It's a little late, but Chrysalis is finally releasing the 40th Anniversary of The Selecter's dark and superb 1981 sophomore album Celebrate the Bullet on November 11, 2022. The album is remastered from the original production tapes and being issued on heavyweight clear vinyl and in an expanded, triple-CD deluxe version, which features a 20-page booklet with notes from the band; the unreleased "Deepwater" single and its dub; the Celebrate the Bullet BBC sessions; and an unreleased live concert recorded at Birmingham's NEC in 1980. (Pre-orders can be made through Townsend Music in the UK and Amazon in the US.)
If you need a refresher on this album, you can read my appreciation of Celebrate the Bullet from this 2010 post.
Also, below is a chapter relating to Celebrate the Bullet excerpted from my 2020 book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone:
"The Lost Interview: Neol Davies of The Selecter"
Back in 2015, I was planning to expand a post I had written several years earlier reappraising The Selecter's Celebrate the Bullet [which is included in The Duff Guide to 2 Tone] to book-length. Hoi Polloi skazine's John Vaccaro had been incredibly kind to send me several contemporary articles related to the album from Sounds, NME, and other British music publications from his extensive print archives for my research. I also managed to arrange a series of interviews with Selecter founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter Neol Davies, and intended to talk with other members of the band who had composed songs for the Celebrate the Bullet, including Pauline Black, Gaps Hendrickson, and Compton Amanor.
That summer, I spoke twice with Davies via Skype, but during each session, our video calls were plagued by technical issues: the audio would often go in and out and inevitably degrade to static. Davies was generous and gracious during our interviews—and quite eager to talk about an album that he clearly felt never received its due—but was increasingly frustrated and distracted by the audio problems. I digitally recorded both interviews, but much to my regret didn't have them transcribed at the time. I had planned to set up additional phone calls with Davies, but, unfortunately, didn't, due to demands of work and life.
While putting together The Duff Guide to 2 Tone, it struck me that excerpts from my interviews with Neol Davies would be perfect for this book, but I have been unable to locate the audio files, which I thought I had copied to an external hard drive. Unfortunately, the device I used to record the interviews died several years ago and was recycled. However, I do have the notes that I typed up after my conversation with Davies on 8/13/15, which are as follows.
The cover of Celebrate the Bullet, which was designed by Davies' late wife Jane Hughes and John "Teflon" Sims of Chrysalis' art department (who, along with David Storey, created much of 2 Tone's iconic imagery), featured a gloved hand of a person who couldn't be identified as a man or woman, or black or white—they represented everyone. The fuzzy TV screen on the UK version of the album was meant to convey that the music and message was not being broadcast or given airtime in the mainstream media, and also expressed a dread of nuclear annihilation (when all transmissions will cease). Davies commented that the band was "angry with the world."
Hughes also designed the new Selecter "dial" or "eyeball" logo (used on the paper label for the album and "Celebrate the Bullet" single). It was greatly influenced by Soviet constructivist artists and "fits nicely as a paper sleeve for a single or album—and allows for text, too." Davies noted that it was simple, but "not so easy to arrive at."
Davies stated that, in contrast to The Specials, which was "very much a dictatorship with Jerry in charge," The Selecter was a real democracy. Each member had an equal vote and they based all of their decisions on whichever options had the most support. The band voted down Davies on who should produce their debut album Too Much Pressure. Davies had wanted Roger Lomas, who had produced The Selecter's first few singles, including "The Selecter" and "On My Radio" b/w "Too Much Pressure." In the end, the band opted to go with Charley Anderson's friend Errol Ross, but Davies and others were very unhappy with the results. As a consequence, Lomas was recruited to produce "The Whisper" single and the Celebrate the Bullet album. (A few years prior to this interview, Davies thought he had tracked down the two-inch reel-to-reel tapes for Too Much Pressure with the idea of remixing the whole album for a re-release, but the boxes were empty.)
According to Davies, the track "Celebrate the Bullet" is "a direct descendent" of "The Selecter" instrumental. The song is about recognizing "the seduction of the power of holding a gun in your hand and being enthralled by the power of a gun—but also being very anti-gun." When I asked him about Chrysalis' reaction to the controversy surrounding the single [the BBC had quietly banned the track over misguided concerns that it encouraged gun violence; John Lennon had been murdered a few months earlier and an assassination attempt had been made on President Ronald Reagan around the time of the single's release], Davies noted that the label gave their "full support" to The Selecter.
Davies felt that the "Celebrate the Bullet" single "should have been our 'Ghost Town'"—The Selecter's #1 record. Like that Specials masterpiece, The Selecter's "art and music was in synch with real world events and the zeitgeist" of those turbulent times. Davies said that he found it "mystifying that an anti-gun and anti-violence record would be banned during a time when people were being assassinated."
(Written exclusively for this book on June 10, 2020.)
The Selecter with Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson
(Review by Steve Shafer)
With the clock quickly running out on 2 Tone's 40th anniversary year--coupled with a general dearth of related events in the USA (The Specials' Encore tour doesn't really count)--it was phenomenal to have the opportunity to catch The Selecter and Rhoda Dakar (of The Bodysnatchers and The Special AKA), both of whom put on extraordinary performances that celebrated and honored their own--and 2 Tone's--legacy, while reminding us why they and their music are still powerfully relevant all these years later. I've caught The Selecter during their two previous visits to New York City (on 9/20/2013 and 10/6/16, which I reviewed here) and have never been disappointed; they give their all, always impressing and entertaining the crowd (this evening, I danced with my friends and members of Barbicide and The Twilights the entire time). And it was an historic night--Rhoda Dakar hasn't played Gotham since 1981!
In lieu of an opening act (more on that later), Rhoda Dakar served as house DJ, spinning a great mix of old school ska and reggae that had the fans openly grooving while maintaining their desired spots down front. The Selecter then took the stage to a recording of "The Selecter" and served up a positively stellar set! Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson were thoroughly engaging and the rest of the band (Winston Marche on drums, "Tommy"-era Oliver Reed look-alike John Robertson on guitar, Andrew Pearson on bass, Lee Horsley on organ, and Neil Pyzer-Skeete on tenor sax) were in top form. They played the expected hits and more their 2 Tone days, including "Three Minute Hero," "On My Radio," "Out on the Streets," "Murder," "Missing Words," "Danger," "Black and Blue," "The Whisper," "Train to Skaville," "Carry Go Bring Come," and Gaps' spotlight at the mic (and fave of mine), "(Who Likes) Facing Situations."
Rhoda Dakar with The Selecter
One notable portion of The Selecter's show was sharply political, beginning with their cover of The Pioneers "Time Hard" ("Everyday, things are getting worse"), which Black aimed at both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump in her intro; followed by "Frontline," their call to action/engagement for people who think that posts on social media can address inequity and bring about societal change ("My mind is full/my heart is empty/It's hard to live/In a world of plenty/The more I see/The less I feel/You sell me dreams/But they're not real..I need to believe/In something more/Than I wanna stay free"--which also references the police killing of Eric Garner: "I saw a man/Punched off his feet...He shouted out/'Now, I can't breathe!'"--from their Daylight album, reviewed by me here). They then moved on to the devastating "Breakdown," their "Ghost Town" of sorts for the 21st century from Subculture (reviewed here), which is about how societal and government institutional dysfunction/failure to address systemic racism and poverty leads to the extrajudicial police killings of unarmed black people (the band bowed their heads as a short tape was played listing some of the names of the black boys, men, and women unjustly killed by the police in the UK and USA)--and finished with their haunting anti-gun/anti-revenge/anti-violence song, "Celebrate the Bullet" ("Put your finger on the trigger/But you don't have to pull it/'Cos you know it won't bring them/Back to you"). The cumulative effect of this sequence of tracks was stunning.
