“Too Much Pressure” by The Selecter - album review

features in: Album Chart of 1980Album Chart of the Decade: 1980s

TJR says

Three Minute Hero” has empathy for the 9-to-5 brigade: “It’s just another day with that endless grey drone.” They’re on their best behaviour here with none of that vulgar swearing that we get on the “Dance Craze” version. It’s bucking frilliant, and clocks-in at bang on 3 minutes too – such a skillful outfit. “Time Hard” is a Pioneers cover in good taste – The Pioneers were awesome. “They Make Me Mad” re-uses the key ingredients of “On My Radio”, but with a good hook rather than a killer one. I’m a big fan of Pauline Black; when she screams “They Make Me Mad” she sounds CRAZY-MAD, and it makes you MAD-MENTAL with her. She connects, and is a superb front for the band. “Missing Words” is just a WOW; the boy Davies can certainly write some, and I’m not talking about Ray - what an all-time CLASSIC. Nice one Neol. “Danger” is well nimble; The Selecter play whilst bouncing on their toes. “Street Feeling” is a good shout-a-long for the live crowd. “My Collie (Not A Dog)” was originally done by Barbie Gaye in 1957… sort of… being an adapted version of “My Boy Lollypop” re-written to extol the virtues of the herb. To throw the police off the scent, the track cleverly features a real barking Collie dog on “barking vocals” – who says The Selecter never had a sense of humour?

Opening side two is the mega “Too Much Pressure, which is a fairly different mix to the single version, perhaps with 2% less edge. That said, it’ll be a major classic forever and a day – however, wherever and whenever they choose to dig it up. “Murder” digs deep into Jamaican obscuros, the tune having done by Leon & Owen way back in ’62. “Out On The Streets” is probably the weakest track on the album, but it’s still a good ‘un and tells you all you need to know about the quality of this LP. “Carry Go Bring Come” was originally done by Justin Hinds in the 60s. I’ve got an album with no less than 16 artist versions on this rhythm, all recorded in the 1990s. It’s always been regarded as a classic track in Jamaica, and is obviously still much-loved over there. The Selecter version is excellent (great drumming) but no-one could ever live with the might of the original. “Black And Blue” features the unmistakable sound of man-like-Rodriguez making an appearance on the trumpet. Hey, forget about James Brown – in the early 80s Rico was the hardest working man in showbiz. Closing proceedings is “James Bond”, a recording of the classic James Bond theme by Monty Norman. It’s a fantastic finish to another excellent debut LP by a 2-Tone band. There was something in the water down Coventry way circa 1980…

The Jukebox Rebel
27–Feb–2010

Tracklist
A1 [03:00] 9.6.png The Selecter - Three Minute Hero (Neol Davies) Ska / Rocksteady
A2 [03:10] 9.5.png The Selecter - Time Hard (George Agard, Sidney Crooks, Jackie Robinson) Ska / Rocksteady
A3 [02:47] 7.7.png The Selecter - They Make Me Mad (Pauline Black, Desmond Brown) Ska / Rocksteady
A4 [03:22] 10.0.png The Selecter - Missing Words (Neol Davies) Ska / Rocksteady
A5 [02:38] 8.8.png The Selecter - Danger (Pauline Black, Compton Amanor, Charley Anderson, Charley Bembridge, Desmond Brown, Neol Davies, Arthur Hendrickson) Ska / Rocksteady
A6 [03:11] 8.3.png The Selecter - Street Feeling (Neol Davies) Ska / Rocksteady
A7 [02:45] 8.4.png The Selecter - My Collie (Not A Dog) (Pauline Black, Compton Amanor, Charley Anderson, Charley Bembridge, Desmond Brown, Neol Davies, Arthur Hendrickson, Robert Spencer, Johnny Roberts) Ska / Rocksteady
B1 [03:48] 9.8.png The Selecter - Too Much Pressure (Neol Davies) Ska / Rocksteady
B2 [02:39] 7.0.png The Selecter - Murder (Owen Silvera, Leon Silvera) Ska / Rocksteady
B3 [03:28] 6.8.png The Selecter - Out On The Streets (Neol Davies) Ska / Rocksteady
B4 [03:02] 8.5.png The Selecter - Carry Go Bring Come (Justin Hinds) Ska / Rocksteady
B5 [03:17] 7.1.png The Selecter - Black And Blue (Pauline Black) Ska / Rocksteady
B6 [02:16] 8.1.png The Selecter - James Bond (Monty Norman) Ska / Rocksteady

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