Neol Davies started his guitar playing inspired by the music of the early /mid 60s, The Shadows, Duane Eddy, The Beatles and The Who, and played in various Blues, Reggae and Soul outfits before becoming a pivotal figure and co-founder of 2 Tone Records. This kick-start to the vibrant musical and social culture of Coventry, UK saw the emergence of a proliferation of bands linked by reggae, roots and, more famously, ska, not only in the UK but all over the world. His seminal instrumental composition, The Selecter, on which he played everything except drums and trombone, coupled with Gangsters by The Specials, was to be the first 2 Tone Records release, "Gangsters vs. The Selecter", reaching no.6 in the UK charts in July 1979. 2 tone became the name for the music itself and the whole look and style continues to influence and inspire.

While Gangsters vs The Selecter was “storming the charts” Neol formed the 7 piece band The Selecter and had already written most of the songs that were to become major hits - notably the classics On My Radio, Missing Words, 3 Minute Hero and Too Much Pressure. Although The Selecter sadly disbanded in the early 80s, they played hundreds of legendary gigs in many countries establishing a reputation as one of the premier live acts of the time.

The demise of The Selecter was not planned!! But it happened and Neol put it behind him by setting up a home studio, writing more songs and playing gigs, earning a reputation as a top Blues guitarist and singer, until The Selecter reformed in 1991 to undertake a tour of the US, Japan and Europe. After the tours Neol felt ,along with many other things, that his song-writing needed a new platform with wider musical horizons and so he left the band.......and...........formed.........

.......a new 8 piece band, Selecter Instrumental, with four horns, (alto and tenor saxes, trombone and trumpet), a real Hammond C3 organ, masterfully played by Justin Dodsworth.This was assembled to play a set of Ska instrumentals (a mixture of classic covers and Neol’s arrangements of film themes and original compositions) and, although the band never recorded in the studio, all of the gigs were recorded and will be available as a live album soon on VoMatic Records.

Neol’s first album under his own name -Box of Blues, (released in 1999/2000) is a collection of original Blues songs and one instrumental, the sublime Paradise Re-visited,which finally brought Neol together with Horace Panter, aka Sir Horace Gentleman, the original bass-ace from The Specials. A mutual love of guitar,bass,drums (and vocals) bands like Free and the Who led to the recording philosophy of the album, which was to keep it simple and raw, but with snappy arrangements learnt from the 2 Tone experience. With former Paul Weller and Dennis Greaves sidekick, Anthony Harty, defining a new style on the drums, Box of Blues was highly praised throughout the blues scene,both here and internationally, and the classic three-piece guitar, bass and drums line-up toured extensively as a result.

More recently, inspired live shows with the current line up (Daniel Crosby - drums and Justin Dodsworth - Hammond and Piano) ensured the backing to record a new album. Producer Martin Wright (co-producer of the new Ron Wood album) with Recording Engineer Simon “Spud” Beggs have brought some powerful contemporary influences to the production of Future Swamp.

In July 2010, Neol Davies, with a view to re-connecting to his original 1979 vision plus some modern influences, created a brand new version of The Selecter to re-launch the band with new songs alongside tracks and hits from the first two albums Too Much Pressure and Celebrate The Bullet. From 2010 the new line-up, with Neol Davies playing guitar and John Gibbons as the new singer, will be The Selecter.

Neol Davies' 2011 The Selecter line-up:

* John Gibbons: vocals

* Neol Davies: guitar

* Andre Bayuni: bass guitar

* Daniel Crosby: drums

* Dean Ross: Hammond keyboard

* Tim Cansfield: guitar

* Faye Treacy, Hannah Taylor, Ellie Smith: trombones

* Victor Trivino: percussion

The other line-up of The Selecter is now billed as The Selecter Featuring Pauline Black.

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