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The Selecter were a 2 Tone
2 Tone

2 Tone is a music genre created in England in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae and pop music. Within the history of ska music, it is classified as its second wave....
 ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
 revival band
Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles perform....
 from Coventry
Coventry

Coventry is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, formed in the late 1970s.

Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially mixed line-up. Their lyrics featured themes such as violence
Violence

Violence is the expression of physical force against self or other, compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt. Variant uses of the term refer to the destruction of non-living objects ....
, politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as Marijuana or marihuana, or ganja , is a psychoactive drug extracted from the plant Cannabis sativa, or more often, Cannabis sativa subsp....
, set to strong melodies and a danceable beat.






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Encyclopedia


Selecter
The Selecter were a 2 Tone
2 Tone

2 Tone is a music genre created in England in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae and pop music. Within the history of ska music, it is classified as its second wave....
 ska
Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and Calypso music with United States jazz and rhythm and blues....
 revival band
Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles perform....
 from Coventry
Coventry

Coventry is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, formed in the late 1970s.

Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially mixed line-up. Their lyrics featured themes such as violence
Violence

Violence is the expression of physical force against self or other, compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt. Variant uses of the term refer to the destruction of non-living objects ....
, politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as Marijuana or marihuana, or ganja , is a psychoactive drug extracted from the plant Cannabis sativa, or more often, Cannabis sativa subsp....
, 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
Hammond organ

The Hammond organ is an electronic organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to Church as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, Rock and r...
. The band's name is based on the term selector, which is a Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
n word for disc jockey
Disc jockey

A disc jockey is a person who selects and plays sound recording for an audience. Originally, disk referred to phonograph records, while disc refers to the Compact Disc, and has become the more common spelling....
.

The lineup of The Selecter was, at first, just Davies and John Bradbury (who later became the drummer of The Specials
The Specials

The Specials are an England 2 Tone ska revival Musical ensemble formed in 1977 in Coventry. They have had Chart-topper in the United Kingdom, and their music is featured in film and television soundtracks....
). The band name was also the title of their seminal instrumental, released as the B-side of the first 2 Tone Records
2 Tone Records

2 Tone Records was an England record label that mostly released ska and reggae-influenced music with a punk rock and pop music overtone.Jerry Dammers of the ska revival band The Specials started the record label in 1979 in music....
 single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
, "Gangsters vs. The Selector", which was released in July 1979. Pauline Black has been the lead singer of The Selecter since its formation as a band in August 1979, when the band released the singles "Three Minute Hero", "The Whisper", "Missing Words" and "On My Radio". The Selecter's debut album Too Much Pressure
Too Much Pressure (album)

Too Much Pressure was the first album by United Kingdom ska band The Selecter. It was released in 1980 on 2 Tone records. The album charted at # 5 in the UK....
 was recorded at the end of 1979 and beginning of 1980, and was released by 2 Tone Records and Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records

Chrysalis Records was a British record label that was created in 1969. The name was both a reference to the pupal stage of a Pupa#Chrysalis and an amalgam of its founders names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis ....
. Charley Anderson and Desmond Brown left The Selecter in 1980 to form The People. James Mackie
James Mackie

James Mackie may refer to:* Sir James Mackie, KCMG Diplomat?* James Stuart Mackie ...
 and Adam Williams replaced them. Their second album, Celebrate the Bullet
Celebrate the Bullet (album)

Celebrate the Bullet was the second album by United Kingdom ska band The Selecter. It was released in 1981 on Chrysalis Records after the band had left the Two Tone label....
, was issued in 1981. The Selecter were featured in the 2 Tone documentary Dance Craze
Dance Craze

Dance Craze is a 1981 British documentary film about the England 2 Tone music genre.The film was directed by Joe Massot, who originally wanted to do a film only about the band Madness , who he met during their first US tour....
.