After performing a blistering rendition of "On My Radio" (Pauline commented that back in the day only Rodney Bingenheimer at KROQ played ska on the radio in America--though WLIR showed them lots of love in the NYC area, too!), Pauline and Gaps left the stage for the band to back Rhoda Dakar for her two hits with The Bodysnatchers, "Let's Do Rock Steady" and the gender-parity asserting "Ruder Than You" (co-written by the band with Gaz Mayall). Dakar was in fantastic voice and it was thrilling to (finally!) see and hear the other--and essential--2 Tone female singer live in person. My only complaint would be that I would have loved to have heard a few more songs from her (several years ago, Dakar recorded an album of Bodysnatchers tracks, and has released a few EPs of new material, all very highly recommended).
Since they were playing in New York City on the anniversary of 9/11, The Selecter had arranged for union members of the FDNY to come on stage, where Dakar read a message of support, thanks, and solidarity from their firefighting colleagues in London. The night concluded with a spirited rendition of Prince Buster's "Madness." On a day commemorating the missing among us, left unspoken--given the superseding and momentous significance of this date--was the 2 Tone musician heartbreakingly absent from this tour: Ranking Roger (whose permutation of The Beat had toured with The Selecter in the UK last year and was scheduled to visit America, had his cancer not intervened; Roger very much had hoped to participate in 2 Tone 40th anniversary events like this). A purloined Selecter set list indicates that on some dates of this tour, the band is playing "Can't Get Used to Losing You" in his memory.
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Afterward, at the merch table, where Pauline, Gaps, and Rhoda are more than happy to chat, sign things, and pose for pictures with fans, I overheard Rhoda responding to compliment on her singing on The Special AKA's In the Studioby telling a fan that to this day she's never listened to that record (still a shock to hear, even though I know she's stated in the past that the recording of that album was such a torturous, drawn-out process that she could never bear hearing it; her work on In the Studio is absolutely fantastic and completely essential to its success--hopefully someday she can find a way to put that all aside and focus on the brilliance of the music she helped create).
The Duff Guide with the wonderful Rhoda Dakar
When I went to buy a Selecter shirt (I bought a Bodysnatchers one from Rhoda, too), Pauline gave me the side-eye and commented on my bootleg 2 Tone tour t-shirt (see picture at right)--though in all fairness the rampant, out-of-control bootlegging of all things 2 Tone back in '79/'80 certainly denied all involved of rightfully deserved income and was one of the reasons The Selecter left 2 Tone after their first LP (I bashfully apologized and pointed out how I was in the act of buying an official Selecter shirt from her!). I also managed to squeeze in a short conversation with Gaps, who's always really lovely to talk with.
If the Selecter/Rhoda Dakar 40th Anniversary Tour comes anywhere near you (dates below), do not miss them (also, bring some extra bucks to buy some merch, as it really helps to make tours like this one financially feasible--musicians need to earn a living, too; also note that The Selecter has vinyl copies of their two most recent albums with them for sale, if you don't already have them).
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The Selecter/Rhoda Dakar 40th Anniversary Tour US Dates
9/12/19: Sommerville, MA - Once Ballroom
9/13/19: Kent, OH - The Kent Stage
**9/14/19: Chicago, IL - Riot Fest (The Selecter performs the Too Much Pressure album)
***Also on 9/14/19: Chicago, IL - Reggie's (Rhoda Dakar backed by The Crombies)
9/15/19: Denver, CO - Marquis Theater
9/17/19: San Francisco, CA - Mezzanine
9/18/19: San Diego, CA - Casbah
9/19/19: San Diego, CA - Casbah
9/20/19: Hermosa Beach, CA - Saint Rocke
9/21/19: Pomona, CA - The Glass House
Note: The Chicago dates above are not officially part of this tour--The Selecter is at Riot Fest without Dakar, who plays at Reggie's backed by The Crombies!
Details are few and far between, but yesterday Specials' bass player Horace Panter revealed on his Facebook feed that he had spent his birthday recording tracks for a new Specials album (with original members Terry Hall and Lynval Golding), which is slated for a February 2019 release (he also posted this news on Twitter today). Specials biographer Paul Willo has apparently heard some of the tracks and commented online that they're "brilliant."
Various incarnations of The Selecter have released live albums over their 38+ year existence (in particular, check out 1992's scorching Out On The Streets with Neol Davies, Pauline Black, Nick Welsh, and Martin Stewart--or 2015's positively amazing Access All Areas, which was recorded in 1980 with all of the original members of The Selecter--read our review of it here) and Live at the Roundhouse captures the current (and really great) iteration of the band in top form, performing stellar tracks from their last few albums (String Theory, Subculture, Daylight), as well as their old 2 Tone chart hits and fan favorites.
Live at the Roundhouse is a real treat to listen to and watch, as it was expertly recorded and videotaped in London on October 6, 2017 before a packed house during a co-headling tour of the UK with The Beat featuring Ranking Roger (they've also released an album/DVD from that night). The Selecter's live versions of "Frontline," "Breakdown," "Daylight," "Remember Me," "The Big Badoof," and "The Avengers Theme" (one of the best TV show themes of all time--and a terrific choice to cover) are of primary interest here, as the other cuts have been recorded live many times over the years. All, of course, sound fantastic. ("Breakdown" expresses outrage at the extrajudicial police killings in the US and UK of unarmed black people, which are a horrific symptom of entrenched racism, societal dysfunction, and purposeful neglect--and "Frontline" calls for everyone to disengage a bit from social media and reconnect with the world in order to take action against injustice; both are extraordinarily powerful and catchy protest songs for our increasingly troubled times.)
In addition to documenting the entire concert, the Live at the Roundhouse DVD features a nice, if a bit scattershot, interview with Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson that also manages to highlight their charming, decades-long friendship and easy rapport with each other (Pauline: "I'll always make music until I drop off my perch, I think." Gaps: "I'm in, oh yeah, I'm in. You know, I can't see me doing anything else. You know, here I am. I'm free!" Pauline: "We're too old to go back to our day jobs!").
Ever since this iteration of The Selecter with Pauline Black, Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson, and (secret weapon) Neil Pyzer began releasing new music, starting with Made in Britain in 2011, each subsequent record has topped the last. Their most recent release, 2015's excellent Subculture (read our ridiculously in-depth review of it), has been surpassed by The Selecter's latest entry Daylight, which may be this band's best record yet.
As one would expect from a 2 Tone act, there are uncompromisingly political songs addressing social, economic, and racial injustice that stimulate one's mind, conscience, and body. The wildly catchy "Frontline" is critical of our smartphone/social media addicted society, where we have significantly more access to (dis)information and each other than ever before in the history of humanity, but actually seem to be increasingly disconnected, numb, and apathetic as a result ("My mind is full/my heart is empty...I need to believe/In something more/Than I wanna stay free"). "Frontline's" reference to the extrajudicial/racial police killing of Eric Garner makes it also a call for real-world, in-person protesting and organizing for justice and change--not Facebook posts that float without impact in the ether of cyberspace. "Taking Back Control" is a potent, fists-in-the-air call to action to counter the rise of ethno-nationalism and right-wing extremism in the UK in the wake of Brexit, while the "arc of history bends towards justice"-themed "Pass the Power" posits that it's long past time that it be given over to "the righteous side." There is great and uncommon empathy expressed in "Paved with Cold" (where the capitalist dream is a nightmare for many), which is sung from the point of view of a lonely homeless person simply trying to survive the winter in a cruel and heartless land ("Spikes where I want to sit...No money is my only crime"). Gaps takes the mic to sing about impending mortality on the Latin ska track "Remember Me" (half its lyrics are in Spanish) and to decry the futility and waste of never-ending war in "Mayhem" (which sounds like it has some Jackie Mittoo/Sound Dimension "Full Up" DNA embedded in there).
But not all is grim in The Selecter's world, Daylight also contains some phenomenally upbeat tunes. "Daylight" is a 1960s AM pop radio ska/soul gem (with Jools Holland on piano!) about the bliss of being in alive and in love. There's an incredibly sprightly and laid-back reggae groove in "Big Badoof," as Pauline and Gaps urge you to keep your chin up, no matter what comes your way. And perhaps the most extraordinary song on the album is "Things Fall Apart," a joyous, Highlife-tinged ska track about black self-empowerment and interdependence--in addition to being an unequivocal demand for equal rights ("I am the master/The master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul/I can make the centre hold...I'll be/Right here behind you/In whatever you do/I won't desert you...If you take/You'd better give me something back!"). "Things Fall Apart" is a reference to Nigerian author Chinua Achebe's novel of the same name about the pernicious effects of British colonialism from an African perspective--and the track's lyrics also relate to books by James Baldwin ("Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "I Am Not Your Negro," an unfinished book about Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.) and Alex Haley ("Roots"), all of which explore African-American identity, history, and experience in an horrifically racist nation.
Buoyed by an absolutely winning set of songs, this version of The Selecter has never sounded more relaxed and self-assured--Daylight is a triumph!
The August 2017 issue of MOJO magazine (which is taking longer and longer to find its way over to the USA each month; my newsagent told me that he heard that the distributor might start bringing the bulk of each month's issues over by boat and only have some copies airmailed--and the consumer would pay more for the airmailed copies if they want to receive them more quickly!) features a fantastic warts-and-all four-page history of The Selecter by Lois Wilson, as well as an obit for The Beat's late and truly amazing saxophonist, Saxa (compare it to our remembrance of the man).
The Selecter feature hews fairly closely to what I've read about the band previously (particularly via Pauline Black's autobiography "Black by Design"), though I don't think it's been ever stated so clearly that Black (according to Neol Davies) was the one to break up the Celebrate the Bullet-era Selecter--and I had no idea how the early 90s revival of The Selecter, which included both Davies and Black (and was quite good live--see Out on the Streets), managed to lose Davies fairly early on. This piece does give short shrift to the recent Black/Hendrickson/Pyzer version of The Selecter; they've released a series of undeniably great albums full of new material and have extensively toured in support of them (and they're playing in the USA again this August). Oh, and it seems that The Selecter's forthcoming album was originally titled Human Too.
When I was writing my obit for Saxa, I found it pretty difficult to find any reliable info about Saxa's goings on in the UK in the 1960s--he claimed to have played with The Beatles and Elvis during that time (I did track down Malu Halasa's "Twist and Crawl," an entertaining Wha'ppen-era biography of The Beat, but even that didn't have a lot of solid facts on Saxa's background). So, it was interesting to see that MOJO's Ian Harrison had similar challenges. All in all, MOJO did Saxa proud.
You can now pre-orderThe Selecter's new album Daylight (the fourth from this iteration of the band), which will be released on October 6, 2017 on CD, heavyweight vinyl, and digital download. As we previously noted, the band already has issued the first digital single off the record, "Frontline" (see the official music video below).
The quality control of The Selecter's recent albums has been undeniably high (see our review of Subculture), so my gut feeling (reinforced by the amazing "Frontline") is that this one will be a keeper, as well. (I've pre-ordered the vinyl, which will may be hard to find in the US...)
The Selecter with Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson have just released the winning new digital single "Frontline" to promote their upcoming album Daylight, which will be issued on October 6, 2017.
Picking up where the powerful "Ghost Town"-like "Breakdown" left off (which is from their recent Subculture album, read The Duff Guide to Ska review here), the wildly catchy "Frontline" is critical of our smartphone/social media addicted society, where we have significantly more access to information and each other than ever before in the history of humanity, but actually seem to be increasingly disconnected, numb, and apathetic as a result. "Frontline's" reference to the extrajudicial/racial police killing of Eric Garner makes it also a call for real, in-person protesting and organizing for social justice and change--not Facebook posts that float without impact in the ether of cyberspace.
"Frontline, out on the street
Frontline, out on the street
Don't get me started
I'm all in a rush
You want to push me
Under a bus
I'm feeling restless
I need to believe
In something more
Than I want to stay free
My mind is full
My heart is empty
It's hard to live
In a world of plenty
The more I see
The less I feel
You sell me dreams
But they're not real
Frontline, out on the street
Frontline, out on the street
I feel a hunger
A hunger in me
I saw a man
Pushed off his feet
He tried to be
All he could be
He shouted out
"Now, I can't breathe!"
My mind is full
My heart is empty
It's hard to live
In a world of plenty
The more I see
The less I feel
You sell me dreams
But they're not real
Frontline, out on the street
Frontline, out on the street
I'm nobody's, nobody's hashtag
Ever the mighty shall fall
I'm nobody's, nobody's hashtag
Nobody's hashtag at all"
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The Selecter's "Frontline" is available from these digital retailers (and it would make a great 7" vinyl single...):
The Selecter will be touring the USA and Canada this August (see dates and venues above in the image). The NYC show also features openers Rude Boy George (who also are playing the Fairfield, CT date) and The Pandemics. If The Selecter are coming anywhere near you, make sure to catch their performance--they're amazingly good these days (here's my write-up of their show in NYC last fall as proof).
The Selecter/The Beat"Breakdown" b/w "Side To Side" (7" PS vinyl single, DMF Records, 2016): Who would have imagined that we'd ever see a veritable 2 Tone split single of great new material 38 years after the release of the first one? (I'm referring to, of course, the iconic, debut 2 Tone Records release of The Special AKA/The Selecter split single: "Gangsters" b/w "The Selecter.") The occasion for this release is a planned co-headlined tour of the UK and Ireland this spring, but whatever the reason, ska fans should take note and support the 2 Tone era acts courageous enough to move forward creatively (I'm looking at you, too, Madness!), instead of leaning on nostalgia and past glories to win the day.
The Selecter's "Breakdown"--from their most recent album Subculture (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here)--is a phenomenal song, very much worthy of being spotlighted in this fashion (and it's awesome live). Here's what I wrote about it in my Subculture review...
Inspired by appalling incidents in both the UK and the US, "Breakdown," the most politically potent song on the album, posits that the relatively frequent unjustified police killings of mostly unarmed (and sometimes handcuffed) black boys, men, and women are a horrific symptom of entrenched racism, societal dysfunction, and purposeful neglect. The failure of government and institutions at all levels to successfully address long-standing issues afflicting disadvantaged communities of color--substandard schools and public services; job and housing discrimination; limited access to health care; grinding and inescapable poverty; crime/addiction; and much more--has created neighborhoods, towns, even entire cities, full of people that have been effectively abandoned/written off. They are "others" apart from the rest of society, who--as the conservative/Ayn Rand-ian narrative goes--through some moral failing/deficit are responsible for their own lot in life (the rich are all self-made men, who achieved great success without anyone else's help, right?)--and, as such, society isn't responsible for their well-being. (It probably doesn't help that the people in these poor communities of color don't have the power to influence or flat out rig the system for their own benefit.)
In these neighborhoods, cities, and towns, nothing functions as it should, including the law and those who are entrusted to enforce it.
"I know a place Where after six it's shut down Where police just a drive around But people just go on with their lives The same
Stranger beware The taxicab won't take you there And he will charge you double fare He says that there is danger down there
There's going to be a breakdown A cultural breakdown A social breakdown In the eyes of the law There's going to be a breakdown A cultural breakdown A social breakdown We've heard it all before
Young souls rebel They need to make a quick buck They don't rely on nobody's luck But people just go on with their lives The same
Out on the streets People sending dangerous tweets For five minutes of dubious fame So, tell me who is to blame?"
After Pauline Black sings, "Some things are so wrong that nothing ever makes it right," Gaps Hendrickson recites a devastatingly long list of black boys, women, and men unjustifiably killed by police in the UK and USA, starting with Stephen Lawrence and ending with Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice (though there seems to be an ever-growing number of new names to add to this list...). "Breakdown" is a "Ghost Town" of sorts for the 21st century (it borrows just enough of "Ghost Town's" structure and snippets of its melody and horn lines to reinforce that notion) and like that iconic song, it reflects the great inequity, fractiousness, and despair of our times.
[I love how this song references "Out in the Streets," which Neol Davies states in the liner notes for Access All Areas was about being young and having nothing to do after the pubs closed at 11:00 pm: "You find yourself driving around the ring road and end up somewhere you wish you hadn't. It was a comment on failed nights out in a city like Coventry--out on the streets again."]
"Dangerous tweets" takes on a whole new meaning with the new American president-elect, doesn't it?
Ranking Roger's UK version of The Beat's "Side To Side" featuring Roger's son Ranking Junior (from The Beat's recent Bounce album--read our review it here) is a terrific, driving ska tune concerned solely with getting the crowd to dance (a la "Ranking Full Stop") and boasting about the ability to do so. This track sports some wicked fast toasting by both father and son--and must be pretty fantastic live.
Friday 31 March – Glasgow O2 ABC Saturday 1 April – Manchester Old Granada Studios Friday 7 April – Nottingham Rock City Saturday 8 April – Bristol O2 Academy Friday 28 April – -Birmingham O2 Institute Saturday 29 April – London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
After being blindsided by their surprisingly great show in NYC three years ago, The Selecter featuring Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson drew out a wonderfully large contingent of old school stalwarts (Chris Acosta of The New York Citizens/Moon Records, Marc Wasserman of Bigger Thomas, Andre "The Nubian Nightmare" Worrell from Mephiskapheles, Checker Phil) as well as more recent fixtures of the NYC ska scene to Manhattan's Gramercy Theatre, all of whom were eager to hear the tracks from The Selecter's indispensable 2 Tone album Too Much Pressure that have been seared into our minds and held close in our hearts all of these years.I've seen different iterations of The Selecter three times--in September 1992 at Tramps for the Out on the Streets tour with Neol Davies and Pauline, who were backed by Nick Welsh and Martin Stewart from Bad Manners; then back in 2013; and again this week (I don't have a clear memory of catching The Selecter's set with Gaps and Pauline during the 1993 Skavoovee tour they did with the The Skatalites, Special Beat, and Toasters, though I was at the NYC show at the Hammerstein Ballroom and remember the floor actually bouncing while the crowd danced)--and each time The Selecter has put on a fantastic show, though this may have been the best one yet.
Prior to their set, Pauline, Gaps, and band member Neil Pyzer (who plays sax; recorded and produced their last three albums; and is a former member of post-punk band Spear of Destiny) were behind The Selecter merch table and more than happy to chat, sign anything (like the t-shirt I bought--Gaps even sought out Pauline to have her sign it), or pose for pictures (which were promptly posted on social media--see here and here). There is no better way to connect with fans, spread goodwill (we felt the love!), and promote the tour/band/release. Other ska bands take note: Give the people what they want. Fans just want a little bit of your time and attention--and in return they'll buy your stuff and be forever loyal.
Before The Selecter hit the stage, I caught a good portion of dirty Jersey's Hub City Stompers, who performed a great, energetic set of their punky ska and reggae, the highlight of which was their new song with a four-part vocal harmony opening, "Philly WTF"--which posits the question, what's up with their unusual accent? HCS also played a nice tribute--"Distance Water"--to Roy Radics of The Rudie Crew who passed away earlier this year, which had many in the crowd hoisting their tall boys of beer in the air in tribute.
As this was billed as the "Too Much Pressure Tour," The Selecter performed all of the tracks off that album, but not in tracklist order. I thought the renditions of "Out On the Streets," the underrated "Black and Blue," "Missing Words," "Street Feeling," "My Collie (Not a Dog)," and "Danger" were particularly powerful. "Too Much Pressure" segued into Toots and Maytals' "Pressure Drop" and back. One of the few non-Too Much Pressure album songs was "Breakdown" (an excellent "Ghost Town"-like track about societal disintegration that has led to the police killings of unarmed people of color in the US and UK from The Selecter's most recent album Subculture--read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here), which ended with two snare drum hits that sounded like gun shots, immediately (and brilliantly) followed by the haunting guitar arpeggio that opens the anti-gun "Celebrate the Bullet." Gaps' moment in the spotlight was his song of regret over what might have been in "It Never Worked Out" (also from Subculture). Another high point was an epic version of The Ethiopians' "Train to Skaville" (from The Selecter's 1980 12" of the same name, with "The Whisper" and band's much preferred second studio version of "Street Feeling" on Side B). Pauline introduced "On My Radio" by noting that this hit single wasn't included on Too Much Pressure in the UK, but by the time the record was released in the US, it had been included (along with "They Make Me Mad"). The energy never flagged during The Selecter's hour and a half show and the vast majority of people on the floor danced the entire time (it would have been hard not to). They didn't rely on fan love and nostalgia to carry the night, but performed as if they had everything in the world to prove--and we appreciated The Selecter all the more for it.
At one point early in the Selecter's set, I looked over to my left and was stunned to find that I was dancing right next to music journalist and post-punk musicianVivien Goldman (for a time, she was Bob Marley's PR person at Island Records and was the author of his first biography; she wrote about punk, reggae, and post-punk for NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker; collaborated with a who's who of post-punk musicians on her own recordings and as a member of The Flying Lizards; and is currently an adjunct professor at NYU). I'm such a huge fan of her music and writing that I couldn't resist briefly introducing myself. I told her how much I love the recent compilation of her work and that I wrote a review of it for this blog (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of Vivien Goldman's Revolutionary (Songs 1979-1982) here). She was perfectly lovely and asked me to email her the link to the post (which I did!). Running into Ms. Goldman capped off an already fantastic night.
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Thanks to Bryan Kremkau of SkaPunkPhotos.com and ReadJunk.com for the use of his beautiful pix. On a related note, apparently 2 Tone photographer Chalkie Davies also was at The Selecter show taking shots!
Pauline Black's and Arthur "Gaps" Hentrickson's version of The Selecter are scheduled to play The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan this Thursday night (10/6/16). While this date is part of the "Too Much Pressure Tour" of the USA, where they will play that iconic album in its entirety, I hope that they'll devote some stage time to songs from their most recent album, 2015's excellent Subculture (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here)--the third record of new material from this iteration of the band.
It's been three, long years since The Selecter were last here in NYC--and I'll be the first to admit how surprising good and fun that show was (they were NOT going through the motions). So, whether you're nostalgic for songs off Too Much Pressure or intrigued by the chance to catch live renditions of The Selecter's newer tracks, you don't want to miss this concert!
The Selecter with Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson will be performing in the USA--they haven't been here since 2013--and Mexico this November in support of their excellent 2015 album Subculture (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of Subculture here).
