The Selecter have promised to bring old and new tunes to the skanking (dancing to ska) masses this month.

Lead singer Pauline Black said the veteran ska band’s gig at Kingsmeadow will feature material from two albums released more than 30 years apart – their 1979 debut Too Much Pressure and last year’s Made in Britain.

The act made their name during the late 70s two-tone explosion, with hits including On My Radio and Three Minute Hero.

They have returned with a new line-up, in which Black is joined by the band’s other original singer Gaps Hendrickson.

The Selecter shot to fame at the same time as fellow Coventry band the Specials, whose reunion tour in 2009 sold tens of thousands of tickets, suggesting fans are hungry to see classic ska bands back in action.

But Black said she was more interested in “getting out there” and performing than worrying about the popularity of the genre.

But she did say the issues that inspired her when the band was first formed – including racial tensions and violence on the streets – were still relevant today, and were tackled again on their latest album.

Black says: “The onus was on us to say something about the times we live in.”

The singer published her memoir, Black by Design, last year.

The book tells the story of her experience growing up as a black girl adopted by a white family in Essex.

She would later go to university in the Midlands before joining the Selecter, and has also appeared in musicals and on TV soap Hollyoaks.

The Selecter will appear at the home of AFC Wimbledon to warm up for a nationwide tour in March.

LISTING: The Selecter, January 28, 7.30pm, Kingsmeadow, Jack Goodchild Way, 422a Kingston Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 3PB. Tickets £17.50. For details call 020 8547 3335 or visit afcwimbledon.co.uk/shop/ tickets.