The Selecter
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The Selecter were a ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in the late 1970s and who became one of the essential bands of the British ska movement.
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[edit] Overview
Much of what set apart The Selecter from many of the other ska bands at the time was the voice of Pauline Black. It was common belief that she had to disguise herself as a man in order for the band to get gigs (Pauline Black later disavowed this rumour in an interview with the UK's Phoenix FM on 26 May 2006 http://www.phoenixfm.com/boa/selecter.php). However, there is no doubt that once The Selecter had secured a gig, there was no disguising Black's voice.
[edit] Career
Like many other bands of the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially mixed line-up, and songs about violence, politics, marijuana, a fictional spy's theme song, James Bond, and reggae classics.
The name of the band is a reference to the Jamaican word for a music selecter, known elsewhere as the DJ. Also typical to the ska style is the mix of one vocalist singing, and the other toasting in a Jamaican style, a precursor to rapping.
The Selecter's debut album Too Much Pressure was recorded at the end of 1979 and beginning of 1980 and issued on the pre-eminent 2 Tone/Chrysalis labels. Their second recording Celebrate the Bullet was issued in 1981. Although the band has continued to re-group and re-form on and off, most of the many recordings available are recompiled selections from these first two albums, either live or studio recordings. The Selecter's first two albums are essential British ska recordings.
Pauline Black has been the lead singer in The Selecter since its formation in 1979 when the band spearheaded the 2 Tone movement alongside The Specials releasing the singles "The Selecter", "Three Minute Hero", "The Whisper", "Missing Words" and "On My Radio" as well as two albums mentioned earlier; Too Much Pressure and Celebrate The Bullet. The Selecter were also featured in the cult film Dance Craze. After the band split in 1982, Black carved out a career in TV and theatre, appearing in dramas like The Vice, The Bill, Hearts and Minds and 2000 Acres of Sky. She won the 1991 Time Out award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the play All or Nothing At All and starred next to Christopher Lee in the schlock horror film The Funny Man.
She reformed The Selecter in 1991 and has released several new albums and has toured all over the world.
Nick Welsh is probably best known for being the bassist in The Selecter and formerly Bad Manners but he has worked with some of the biggest names in ska and reggae, such as Prince Buster, Laurel Aitken, Rico Rodriguez, Dave Barker and most recently Lee "Scratch" Perry with whom he received a Grammy for his work on the CD Jamaican ET which won The Best Reggae Category in 2002. Welsh also writes music for TV which has been used worldwide on shows as diverse as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), The Osbournes and even adverts for Ariel soap powder.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Too Much Pressure (1980) UK #5
- Celebrate the Bullet (1981)
- The Happy Album (1994)
- Hairspray (1995)
- Pucker! (1995)
- The Trojan Songbook (1999)
- The Trojan Songbook - Vol 2 (2000)
- Kingston Affair (with Dave Barker) (2000)
- The Trojan Songbook - Vol 3 (2001)
- Acoustic - Unplugged for the Rude Boy Generation (2002)
[edit] Singles
- "On My Radio" (Oct 1979) UK #8
- "Three Minute Hero" (Feb 1980) UK #16
- "Missing Words" (March 1980) UK #23
- "The Whisper" (August 1980) UK #36
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Personnel on Too Much Pressure
- Pauline Black: vocals
- Compton Amanor: guitar
- Charley Anderson: bass guitar
- Charley 'H' Bembridge: drums
- Desmond Brown: Hammond keyboard
- Neol Davies: guitar
- Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson: vocals
[edit] Personnel, 1999
- Pauline Black - vocals
- Nick Welsh - bass
- Martin Stewart - keyboards
- Paul Seacroft - guitar
- Al Fletcher - drums
- Dave Barker - vocals
[edit] Personnel detail
- Pauline Black (born Pauline Vickers, 23 October 1953, in Romford, Essex).
- Neol Davies (born 26 April 1952).
[edit] References
- Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