Here are The Selecter's dates for the rest of the summer and fall in the UK, USA, and Mexico:
Sat 6 Aug: Kaya Festival, Wales UK Fri 12 Aug: Farmer Phils Festival, Shropshire UK Sun 14 Aug: Boomtown Fair, Nr Winchester UK Sat 20 Aug: Great Northern Ska Festival, Manchester UK Sun 21 Aug: Beautiful Days, Devon UK Sat 27 Aug: Victorious Festival, Portsmouth UK Sat 3 Sept: Monkey's Music Club, Hamburg DE Fri 9 Sept: Undercover Festival, Brighton UK Sat 17 Sept: Ramsbottom Festival, Lancashire UK Thu 29 Sept :Old Fire Station, Carlisle UK Fri 30 Sept: Town Hall, Paisley UK Sat 1 Nov: Loopallu Festival, Ullapool UK Sun 2 Nov: Independent, Sunderland UK Thu 6 Nov: The Gramercy Theatre, New York USA Fri 7 Nov: Chop Shop, Chicago USA Sat 8 Nov: The Gothic, Denver USA Mon 10 Nov: The Independent, San Francisco USA Tue 11 Nov: The Regent, Los Angeles USA Wed 12 Nov: The Glasshouse, Pomana USA Thu 13 Nov: The Casbah, San Diego USA Sat 15 Nov: Global Ska Festival, Mexico City MX Sun 18 Dec: Copper Rooms, Coventry UK
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In other Selecter news, they headlined Billy Bragg’s Leftfield Stage @ Glastonbury, toured Australia in March, and Pauline and Gaps have done a slew of shows in the UK with Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra (and will be doing more with them in the fall). They urge everyone to "stay vigilant, resist all forms of racism and sexism if you see or hear it and enjoy ska/2-Tone music wherever you can find it."
I recently brought along the Subculture CD for a long car trip, since I had many uninterrupted hours to listen to--and digest--this album. From the very first play, I was struck by how many strong, catchy, and pointedly political songs there are on Subculture (apart from two covers, all songs are credited to Black, Hendrickson, and Neil Pyzer--who plays sax, guitar, and keys; recorded and produced the album; and is a former member of post-punk band Spear of Destiny; it also should be noted that the great Prince Fatty did a stellar job of mixing everything). While The Selecter with Black and Hendrickson is clearly rooted in the sound, vision, and social consciousness of the original 2 Tone version of the band, their new songs aren't attempting to be a rehash or clever facsimile of the band's classic sound captured on Too Much Pressure (which, apart from several excellent vintage ska covers and two originals by Black, was very much shaped by Neol Davies' stellar songwriting). The better reference point is Celebrate the Bullet, where The Selecter's sound expanded to incorporate more elements of reggae and rock, as well as material from additional songwriters within the group (on Celebrate the Bullet, Davies wrote five of the tracks, Black composed three, Compton Amanor penned two, and Gaps one).
As the Banksy-like street art cover suggests, Subculture is about presenting the alternative viewpoint in contrast to whatever is being propagated in the mainstream. On one level, the album acknowledges (and celebrates!) ska music's dogged and less-than-glorious place in the pop culture hierarchy. But it also is very concerned with issues of political, social, and economic injustice. Many of the songs on Subculture are written from the point-of-view of the wronged and oppressed--groups of people whose interests are subordinate to those of the dominant society. Inspired by appalling incidents in both the UK and the US, "Breakdown," the most politically potent song on the album, posits that the relatively frequent unjustified police killings of mostly unarmed (and sometimes handcuffed) black boys, men, and women are a horrific symptom of entrenched racism, societal dysfunction, and purposeful neglect. The failure of government and institutions at all levels to successfully address long-standing issues afflicting disadvantaged communities of color--substandard schools and public services; job and housing discrimination; limited access to health care; grinding and inescapable poverty; crime/addiction; and much more--has created neighborhoods, towns, even entire cities, full of people that have been effectively abandoned/written off. They are "others" apart from the rest of society, who--as the conservative/Ayn Rand-ian narrative goes--through some moral failing/deficit are responsible for their own lot in life (the rich are all self-made men, who achieved great success without anyone else's help, right?)--and, as such, society isn't responsible for their well-being. (It probably doesn't help that the people in these poor communities of color don't have the power to influence or flat out rig the system for their own benefit.)
In these neighborhoods, cities, and towns, nothing functions as it should, including the law and those who are entrusted to enforce it.
"I know a place
Where after six it's shut down
Where police just a drive around
But people just go on with their lives
The same
Stranger beware
The taxicab won't take you there
And he will charge you double fare
He says that there is danger down there
There's going to be a breakdown
A cultural breakdown
A social breakdown
In the eyes of the law
There's going to be a breakdown
A cultural breakdown
A social breakdown
We've heard it all before
Young souls rebel
They need to make a quick buck
They don't rely on nobody's luck
But people just go on with their lives
The same
Out on the streets
People sending dangerous tweets
For five minutes of dubious fame
So, tell me who is to blame?"
After Pauline Black sings, "Some things are so wrong that nothing ever makes it right," Gaps Hendrickson recites a devastatingly long list of black boys, women, and men unjustifiably killed by police in the UK and USA, starting with Stephen Lawrence and ending with Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice (though there seems to be an ever-growing number of new names to add to this list...). "Breakdown" is a "Ghost Town" of sorts for the 21st century (it borrows just enough of "Ghost Town's" structure and snippets of its melody and horn lines to reinforce that notion) and like that iconic song, it reflects the great inequity, fractiousness, and despair of our times.
[I love how this song references "Out in the Streets," which Neol Davies states in the liner notes for Access All Areas was about being young and having nothing to do after the pubs closed at 11:00 pm: "You find yourself driving around the ring road and end up somewhere you wish you hadn't. It was a comment on failed nights out in a city like Coventry--out on the streets again."]
It's fitting that the striking "Karma" follows "Breakdown," as they're of a piece. "Karma" zeros in on individual people's bad decisions instead of society's, though the people in the song (a John and a prostitute, a neglected kid and his drug-addicted mother, an abused woman and her abuser, the rich few and host of impoverished people) are stuck inflicting pain and unhappiness on each other (trapped in the neighborhood, town, or city of "Breakdown"), in an unbroken circle of misery (refrain: "And the world spins around/What goes around, round, round/Always comes back one day").
Could it really be that the last ska song to decry the grossly festering Israeli/Palestinian conflict was The Special AKA's "War Crimes" in 1982? With its sly reference to the Biblical tower of Babel myth in Genesis (early in human history, God thought that humanity--which only had one common language--had too much freedom and power, and were full of hubris, so he created and imposed many different languages on human beings, so they couldn't communicate easily with each other) and its cheeky alliterative pun, The Selecter's "Babble On" (...Babylon) expresses great outrage that the situation in Israel still hasn't be resolved after all these decades (two state solution, anyone?)--and that civilians continue to die on both sides: "I don't care what you say/I don't care who you pray to/You're killing innocents/You're killing innocents/Who cares whose god is greater/If there is one creator?" The song also implies that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict serves as proxy war between Christian and Islamic states and interests, which isn't too far off the mark.
The amazing, upbeat, should-be-a-single "Hit the Ground Running" offers encouragement to someone trying to earn a living on UK's "zero-hour contracts" (employees enter an insane agreement where they are essentially on-call all the time for their employer, who can give them anywhere between zero and 40 hours a week of work--talk about rigging the system to one's complete advantage!), while enduring the needlessly punitive bedroom tax (people receiving housing benefits in public housing can see their rent support reduced if it is determined they have "spare bedrooms").
