The name UB40 refers to a document that was used for signing on to unemployment benefit known as Unemployment Benefit Form 40.
UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. In the multicultural neighbourhoods of Birmingham, Blues parties and ska and reggae music influenced their musical style.
Their first gig was at a friend’s birthday party in February 1979 at The Hare & Hounds Pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham.
All the original band members are from Birmingham and were all friends who knew each other from various schools and colleges in the area.
In 1980 UB40 formed their own record company, DEP International.
Their big break came when Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders invited them to be their support act on a national tour.
They bought their first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell, later the lead singer, received after he was involved in a bar fight on his 17th birthday celebration.
UB40 named their first album Signing Off because they were ‘signing off from the dole’ in other words, getting a job. The album even had a reproduction of the unemployment benefit card on the cover with the words, “Signing Off” stamped on it.
Much of this first album was recorded outside in a garden. Their sound back then was heavily influenced by synthesizers, psychedelic guitars and saxophones. Their music also often tackled social issues such as racism and unemployment.
It took 5 years for the band’s version of ‘Red Red Wine’ to get to no.1 in the States after being a no.1 hit in the UK in 1983.
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.
Their hit singles include their debut “Food for Thought” and two Billboard Hot 100 number ones with “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”. Both of these also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of “I Got You Babe”. Their two most successful albums, Labour of Love (1983) and Promises and Lies (1993), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.
“(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You”, a cover of an Elvis Presley ballad is their most successful single release. The song was from the album “Promises and Lies” which sold more than 9 million copies worldwide.
According to ‘Blood & Fire’, the autobiography of Ali and Robin Campbell, UB40 didn’t actually make any money from their album ‘Labour Of Love’ which sold 10 million copies worldwide and had 4 UK top 40 singles. Unfortunately, despite having sold over 120 million albums worldwide, in 2011 Ali Campbell declared bankruptcy.
Today, there are two different formations of UB40 touring under the same name. After Ali Campbell left the group in 2008, the group continued, drafting in Ali’s brother Duncan on vocals. There remains an unresolved dispute between the two groups over the name usage.
