UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. UB40 have sold more than 70 million records worldwide. The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish, and Yemeni parentage.
Signing Off is the debut album by British reggae band UB40, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by Dudley-based independent label Graduate Records. It was an immediate success in their home country, reaching number 2 on the UK albums chart, and made UB40 one of the many popular reggae bands in Britain, several years before the band found international fame. The politically-concerned lyrics struck a chord in a country with widespread public divisions over high unemployment, the policies of the recently elected Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher, and the rise of the National Front party, while the record's dub-influenced rhythms reflected the late 1970s influence in British pop music of West Indian music introduced by immigrants from the Caribbean after the Second World War, particularly reggae and ska – this was typified by the 2 Tone movement, at that point at the height of its success and led by fellow West Midlands act The Specials, with whom UB40 drew comparisons due to their multiracial band line-up and socialist views.
Max Alfred Elliott, known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one of the first international artists to have success in this genre, and one of the most successful reggae fusion acts of all time.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song recorded by American singer Elvis Presley for the album Blue Hawaii (1961). It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.
The Very Best of UB40 1980-2000 is a greatest hits album from the British dub/reggae band UB40.
"Many Rivers to Cross" is a song written and recorded in 1969 by Jimmy Cliff. It has since been recorded by many musicians, including Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Joe Cocker, Percy Sledge, Little Milton, Desmond Dekker, UB40, Cher, The Brand New Heavies, Eric Burdon & The Animals, The Walker Brothers, Marcia Hines, Toni Childs, Oleta Adams, Linda Ronstadt, Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams, Chris Pierce, Arthur Lee, Ted Leo, Jimmy Barnes, Lenny Kravitz, and Chitral Somapala. It was also performed in the Caribbean by Alison Hinds of Barbados and Tessanne Chin of Jamaica, Cliff's native nation.
Labour of Love is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song "Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one single, but it also includes three further UK top 20 hits, "Please Don't Make Me Cry", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Cherry Oh Baby". The album reached number one in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands and the top five in Canada, but only reached number 39 in the US on its original release, before re-entering the Billboard 200 in 1988 and peaking at number 14 as a result of "Red Red Wine"'s delayed success in the US.
The Best of UB40 – Volume One is a compilation album by the British reggae band UB40. It was released in 1987 and includes a selection of the band's hits from 1980 to 1986.
Labour of Love II is the ninth album and second covers album by UB40, released in 1989. The album contained two top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hits – "Here I Am " peaked at No. 7, "The Way You Do the Things You Do" peaked at No. 6 – and "Kingston Town" reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
Geffery Morgan is the fifth album by UB40. Released in 1984, it takes its title inspired by a band roadie who had a friend named "Geffery Morgan who ... loved white girls" Following the success of their covers album, Labour of Love, all tracks on this album are self-penned. The album contained the hit "If It Happens Again", which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart.
Cover Up is the fourteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40, released on 22 October 2001 through Virgin Records and DEP International. Recorded with co-producer Gerry Parchment at DEP International Studios in Birmingham, the album followed a musical break for the group. It exemplifies their distinct reggae/pop sound and uses programmed rhythms as the basis for songs; the incorporation of the latter caused friction within the band and singer Ali Campbell later criticised the production style.
TwentyFourSeven is the sixteenth studio album by UB40. It is the last UB40 album to feature the classic line-up with vocalist/guitarist Ali Campbell and keyboardist Mickey Virtue. In 2008 both of them departed from the band.
Homegrown is the sixteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40, released on 3 November 2003 through Virgin Records and DEP International. The follow-up to Cover Up (2001), the album was produced by UB40 at DEP International Studios in Birmingham. Described by Robin Campbell as an old-fashioned UB40 record, Homegrown features both love songs and political numbers. As with Cover Up, its use of programmed rhythms was the cause of musical differences in the band and was later criticised by frontman Ali Campbell.
Alistair Ian Campbell is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40.
The discography of UB40, a British reggae band, consists of 20 studio albums, 19 compilation albums, six live albums, four remix albums, 65 singles and a number of appearances with other artists.
Speed 2: Cruise Control is the soundtrack album for the 1997 film of the same name. It was released by Virgin Records in May 1997, nearly a month before the film's release. Because of the film's Caribbean setting, the soundtrack features a variety of reggae music from artists including Common Sense, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest and Shaggy. UB40, Carlinhos Brown and Tamia also have songs on the soundtrack, and appear in the film as entertainers on the cruise ship.
Getting Over the Storm is the eighteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40. It was released on 2 September 2013. It is the final UB40 album to feature trumpet player and vocalist Astro, due to his departure in late 2013.
A Real Labour of Love is the third studio album by UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the highest-charting UB40 album since Promises and Lies, which reached number-one in 1993.
For the Many is the nineteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40. It was released on 15 March 2019 on the Shoestring record label. The album cover was designed by the band's saxophonist Brian Travers and depicts a silhouette of tower blocks, following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. The album's name has been associated with the Labour Party and its leader Jeremy Corbyn's use of the slogan "For the many, not the few". Travers commented on the connection in an article published in a Birmingham Live article, stating, "We're all socialists and Labour supporters".
