"Nev Staple is the original Rude Boy, and I'm the original Rude Girl," announced Pauline Black at the Belgrade's B2 concert.

There can be no denying that, but there's a lot more to Pauline Black than just ska.
This special homecoming gig was part of the city's Rhythm Weekend, which took place at several venues in Coventry.
This wasn't your average 2-Tone gig - instead of a dance floor, we had some very bohemian tables and chairs.
The usual frenzied skanking gave way to an audience who had the time to really listen and to take in the true meaning of these songs and their often hard-hitting lyrics.
Pauline Black is still held in awe 30-odd years down the line, and it's easy to see why. Her stage presence is that of a consummate professional, and she is superbly in control of her vocals, no matter what type of song she chooses to sing.

Pigment Of My Imagination

Her new backing band were also more than worthy to do the job at hand, working through Selecter classics like Three Minute Heroes, Too Much Pressure and On My Radio. Not forgetting outstanding versions of Celebrate the Bullet, Bristol & Miami and Carry Go Bring Home, the latter complete with audience participation.
As I've already mentioned, it wasn't all about The Selecter and ska. One of the afternoon's highlights for me was an emotive version of The Motels' song Total Control, taken from Pauline's current album Pigment of My Imagination. Songs Lost Glove, Eyes on the Prize, Don't Let It Happen Again and a clever re-work of the Special AKA's Alcohol also got an airing - they too coming from the said album.

Back to Black

The set was punctuated with crowd-pleasing surprises like a ska-ed up version of Alfie and inspiring versions of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black and Roddy Byers' Hey Little Rich Girl. The audience loved it, and it was a faultless performance from all involved. Well done also to CV One for opening up the remit of the Jazz Festival to the Rhythm Weekend giving it the chance to include a classy and classic concert such as this.
 

Pauline Black

Pauline Black born 23rd October 1953, Coggeshall, ENGLAND of Anglo-Jewish/Nigerian parents.

Pauline Black has spent the last 30 years maintaining the fierce independence that she first forged in her early days as lead vocalist with legendary platinum selling 2-Tone band 'The Selecter'.
During that time she has always tried to do what she fells is right, honest & true. She considers her female mixed race status gives her a unique insight into the twin evils of racism and sexism that still beset the world and render the original message of the 2-tone movement as relevant today as it was in 1979.

Since then, she has built her considerable reputation through singing, songwriting, acting, presenting, broadcasting and writing.
She has garnered several singing and acting awards along the way. Never content to just rest on her laurels or pursue the road of easy celebrity, Pauline has delivered 9 studio albums throughout her career, chronicling her particular view of the precious world that we inhabit.

In 2007, eager to expand her musical repertoire still further, she toured "The Very Best of Nina Simone & Billie Holiday" with her "Blue Jazz Trio", to critical acclaim. 2008 saw her pursue another musical passion when she presented and performed on BBC4 TV's "Soul Britannia" series and then joined the "This Is Soul Tour 2008" performing alongside soul legends Eddie Floyd & Geno Washington.

In 2009, the "30th Anniversary of the 2-Tone Movement", she elected to return to her first love ska music, not in a nostalgic re-union mood, (although she is very proud of her 'Selecter' past & is still eager to celebrate that history in the future), but as a respected solo artist, forging new relationships with musicians in Argentina, Brazil & Australia. On Oct 3rd 2009, she headlined at the "100 Nicetos Festival" in Buenos Aires, Argentina in front of 30,000 people backed by Hugo Lobo's ska/reggae influenced band, "Dancing Mood", plus a 30 piece string orchestra, choir and Nyabinghi drummers.

At the start of the new decade, 2010 finds Pauline building on last year's success. Concerts & festivals have been booked throughout the year, showcasing new & old material from her entire career, with her new 6-piece band. Highlights of her solo show include old favourites like "On My Radio" & "Missing Words", new songs "Eyes On The Prize" & "Total Control" and a brilliant ska/reggae salute to Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" ("obviously written for me", jokes Pauline at concerts).

