Pauline Black – A 2-Tone Story (Sky Films/Screen Scotland)
Director: Jane Mingay
It is true to say that there has been a lot written about 2
Tone over the years. Shelves full of books
(Daniel Rachel’s ‘Too
Much Too Young’ being the best of the bunch), TV documentaries, films,
endless compilations, newspaper articles, autobiographies and memoirs, academic
theses and seminar papers, you name it, it’s been done. As the years roll on, events get mythologised
and a wave of 2 Tone themed merchandise cheapens the legacy and obscures the truth. Pauline Black, the hyperactive springbok of a
lead singer of The Selecter, clearly feels (and she says so at the start of the
film) that many have previously claimed to ‘know’ her and what she was
thinking, but hey, it’s high time she told that story for herself!
And what a story it is. Born Belinda Magnus, the illegitimate daughter of an ill-fated teenage tryst that crossed
forbidden racial boundaries, she was taken away from her birth mother, adopted by a Romford couple and re-named Pauline Vickers. Catapulted into an all-white family and town, she slept in a drawer to start with as no bed was even prepared for her, and was introduced to
the neighbours with the prefix “She’s adopted” lest anyone think (heaven forbid!)
that her adoptive mother had slept with a black man! The fact that she was only adopted by
them because no white girl babies were available at the time must have been incredibly hurtful when she found out. Casual and
endemic racism was her everyday experience in the repressive monocultural environment that was 50s, 60’s and 70’s Essex. Her adoptive
brothers even supported the right wing National Front. When she finally told her mother about two years of sexual
abuse by a family friend, as a black adoptee she wasn’t believed (the recalling of which, even now,
makes her well up with tears), and as a child people regularly stared at her in the
street, prodding her as if she were a zoo exhibit. There are many more examples given in the film. Moving to Coventry to study Radiology in the
70’s was, therefore, a revelation, as that city had welcomed all races to work
in its booming car industry. She was no longer a source of curiosity, or a
target for racist aggression, but became part of a multi-cultural society for
the first time in her life.
Her descriptions of the social milieu that was 1970’s Coventry, where I was also growing up at the same time, and the accompanying archive images and site visits, are evocative, bringing back memories of places and the social situation of the time I remember well. Everywhere in the UK was a racist environment in the 1970’s, though, and Coventry also had its share of problems. It was a violent place, a “social battleground” as one commentator put it, where getting to and from pubs, clubs and gigs was a frequently dangerous experience. Violence also extended to the gigs themselves with fights often breaking out in the audience. It was against this background that 2-Tone formed around The Specials and The Selecter, a band that didn’t really exist at the time of their debut release on the B side of The Specials ‘Gangsters’ single. The track 'The Selecter' had already been recorded by Neol Davies and when The Specials ran out of studio time to record the B Side, Jerry Dammers suggested that track be included instead, using the name of the track as the band name too. Members of local Reggae act Hard Top 22 were swiftly recruited, along with Pauline on vocals and Neol on guitar and The Selecter was a band, signed quickly to 2-Tone, and launched into a whirlwind of playing and recording. Although for many, The Selecter came second best to The Specials, they shared significant chart success and were very much at the forefront of the musical tidal wave that was 2 -Tone.
What made them really stand
out, though, was Pauline. Not just
because she was an energetic and charismatic lead singer and performer, but because she was a
girl. A girl in the virtually all-male
environment that was 2-Tone. And that brings us to the heart of this film. Think about it. The Specials, Madness, Bad Manners, The Selecter,
The Beat. Total female members between
all of them – one! Pauline. It wasn’t until the all-girl Body Snatchers later joined
2-Tone that you had any other female musicians in the 2-Tone family. That was hard for her. The Selecter at least had a female manager,
but Pauline wasn’t offered her own dressing room (so had to use the toilets – a
fact visually referenced in one film clip) and had to tolerate the male egos
and rock star excesses of her band mates on tour in the US. The fact she dressed in a suit and fedora,
as the original, androgynous, gender stereotype challenging Rude Girl, meant
she was regarded as “one of the lads”, which she wasn’t. That made for a lonely existence and increasing isolation within the band.
Not to risk any spoilers, but her telling of those experiences in
the eye of the 2-Tone storm, good and bad, her life and career after The
Selecter disintegrated, and a shock revelation when she finally tracked down
her birth mother, makes for a powerful portrait and is a damning indictment of
the racism and misogyny of the entire entertainment industry. She tells her story with humour, pride and
humility though, and there is no sense of self-pity here, more an eloquent
expression of anger and demonstration of strength and resilience in the face of
huge adversity. That is to her enormous
credit.
Pauline Black wasn’t born with that name. She became that because that was who she was. A black girl, proud to be that, and unashamed to state that in her chosen name, despite her repressive upbringing. Its an inspiring story, well worth watching, and it’s not over yet as a version of the Selecter, fronted by Pauline, is still busy playing the gig and festival circuit, and I have the distinct feeling she has more to surprise us with yet.
Essential Information: Upcoming screenings of ‘Pauline Black – A 2-Tone Story’ in London, Belfast, Swansea, and Waterford during January and February are available to book here. London screenings include a Q&A session. More screenings to be added for March.
All images: Screen grabs from film.
