UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. The band has been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984, were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records. This box set contains 5 original albums: Signing Off, Present Arms, UB44, Labour of Love, Geoffery Morgan.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 were formed in a welfare line in 1978, and their multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community their members came from. The band consolidated its street credibility with political topics appealing to dissatisfied youth and got a boost from fans of the waning 2-Tone ska revival movement. Brothers Robin (lead guitar) and Ali Campbell (guitar, lead vocals) formed the centerpiece of the group, which also included bassist Earl Falconer, keyboardist Mickey Virtue, saxophonist Brian Travers, drummer Jim Brown, percussionist Norman Hassan, and toaster Terence "Astro" Wilson. The band purchased its first instruments with compensation money Ali Campbell received after a bar fight, even though few of the members knew how to play them.

But by the end of the year, the group was invited to tour with the Pretenders. Their "Food for Thought" single reached the U.K. Top Ten in 1980, beginning a long streak of chart appearances. Signing Off and Present Arms were big sellers in Britain, if not America, and addressed the political issues of the day in songs like "One in Ten," a Top Ten hit blasting Margaret Thatcher for the country's unemployment rate. Released in 1983, Labour of Love, an album of reggae cover songs, gave the group its first chart album in America and first number one U.K. hit with Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine." Several albums of original material sold well in the U.K., but only respectably in the U.S., where the group's biggest hit was a Top 30 cover of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" featuring the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde.

In 1988, the group performed "Red Red Wine" at a Nelson Mandela tribute concert, and a Phoenix radio station trotted the single out for a second go-round. Listener response was far more enthusiastic, and "Red Red Wine" reentered the charts and went all the way to the top. Finally having hit on a way to conquer the lucrative American market, UB40 responded with another covers album, Labour of Love II, which produced Top Ten singles with versions of the Temptations' "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and Al Green's "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)." The group scored a huge hit in America with Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love," which was initially featured in the Sharon Stone film Sliver and spent seven weeks at number one. By this time, UB40 had largely abandoned their trademark left-wing politics and were concentrating more on perfecting their reggae oldies covers than their original material; however, the gimmick resulted in huge sales figures in both the U.S. and U.K., with Promises and Lies reaching number six in the States and number one in Britain.

In the spring of 1998, UB40 released Presents the Dancehall Album in the U.K. A third Labour of Love collection followed a year later. In fall 2002, UB40 bounced back with yet another collection. The Fathers of Reggae, which appeared on Virgin in November, highlighted the band's roots in reggae in a selection of classics. In 2003, the band scored a major hit in the U.K. when its version of the spiritual "Swing Low" with the multicultural choir United Colours of Sound became the official anthem for the 2003 English Rugby team. The song was featured on the 2003 album Homegrown. As their 2005 album, Who You Fighting For?, was being released, an announcement was made that the band would be working with Birmingham's Repertory Theatre to stage a new musical in the spring of 2006. Two years later their album TwentyFourSeven became their last with vocalist Ali Campbell and keyboardist Michael Virtue. Their 2010 release Labour of Love IV introduced Ali’s brother Duncan as the group’s new lead singer. They also released a remastered two-CD/DVD version of Signing Off as a 30th Anniversary Special Edition, which the band toured across America and Europe.

In 2011, Robin Campbell, Brian Travers, Terence Wilson, Norman Hassan, and Jimmy Brown started bankruptcy proceedings against the existing group over debts accrued by their label, DEP International. Alongside former singer Ali Campbell, they were declared bankrupt that year. In 2013, they released their 18th studio album. Titled Getting Over the Storm, it featured covers of country music songs by the likes of Willie Nelson, George Jones, Randy Travis, and more. Astro left the band after release of Getting Over the Storm; he'd join forces with Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue in a separate trio in 2016, calling themselves UB40 featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey. Meanwhile, UB40 continued to tour, and in 2018 they celebrated their 40-year career with a concert at the Royal Albert Hall and a new album called For the Many.

