Ub40 Love The Things You Do

[Donahue Granados]

Thisis my annual stop to reassert that UB40 is pretty great and one of the most underrated acts of all time, a band unfairly judged by many for their mediocre later work, which requires ignoring their first really good eight or so albums, which is more good music than most bands manage.

I've been meaning to give these guys another chance, but I was told the best stuff was the early stuff, specifically the singles, which can be confusing because those records were re-sequenced into different releases here in the U.S. Any recommendations as to which compilation, CD, etc might be best? I know their first covers album (the one that finally got them a hit in the U.S.) is supposed to be good too, and I do love "Red Red Wine," but I get the feeling any argument for true greatness lies with the original material.

I ended up doing a pretty deep listen yesterday, albeit concentrated on the first few years. At the moment, I generally have a strong preference for their earliest recordings, specifically everything released in 1980 that's been repackaged into way too many configurations. (Wading through that probably ate up too much time due to redundancy, but FWIW, the two-CD/one-DVD 2010 reissue of Signing Off is THE way to go - listen to that and you can ignore every other release covering that year. Just go straight to Present Arms after that.)

First one's still THE record for me. Second one isn't quite on the same level but it's a pretty strong follow-up, third one feels like treading water but it's not bad and "So Here I Am" is excellent. It's not too surprising that Labour of Love sort of defined their popularity in the U.S., but heard in context with everything else, it does feel a lot like their own Moondog Matinee or Pin Ups. (I happen to love "Red Red Wine" - I imagine it's overplayed in certain contexts, but I rarely hear it and it's a great track to me. It's too bad the single cuts out the toast.) The downside is that things start to get a little too polished for my tastes as well. But Geffery Morgan, Little Baggariddim and Rat in the Kitchen are all fine records. My interest starts to wane past the point of no return on the self-titled album, which to be fair isn't bad, but after that I found myself skimming through the rest. Still, that's a fairly consistent bit of quality work, and sustaining that for a decade is nothing to sneeze at, even if they don't reach the same lofty peaks as my favorite two-tone groups. (The Beat is easily my favorite, but they only had three albums. The Specials began splintering even sooner.)

I don't really see the influence tbh, I would have thought Steel Pulse (and other British reggae acts) were much more of an influence, or inspiration or whatever. I don't know though. Also Birmingham is very much in the Midlands!

I don't think Two-Tone had any influence on UB40. It's worth remembering that Two-Tone's rise was stratospheric and went UK wide in an incredibly short period of time. UB40 definitely had a very different audience (with a small crossover) but had an even faster rise to the top than Two-Tone and went from total obscurity to huge in the blink of an eye. It's often discussed how impressive it was that Stiff Little Fingers managed to have a 100% independently distributed UK top 20 album with "Inflammable Material" in 1979 but I've always wondered why it isn't more remarked on that UB40 managed to have a UK No. 1 album (maybe it was no. 2 but still...) just a year later with "Signing Off" that was also 100% independently distributed.

According to some guy on the internet UB40 turned down an offer to record for 2-Tone, as did Dexys Midnight Runners. I knew Dexys had had some connection with 2-Tone but I'd never heard about a UB40 connection before. Then there's this:

a bit more digging and that may not be true... David Virr is the ub40 guy and none of the obits mention anything. the record shop had a lot of Graduate memorabilia and I'm sure i remember some kind of link, but a guy called Charlie Pollack is listed as running it from '84, unless that's a different one (but the two listed locations match my memory)

The Campbells didn't like the electronic d'n'b-ish stuff on Cover Up and Homegrown and blamed it on two of the other guys less bothered about 'eight guys in a room' after two decades but I think some, any, variation present on some bad selling mid/late-period UB40 albums is necessary.

I have no idea how it happened, why it exists, seen no commentary on it anywhere. This was the B-side to a total mega-selling single, well over a year before the first jungle hit in the UK (Incredible), in fact very much from jungle's infancy, but it's just invisible.

Made even more enigmatic by almost every UB40 interview I've ever seen or read hammering home the 'we're popularising some reggae songs and people and we're not interested in doing anything else' angle (which I assume made some band members fidgety - there are arguably dnb influences on a few later tracks)

Falconer championed jungle from day one and is still active in the scene! He founded Maximum Boost Recordings and Circus Records (5) along Swan-E, which are responsible for the Jump-Up side of DnB and Dubstep. (Flux Pavillion, DJ Hazard, et al.)

