THIS IS SOUL TOUR 2008
In January 2008, Pauline Black joins soul legends Eddie Floyd & Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, both of whom she worked with during the Soul Britannia Concerts that were broadcast by the BBC from the Barbican Theatre in London in April 2007, on a two month long THIS IS SOUL TOUR of Britain. She will perform a set of songs culled from her recorded work on 'The Trojan Songbooks Vols 1-3' and favourite songs that she has recorded throughout her long career. She will also host the evening.
Pauline Black sings ‘On My Radio’ (The Selecter) on 'This Is Soul' tour @ The Dome, Morecambe 16th Feb 2008
Pauline Black sings 'Eyes On The Prize'
Pauline Black sings 'Alcohol' (Special A.K.A) on 'This Is Soul Tour' @ The Dome, Morecambe 16th Feb 2008
Pauline Black sings 'Young, Gifted & Black' on 'This Is Soul Tour' @ The Dome, Morecambe 16th Feb 2008
Pauline Black presents Soul Britannia concert excerpts @ the Barbican in London 2007
Pauline narrated 'Soul Britannia' a critically acclaimed three part TV series for BBC4 shown in February 2007 and repeated @ 21:00p.m. on 5th and 6th April 2007; episodes 1 & 2 directed by Jeremy Marre, episode 3 directed by Don Letts and hosted and performed in two televised live concerts from the Barbican on 16th & 23rd Feb 2007, featuring Jane Kay, Carroll Thompson, Carol Grimes, Gonzalez, Average White Band, Madeline Bell, Linda Lewis, Geno Washington, Jimmy James, Eddie Floyd, Eric Burdon & Solomon Burke. The 'Soul Britannia' live concerts were repeated on BBC4 @ 23:00p.m. on 5th and 6th April 2007 and air on BBC2 from Friday 20th July 2007.
Pauline Black was the lead singer with legendary 2-TONE group The Selecter and enjoyed a string of hits in the early '80'S, top 5 single 'ON MY RADIO' selling more than 250,000 copies and gaining two gold discs, to mark 100,000 sales of the albums 'TOO MUCH PRESSURE and DANCE CRAZE. The critically acclaimed album CELEBRATE THE BULLET followed. In 1982 she left The Selecter (the band split up soon after), gained her Equity card and diversified into theatre, TV and film acting, TV and radio presentation and writing. She won the Time Out/01 Best Actress Award in 1990 for her portrayal of jazz singer 'Billie Holiday' in a play by acclaimed novelist and playwright Caryl Phillips. She also won the 'Manchester Evening News Best Actress Award' 1993 for 'From The Mississippi Delta' by Dr. Endesha Mae Holland.
The Selecter re-formed in 1991, with a different line-up and regularly toured in U.S.A, Europe and Japan and recorded new material. The band retired from the touring circuit in December 2006.
Pauline took a sabbatical from The Selecter during 2007 and successfully toured a new solo project with The Blue Jazz Trio (drums: Pick Withers ex Dire Straits; double bass: Nigel Portman-Smith, ex Pentangle; keyboards: Dom Pipkin, ex Morcheeba) entitled 'The Very Best of Nina Simone & Billie Holiday'.
Pauline Black & The Blue Jazz Trio @ Nantwich Jazz Festival 2007
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WHAT HAS BEEN SAID:
Rolling Stone Magazine Review 2006:
Hands down Pauline Black possessed the best voice that ever graced a 2-Tone release. Blessed with a bewitching soprano and dramatic panache, Blacks voice reached plateaus that made every other musical detail sound like part of a backdrop painted just to set the stage for her entrance. While The Specials were content to merely jazz up old ska standards, and Madness pleased themselves by playing up the zany angle, The Selecter shuttled through their songs like a band of ska revisionists, with Black rewriting songs with her voice and leaving her signature in every piercing note. Even if The Specials outsold them, and Madness outlasted them, The Selecter were arguably the best that 2-Tone had to offer.
3 MEN & BLACK: ACOUSTIC
.....Pauline Black has never been given the true credit she deserves. Here The Selecter tunes are great, but the true revelation is the way her resonant voice floats in and out of the non Selecter tracks, giving each a new found warmth and beauty.........Ian Templeton for Record Collector January 2005
...Black's voice sounds sublime in the stripped down environment, this is overall a successful project. Keep an eye out for live dates. Brett Callwood for Acoustic Magazine Feb/March 2005
Pauline has also performed with an 'acoustic supergroup' show '3 Men+ Black', which began in 2001 and has had varied line-ups with Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers), Jean Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), Roddy Radiation (The Specials), Dave Wakeling (The Beat), Rhoda Dakar (The Bodysnatchers),Dave Sharpe (The Alarm) and Eric Faulkner (Bay City Rollers) gracing the stage with Pauline over the intervening years.
Pauline has released two acoustic albums, "Unplugged For The Rudeboy Generation" and "Requiem For A Black Soul" with a raw ska and reggae sound.
Her most recent television acting performance was as 'Diane Valentine', mother of the new black family in 'Hollyoaks' in July 2006 (Channel 4). Pauline Black has just finished filming an episode of the second BBC3 series of 'Grownups'. It stars Sheridan Smith of 'Two Pints of Lager snd Packet of Crisps' fame and is written by Susan Nickson, who also wrote 'Two Pints....'. She plays Chris's mum, an extremely unorthodox parent! The series begins in the autumn.
Pauline is a regular writer, presenter and contributor for BBC Radio 4.
Pauline Black with the English Beat and Lynval Golding in Philadelphia Sept 2006
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The Selecter(original line-up) perform 'on my radio' in 1980
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The Selecter promo video for 'Missing Words' in 1980
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There is a great photo of pauline in issue 4 of moderni fanzine when she performed in Finland 1980 ask more from moderni fanzine if you have any memories of the great ska bands Selecter etc send comments