A new recording project with her new band is currently in the pipeline & her long-awaited memoir "Black By Design" is finished & has a firm publishing offer. A movie "Three Minute Hero" is at the script writing stage and will tell the story of Pauline, Neville Staple & ex-boxer Errol Christie back when Coventry was gripped by 2-tone fever . These three projects will give her many fans a chance to see what makes this singular artist tick. Pauline Black is a unique woman with a multi-faceted talent.

Check out concerts for details.

Black was the lead singer of ska band The Selecter. After the group split in 1982, Black developed an acting career in television and theatre, appearing in dramas such as The Vice, The Bill, Hearts and Minds and 2000 Acres of Sky.

Ayrton said Black's book would be a "wonderful addition" to the list. Among other recent music titles Serpent's Tail has publshed Jah Wobble's autobiography Memoirs of a Geezer.

Ayrton added: "A 2-tone memoir, a women's insider account of the music business and a story of growing up as a black child in a white family, Black by Design is brilliant in many varied ways."

Black said: "I believe that Black by Design has found the perfect home at Serpent's Tail. I have long admired their maverick commitment to new voices and in particular the diversity and breadth of their catalogue... It is an enormous thrill to be on such a list."

Victoria Gallagher

 Held in beautiful Gloucestershire, the sixth Wychwood Festival lived up to expectations, and even provided a few surprises as well as a couple of minor, though thoroughly predictable, disappointments along the way. After a sunny Friday afternoon and crowd-pleasing sets by Justin Currie and The Levellers on that evening, the weather turned cooler on Saturday and a brief but heavy downpour on Sunday didn't dampen anyone's mood.
 

 First on the Independent stage on Saturday lunchtime, Sleeping with the Fishes certainly shook things up. Singer and guitarist Justin Justman as his group successfully blended power-chords worthy of Foo Fighters with the musicianship of Eighties prog revivalists It Bites. Under the Big Top, oddball Englishness was the order of the day. With his banjo and unexpected samples, Mr B The Gentleman Rhymer and his hilarious brand of "chap-hop" hit all the right targets, though veteran eccentric John Otway wouldn't be outshone/ outdone as he lampooned Madonna and Bob Dylan and recited The Sweet's "Blockbuster" à la Peter Sellers. Harpist Lucinda Belle was very much the yearning chanteuse with her 'Dodo Blues' though, back on the Independent stage, American alt-country singer Piney Gir took no prisoners and claimed "I'm Better off without a Piece of a Shell of a Man".
 

 The keening harmonies and catchy melodies of Goldheart Assembly proved they are worthy pretenders to Teenage Fan Club's crown and Malian kora player Toumani Diabaté's mellow set went down a treat. The queen of the 2 Tone movement, Pauline Black mixed The Selecter evergreens "Three Minute Hero" and "Missing Words" with a ska version of Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and made light of a power cut halfway through "On My Radio". The vocalist and her cracking band simply picked up where they'd left off and closed with a fantastic "Too Much Pressure". Playing too many slow and mid-tempo songs, Ian Broudie and his Lightning Seeds suffered by comparison, despite the presence on guitar of his son Riley, the inspiration for "Life of Riley", but inevitably closed with the football anthem "Three Lions".
 

 Once the pride of Madchester, Happy Mondays are now just a tribute band fronted rather than led by Shaun Ryder. Reading lyrics to "Step On" and "24-Hour Party People" off the autocue, his non-performance wasn't so much half-hearted as half-arsed. The Paul Heaton-less than beautiful South also felt like a sing-along tribute to their Nineties heyday. On Sunday, CBeebies' Justin Fletcher was a big hit with the children but I found Adrian Edmonson's folk-flavoured renditions of punk classics schtick tiresome. However, Austrian rockers J.O.E.L. played a blistering version of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". On the BBC Introducing stage, Islet, from Cardiff, were more of a happening than a band but a real find all the same. Seth Lakeman previewed his new album, Hearts & Minds, and dub rockers extraordinaires Dreadzone rounded things off with a rousing "Little Britain". The many colours of the musical rainbow always shine at Wychwood.

 by Pierre Perrone