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The Selecter Wiki Information
The Selecter
are a 2 Tone ska revival band from Coventry, England, formed in mid 1979.
Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially mixed line-up. Their lyrics featured themes such as violence, politics and marijuana, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat. What set The Selecter apart from the other 2 Tone bands at the time was the songs of Neol Davies, the voice of Pauline Black and the pumping rhythms of Desmond Brown on the Hammond organ. The band's name is based on the term selector
, which is a Jamaican word for disc jockey.
The line-up of The Selecter was, at first, just Davies, John Bradbury (who later became the drummer of The Specials), and trombonist (and Coventry newsagent) Barry Jones. [1] The band name was also the title of their seminal instrumental, released as the B-side of the first 2 Tone Records single, "Gangsters vs. The Selector", which was released in July 1979. The track was originally written as a possible theme tune to an ITV series. Pauline Black joined in August 1979, when the band released the singles "On My Radio", "Three Minute Hero", "Missing Words", and "The Whisper". The Selecter's debut album Too Much Pressure
was recorded at the end of 1979 and beginning of the new year, and was released in February 1980 by 2 Tone Records and Chrysalis Records. Charley Anderson and Desmond Brown left The Selecter in 1980 to form The People. James Mackie and Adam Williams replaced them. Their second album, Celebrate the Bullet
, was issued in February 1981. The Selecter were featured in the 2 Tone documentary Dance Craze
.
After the band split in 1982, Black developed an acting career in television and theatre, appearing in dramas such as 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
. She starred next to Christopher Lee in the horror film The Funny Man
. Black and Davies reformed The Selecter in 1991, and were joined by Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson. They have released several new albums and have toured around the world. Davies left the band in the mid 1990s to record two solo albums, Box Of Blues
and Future Swamp
. Pauline Black continued to record and perform as The Selecter until 2006.
H and Gaps are currently with the All Skas, a Midlands based group who also go under the name of UB42.
In 2009, Charley Anderson returned to Coventry to play a charity concert at the Central Hall to promote his Ghetto Child project; joining him on stage were guests from UB40, The Specials, The Selector, Caroline Tambu Masvongo, Isabela Escobar (Miss Muffin) and Carlos Garnett, and various others.
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THE SELECTER TICKETS
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Discography
Albums
- Too Much Pressure
(February 1980) UK # 5
- Celebrate the Bullet
(February 1981) UK # 41
- The Happy Album
(July 1994)
- Pucker!
(August 1995)
- Cruel Britannia
(November 1998)
- The Trojan Songbook
(1999)
- The Trojan Songbook - Vol 2
(2000)
- The Trojan Songbook - Vol 3
(2001)
- Real to Reel
(2003)
[2]
[3]
Singles and EPs
- "Gangsters" (The Special A.K.A.) vs. The Selecter (July 1979, 2 Tone, TT1/TT2) UK # 6
- "On My Radio" (October 1979, CHSTT 4) UK # 8
- "Three Minute Hero" (February 1980, CHSTT 8) UK # 16
- "Missing Words" (March 1980, CHSTT 10) UK # 23
- "The Whisper" (August 1980, CHSS 1) UK # 36
- "Celebrate The Bullet" (November 1980, CHSS 2)
- "On My Radio 91" (1991)
- "Madness" (The Selecter featuring Prince Buster) (1992)
- "Hairspray" EP (1995)
Members
Original line-up
- 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
Anderson and Brown left The Selecter in 1980. They were replaced by James Mackie: Hammond organ and Adam Williams: bass guitar
Reformed line-up: 1991
- Pauline Black: vocals
- Neol Davies: guitar
- Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson - vocals
- Martin Stewart: keyboards
- Nicky Welsh : bass
- Perry Melius : drums
References
- "Ska Faces", ''Smash Hits'', EMAP National Publications Ltd, 1-14 November 1979, p.10
- The Great Rock Discography
- British Hit Singles & Albums
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