The Selecter - On My Radio (1979) (HQ)

My Two Tone moment came quite late. I'd always loved The Specials 'Ghost Town' but hadn't really investigated that particular early eighties moment beyond that, until I heard The Selector's 'Missing Words' on John Peel one day.

Not long after that, in 1999, one of my uni flatmates at Bolton Institute (as it then was) went to a Two Tone night at the union, had a great time, and was inspired to purchase a series of Two Tone compilations, which she then blasted all over the flat. Given that I was usually subjected to The Corrs, Mansun, All Saints and Savage Garden at this point in the flat, Two Tone made a nice change. It was also amazing, given the dire straights that Bolton student union must have been in at the time, that they managed to hold a Two Tone night at all, let alone a decent one.

'On My Radio' is a perennial foot tapper at the very least, great to dance to and imbued with natural bounce. The best of compilations you can get for the Selector are good value and, if you get the Celebrate The Bullet album, it has the excellent 'Red Reflections' on it.