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 over 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 racist 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.
"Careless Memories" is the second single by Duran Duran, released on 20 April 1981.
Quartet is the sixth studio album by the British new wave band Ultravox. The album peaked at no.6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI in December 1982 for 100,000 copies sold. It also peaked at #13 in Germany, and at #61 in the United States.
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.
Riches is a limited edition compilation album that was temporarily included with the Raintown album by the Scottish rock band Deacon Blue, starting in February 1988. Only 20,000 copies were made.
The UB40 File is a compilation album of all of UB40's 1980 Graduate recordings. The album first appeared as a double vinyl LP in 1985 and features all the tracks from Signing Off on Record One, the 3 tracks from the 12" single that accompanied Signing Off on the A-side of Record Two with the tracks released as singles that did not feature on the debut album on B-side.
The Hits Album 3 or Hits 3 is a compilation album released in the UK by and WEA Records and CBS Records in November 1985. It followed up the extremely successful previous volumes Hits 1 and Hits 2. Although those albums both reached #1, Hits 3 peaked at #2, despite a strong track-listing including a rare appearance of a Madonna track on a compilation album and a further 20 top ten hits.
The Singles Album was released in August 1982 and is a compilation LP and the first greatest hits by British reggae band UB40, featuring all of UB40's single releases on Graduate, including the 3-track Dutch 12" single "Tyler".
UB40 Live is a 1983 album of live concert recordings of UB40 performing songs from their first three studio albums.
Hundreds & Thousands is a remix album by Bronski Beat released in 1985.
"Homely Girl" is a song by American vocal group the Chi-Lites. Release in 1974, it reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, number three on the US Hot Soul Singles chart, and number 54 on the US Billboard Hot 100. A cover by UB40 also became a hit between 1989 and 1991 in several countries.
Super Colossal Smash Hits of the 90's: The Best of The Mavericks is the first greatest hits collection by the American country music band The Mavericks. The album was originally released on November 9, 1999, by Mercury Nashville. It was re-released on January 25, 2000, with three bonus tracks. "Here Comes My Baby" and "Things I Cannot Change" were released as singles.
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album You're Gonna Hear from Me, Eric Burdon's 1967 album Eric Is Here, on Newman's 1968 debut album Randy Newman, in The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 (2003), and in Newman's official and bootleg live albums. It is one of his most covered songs.
The Singles Collection, Volume 2 is a limited edition CD series compilation box set by the English rock band Queen, released in 2009. The box set contains remastered versions of the next thirteen top-40 charting singles released by Queen that appear subsequent to those in the first volume.
The Epic Masters is a box set compilation comprising ten remastered albums by Shakin' Stevens. Released on 16 November 2009, the set contains nine albums originally released by Epic Records between 1980 and 1990, plus an exclusive CD of 12" extended mixes. The set was also made available as a download through iTunes.
The Singles 1971–2006 is a box set compilation of singles by The Rolling Stones spanning the years 1971 to 2006. It covers their output with both Rolling Stones Records and Virgin Records labels.
Asides Besides is a compilation album by Talk Talk, released April 1998. It is a collection of rarities, B-sides and demos previously unavailable on CD. It was issued as a companion volume to the band's 1997 album remasters and has been described as "[tying] up loose ends" in the band's career. The album received positive reviews. The album only contains tracks from the 1982–1988 period, as EMI could only obtain rights for Talk Talk music from this period. An album of rarities for Talk Talk's career after 1988 was released in 2001 as Missing Pieces.
"Food for Thought" is a song by British reggae band UB40, released as their debut single in February 1980 from their album Signing Off. Released as a double A-side with "King", it peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
"My Way of Thinking" is a song by British reggae band UB40, released as their second single in June 1980. It was released as a double A-side with a cover of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today", and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
