Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
they own a nice bar and club in croatia, so all is forgiven 
UB40 thread/updates
- Thread starter Greenfish
- Start date
Kaka Tim
Half Arsed and Slapdash till I Die
Yes, they're early stuff is very good indeed - great songs and musically really not notch innovative dub reggae - proving that white boys could do this stuff and do it well.
Then they seemed to overnight became some dreary, pedestrain, MOR, cruise ship band -proving that white boys should never be allowed near reggae.
I remember in the late 80s when it was reported that they were thinking of changing their name as being named after an unemployment benefit form was no longer appropriate for a globally succesful band. One wag wrote into to the NME suggesting that - inlight of the excessivpy corporate, rip off nature of their stadium gigs - they change their name to 'Barclaycard'.
Then they seemed to overnight became some dreary, pedestrain, MOR, cruise ship band -proving that white boys should never be allowed near reggae.
I remember in the late 80s when it was reported that they were thinking of changing their name as being named after an unemployment benefit form was no longer appropriate for a globally succesful band. One wag wrote into to the NME suggesting that - inlight of the excessivpy corporate, rip off nature of their stadium gigs - they change their name to 'Barclaycard'.
Idris2002
Stay Alive in '25
Just listened to that. Thanks Fed.
stupid dogbot
Haughty and Superior
Yes, mostly.
Vintage Paw
dead stare and computer glare
I've always had a soft spot for UB40, but also felt embarrassed about it. 
Dr. Furface
One small step for me
Decent when they started out - bloody dreadful ever since Red Red Wine.
rioted
redundant
^^ This. Especially Madam Medusa.
Maggot
The Cake of Liberty
Could say the same about Mr Marley himself tbf
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
i fucking love the first couple of albums but i'm a middle aged housewife so draw your own conclusions.
Aye!
And as has been posted, most anything since then has been utter ubershite.
"Tyler is Guilty" is a terrific track.
And "(I Think It's Going To) Rain Today" is cool too.
"Stone By Stone" is sublime.
I still remember seeing them at the Electric Ballroom in Camden in 1978, before they "made it" - only about 200 peeps there (198 popper-sniffing, pogo-ing skinheads and me (with hair down to my shoulders,) and my supposed "mate".
Fucking excellent gig! Really raw. Wholly passionate. Brilliantly engaged.
On the way out, I was beset upon by skinheads and beaten to fuck
- my "mate" ran away, expained later that there were too many of them and, therefore, there was nothing he could do and it was better that only one of us was demolished rather than both 
. Oh well.Anyway......
That said, The Beat was a far better band of the same time and genre. Their first two albums were superb - all original material. They were more musically and lyrically gifted.
Such gems as "Stand Down Margaret", "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Walk Away (Lean On Me)" and "Feel Love Thumping" were truly iconic tracks that deftly encapsulated and reflected the early Thatcher years.
Woof
yes you could. bob was shite on the whole too...
bi0boy
Power User
Actually, UB40s version is pretty good.
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
I saw them in either '78 or '79 in Leeds before they 'made it' - supporting The Pretenders. They were pretty unknown at the time and all the talk in the bus on the way back to York* was of how brilliant the supporting band were!
I've got the title track of Present Arms and the fantastic 'Lamb's Bread' in my head now! General consensus seems to be good band who went deadly boring. If I switched on the radio now & it was playing 'Red Red Wine' I'd have to zap it off, and quickly......
* no decent live venues in York in those days - sometimes a few of us would hire a minibus and go to Leeds.....
ouchmonkey
Singe Gainsbourg
yep. general consensus here seems to be they started well and went shite and I wouldn't really disagree
- the labour of love album(s) which a lot of people are pointing too as a turning point made them massively beloved in jamaica 'cos they made sure everyone got paid for their tunes, often for the first time.
they're held in similar high regard in Brum - people will slag their shit records but never them -they stayed around and put stuff back in helping other musicians and stuff and never got up their arses over being succesful.
I love it when you see Ali on telly and he's still dead, dead brummie.
bless 'em
I did really hate them when they were super shite though
I never knew that. that's mad.
beesonthewhatnow
going deaf for a living
I've just found out I'm one of the sound crew for their tour that starts on Monday 
That's my opinion of Aswad tbf - I only know them as cheesy chart-toppers but apparently plenty of people who actually know WTF they are talking about rate Aswad as OK.
I'm surprised so many people like their version of Kingston Town - sounds very cruise ship lounge bar to me, right up there with I got you babe, can't help falling in love...
I'm too pretty, Fuck Off!
Christ, I loved Chrissy Hines back in the early 1970's.
Didn't all teens?
Woof
miniGMgoit
OverWeightUnderAchiever
I don't know if Kingston Town is there song or one they pinched but the bit about if he had one wish he would give it away just to see the girls always made me wonder why he didn't just use said wish instead
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Scottish guys doing reggae.
stupid dogbot
Haughty and Superior
ringo
Macaroni cheese controller
They did some great stuff, their first two LPs stand up against anything done by any British reggae band. They then went on to make fortunes for Jamaican legends who otherwise would have died penniless. People like Ken Boothe got a house to live in specifically from UB40s work and for this they should be thanked and applauded.
As a roots fan I'd have loved them to have carried on making tough roots but they'd done that and went on to become popular and very successful and made a load of money.
Good for them, well done lads.