~ Steve Huey, All Music

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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Signing Off is the debut album by British reggae band UB40, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by Dudley-based independent label Graduate Records. It was an immediate success in their home country, reaching number 2 on the UK albums chart, and made UB40 the most popular reggae band in Britain, several years before the band found international fame. The politically-concerned lyrics struck a chord in a country with widespread public concerns about high unemployment, the policies of the recently elected Conservative party under Margaret Thatcher, and the rise of the racist National Front party, while the record's dub-influenced rhythms reflected the late 1970s influence in British pop music of West Indian music introduced by immigrants from the Caribbean after the Second World War, particularly reggae and ska – this was typified by the 2 Tone movement, at that point at the height of its success and led by fellow West Midlands act The Specials, with whom UB40 drew comparisons due to their multiracial band line-up and socialist views.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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Present Arms is the second album by UB40 and was released in 1981. It spent 38 weeks on the UK album charts, reaching number 2. An album of original songs, it spawned two top 20 hits in 'One In Ten' (number 7) and 'Don't Let It Pass You By/Don't Slow Down' (16).
Like their first album Signing Off, Present Arms contained many socially and politically charged lyrics, from the anti-militant title track to 'Sardonicus' which was about Risus sardonicus, the ironic smile on tetanus victims' faces. The UK top-ten hit "One In Ten" was an attack on Thatcherism. The album also touches on a subject very dear to UB40's heart: 'Lamb's Bread' and 'Don't Walk On The Grass' are written as part of the band's longstanding campaign for the legalization of cannabis. Musically, the album continued in the heavy, reverb-drenched, mellifluous style of the debut. The title track has been used to open UB40 concerts from the mid 90s onwards, usually with the blasting horn section beginning the concert. As with Signing Off, Present Arms was critically acclaimed and commercially successful in the UK.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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UB44 is the third album by UB40. It was released in September 1982. It reached No 4 in the UK album chart. This album was effectively the last one in their early musical style, again mixing heavy, doom-laden reggae soundscapes with politically and socially conscious lyrics. In particular, "I Won't Close My Eyes" and "Love is All Right" utilize reverb, echoes, and stereo positioning for a shimmering, three dimensional feel indicated by the 3D cover. Droning rhythms- the 4th dimension of time- induce a trance, evoking reggae's substance behind the muse. "Love is All Right" is a slow number with close sounding, harmonized vocals. Sax and trumpet echo in a huge hall, sounding like some Caribbean band of long ago. A funky, effected, simple guitar twang adds to the old and new feel. The lyrics challenge the listener that "a little more hate" may be needed in polarized racial and class conflicts. It is not a master work like the two previous song albums, but still something to be appreciated. Following this, the group's style turned far more overtly commercial with the Labour of Love album of reggae cover versions. UB44 was the Department of Employment form letter sent to British unemployment benefit claimants when they missed their 'signing on' appointment.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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Labour of Love is a reggae album by UB40, the band's fourth album and first covers album. It was originally released on 1 September 1983 and included the hits, "Red, Red Wine" (UK #1, US #1), "Cherry Oh Baby" (UK #12), "Many Rivers to Cross" (UK #16), and "Please Don't Make Me Cry" (UK #10). The entire album consists of cover versions of songs originally released by the group's musical idols. The most notable track is the cover of Neil Diamond's "Red, Red Wine," which reached #1 in the United Kingdom upon its release. The song was re-released in the United States in 1988, where it also topped the chart. The album and 12" version included a toasted verse by Astro, later copied by Neil Diamond in his live performances. The album reached #1 in the UK and #8 in the United States. With the inclusion of the new version of "Red, Red Wine," the album regained popularity in 1988 and climbed to #15 in the U.S. In 1989, it was ranked #98 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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Geffery Morgan is the fifth album by UB40. Released in October 1984, it takes its title from a piece of chalk graffiti on a wall: "Geffery Morgan…loves white girls". Following the huge success of their covers album, Labour of Love, all tracks on this album are self-penned. The album contained the hit "If It Happens Again", which reached #9 in the UK charts.

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UB40 - 5 Album Set (2012) {5CD Box Set} Re-Up

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