their list of "The 500 Best Albums Since 1965". A 2002 poll of KCPR DJs ranked it at number 40 in their list of the "Top 100 Records of the 80s". Les Inrockuptibles included it in their list of "50 Years of Rock 'n' Roll." Music journalistSimon Reynolds lists it as one of the five most important albums of "2-Tone and the Ska Resurrection" in his 2005 book Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984. "Mirror in the Bathroom" was ranked at number 3 in the NME "Singles of the Year" list and at number 24 in Sounds' "Singles of the Year" list. In 2003, Q ranked the song at number 517 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". In 2002, Gary Mulholland included the song in his list This is Uncool: The 500 Best Singles Since Punk Rock. In 2001, Michaelangelo Matos included it in his list of "The Top 100 Singles of the 80s." In 2006, 97x ranked it at number 186 in their list of "The 500 Best Modern Rock Songs of All Time." In 1990, Robert Christgau ranked "Twist and Crawl" at number 10 in his list of the best songs of the 1980s.
Artwork
The 'Beat Girl' icon seen on the cover, and used on the band's merchandising, was designed by Birmingham-based cartoonist Hunt Emerson.
Track listing
The U.S. LP release of the album on Sire Records added "Tears of a Clown" and "Ranking Full Stop", originally released as double A-sides of a single on 2 Tone Records in 1979. These tracks remained on subsequent compact disc reissues of the album.
