One in Ten UB40

In terms of single chart success only Madness could match UB40 in terms of weeks in the charts during the 1980s. The boys from Birmingham started out in the late seventies but came to prominence in the 1980s on the back of the ska revival which saw a taste for reggae and dub rise.

A multi cultural band consisted of the Campbell brothers Ali and Robin, Brian Travers, Astro, Earl Falconer, Jim Brown, Norman Hassan, Mickey Virtue. The name of the band was derived from the infamous DHSS form for the unemployed UB40 to which most of the band were when they formed the group.

The band began playing locally around the Birmingham area and got a good following mainly due to cultural backgrounds with a mix of English, Scottish, Irish, Jamaican and Yemeni. Birmingham was quite a mixed place so the appeal of the band spread far and wide. Following quickly they supported The Pretenders and released there first single in 1979 called King which hit the top 10 on a local independent record label and released an album called 'signing off' in recognition of them no longer claiming unemployment benefit.

The 1980s then saw the band at it's prolific best, The band set up it's own record label DEP International and in 1982 enjoyed a top 10 hit with 'one in ten' but 1983 saw the band hit commercial over drive when they released the album 'labour of love' which featured copies of old reggae songs from the 1960's and 70's. The album went number 1 and the first single release 'red red wine' also went number in the UK and USA. They then released 'many rivers to cross', 'please don't make me cry' and 'cherry oh baby' which all went top 20.

The band were enjoying success in the UK and America. The band went to work to capitalise on this new found success and the next album 'geffrey morgan' saw moderate success and the single 'if it happens again' went top 10 but a couple of more releases including 'riddle me' failed to make the top 40.

1985 saw a better return and a number one single in the UK. They released the Sonny and Cher classic 'I got you babe' with Chrissie Hynde who gave them there first support tour all the way back in 1979. On the back of this 'don't break my heart' went top 3 and they were back on form again. In 1986 they released the album 'rat in the kitchen' and the first release was the Jamaican/African song 'sing our own song' hit number 5 and the toasting classic 'rat in mi kitchen' hit the top 20 but 2 further releases struggled to hit the top 40 'all i want to do' and 'watchdogs'.

1987 saw another top 10 hit with 'breakfast in bed' featuring Chrissie Hynde and a release of there greatest hits also gave the next generation a reminder of what material UB40 had amassed. Towards the end of the 1980s saw several single releases but none hit the top 10, the band were still producing good material but the sales were now starting to reduce. They saw possible redemption when they released a new album 'labour of love II' and the single releases of 'homely girl' and 'kingston town' both hit the top 10 and this was a welcome return to form by the Birmingham gang. The band were very influential in bringing and maintaining reggae into the mainstream and thoroughly enjoy there status as the most successful non Jamaican reggae stars.

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