Black by Design by Pauline Black
Lead singer for platinum-selling 2-tone band The Selecter, Pauline Black has been in the music business for over thirty years. The only woman in a movement dominated by men, she was very much the Queen of British Ska. She saw The Specials, Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners and all the other top bands of that generation at their very best ... and worst. Black was born in 1953 of Anglo-Jewish/Nigerian parents. Adopted by a white, working class family in Romford in the fifties, Pauline was always made to feel different, both by the local community and members of her extended family, who saw her at best as a curiosity, at worst as an embarrassing inconvenience. Weaving her rise to fame and recollections of the 2-tone phenomenon with her moving search for her birth parents, Black By Design is a funny and enlightening memoir of music and roots.
Iconic queen of ska.. It's gritty, witty and compelling. -- Alex Heminsley * Elle *
If you're a 2-tone nut like me you can't fail to find Black by Design compelling. There are plenty of nuggets for the likes of us in our crew-cutted dotage. -- Andrew Harrison * Word *
The perfect poster girl for the 2-Tone record label... she has stories aplenty, and her intelligence and fierce sense of right and wrong make them a fascinating... read. -- Tina Jackson * Metro *
Fascinating -- Simon Evans * Choice *
It's more than a musical memoir. Black paints a vivid portrait of simmering racial tension in Britain after the Second World War... This is also an intelligent and affecting account of life as a black child in a white family, feeling "like a cuckoo in somebody else's nest"... Britain's original "rude girl", she approached her job with a fearlessness and determination that carried her through a subsequent acting career... She takes few prisoners, which what you would expect from a woman who has spent a lifetime taking a sledgehammer to race and gender barriers. With Black by Design, one hopes she will get the recognition she deserves. -- Fiona Sturges * Independent *
There's plenty of 'on the road' tales to please 2-Tone fans, but this is ultimately the story of a brave, intelligent woman's struggle to make sense of the nasty world around her. -- Lois Wilson * Mojo *
A complex self-examination of the dichotomies of Black's life... a valuable social commentary. -- Ian Abrahams * Record Collector *
If you're a 2-tone nut like me you can't fail to find Black by Design compelling. There are plenty of nuggets for the likes of us in our crew-cutted dotage. -- Andrew Harrison * Word *
The perfect poster girl for the 2-Tone record label... she has stories aplenty, and her intelligence and fierce sense of right and wrong make them a fascinating... read. -- Tina Jackson * Metro *
Fascinating -- Simon Evans * Choice *
It's more than a musical memoir. Black paints a vivid portrait of simmering racial tension in Britain after the Second World War... This is also an intelligent and affecting account of life as a black child in a white family, feeling "like a cuckoo in somebody else's nest"... Britain's original "rude girl", she approached her job with a fearlessness and determination that carried her through a subsequent acting career... She takes few prisoners, which what you would expect from a woman who has spent a lifetime taking a sledgehammer to race and gender barriers. With Black by Design, one hopes she will get the recognition she deserves. -- Fiona Sturges * Independent *
There's plenty of 'on the road' tales to please 2-Tone fans, but this is ultimately the story of a brave, intelligent woman's struggle to make sense of the nasty world around her. -- Lois Wilson * Mojo *
A complex self-examination of the dichotomies of Black's life... a valuable social commentary. -- Ian Abrahams * Record Collector *
Born in Romford, Pauline Black is a singer and actress who gained fame as the lead singer of seminal 2-tone band The Selecter. After the band 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. She won the 1991 Time Out award for Best Actress, for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in the play All or Nothing At All.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781846687907 |
| ISBN 10 | 184668790X |
| Title | Black by Design |
| Author | Pauline Black |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Profile Books Ltd |
| Year published | 2011-07-14 |
| Number of pages | 320 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |