The Selecter

Part of the British 2 Tone movement of late 1970s/early 1980s, The Selecter were a multi-racial act inspired by the great Jamaican 1960s music brought over by their parents and a new sense of DIY purpose injected by the punk movement. The group first came together when Neol Davies produced the woozy, shuffling instrumental track Kingston Affair with drummer John Bradbury. It was later renamed The Selecter and used as a B-Side by fellow Coventry ska fanatics The Specials on their hit single Gangsters, which prompted Davies to recruit a band fronted by Pauline Black to capitalise on the success. With their sharp suits, pork pie hats and political stances, the band's up tempo ska-pop produced hits like On My Radio, Three Minute Hero and Missing Words and classic album Too Much Pressure (1980) reached Number 5 in the UK charts. Though less successful than contemporaries like The Beat and Madness, Black was one of the first black, female front women of the era and helped break down a lot of racial and gender taboos. Still performing to a loyal following, they supported No Doubt on tour in 1997 and recorded a cover of Amy Winehouse's Back To Black for their acclaimed tenth album Made In Britain (2011). Pauline Black also pursued a successful parallel career as an actress and writer.