Pauline Black, of The Selecter, has vowed to continue the legacy of Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson through her fight against racism and sexism. Hendrickson died after a short illness last month at the age of 73, as confirmed by Black on the band’s official social media pages. The funeral of the Two-Tone music legend took place at Coventry Cathedral, where Black expressed that his loss is immeasurable. During her eulogy speech, Black expressed her desire to pay tribute to the man who was a force of life, saying “there’s so much to say about his professional life, but I think there’s probably quite a lot that people don’t know about him as a person”.
Hendrickson had been a musician in his hometown of Coventry prior to the formation of The Selecter in 1979, before becoming an instrumental part of the Two-tone movement – which championed racial equality and harmony and was also profoundly anti-sexist – alongside acts such as The Specials, Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers and more. Despite being one of the movement’s most successful bands, their original line-up only remained intact for a year, before they split up in 1982.
Following a hiatus in 2006, The Selecter reformed in 2010 with Hendrickson now a more permanent member of the band. Hendrickson last performed with The Selecter two days before the announcement of his death in California. The band had also performed in the UK at Slam Dunk Festival back in May and had various other shows throughout the summer in the pipeline. The Selecter have continued to make music with the release of their most recent album ‘Human Algebra’ last year.
Black has been making efforts to keep Hendrickson’s legacy alive, which passionately believed in everything The Selecter fought against – racism, sexism, and more. Pauline has made a promise to Hendrickson’s memory that she will keep this legacy alive. Both Pauline and Hendrickson’s role in The Selecter have made the band an essential part of the Two-Tone movement, providing music that would continue to carry the fight against inequality and prejudice
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