After the band split in 1982, Black developed an acting career in television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 and theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
, appearing in drama
Drama

Drama is the specific Mode of fiction Mimesis in performance. The term comes from a Ancient Greek word meaning "Action " , which is derived from "to do" ....
s such as The Vice, The Bill
The Bill

The Bill is a long-running United Kingdom television police procedural, named after a List of slang terms for police officers. It was first broadcast on 16 August, 1983 as a pilot episode, and as a regular series from 16 October, 1984 and transmitted on ITV, at 20:00 on Thursdays and most Wednesdays....
, Hearts and Minds and 2000 Acres of Sky. She won the 1991 Time Out award for Best Actress, for her portrayal of Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter.Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing....
 in the play All or Nothing At All. She starred next to Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee

Christopher Frank Carandini Lee Order of the British Empire, Venerable Order of Saint John is an award-winning England actor and singer. He initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Film Productions films....
 in the horror film
Horror film

Horror films are movies that strive to elicit responses of fear, horror and terror from viewers. Their plots frequently involve themes of the supernatural....
 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
World

World is a common name for the planet Earth seen from a human worldview, as a place inhabited by human beings. It is often used to signify the sum of human experience and history, or the 'human condition' in general....
. Davies left the band in the mid 1990s to record two solo albums, Box Of Blues and Future Swamp. Black continued to record and perform as The Selecter until 2006.

Discography


Albums

the original line up
  • Too Much Pressure
    Too Much Pressure (album)

    Too Much Pressure was the first album by United Kingdom ska band The Selecter. It was released in 1980 on 2 Tone records. The album charted at # 5 in the UK....
     (Feb 1980) UK # 5
  • Celebrate the Bullet
    Celebrate the Bullet (album)

    Celebrate the Bullet was the second album by United Kingdom ska band The Selecter. It was released in 1981 on Chrysalis Records after the band had left the Two Tone label....
     (Feb 1981) UK # 41
  • The Happy Album (Jul 1994)
  • Pucker!
    Pucker!

    Pucker! is a 1995 album by England 2 Tone ska revival Musical ensemble The Selecter....
     (Aug 1995)
  • Cruel Britannia (Nov 1998)
  • The Trojan Songbook (1999)
  • The Trojan Songbook - Vol 2 (2000)
  • The Trojan Songbook - Vol 3 (2001)
  • Real to Reel (2003)


Singles and EPs

  • "Gangsters" (The Special A.K.A.) vs. "The Selecter" (The Selecter
    The Selecter

    The Selecter were a 2 Tone ska revival Musical ensemble from Coventry, England, formed in the late 1970s.Like many other bands in the ska revival movement, The Selecter featured a racially mixed line-up....
    ) (Jul 1979, 2 Tone, TT1/TT2) UK # 6
  • "On My Radio" (Oct 1979, CHSTT 4) UK # 8
  • "Three Minute Hero" (Feb 1980, CHSTT 8) UK # 16
  • "Missing Words" (March 1980, CHSTT 10) UK # 23
  • "The Whisper" (August 1980, CHSS 1) UK # 36
  • "Celebrate The Bullet" (Nov 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
    Singing

    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
  • Compton Amanor: guitar
    Guitar

    The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
  • Charley Anderson: bass guitar
    Bass guitar

    The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
  • Charley 'H' Bembridge: drums
    Drum kit

    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
  • Desmond Brown: Hammond
    Hammond organ

    The Hammond organ is an electronic organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to Church as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, Rock and r...
     keyboard
    Keyboard instrument

    A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
  • Neol Davies: guitar
    Guitar

    The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
  • Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson: Vocals
    Singing

    Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
Charley Anderson and Desmond Brown left The Selecter in 1980. Replaced by James Mackie
James Mackie

James Mackie may refer to:* Sir James Mackie, KCMG Diplomat?* James Stuart Mackie ...
: Hammond Organ
Hammond organ

The Hammond organ is an electronic organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to Church as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, Rock and r...
 Adam Williams: bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...


Reformed line-up: 1991

  • Pauline Black: Vocals
  • Neol Davies: Guitar
  • Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson - Vocals
  • Martin Stewart
    Martin Stewart

    Martin Stewart is a ska keyboardist. He was the keyboardist for Bad Manners, who had nine UK hits with classics including 'Special Brew' and 'Can Can'....
    : Keyboards
  • Nicky Welsh: Bass
  • Perry Melius: Drums


External links