The Selecter

“Too Much Pressure” released by this important and influential platinum selling band in Feb 1980 remains a classic touchstone for a generation of Ska lovers and the band are excited to announce they will be playing the album in its entirety plus a selection of other much loved Selecter tracks and some new surprises at concerts throughout 2011.

Mixing punk, ska and reggae, ‘Too Much Pressure’ successfully reflected the social and political issues of the early Thatcher years in Britain and gave a voice to disaffected youth across the racial divide.

The Selecter fronted by the original singing duo of the female icon of the 2-tone era Pauline Black & Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson deliver classic hits like ‘Three Minute Hero’, ‘Missing Words’, ‘On My Radio’, ‘James Bond’ and of course ‘Too Much Pressure’.

2011 saw the return of one of the most vital, visceral and important Ska acts ever. Queen of 2- Tone, Pauline Black featured prominently in BBC4’s “Reggae Britannia” series, contributing to a 90 mins documentary and a live concert broadcast from The Barbican in London.

The Selecter’s new 10 track album ‘Made In Britain’, featuring covers of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back To Black’ & a hugely popular anti-racist ska/reggae re-working of Woody Guthrie’s ‘All You Fascists Bound To Lose’- re-invented as ‘Big In The Body- Small In The Mind’, which was released in September 2011.

2012 saw The Selecter embark on a 32 date tour of the UK throughout the year, with many venues selling out in advance. Dec 2012 saw the band do their first ever tour of Australia which was a huge success.

2013 saw the band play another 20 dates in the UK in March and then in April the band went back to the USA for the first time in many years culminating in an appearance at the influential Coachella Festival. The band have plans to go back to the USA two more times in 2013 and plans for the Far East and South America in 2014.

Pauline Black has also written a well-received 2-Tone memoir, ‘Black By Design’ which has been published by ‘Serpent’s Tail’ and released in July 2011. She made an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August 2011. The book is released in the US in June 2012.

“‘Multiculturalism rules’, The Selecter’s® Pauline Black says pointedly, hours after David Cameron has declared it dead. In a Midlands rude-girl suit of sharp straight lines, she brings 2-Tone’s faster, jerky punk beat and the needling New Wave aggro of ‘On My Radio’, to which a platoon of fans jog along. – Nick Hasted, The Independent

“…a slick, attacking set from Pauline Black” – Robin Denselow, The Guardian