Not all on Subculture is about bleak, seemingly intractable crises! There are many tracks about friendship and love. "It Never Worked Out" is Gaps Hendrickson's fantastic, melancholy, and regretful tune about all that he might be missing after the demise of a romantic relationship:
"Love was out to get me
I didn't know that
Yes, she treated me bad
I should have seen that
Wasted good, good times
Having good times
I didn't know then
What I know now
Life goes on and on
And we were living it up
Down life's happy road
We were giving it up
Been to lots of places
That I never seen
I didn't know then
What I know now
'Cos it never worked out
Yes, it never worked out
Oh, what life could be
Something keeps haunting me
Things I don't understand
Things I don't do now"
"Box Fresh" recognizes the enduring friendship and musical partnership between Black and Hendrickson, while "Open Goal" is about a couple whose relationship has devolved to the point where the man takes the woman completely for granted. The Selecter's cover of Patti Smith's and Bruce Springsteen's defiant classic rock love song "Because the Night" is given a brisk and pretty successful ska revamp here.
And there are other songs of hope, joy, and resilience, like "Walk the Walk" (whose horn line briefly quotes Dandy Livingston's "A Message to You, Rudy"), "Still I Rise" (written in tribute to Maya Angelou and her poem of the same name about being unbreakable in the face of all manner of oppression), Gap's "Stone Cold Sober" (presumably about successfully taking it one day at a time) and his extraordinary cover of Mr. Foundation's rude boy anthem "See Them A Come" ("Wicked dem come/But we nah run/We have no gun/So we nah run/Look how you get up every day/Saying prayers to the devil, I say/Should be like Cassius Clay/Steadfast strong and never run away/Through the hustlings and jugglings/You have to make a stance").
All in all, The Selecter's Subculture is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable record that should please both graying 2 Tone fans and fresh, new, soon-to-be devotees. Like Madness (who themselves keep releasing brilliant new albums every few years!), they deserve extra points for resisting the lure of relying on nostalgia and doing the hard work of making something great and new.
The Selecter's Access All Areasdocuments the band's August 13, 1980 fantastic performance at Nottingham's Theatre Royale (with The Swinging Cats as openers, though they do not appear on the DVD or CD), which had been videotaped for ITV's "Rockstage" TV series. Of particular note, it was a transitional time for the band, even though they had just returned from a largely successful, if not exhausting, tour of the USA and Canada that April, which included a week of sold-out shows at the Whiskey A Go Go in LA, a gig at NYC's Hurrah's attended by a dancing Mick Jagger, and radio support from Rodney Bingenheimer at at KROQ and college radio stations across the land. However, according to Pauline Black's autobiography "Black by Design," they also experienced a shocking amount of racism in the South--such as being refused service at truck stop diners and threatened with great bodily harm when they stopped for a picture in front of the "Dallas" TV show's Southfork Ranch--and their songs were hardly played on commercial radio, which in 1980 was still largely divided between black and white audiences and black and white radio stations--"musical apartheid," she called it.
The Selecter had just departed 2 Tone Records in July (essentially, over disagreements concerning the future direction of the label that they co-managed with The Specials, and how out of control the whole 2 Tone craze had become--the massive amount of bootleg 2 Tone and cluelessly misspelled "Selector" merchandise was a particularly sore point)--and, also that July, had recorded their first single for their own intentionally unnamed Chrysalis imprint: "The Whisper" b/w The Ethiopians' "Train to Skaville" (sadly "The Whisper" was the last time the band hit the UK charts--at #36 in August of 1980). Sporting only the band's logo and a large question mark, the "Train to Skaville" 12" included a version of "Street Feeling" produced by Roger Lomas, recorded during the session that had yielded the "On My Radio" and "Too Much Pressure" singles; "Street Feeling" had ended up being re-recorded for The Selecter's debut album with another producer, but Neol Davies, according to this CD's liner notes, was never satisfied with that version and was pleased to see its release here. And plans were in place to enter the studio again in late August with Roger Lomas to begin recording what would be their incredible second album, Celebrate the Bullet.
A still from the "Access All Areas" DVD.
But as various members of The Selecter were putting their final touches on their new songs for Celebrate(Davies wrote five of the tracks, Black composed three, Compton Amanor penned two, and Gaps Hendrickson one), they were scheduled to perform live at Nottingham's Theatre Royale for "Rockstage" before what appears to be an electrified and sold-out crowd. While the audio recording of this performance could have been more robust (and it's a shame that it's not better, since The Selecter are so good here), the film of their show--shot using multiple cameras all over the stage--is an essential document of the 2 Tone-era (the only other opportunity I've had to witness the original version of The Selecter live is via their disjointed Dance Crazeclips). Clearly, The Selecter were in peak condition at this point in their career (which makes what was soon to transpire all the more tragic). Their intense, sweat-drenched, high-energy performance--the whole band is dancing throughout the entire set--is an awesome thing to behold, even 35 years on. This is one hell of a concert film (and it must have been amazing to have seen it live; at points, the camera pans across the audience on the floor and then up to the theater's three balconies--everyone in the crowd is dancing like mad)!
The poster for The Selecter's Theatre Royale gig.
Their set list draws upon the familiar and terrific material from Too Much Pressure and "The Whisper" single, but there are some thrilling, standout renditions here, including "Street Feeling," "Black and Blue," "On My Radio," "They Make Me Mad," and Gaps' brilliant showcase, "Too Much Pressure" (which captures their staged, but seemingly real fighting that I've only read about until now--it's kind of shocking to see him grab keyboardist Desmond Brown by the neck and shake him!). For their last song--their revved up version of "Train to Skaville"--Pauline invites some of the crowd up to dance on stage with the band and about 15 kids (and I mean kids--one looks about 10 years-old; the rest barely teenagers; and since The Selecter were primarily a black band, there are a good number of black kids dancing on stage and in the audience) take her up on the offer. It's amazing to see how sharply dressed they are, too--either in tonic suits or Harrington jackets and Fred Perry shirts (the mod-ish 10 year-old kid is in a fishtail parka)! American ska fans at all the shows I've been to since the 80s have never looked this good; we're perfect slobs compared to the youth of 2 Tone!
Barely a week and a half after the "Rockstage" taping, both Desmond Brown (keys) and Charley Anderson (bass) were out of The Selecter (Desmond had quit, Charley was asked to leave--both had insisted that The Selecter head deeper into reggae territory--and they then formed the short-lived, but compelling, The People). So, The Selecter's Access All Areas is a fairly significant release in terms of the history of the band, as it is the last live recording of the original Selecter line-up and, as far as I can tell, has never been previously issued!
The Selecter's episode of "Rockstage" was broadcast in 1981, after the release of Celebrate the Bullet (and its unwarranted crash and burn) and, as we know, didn't help revive the band's fortunes, though it certainly should have. In the annals of 2 Tone, The Specials have always overshadowed The Selecter, though The Selecter's Access All Areas is further proof of how brilliant they were and how unfair history can be...
Driving up to Boston Sunday morning for a wedding, I caught this pretty great interview on NPR with Pauline Black and Gaps Hendrickson of the latest iteration of The Selecter. You can listed to it in its entirety here. Their newest album, Subculture, is being released in the US later this week.
A good deal of the interview focused on the political messages in many of The Selecter's songs (both the original band's and the current one's)--particularly "Breakdown," a track protesting the police killings of unarmed black boys/men in the US and UK, which actually had been written before the events in Ferguson, MO:
On a lighter note, here's a funny passage from the interview from the NPR transcript:
(NPR Reporter) RACHEL MARTIN: How did you two meet? Do you remember when you first met?
BLACK: On a stage, really, didn't we?
HENDRICKSON: Yeah.
BLACK: After an audition, I guess. May, 1979. So we've known each other a very, very long time. I mean, most people are divorced by now, aren't they?
(LAUGHTER)
BLACK: But our duo, I suppose - I mean, a male-female duo within ska music - certainly within two-tone - there isn't another one. And it has been absolutely excellent and has allowed us, I think, to broaden the kind of work that we can do and the kind of music that we can make.
