The Selecter were a
2 Tone ska revival
band from
Coventry, England, formed in the late
1970s.
Like many other bands of 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 an irresistible 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. The band's name is based on the term
selector, which is a
Jamaican word for
DJ.
The Selecter was, at first, just Neol Davies and John Bradbury (who was later to be the drummer in The Specials). The band name was also the title of the seminal instrumental released as the b-side of the first 2Tone record "Gangsters vs. The Selecter" in July 1979. Pauline Black has been the lead singer in 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 was recorded at the end of
1979 and beginning of
1980, and released by the
2 Tone Records and
Chrysalis Records. Their second album,
Celebrate the Bullet, was issued in
1981. The Selecter were featured in the 2 Tone documentary
Dance Craze.
After the band split in 1982, Black developed a career in
TV 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 have released several new albums and have toured all over the
world. Davies left the band in the mid 90's to record two solo albums "Box Of Blues" and "Future Swamp". In the 2000s, The Selecter no longer exists as a band but may reform occasionally to perform concerts.
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