I was going through a major review of spending and savings this week, just sitting in the living room on my laptop, with the dog snoozing on his bed because it's been much too cold to go outside. It was too quiet in the house for a tedious bout of record-keeping. I'd recently resolved an issue with my satellite radio subscription, so it was at the top of my mind, and I went to look at stations. I've learned from riding a Peloton bike that sometimes I will thrive in '80s-based music environments (I was born in 1970), so I went in that direction. One channel was called 80s Chillpill.

It didn't really matter whether I liked "Can't Fight This Feeling" or not; I listened to it over and over and over, much as people do now with their very favorite songs. Top 40 was relentless (and, you'll notice, rather white), so if that was the direction you went, as it was for me, you heard what you heard and you didn't customize the experience. And, for the record, radio was more genuinely local; this was before the entire structure changed in the 1990s.

I wonder sometimes what the current version of this kind of nostalgia is. Obviously, people who are now the age that I was then will have these pangs about something, but it can be hard to know what. It's not as if it's always Top 40 songs for me. The other week, I was singing to myself a jingle from the Van Scoy jewelry stores. It dates back to at least the early '80s, and it starts, "I'm a lucky girl, hooray, oh boy!" Because, of course, she has a diamond from Van Scoy. I always found this music extremely annoying, but now, if you sing it, I will fully belt along. (And I am not alone. I had no idea, but this delighted me.)

It's the same thing with the music from Action News in Philadelphia. "Move closer to your world, my friend! Take a little bit of tiiiiiime!" Back then, was this music important to me? Of course not; it was the theme song to the news. But now, it seems that it's one of the most beloved bits of cultural currency from people who grew up around Philly at the time.

Perhaps that's the appeal of 80s Chillpill. Perhaps because I was rarely hearing these songs by choice, they are stapled indifferently to the widest variety of memories: being sad, happy, bored, frantic, lonely, with friends, in the car, in my room, studying, reading, hanging out. Doing things that were meaningless, but doing them in good company.

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UB40's rendition of 'The Way You Do The Things You Do' is a reggae-infused love song that celebrates the allure and impact of a significant other through a series of playful metaphors and similes. The lyrics, originally penned by Smokey Robinson and Bobby Rogers for The Temptations, are brought to life with UB40's smooth and rhythmic style, which adds a laid-back and romantic vibe to the song. The band's version maintains the essence of the original Motown hit while infusing it with their signature reggae sound, which often includes themes of love, social commentary, and feel-good melodies.

The song's lyrics are a series of compliments that liken the beloved's attributes to various objects and concepts, each chosen for its positive connotations. For instance, the brightness of the person's smile is compared to a candle, and their embrace is as comforting as a handle. These comparisons not only highlight the person's qualities but also the effect they have on the singer, such as sweeping them off their feet like a broom or stealing their heart like a crook. The repetition of the phrase 'you could have been anything that you wanted to' emphasizes the beloved's potential and the admiration the singer has for them.

The chorus, 'the way you do the things you do,' serves as a refrain that punctuates the song, suggesting that it's not just the beloved's qualities themselves but how they use them that captivates the singer. The song's message is one of deep affection and appreciation for the beloved's presence and actions, which make the singer's life richer and sweeter. UB40's version of the song adds a relaxed, romantic atmosphere that complements the loving lyrics, making it a timeless expression of admiration and love.

When UB40 first hit the charts they caused a bit of a stir because their first album Signing Off was recorded on a shoestring budget, a very hit and miss affair with a producer who was possibly as inexperienced as they were themselves - Bob Lamb - and yet somehow they had managed to overcome every conceivable obstacle, including actually placing their work with a record company, to become an instant success.

More astonishing still, the overnight success seems to have stayed with them and spread rapidly throughout the world. Four major albums later, along with various singles, 12"s, and dub mixes, as a company, they now own their own studio, are putting the finishing touches to a second studio, have their own record label and publishing company, and are now branching out into production work for other bands.

Janet Angus recently sat down with guitarist Robin Campbell and drummer Jimmy Brown to find out what they have learned in these last few years and how they see their future.

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