Create account Log in

UB40

[Edit]

Wikimp3 information about the music of UB40. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist UB40. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that UB40 represents Reggae genres.

Biography

[Edit]

Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 were formed in a welfare line in 1978, and their multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community their members came from. The band consolidated its street credibility with political topics appealing to dissatisfied youth and got a boost from fans of the waning 2-Tone ska revival movement. Brothers Robin (lead guitar) and Ali Campbell (guitar, lead vocals) formed the centerpiece of the group, which also included bassist Earl Falconer, keyboardist Mickey Virtue, saxophonist Brian Travers, drummer Jim Brown, percussionist Norman Hassan, and toaster Terence "Astro" Wilson. The band purchased its first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell received after a bar fight, even though few of the members knew how to play them.

But by the end of the year, the group was invited to tour with the Pretenders. Their "Food for Thought" single reached the U.K. Top Ten in 1980, beginning a long streak of chart appearances. Signing Off and Present Arms were big sellers in Britain, if not America, and addressed the political issues of the day in songs like "One in Ten," a Top Ten hit blasting Margaret Thatcher for the country's unemployment rate. Released in 1983, Labour of Love, an album of reggae cover songs, gave the group its first chart album in America and first number one U.K. hit with Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine." Several albums of original material sold well in the U.K., but only respectably in the U.S., where the group's biggest hit was a Top 30 cover of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" featuring the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.

In 1988, the group performed "Red Red Wine" at a Nelson Mandela tribute concert, and a Phoenix radio station trotted the single out for a second go-round. Listener response was far more enthusiastic, and "Red Red Wine" reentered the charts and went all the way to the top. Finally having hit on a way to conquer the lucrative American market, UB40 responded with another covers album, Labour of Love II, which produced Top Ten singles with versions of the Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." The group scored a huge hit in America with Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," which was initially featured in the Sharon Stone film Sliver and spent seven weeks at number one. By this time, UB40 had largely abandoned their trademark left-wing politics and were concentrating more on perfecting their reggae oldies covers than their original material; however, the gimmick resulted in huge sales figures in both the U.S. and U.K., with Promises and Lies reaching number six in the States and number one in Britain.

In the spring of 1998, UB40 released Presents the Dancehall Album in the U.K. A third Labour of Love collection followed a year later. In fall 2002, UB40 bounced back with yet another collection. The Fathers of Reggae, which appeared on Virgin in November, highlighted the band's roots in reggae in a selection of classics. In 2003, the band scored a major hit in the U.K. when its version of the spiritual "Swing Low" with the multicultural choir United Colours of Sound became the official anthem for the 2003 English Rugby team. The song was featured on the 2003 album Homegrown. As their 2005 album, Who You Fighting For?, was being released, an announcement was made that the band would be working with Birmingham's Repertory Theatre to stage a new musical in the spring of 2006. Two years later their album Twentyfourseven became their last with vocalist Ali Campbell and keyboardist Michael Virtue. Their 2010 release Labour of Love IV introduced Ali’s brother Duncan as the group’s new lead singer. They also released a remastered 2CD & DVD version of Signing Off as a 30th Anniversary Special, which the band also toured across America and Europe. In 2011, five founder members -Robin Campbell, Brian Travers, Terence Wilson, Norman Hassan and James Brown - started bankruptcy proceedings against the existing group over debts accrued by their label, DEP International. Alongside former singer Ali Campbell, they were declared bankrupt that year. In 2013, they announced their details of their eighteenth studio album. Entitled Getting Over The Storm, it featured covers of country music songs by the likes of Willie Nelson, George Jones,Randy Travis and many more.

Title: Very Best Of Greatest Hits

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Getting Over the Storm

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae

Title: 5 Classic Albums

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Guns in the Ghetto

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: 5 Album Set (CD1)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae, Dub

Title: Labour of Love II

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Live In Moscow

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae, World Music, Latin

Title: Essential

Artist: UB40

Genre: Pop

Title: Love Songs

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae, Pop Rock

Title: Geffery Morgan

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Greatest Hits

Artist: UB40

Genre: Pop

Title: Labour of Love

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Dub Sessions

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Baggariddim

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Collected (CD2)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Collected (CD1)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Cover Up

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Gold (CD1)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Gold (CD2)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Live

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop, Alternative

Title: For the Many

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Labour of Love III

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Unplugged

Artist: UB40, Astro, Ali, Mickey

Genre: Rock, New Wave, Punk, Reggae

Title: CCCP - Live in Moscow

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Collected (CD3)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Present Arms

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Present Arms In Dub

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Promises and Lies

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Rat In the Kitchen

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Red Red Wine The Collecton

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Signing Off

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: The Best Of UB40, Volume 1

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae, Dub

Title: The Mail On Sunday

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: The Very Best Of

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop, Alternative

Title: Triple Best Of UB40 (CD1)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Triple Best Of UB40 (CD2)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Triple Best Of UB40 (CD3)

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: TwentyFourSeven

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop, Alternative

Title: Ub40

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Ub40 Cccp: Live In Moscow

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: UB40 Live

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae, World Music, Latin

Title: UB40: Live At Montreux

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: UB40: Live In Birmingham

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Ub44

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, World Music, Pop

Title: You Haven't Called

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: You Haven't Called - EP

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Unprecedented

Artist: Ali Campbell, Astro, UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Best Of 1980 - 2000

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Title: Who You Fighting For?

Artist: UB40

Genre: Rock, Reggae, Pop

Title: Bigga Baggariddim

Artist: UB40

Genre: Reggae

Collections

Title: '80s Super Hits

Genre: Pop

Title: This Is... 1985

Genre: Pop

Title: This Is... 1980

Genre: Pop

Title: This Is... 1983

Genre: Pop

Title: This Is... 1981

Genre: Pop

Title: This Is... 1984

Genre: Pop

Title: Viva Rock Vegas

Genre: Rock

Title: Balearic Pop

Genre: Pop

Title: Action (Remastered)

Genre: Rock

Title: Romantic Guitars

Genre: Pop

Title: Millenium Hits CD 5

Genre: Pop

Title: Love & The City CD 1

Genre: Pop

Title: Summer 80s CD1

Genre: Rock, Pop

Title: Feel Good 80'S CD3

Genre: Pop

Title: Love Me Now (CD2)

Genre: Pop

Featuring albums

Title: 80's Super Hits

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Pop

Title: The Disney Reggae Club

Artist: Various

Genre: Pop

Title: Singles

Artist: Daddy Nuttea

Genre: Reggae

Title: Greatest Hits

Artist: The Pretenders

Genre: Pop

Title: Maximum Collection

Artist: Maxi Priest

Genre: Reggae

Title: 80s Mixtape

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Pop

Genres