MARTIN: Do you complement each other, and if so, in what ways?
BLACK: I admire Gaps for bringing what is badly needed, I feel, into, you know, my kind of British black perspective having been brought here, but he brings an absolute authenticity from, you know, the origins of the music that we make. And I think that you could say we were a little bit like the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (laughter) of ska. I mean, you know Fred gave kind of class to (laughter) Ginger and Ginger sort of, you know, made Fred look kind of, you know as though he got some life in him.
(LAUGHTER)
BLACK: It's not a direct analogy, but it's that kind of thing.
HENDRICKSON: Yeah.
BLACK: We complement each other. That's what I'm trying to say.
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Herbie Miller, the director/curator of the Jamaica Music Museum at the Institute of Jamaica, wrote a lovely homage to Rico Rodriquez that was recently printed in The Gleaner (read it here).
Here's my favorite section from Miller's homage to Rico:
"A devotee of Rastafari from as far back as the 1950s, Rodriquez was recognised internationally as an exponent of ska and other forms of Jamaican and global popular music. He was the trombonist of choice among the pioneering exponents of Jamaican popular music, the main and most effective signifier of our culture. He was also one of the musicians whose style and personality conveyed an identity steeped in Afro New World aesthetics and a philosophical world view that centres Africa at its core. This perspective was noticed by eccentric and eclectic free jazz trumpeter Don Cherry who asked Rico, "How can you play like that"? And referring to his own experience, Cherry told him, "To play like you, I had to go to Africa to learn.""
The latest incarnation of The Selecter (with original members Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson) will be releasing its third album since reforming five years ago. Subculture is slated to be issued on March 30, 2015 from Vocaphone Records and the band will be touring the UK in February and March, finishing things off with a big show at Koko in London on March 28. I happened to catch The Selecter's concert at the Gramercy Theater when they last played New York City in 2013 and they were in excellent form (I had a blast!). Here's hoping they return here soon.
Preview one of the new tracks--"Breakdown"--from Subculture below, introduced by Ms. Black herself...
The Duff Guide to Ska is thrilled to present the following interview with Pauline Black of The Selecter. Frequent readers of this blog know that the latest incarnation of the band with Pauline and Gaps Hendrickson in the lead have released two fantastic singles ("Big in the Body, Small in the Mind" and a cover of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black"--which I've reviewed here and here) in advance of their new album, "Made in Britain," which comes out this September. In addition, Ms. Black has written her autobiography, "Black by Design," which is out now in the UK and will be available in the US soon.
Duff Guide to Ska:How did the reunion with Gaps Hendrickson come about--and what led you to bring back The Selecter now?
Pauline Black: In early 2010, a Belgian agent asked me if The Selecter would like to do the “Sinner’s Day Festival” in Hasselt, Belgium on October 31st. A few days later I was asked by a British promoter to do a Selecter show in London at the Bloomsbury Ballroom on November 13th. I thought it might be a good opportunity to try--once more--to ask the original members of The Selecter to do a couple of shows and then see where we went from there. The first person I approached was Gaps Hendrickson. He and I have always got along well and enjoy singing together. I had my own band at this time, the Pauline Black Band, and I had just finished recording a solo album, Pigment Of My Imagination, and had got a publishing deal for my book “Black By Design” with Serpent’s Tail, so I was circumspect about taking on extra work, but Gaps immediately said yes and I felt buoyed by his enthusiasm for the idea. We decided to wait a few months before we announced our intentions and hoped that once the shows were announced, that we might persuade Neol Davies and others to join us. Unfortunately, due to serendipity, or more likely “sod’s law,” the day our London show was announced (June 1st, 2010), Neol Davies also announced his intention to perform with a band under the name of The Selecter. I will not share what has happened privately between some original band members since then, but suffice to say that it would seem unlikely that there is any possibility of reconciliation in the near or long term future. Besides Gaps and I are very happy with our current Selecter band personnel and are looking to the future with new music, while also preserving the best of the past.
DGTS: The first single off The Selecter's upcoming album "Made in Britain" is a terrific ska version of Woody Guthrie's brilliant "All You Fascists." In terms of its lyrical content, it's definitely in line with 2 Tone's great legacy of promoting racial tolerance/harmony--yet it still seems like a bit of an unusual choice of cover (an American folk song from the 1940s) for a ska band. What's the story behind its selection?
PB: We like to occasionally “think outside the ska box.” I think we did a good job with the song “Big In the Body, Small In The Mind.” Fans enjoyed it and understood what we were trying to say with our choice of material. Considering what has just happened in Norway with the massacre of so many young people by a deranged fascist, I think the record was timely in pointing out that there is a big problem developing during these current economically challenging times--the rise of fascism in Europe and many parts of the world. Perhaps we had better all start thinking about what the hell we are going to do about it!
DGTS:I've read that one of the main points that people should take away from your new album is that multiculturalism is a vital part of British society. Recently, I came across a disturbing article in The New Yorker about the rise of the EDL (English Defense League)--which claims to be just against radical Islam, but seems like the same old bunch of BNP and NF-types dolled up in new clothing. Is your album, in part, a response to this new wave of bigotry? Is the album title Made in Britain more of an affirmation/declaration that British citizens come in all colors than pride in where the music's been made?
PB: Exactly. The title is an affirmation of multiculturalism. David Cameron, the current British Prime Minister, deemed the idea of multiculturalism dead in February on the very day that the odious EDL were marching in Luton. We thought he was wrong and misguided to announce such a notion, particularly on the day that he chose to make his thoughts public. Again, in the light of what has recently happened in Norway with Breivik’s alleged attempted affiliation to the EDL, I think our assertion was correct. Multiculturalism is alive and well and, we believe, the only way forward for the future prosperity of humankind. The Selecter is and always has been a multi-racial band--it has not always been easy to make it work, but it is still functioning after 31 years. This 2 Tone idea of striving for unity rather than divisiveness between cultures was made in Britain.
DGTS:"Made in Britain" was produced by Neil Pyzer--could you give us a little background on him--and how you came to work with him? Is Vocaphone Records his label?
PB: I first met Neil Pyzer on the "Just Soul" Tour 2007 that I performed on alongside Geno Washington and Eddie Floyd. After the tour finished, I worked with him on my solo album Pigment Of My Imagination and it was a no-brainer to work with him when it came time to record Made in Britain. He also blows a mean sax in the band.
DGTS:Could you talk a bit about the songwriting process for this record? The songs retain The Selecter sound, yet still seem quite contemporary...
PB: The original songs were written and recorded in April and May of 2011. Overdubs and mixing were completed during June and July. We wanted to incorporate the new into the old. For our live set, we took “They Make Me Mad” from the ‘Too Much Pressure’ album as a blueprint of how we wanted the album to sound. We wanted an urgency mixed with a big, bouncy sound--a tough brief--but all the songs have that contradictory approach and it works very well for The Selecter--edgy, but accessible; danceable, but thought-provoking. Neil Pyzer, as producer, has realized that dialectical approach beautifully.
DGTS:Are there any plans for The Selecter to tour the US and/or internationally in the coming year?
PB: We are always open to exploring new territories. If an agent approaches us with a planned tour, then we will always do our utmost to oblige. We want to get our music across to as wide an audience as possible.
DGTS:With the traditional major label "music industry" in complete shambles these days, what are some of the challenges you’re facing as you promote your new record? The internet has been such a double-edged sword--it has allowed bands to circumvent the music press/radio/MTV, etc. and directly connect with fans, but it has also decentralized and segmented everything to such a degree that it's very difficult to break through all the noise and competition (sometimes it seems like the only bands still making lots of money from tours and records are those that were superstars before the rise of the internet). And then there is all of the music file-sharing that has decimated the sales of recorded music...
