WELL, last week we welcomed the exquisite final LP from the Specials (Live at The Cathedral) a total masterpiece. Now we travel back in time a little to the collective sounds of The Selecter as they appeared on various shows of the BBC, on The Selecter At The BBC: The Complete Recordings 1979-1981.
As the press blurb tells us; The Selector were one of the key bands of the ska revival in the late 70’s
They were one of the few racially and sexually integrated bands on the scene. Vocalist Pauline Black wrote about sexism, racism, and social issues. Their debut release was the AA side of the Specials single ‘Gangsters’ in the summer of 1979, which just consisted of Neol Davies and John Bradbury (of The Specials) before quickly forming a full band by the end of the year. This new 30 track release collects all their
recordings made for the BBC, from radio session, in concert and various TV appearances collected together for the first time.
The limited edition vinyl format is a 3LP Standard Weight Black Vinyl in a Rigid Slipcase with printed inners and a 4-page insert and the CD format is a DVD sized Mediabook with 2 CDs and 1 Blu-ray and a 20-page booklet, both featuring new 6000 word liner notes by Simon Price (Melody Make, Curepedia) featuring new band
interviews. It’s another beautiful collection for the real Ska fan and the albums on sale around just £30 and the CD’s at around £20 you get a lot of music for your buck.
I asked Pauline Black how she felt about this great set, she replied. “It’s the first time ever this collection is gathered together, all of our BBC recordings. And it’s available on a 3lp vinyl box, set 2, CD and blue-ray with a new extensive sleeve notes, which myself Neol Davies and Compton Amanor, our original Rhythm guitarist, all contributed to, I’ve listened and I have I have some great memories of these sessions”.
Sessions are represented from John Peel, Live at the Paris Theatre, Mike Read, The Old Gret Whistle Test and Look Hear. Also included in the CD boxset is a blu-ray disc of some rare video of the band.
