#089: The Selecter – ‘Too Much Pressure’ (Chrysalis Records ’79)
Dear friends,
yes, it’s Ska-time again, whether you like it or not. Then again: what’s not to like about Ska, right? I mean, how can anyone resist, I think it’s fair to ask.
Probably not only to me, three bands were really important when it comes to British Ska in 1979, The Beat, The Specials and …. not Madness. It may be a bit unfair, but poor Madness never really counted somehow, did they? They were quickly being put into the more funny corner of the genre, whether this was the right thing to do or not remains questionable. No, the third important band were of course The Selecter! Led by the wonderful Belinda Magnus, or, as you and I know her better, Pauline Black. It’s often the case that a frontman/frontwoman overshadows the band, and most of the time it’s unjustified, still it happens to be the case – and perhaps The Selecter were a prime example for this.
But I think it must have been very hard at a Selecter live show back then not to concentrate on Pauline, but on other members of the band. Quite obviously this lady delivered a presence that is hard to beat, even these days. I am too young to have witnessed The Selecter when they were still going, but I once attended a Ska-allnighter with Pauline Black on the bill in the late 80s: an awesome experience, I can tell you!
The Selecter fought hard to gain success, they played their hearts out in small clubs – at a time ABBA were the big thing, mind you. By and large there wasn’t any success before the release of the first single on the famous Two-Tone label, ‘On My Radio’, in 1979. The debut album followed a year later – and if you’re new to Ska or contemplate getting into it, this one is a must-have for you, for sure.
After said debut and its success the band signed with Chrysalis – but only one year later it was all over already, The Selecter disbanded. I think a major reason for this was that the music scene changed so damned quickly 45 years ago: what was big big big in 1979 (Punkrock, Ska, Disco, Funk) was already totally obsolete in 1981, fully being replaced by electronic stuff, Synthpop and New Wave … a tough surrounding for a band like The Selecter, too tough in fact, apparently.
So, what remains is, as I said, a fantastic debut album, which sounds as fresh as it did upon its release and a handful of wonderful singles. Today’s tune is the flipside of the very first one (although my copy is a French Chrysalis-pressing):
mp3: The Selecter – Too Much Pressure
Now, you might be wondering why I praised Pauline Black’s greatness all the time above … and then chose a song sung by Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson.
Well, first it’s bloody brilliant, that’s why – and secondly, as ace as ‘On My Radio’ is, I think you hear it everywhere, constantly. Nothing wrong with this, but I always thought ‘Too Much Pressure’ deserved more attention.
So enjoy,
Dirk
JC adds……..
A very important heads-up…..this is the first of two successive days on which the blog will be handed over to Dirk.
You may recall that a few weeks ago, there was a suggestion that he might want to offer up a Düsseldorf ICA for our collective enjoyment.
Well, I’m delighted to say that the fruits of his labour will be posted tomorrow, and I really hope everyone will have a read and offer up their thoughts as our great friend really has surpassed himself by combining a ten-song ICA with an informative and entertaining piece of writing offering up a short history of Düsseldorf music from 1973 to 1989.
I really do think it’s one of the best things ever written for this blog, going all the way back to 2006.
The first of the singles charts to be looked back at this time around covers 30 September–6 October. The Top 3 positions were taken by The Police, Blondie and Gary Numan. Quite a few of those mentioned over the past two editions of this series were still showing up well in the Top 50 – Buggles, Michael Jackson, Secret Affair, Madness, Squeeze, The Jags, The Skids, Roxy Music, XTC, The Stranglers, The Specials, Stiff Little Fingers and Siouxsie & The Banshees.
I’m mentioning all of this as it was a chart when the dull and boring started to fight back. There were 10 new entries in the Top 75, the highest of which came in at #51. None of them (IMHO) are worth posting – The Nolans, Fleetwood Mac, The Chords, Viola Wills, Gloria Gaynor, Earth Wind & Fire, Cats U.K., New Musik, The AddrisiBrothers and Diana Ross.
I’m aware that some of you might be thinking that New Musik were seen as part of the growing new wave scene back in 1979. I suppose it’s a matter of taste, but I thought they were awful. It was the single Straight Lines that brought them into the chart in October 1979. It entered at #70 and peaked at #53. But they were another whose presence on a major label led to an invitation to appear on Top of the Pops.
Let’s quickly move on to 7-13 October.
The highest new entry, at #36, this week belonged to Sex Pistols with what felt like the 758th single lifted from the soundtrack to the film The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle. I won’t waste your time by linking anything.
Scrolling my way down through the chart proved to be a depressing experience. There was a decent disco number courtesy of Chic in at #51, but My Forbidden Lover isn’t up there as one of their classics. Just as I was thinking it was going to be two duffs week in a row, the new entries at #60 and #64 saved the day.
mp3: The Slits – Typical Girls
mp3: The Selecter – On My Radio
Debut singles for both bands…although some may disagree with that!
