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R.I.P. Francoise Hardy and Gaps Hendrickson (The Selecter)

Françoise Hardy Read More France Gall If you like old sixties girl music, you're likely going to love France Gall. Or anything out of the ye-ye music movement. … The Selecter If you love 2 tone ska, you would've loved The Selecter in the 70s, along with such bands like Madness, The Beat (The English Beat) and The Specials. .… …

Two of the biggest and most influential musicians have recently passed away: French singer/songwriter Françoise Hardy and Gaps Hendrickson from the 2-tone Ska The Selecter, have died on June 11.

As you know we are big fans of yé-yé pop music. If you didn’t know, it’s basically the French girl-yeah-yeah singers of the sixties such as Jane Birkin (who died in July 2023) and France Gall (who died in Jan 2018).

Hardy is one of the few French singers of that era to write her own songs, but she is probably famous for covering Perry Como’s “Catch a Falling Star”. I know it is Como’s song, but I’ll always associate that song with Hardy.

As for The Selecter singer, Gaps Hendrickson, he passed away at the age of 73 to cancer. We’re big UK 2-tone fans, such as The Specials, or Madness, so we’ve seen the Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center in Sep 2013 and wrote, “British ska legend The Selecter made a rare U.S. appearance at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last night, September 13th; kicking off the start of their 8-date tour in North America. If it's a sign for what's to come, then you'll be happy to know that the band is in tight form, playing all the songs (plus extra b-sides) from Too Much Pressure and, of course, looking good and well-dressed while doing it.”

I’ll always remember that show, because the band played “Too Much Pressure” twice! I guess they wanted us to remember that song.

Read more Musicians Who Died.

The Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (13 Sep 2013)

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The Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (09/13/13)

Tour Dates 09/14 Riot Fest Chicago, IL 09/16 Call The Office London, Canada 09/17 Lees Palace Toronto, Canada 09/18 Starlight Room Waterloo, Canada 09/19 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA 09/20 Gramercy Theatre New York, NY 09/21 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA 09/22 State Theatre Washington, DC 10/12 02 Academy Bristol, UK 10/13 02 Academy Bournemouth, UK 10/16 02 Academy Liverpool, UK 10/17 02 Academy Leeds, UK 10/18 02 Academy Glasgow, UK 10/20 02 Academy Birmingham, UK 10/21 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK Read More The Selecter If you love 2 tone ska, you would've loved The Selecter in the 70s, along with such bands like Madness, The Beat (The English Beat) and The Specials. .…

British ska legend The Selecter made a rare U.S. appearance at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis last night, September 13th; kicking off the start of their 8-date tour in North America. If it's a sign for what's to come, then you'll be happy to know that the band is in tight form, playing all the songs (plus extra b-sides) from Too Much Pressure and, of course, looking good and well-dressed while doing it.

THE PINSTRIPES

Between bands, DJ Jake Rudh played a selection of 70s and 80s ska music videos (Madness, Specials, etc), and opening up the show was Cincinnati's The Pinstripes. The youthful six-piece band includes a brass section (trombone and trumpet) and the traditional bass/guitar/drum. They played mostly from their 2012 self-titled album, including "One Drop", "Give Some Love", "Mother", "I'll Be Waiting", and their finale "I Might Be Her Fool".

Fans (mostly older, but dressed in the typical suits or punk style) were eager to see The Selecter and you can tell the band love to perform and more than happy to meet and greet before and after the show. "I can't believe they [bands] charge for that sh**," said Pauline Black on stage, "we'll be happy to sign and meet you all!"

Although key song writer Neol Davies is not part of this version of The Selecter, he does perform under "The Selecter" name (not a surprise, having seen this sort of confusion with Asia or Beach Boys). Anyway, it would have been nice to see Davies share the spotlight with Pauline "Queen of Ska" Black and Gaps Hendrickson, but, to be honest, I don't think any of the rude boys or girls cared… they were all busy skanking and pogoing and spinning and having a good time.

The other thing to note is that I thought The Selecter would be doing tracks from their 2013 album String Theory, but only the a few songs were played, including the intro, "The Avengers Theme". The majority of their set is their entire album Too Much Pressure. Yes, all the songs were played, and in this order: "Three Minute Hero", "Everyday (Time Hard)", "They Make Me Mad", "Missing Words", "Danger", "Street Feeling", "My Collie (Not A Dog)", "Too Much Pressure", "Murder", "Out On The Streets", "Carry Go Bring Come", "Black and Blue", and "James Bond". If you love Too Much Pressure, don't miss this tour.

