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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Music by Decade»1980s Music
    1980s Music Music S 1 Min Read

    Selecter, The

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    The Selecter are often considered 2 Tone‘s ‘also ran’s’ behind The Specials. They were a top live draw in their own right, though, and their 1980 album Too Much Pressure was full of sharp, organ-heavy ska pop such as Three Minute Hero and On My Radio (sampled by Basement Jaxx on their track of the same name).

    Celebrate The Bullet (1981) was the ambivalent follow-up that tried to get serious (singer Pauline Black even stopped wearing a porkpie hat).

    It was patchier by far, but in the doom-laden title track and Washed Up & Left For Dead they made probably the best music of their career.

    selecter2

    The band had a geographically diverse background. Guitarist Commie Amanor was originally from South Africa. Bassist Charley Anderson, keyboard player Desmond Brown and drummer Charley ‘H’ Bembridge were all born in Jamaica. Vocalist Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson grew up in the West Indies. Only guitarist and founder Neol Davies and frontwoman Pauline Black were natives of Coventry, where the ska revival began.

    Pauline Black 
    Vocals
    Compton “Commie” Amanor 
    Guitar
    Charley Anderson
    Bass
    Charley “H” Bembridge
    Drums
    Desmond Brown
    Hammond organ
    Neol Davies 
    Guitar
    Arthur “Gaps” Hendrickson 
    Vocals

    selecter16

    Video

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