The Selecter - On My Radio 1979 2 Tone SKA (TopPop) SHQ Stereo Audio #2tone

"On My Radio" is a song by English 2 tone ska revival band the Selecter, released as a single on 5 October 1979 by 2 Tone Records. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart, remaining on the chart for nine weeks, and became their most successful single.

"On My Radio" was originally written by Neol Davies whilst a member of another band, the Transposed Men, before the Selecter had been formed. "On My Radio" criticises radio as seen with the lyric "It's just the same old show on my radio", but also jokes at the expense of radio that the singer's lover prefers to listen to the radio than to them.

Interest in the Selecter had grown after the release of their first single "The Selecter" which had been released earlier in 1979 as the B-side to the split single "Gangsters" by the Special A.K.A. They supported the Specials on tour and signed to 2 Tone Records, who gave them £1,000 to record a single.

At Coventry's Horizon Studios, however, the group did not want to record "On My Radio" as a single, as they thought it sounded “like a Eurovision entry”. Producer Roger Lomas eventually persuaded them to record three songs (the other two being the eventual B-side "Too Much Pressure" and "Street Feeling") and let the record company decide on which to release as a single. The song is also noted for its unusual 7/4 time signature, instead of the common 4/4, which lead singer Pauline Black says was "because we just didn't know the rules".

"On My Radio" peaked at number 29 on the NME Top Singles of 1979. In 2008, Freaky Trigger placed the song at number 44 in its list of "The Top 100 Songs of All Time".

The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.

The Selecter featured a diverse line-up, both in terms of race and gender, initially consisting of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson and Pauline Black on lead vocals, Neol Davies and Compton Amanor on guitar, Desmond Brown on Hammond organ, Charley 'Aitch' Bembridge on drums, and Charley Anderson on bass. The band's name comes from the original "The Selecter" track, which appeared on the flip side of The Special AKA's "Gangsters" single in 1979, and was written by Neol Davies and John Bradbury, produced by Roger Lomas and featured Barry Jones on trombone.

The Selecter were "one of the key bands" of 2 tone music, the late 1970s and early 1980s genre that mixed ska with the energy of punk rock. The band's debut album, Too Much Pressure (1980), exemplifies the band's 2 Tone sound, mixing ska, reggae and punk rock styles. Adding influences from new wave music, the record's follow-up Celebrate the Bullet (1981) was broodier than its predecessor, featuring a less intense, slower sound. After reuniting in the 1990s, the band's third studio album The Happy Album (1994) saw a stylistic deviation; while keeping ska as its base, the record explored contemporary rhythms and influences from genres such as hip hop and flourishes of orchestral music, incorporating sampling while occasionally slowing down to a reggae tempo. One critic said the record is "roughly parallel for the memory of 2- Tone what Big Audio Dynamite did for punk."

I just love this song, hope you do too.

Eddy EVB