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UB40
On Tour2,105,108 plays (213,442 listeners)
reggae, 80s, pop, ska, british… see all
UB40 are a British dub / reggae pop music band formed in 1978 in Birmingham.
The band is one of the most culturally diverse dub reggae bands with musicians of English, Scottish, Irish, Yemeni and Jamaican parentage. The band is named from the paper form issued by the UK government’s Department of Health and Social Security at the time of the band’s formation for claiming unemployment benefit (UB40 = Unemployment Benefit, Form 40).
UB40 were influenced by the many Blues Parties they attended as teenagers in the multiracial Balsall Heath area of Birmingham, their love of ska and reggae inspired such original tracks as “King”, “Madam Medusa”, “Food for Thought”, “Signing Off” and “One in Ten”.
Their early music style was unique, with a heavy influence of analogue synthesizers, psychedelic rock guitar, saxophone and dub producer techniques which were later perfected by the late Pablo Falconer.
Ali and Robin Campbell have a musical heritage, being sons of Ian Campbell, a folk musician.
The band purchased its first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell received after a bar fight. They have had a number of hits, most commercially and to amusement of the band, “Red Red Wine”, a cover version of a Neil Diamond song (in an arrangement similar to that of Tony Tribe’s version). Their most successful single release is the cover of the Elvis Presley ballad “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” which was intended to be the main title to the 1992 Sharon Stone movie Sliver and was a Number One hit across Europe and in the U.S.
The band is one of the most culturally diverse dub reggae bands with musicians of English, Scottish, Irish, Yemeni and Jamaican parentage. The band is named from the paper form issued by the UK government’s Department of Health and Social Security at the time of the band’s formation for claiming unemployment benefit (UB40 = Unemployment Benefit, Form 40).
UB40 were influenced by the many Blues Parties they attended as teenagers in the multiracial Balsall Heath area of Birmingham, their love of ska and reggae inspired such original tracks as “King”, “Madam Medusa”, “Food for Thought”, “Signing Off” and “One in Ten”.
Their early music style was unique, with a heavy influence of analogue synthesizers, psychedelic rock guitar, saxophone and dub producer techniques which were later perfected by the late Pablo Falconer.
Ali and Robin Campbell have a musical heritage, being sons of Ian Campbell, a folk musician.
The band purchased its first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell received after a bar fight. They have had a number of hits, most commercially and to amusement of the band, “Red Red Wine”, a cover version of a Neil Diamond song (in an arrangement similar to that of Tony Tribe’s version). Their most successful single release is the cover of the Elvis Presley ballad “I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” which was intended to be the main title to the 1992 Sharon Stone movie Sliver and was a Number One hit across Europe and in the U.S.
Videos
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Top Albums
Top Tracks
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Kingston Town
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Can't Help Falling in Love
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Cherry Oh Baby
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Higher Ground
full track
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Food for Thought
full track
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Don't Break My Heart
full track
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One in Ten
full track
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King
full track
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Sing Our Own Song
full track
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Bring Me Your Cup
full track
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If It Happens Again
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Rat in Mi Kitchen
full track
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Shoutbox
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UB67 wrote:
My favorite bands, KING!
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buyonce wrote:
Hi all, Just a quick message to let you all know that Buy Once Give Twice are auctioning off a signed UB40 T-shirt, signed by all of the band members!! The T-shirt is in an auction which is raising money for The Breast Cancer Campaign. The current bid is ONLY £10!! The auction will finish on October 31st. http://www.buyoncegivetwice.co.uk/lots/4th-october-signed-ub40-t-shirt
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donnilad wrote:
1 OF THE BEST SONGS THEY EVER DID
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Joseph_C wrote:
Their earlier stuff is best. Post Promises & Lies is blah. (Yes I live in the past - it's better) And Red Red Wine is not that good. Breakfast in Bed, Homely Girl, and Please Don't Break My Heart are so much better IMO. Crappiest song just has to be Can't Help Falling In Love! I could not believe it when they released that. Anything to crack America I guess?
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ReS4K4 wrote:
red red wineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee lalala
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dannycaves17 wrote:
kingston town is the best
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deanandsue wrote:
i love ub40 what good chill out tunes init
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onlykangeroo wrote:
lasst euch das mega ub konzert in karlsruhe nicht entgehen
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fruttibanana wrote:
there voice is intresting
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alicia06 wrote:
Love UB40! Kingston Town my fav :)
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LightlessMoon wrote:
great
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Melquisidec wrote:
Don't Break My Heart is my personal favorite. It's just has that special feeling...
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gueopardo wrote:
jAh...Jah...jaH...RASTAFARIANS Greetings from The SpAiN...LISTEN IN... http://www.lastfm.es/music/Lion+Sitte PROMISE REGGAE SPANISH... JAH rasta rastafaari...jAH LiVe...Jah bless...thAnkSSS
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fanscape360 wrote:
Hey Everyone- It's Reggae Night VII this weekend at the Bowl. UB40 is headlining the show, and Beres Hammond and Barrington Levy are on the lineup too. If you're interested there are still great tickets left at www.hollywoodbowl.com. Hope you'll join us! Jackie, with the Bowl
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nanny-t wrote:
my grandson
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DanDan1990 wrote:
interesting pic
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Tirhone wrote:
Nuff Respect UB40!!
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NgApUhIzPhYnEsT wrote:
<3
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Whoamithen wrote:
Official bootleg downloadable on there website. Live performance at Paradiso Amsterdam 2008 the Netherlands with there new members and gueststar Maxi Priest.
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atabora wrote:
red red wine...............
Events
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Oct
17
UB40
Ringlokschuppen, Bielefeld, Germany
Add shout
| 1 attendee -
Oct
18
UB40
Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany
Add shout
| 1 attendee
- Oct 19 UB40 E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
Listeners
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Prodoc
Listening now
to I Would Do for You -
Lonchmeister
Listening now
to Can't Help Falling in… -
profi31
Listening now
to Kingston Town -
spyblack
Top Listener
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beokii
Top Listener
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JuanCamilo
Top Listener
Recent Activity
- chef-marlowe and adelantoviti added UB40 to their libraries. 17 minutes ago
- breakRider tagged UB40 with ‘reggae’. 2 hours ago
- margorat, lindabergstrand, ei04017 and 7 other people added UB40 to their libraries. 3 hours ago
- Glounce tagged UB40 with ‘you are welcome in poland’. yesterday evening
- JulioCorrales added UB40 to JulioCorrales’s library. yesterday evening
- rattlesnake87 tagged UB40 with ‘reggae’. yesterday evening
- Hellbilly tagged UB40 with ‘reggae-pop’, ‘reggae’, ‘contemporary reggae’, ‘adult contemporary’, ‘pop-rock’ and ‘college rock’. yesterday evening
- romiflacocu, Babsimausi, sgrimland and 19 other people added UB40 to their libraries. yesterday evening
- ipozgaj tagged UB40 with ‘80s’ and ‘ska’. Wednesday evening
- feelicks, ILoveCali415, MightyDoomster and 3 other people added UB40 to their libraries. Wednesday evening
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