PB: The biggest challenge is the same for all bands, marketing, letting people know that there is a record out there. Doesn’t matter if you have your own FB, Twitter account or website--what matters is if anybody else knows that you have it! These days marketing budgets have to be huge. We don’t have access to that kind of money, so we are at the mercy of the music industry, just like everybody else. File-sharing and illegal downloading just makes it harder to make a living out of recorded material. The resurgence in audience interest for live gigs has helped immensely in recent years and gives an outlet for bands to get their music across to both old and new audiences. We do everything in-house, recording, videos and marketing. It is The Selecter way of doing things.
DGTS:Which current ska bands are you following as a fan?
DGTS:Your forthcoming autobiography "Black by Design" recounts, in part, your growing up as a bi-racial child adopted by a white family. As an adoptee myself (who struggles with the lack of any biological family history--I have no familial backstory), I'm curious to know what your experience was in terms of not only dealing with questions about your familial identity, but also your racial identity in an overtly racist society? (I have always felt like a bit of an outsider within my extended adopted family, but didn't have another, larger societal issue to deal with in terms of my identity and status...) Did you find/feel acceptance as a part of the 2 Tone movement (or were you still a bit of an outsider as a female)?
PB: I’ve felt like an outsider all my life--neither my upbringing nor 2 Tone did much to put that right, but it forged a strength in me and gave me a platform with which to express my ideas and thoughts and feelings, which I carried with me when I chose to work in other areas of the entertainment industry. All I can say is that a notion of identity is paramount to everybody--without it we are not fully-functioning human beings. In my opinion, adoption is akin to legalized identity theft. Adoption may be a necessary evil, but more attention has to be paid to the child’s needs. Adopted children need their own familial back story, however awkward that may be for the adults involved in their lives--otherwise it is like having their soul removed.
DGTS: How can Selecter fans not able to get to your shows in the UK pick up vinyl copies of your single and LP?
DGTS:Lastly, here's a chance to plug anything Selecter or Pauline Black-related that you'd like--what should fans be on the look out for in the coming months that we might not be aware of?
PB: My solo album Pigment Of My Imagination will be released later in the year--still deciding on a date. The Selecter may just release a ‘Christmas single’ for December 2011! We have started work on the next album already--to be released in 2012.
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Much thanks to Pauline Black for taking the time to do this interview with The Duff Guide to Ska!
What They're Saying About My Book "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone"
“An essential read…Stephen's eye for detail is incredible and his love for 2 Tone oozes from each page.” — Kevin Flowerdew, Do the Dog Skazine
“Written with a personal touch and with great passion about the bands and releases while giving a lot of emphasis to the lyrics, Stephen’s book is a great guiding hand to navigating your way to some great new music.” — Peter Walsh, 2-Tone.info
“It's some of the finest Madness analysis I've ever read.” —Donald Trull, Stateside Madness
“Steve's own story would make a great book, but instead he's written The Duff Guide to 2 Tone, a 250+ page collection of 2 Tone-related pieces from his blog. There are reviews of original pieces, but the book's real purpose is to show how the 2 Tone sound and—more importantly its ideals—carry on today...Get this book right away!" — Charles Benoit, Reggae Steady Ska
"...Shafer has definitely not forgotten how socially conscious issues were at the root of Ska even from the beginning. He makes certain to thread the political issues that motivated the development of Ska throughout his narrative; painting a picture that took both the oppressive political environments and the often ecstatic musical content into account. And in that, he nails down for me what the enduring pull of Ska was to its many fans. Was there ever a more upbeat dance music that combined its boundless energy with a push for progressive social values and calling truth to power?" —Post-Punk Monk
"...[The Duff Guide to 2 Tone is a] chatty, informative and knowledgeable work, one that you can either sit down and read or use as a reference source..." —Nik Skeat, Scootering Magazine
"During the reading of the book it is dangerous to have a screen open next to you with Discogs. I have found lots of ‘new music’ via the stories in The Duff Guide to 2 Tone which I must have." -- Peter Vrakking, Blue Beat & Ska
In the mail today, I received the first copy of my new paperback book The Duff Guide to 2 Tone --and am thrilled to announce that it is now...
About Your Duff Guide
Steve Shafer/The Duff Guide to Ska For most of the 1990s, I was the promotions, marketing, production guy for Moon Records (RIP). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. Seriously, I miss it badly. During 1999/2000, I ran 7 Wonders of the World Music, the first digital download-only ska label that was too ahead of the curve for its own good (RIP).
I filmed and edited this Toasters video for $2,500, which made its debut on MTV's 120 Minutes. I also put together these compilations for Moon: the first three Skarmageddons; Ska United: A Global Ska Sampler; Skank Down Under; This Are Moon Ska I, II, and III; and Moonshot!
Here's an old interview with Adam Monkey from Read Magazine that covers my days at Moon and 7 Wonders. I also did a somewhat more recent interview with Read Junk.
I've been interviewed about ska music and Moon Records for The New York Times, Heather Augustyn's "Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation," Aaron Carnes' "In Defense of Ska," Kenneth Partridge's "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing," and Marc Wasserman's "Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History" (I also wrote the introductory chapter "1985: The Year American Ska Broke" for Wasserman's book).
And I'm the author of "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone," which can be ordered from Amazon--and is available in the US from Jump Up Records, and in Europe from the 2 Tone Village Shop (Coventry, UK), Champion Sound Records (Hull, UK), Aggroshop (Nijmegen, Netherlands), and Copasetic Mailorder (Hamburg, Germany). Plus, my book was on sale in the museum shop for the "2 Tone: Lives & Legacies" exhibition (May 28 - September 12, 2021), curated by Simon Reynolds, Cory Barrett, Pete Chambers, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike and Daniel Rachel, at the Herbert Art Gallery Museum in Coventry, UK.
I'm now working on my next book, "Calling All the Rude Boys: The Duff Guide to The Toasters, 1981-1992," to be published in 2023.
If you have a ska or reggae release that you'd like me to consider reviewing, please send an e-mail to Steve at duffguidetoska@gmail.com. You should know that I am old school and prefer music in tangible formats (plus I might use your music when I DJ ska events). I'd also appreciate any news or tips you may have about bands.
All reviews and interviews posted on The Duff Guide to Ska are copyrighted and are the sole property of Steve Shafer. Please contact me for permission to reproduce anything on this blog.
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Directors Leo Leigh and Zaid Mudhaffer have put together an excellent short documentary film (17+ minutes) for Spine Television about Gaz M...
Visit The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel!
Check out The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel for footage of ska bands in action in clubs around NYC, as well as unusual and rare ska videos from the 90s! Bands featured include The Toasters, The Bluebeats, The Forthrights, Across the Aisle, The Caroloregians, The Moon Invaders, The Rudie Crew, Tip the Van, Hey Stranger, Beat Brigade, Bigger Thomas, King Chango, The Scofflaws, UB40, The Hard Times, Jah Love and the Valentinians, The Shifters, Rudies Don't Care, Big Audio Dynamite, Stranger Cole and Patsy with Crazy Baldhead, Queen P of Ocean 11, King Hammond, The Snails, King Django, Doomsday! The Ultimate Tribute to Mephiskapheles Consisting of Former Members of Mephiskapheles, Destroy Babylon, The Frightnrs, The Pandemics, Los Skarroneros, The Bullbuckers, The Scofflaws, The Reggay Lords, The Copacetics, Rude Boy George, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, The Specials, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, The Ladrones, Chris Murray, Radio Riddler, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro, and Mickey Virtue, Barbicide, The Twilights, Bim Skala Bim featuring John Bunkley (Gangster Fun), The Pomps, and more!