The Slits, as I mentioned in a posting back in June 2021, were an act that the 16-year old me didn’t get, and so I totally ignored this and indeed their debut album, Cut. As I grew older, and my musical tastes developed/matured, I was able to see them as truly astonishing and ground-breaking as nobody was making music like them back in the day. They were true punk/new wave pioneers. Typical Girls was the only single of theirs to ever bother the chart compilers. It came in at #60 and then dropped out altogether within two weeks.
As this is the first time The Selecter have really been featured on the blog, please allow me to give a potted history.
It could be argued that On My Radio is not the debut single by The Selecter. The evidence would be that the b-side to Gangsters, the debut hit by The Specials, was credited to The Selecter.
But my take on things is that particular b-side is the work of a precursor to the band we would come to recognise as The Selecter. It was an instrumental, written by Neol Davies and John Bradbury that was originally called Kingston Affair. It was re-titled The Selecter and credited to an act of the same name. Its success led to Neol Davies wanting to put a new band together to capitalise on things (and who could blame him?), which he did by bringing together musicians who had long been part of the scene in Coventry and recruiting an unknown female singer. The singer’s name was Belinda Magnus, and she worked as a radiographer in a Coventry hospital. She wasn’t keen on her employer learning that she was getting involved in the music scene, and so she adopted the stage name of Pauline Black. She has enjoyed a long and successful career as a musician and actor, and is still going strong at the age of 70.
On My Radio, which in due course climbed all the way to #8, was the first of four hit singles in a 12-month period for The Selecter, while their 1980 debut album went Top 5. That initial burst of success, however, wasn’t maintained and by 1981 they had disbanded. There were various reunions from the early 90s onwards, but as often is the case with such things, there were disagreements and more splits, leading in due course to there being two versions of the band on the go, one led by Neol Davies and the other by Pauline Black.
I think it’s time to move on and look at the charts for the rest of October 1979.
New singles from Abba and Queen entered the Top 40 on 14 October 1979 and both would still be hanging around when the new decade came around. The third-highest new entry was one that came in at #40 proved to have no such longevity.
mp3: The Stranglers – Nuclear Device (The Wizard Of Aus)
Duchess had only dropped out of the Top 75 the previous week, and so this was something of a fast cash-in to maintain momentum. I don’t think, despite having a sing-a-long chorus (of sorts) that it was an obvious choice as a single, which is maybe illustrated by it getting no higher than #36 and dropping out altogether after four weeks.
Now on to one that should have been a bigger hit than it turned out.
mp3: The Damned – Smash It Up
Some might have thought of them as cartoon punks, but I thought they were great, and this is their finest 45. In at #43, but it only got as high as #35.
mp3: Public Image Ltd – Memories (#60)
PiL‘s first two singles had both gone Top 20. John Lydon obviously decided this was unacceptable, and so the band’s third 45 was one that daytime radio wouldn’t go near. Memories proved to be a great indicator of the direction the group was heading with their impending album, Metal Box that was released in mid-November.
mp3: The Undertones – You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It) (#64)
This proved to be the second mid-position hit for The Undertones in 1979, reaching #32, which was two places higher than Here Comes The Summer. The following year would see better returns for them, with My Perfect Cousin providing them with their only Top 10 hit, and it’s follow-up, Wednesday Week, reaching #11.
The chart of 21-27 October didn’t have any new entries at all in The Top 40, which probably made for a rather dull or least repetitive edition of Top of The Pops. But this one came close.
mp3: The Specials – A Message To You Rudy
The fact that The Specials second 45, a double-A side effort, turned out to be a hit was further proof that the Two-Tone movement was of some significance, culturally and musically. A Message To You Rudy was a cover version of a 1967 tune written and recorded by Dandy Livingstone, but the other A-side was an original.
mp3: The Specials – Nite Klub
Fun facts. Both sides of the single were produced by Elvis Costello while Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders offered a backing vocal on Nite Klub. It would spend 14 weeks in the charts, peaking at #10.
mp3: Sparks – Tryouts For The Human Race (#74)
A third hit of the year for the brothers Mael, aided and abetted by Giorgio Moroder. I remember one of the writers in one of the music papers being apoplectic with rage that a third single had been lifted from an album, No.1 In Heaven, that had just six tracks on it. Tryouts…. would spend five weeks in the chart and reach #45. And while Sparks would continue to release albums on a very regular basis throughout the 80s, they wouldn’t enjoy another hit single until 1994.
A bit of a mixed bag then, hits wise, for October 1979. But if you care to come back in a couple of weeks time for Part 2 when I look at singles that weren’t hits, there will be a few of real interest.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 