On Her Radio: Pauline Black's 13 Favourite Albums | Page 6 of 14 | The Quietus

Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

5. BjorkDebut

The reformed Selecter were in a studio on Holloway Road in London. We were just starting to record an album, [1994’s The Happy Album] getting into our stride again. It was 1993, and we were on a tea break and the girl who was the tape op there said ‘have a listen to this’. It was the opening track ‘Human Behaviour’ on Björk’s Debut. I was smitten. I’d really not heard anything like it. It was like it had beamed in from outer space.

I’d been vaguely aware of The Sugarcubes, but this was different. She was obviously a completely unique performer with a unique way of looking at the world and following her own path and shortly after we went on an American tour with The Skatalites, sharing a tour bus, and they were old, we didn’t have a lot in common or to say to each other and they were all in the bunks, and I slept in the back and spent most of every night listening to Björk on headphones. She was my best friend on that tour.

Selected in other Baker’s Dozens: Rufus Wainwright, Julianna Barwick, The House of Love
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