Gotta like the source material of course, but this just became a textbook example of why we trawl the bargain bins for old vinyl treasure.

UB40 – Labour Of Love (2015, CD) - Discogs UB40 – Labour Of Love (2015, CD) - Discogs

With the inclusion of the new version of “Red, Red Wine,” the album regained popularity in 1988 and climbed to No. The five remaining original members of the group – with a third Campbell brother, Duncan, now on vocals – still record and tour as UB40. For Ali, the song is proof “that you don’t change anything by singing about it, that’s for fucking sure. It was in a similar spirit of evangelism that UB40 recorded Labour of Love, an album honouring the reggae tunes which had inspired them to form a band; Red Red Wine had been written by Neil Diamond, but UB40 knew it through the 1969 rocksteady version by Tony Tribe.The Campbells’ father, Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell, was a staunch communist who politicised his children. P) 2009 The copyright in this compilation is owned by Reflex Recordings Ltd under exclusive licence to Virgin Records Ltd. The album and 12" version included a toasted verse by Astro, later copied by Neil Diamond in his live performances. Rose would go on to direct music videos for Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Bronski Beat before becoming a Hollywood movie director.

UB40 - Labour Of Love II | Releases | Discogs UB40 - Labour Of Love II | Releases | Discogs

When it came to forming a band, says Ali’s older brother, UB40 guitarist Robin Campbell, “there was no question about what kind of music we would make”. The album contained two top-ten Billboard Hot 100 hits – " Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" peaked at No. The album consists of cover versions of ten of the group's favourite songs by reggae artists from the period 1969 to 1972. The story followed a fictional version of the lives of the band members, their relationships with family and girlfriends, and their jobs in a junkyard, with all roles in the film played by the band and their friends. The band defended their decision to make an album of cover versions, stating that they had always wanted to make reggae for a wide audience.

Labour of Love is UB40’s 4th studio album, containing covers (a form they would follow with additional Labour of Love albums down the road). The album was recorded on a four-track Fostex machine in a bedsit belonging to local drummer Bob Lamb. In contrast to the longstanding and bitter rift that divides the two factions, more of which later, the Brummie eight-piece once presented a united, staunchly uncompromising front.

UB40 – Labour Of Love III (1998, CD) - Discogs UB40 – Labour Of Love III (1998, CD) - Discogs

A Real Labour of Love was released in March 2018, an album much in the vein of UB40's Labour of Love series of albums. Labour of Love III is the twelfth album and third covers album by UB40, released on DEP International label in 1998.

It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the highest-charting UB40 album since Promises and Lies, which reached number-one in 1993. The group were apparently unaware during recording that the most famous track on the record had not originally been a reggae song. The mission prompted the band to release a dub version of Present Arms, the superb follow-up to Signing Off.

Labour of Love Band - Labour of Love Band Labour of Love Band - Labour of Love Band

Despite being “the biggest party band of the 80s”, Ali Campbell acknowledges that they often came off as a dour, slightly intimidating bunch. Robert Christgau professed his initial dislike of an album of cover versions, before revising his opinion after repeated listens, admitting that "it hit me once again that reggae tunes can take a long, long time to hook in". UB40 featuring Ali and Astro perform Signing Off in full in an online concert available to view from 16 June. Formed in 1978 by a nucleus of schoolfriends who grew up around Birmingham’s multiracial Balsall Heath, UB40 were once the authentic voice of informed working-class disaffection. He was fairly disappointed in us starting a reggae band, but he was happy that we were writing lyrics that said something.Lord Creator, the artist who wrote and recorded the original version of Kingston Town, was able to build a house – “Quite a big house, too!