THE SELECTER

Rounding out the rest of their set were 'selections' from their second album Celebrate the Bullet, including its title track and "Train to Skaville". My favorite track from the post-Pressure set is actually their cover of Doris Day's "Secret Love". Of course, The Selecter's version is a mixture of classic love song and two-tone ska, making for a unique twist. Apparently the song is taken from their new album String Theory.

they repeated “Too Much Pressure” again

Also, worth mentioning is they repeated "Too Much Pressure" again for the encore. I'm not quite sure why they decided to play that song again, but I believe the encore version mixes in a few other surprises/songs, but keeping the familiar chorus "too much pressure". Their second song for the encore and closing out their set was "667 (The Neighbour of the Beast)", also taken from String Theory.

So, fans of the 1980 The Selecter album Too Much Pressure should not miss this "Non-Stop Pressure Tour Part Two" North American appearance. They are only appearing at 6 U.S. dates, so make the effort to see them this year. They return to the U.K. in October to play a string of dates with PIL at the O2 Academy.

The Selecter at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (09/13/13)

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At the Cedar: The Blow, The Selecter, and Nedelle Torrisi

Read More The Blow But, recently I’ve gotten into the electro-poppy sounds of The Blow. Khaela Maricich (former member of The Microphones, visual artist, woman of the world) ..…

THE BLOW
theblow.org

The Blow is back, this time, sharing their second single called "From The Future" from their new self-titled LP (coming out October 1st on Kanine Records). Listen to the track via Soundcloud.

The duo (Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne) will be heading out on tour in support of the new record. Starts next week:

09/15 Portland, OR - PICA's TBA Festival
09/16 Portland, OR - PICA's TBA Festival
09/21 Lexington, KY - Boomslang Festival
10/11 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts
10/13 Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
10/14 Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall
10/15 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
10/17 Denver, CO - Walnut Room
10/18 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
10/19 Nampa, ID - Flying M
10/20 Portland, OR - Doug Fir *
10/21 Seattle, WA - Neumos *
10/22 Bellingham, WA - Wild Buffalo *
10/23 Vancouver, BC - Electric Owl *
10/25 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
10/27 Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room *
10/28 Los Angeles, CA - Arts Eagle Rock *
10/29 San Diego, CA - Casbah *
10/30 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
11/01 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
11/02 Austin, TX - Red 7
11/04 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
11/05 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
11/06 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
11/08 Washington DC - Black Cat
11/09 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian
11/10 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

* = w/ Kisses

Read More Madness If you're not familar with Madness, they are a ska band from Camden Town, London and had a massive hit with "Our House" in the US.…

THE SELECTER
theselecter.net

The Selecter will start their tour in North American TOMORROW at the Cedar Cultural Center!

If you love 2 tone ska, you would've loved The Selecter in the 70s, along with such bands like Madness, The Beat (The English Beat) and The Specials.

The British band will likely play some classic hits as well as songs from their new 2013 album, String Theory. Tour dates:

Sep 13 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
Sep 14 Riot Fest Chicago, IL
Sep 16 Call The Office London, Canada
Sep 17 Lees Palace Toronto, Canada
Sep 18 Starlight Room Waterloo, Canada
Sep 19 Trocadero Theatre Philadelphia, PA
Sep 20 Gramercy Theatre New York, NY
Sep 21 Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA
Sep 22 State Theatre Washington, DC
Oct 12 02 Academy with PIL Bristol, UK
Oct 13 02 Academy with PIL Bournemouth, UK
Oct 16 02 Academy with PIL Liverpool, UK
Oct 17 02 Academy with PIL Leeds, UK
Oct 18 02 Academy with PIL Glasgow, UK
Oct 20 02 Academy with PIL Birmingham, UK
Oct 21 Shepherds Bush Empire London, UK

Read More Julia Holter Julia Holter new album Loud City Song just dropped this week (August 20th) via Domino Records. You can check out the new single from the album, "In the Green Wild", right now on YouTube. ..…

NEDELLE TORRISI
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Nedelle Torrisi is currently in Cryptacize (Sufjan Stevens' band), but she's got a solo album, released September 3rd on Kill Rock Stars. The album was made with Kenny Gilmore of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti in LA, and features guest spots from Dev Hynes, Nite Jewel, and Julia Holter (she's touring with her!).

Hear "Pyschic Returns":

Torrisi kicked off her tour with Julia Holter last night:

09/12 San Francisco, CA - Great American *
09/14 Portland, OR – Holocene *
09/15 Seattle, WA - Barboza *
09/16 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore Cabaret *
09/20 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center *
09/21 Chicago, IL - Schubas Tavern *
09/22 Columbus, OH – Kobo *
09/24 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall *
09/26 Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel *

* = w/ Julia Holter

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