The Selecter
The Selecter ( Jamaican English for DJ ) is an English ska band that formed in Coventry in 1979 . In addition to bands such as The Specials , Madness , Bad Manners and The Beat, it belongs to the second wave of Ska, which is part of the so-called 2-tone ska.
Band history
The Selecter was started by The Specials drummer John Bradbury by chance in 1979 . Bradbury needed a B-side for the first single of the specials . To fill it, he recorded the song "The Selecter" with keyboardist Desmond Brown, the two guitarists Neol Davis and Kevin Harrison as well as a studio musician named Steve on bass , which was simply a song of the same name on the single (previously nonexistent ) Was attributed to the band. After the record became a top 10 hit, Brown and Davis recruited more musicians to fill the "band" with life. These were initially: Pauline Black , Charley Anderson, Compton Amanour, Charley "H" Bembridge and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson.
They signed a deal with the 2 Tone record label from Specials head Jerry Dammers. Her subsequent single "On My Radio" (actually the debut single) also made it into the top ten . The LP "Too Much Pressure" , released soon after, climbed to number 5 on the LP charts. The Selecter released an LP and four other singles by mid-1981, then they broke up in 1982. Pauline Black brought out a few solo singles and later became a television presenter .
The Selecter was founded again in 1992 and has since toured regularly through the USA , Canada , Japan and Europe .
Pauline Black and Nick Welsh have been touring as Selector Acoustic since 2003 and released the two records “Unplugged for the Rudeboy Generation” and “Requiem for a Black Soul” .
Band line-up
Current occupation
- Pauline Black - vocals (founding member)
- Nicky Welsh - bass
- Martin Stewart - keyboard
- Paul Seacroft - guitar
- Al Fletcher - drums
- Dave Barker - vocals
former members
- Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson - vocals (founding member)
- Compton Amanor - guitar (founding member)
- Charley "H" Bembridge - drums (founding member)
- Charley Anderson - bass (founding member)
- Neol Davis - guitar
- Desmond Brown - Keyboard (founding member)
- James Mackie - keyboard
- Adam Williams - bass
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
|||
| 1980 | Too Much Pressure |
UK5  (13 weeks)UK |
|
| 1981 | Celebrate the Bullet |
UK41 (4 weeks) UK |
|
| 2015 | Subculture |
UK54 (1 week) UK |
|
| 2017 | Daylight |
UK66 (1 week) UK |
More albums
- 1992: Out on the Streets Again
- 1992: BBC 1 Radio Live in Concert (Live, with The Specials)
- 1993: The Selecter and Prince Buster (Madness)
- 1994: The Happy Album
- 1995: Pucker
- 1996: Back out on the Streets
- 1997: The Very Best of the Selecter
- 1998: Cruel Britannia
- 1999: Trojan Songbook Volume 1
- 2000: Trojan Songbook Volume 2
- 2001: Trojan Songbook Volume 3
- 2002: Unplugged for the Rudeboy Generation
- 2002: On my Radio (2 CD, CD 2 live)
- 2003: Real to Reel
- 2011: Made In Britain
- 2013: String Theory
EPs
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1993 | The 2 Tone |
UK30 (3 weeks) UK |
More EPs
- 1994: The Madness
- 1995: Hairspray
- 2013: Daytrotter Session
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1979 | On My Radio |
UK8 (9 weeks) UK |
B-side: Too Much Pressure
|
| 1980 | Three Minute Hero Too Much Pressure |
UK16 (6 weeks) UK |
B-side: Carry Go Bring Come
|
| Missing Words Too Much Pressure |
UK23 (8 weeks) UK |
B-side: Street feeling
|
|
| The Whisper |
UK36 (5 weeks) UK |
B-side: Train to Skaville
|
More singles
- 1979: The Selecter (B-side of the split single "Gangsters" with The Specials, 1979)
- 1981: Celebrate the Bullet and Last Tango in Dub
- 1995: Madness (with Prince Buster )
Pauline Black - Solo Singles
- 1982: Shoo-Rah, Shoo-Rah
- 1983: Threw It Away
