2023/4 Albums Thing 387 - UB40 “Signing Off”
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More reggae from Birmingham but this not quite in the same division (musically) as Steel Pulse. That’s not to say I don’t like UB40, it just depends which UB40 you’re asking me to like. The band that made “Signing Off” and “Present Arms” I’m all good with. The glorified tribute band that made “Labour Of Love” and it’s endless half-arsed sequels and then split into a million different lineups after, basically, an argument over money, well you can keep them.
The Campbell brothers who fronted UB40 had serious socialist roots, they being the sons of Ian Campbell the Scottish Folk singer and political activist who had relocated from Aberdeen to Birmingham as a teenager. The band formed around a bunch of school friends with a shared love of reggae. So to see them eventually fall apart, splitting into numerous different UB40’s, in footballers cliche terms, it was disappointing Ron.
But while they were in this first incarnation they burned brightly. I only ever saw them once, at the NEC Arena 27th December 1980, on a bill that also featured Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Rockpile, Madness, The Selecter, Squeeze and John Cooper Clarke. Elvis Costello was due to be the headliner but as UB40 had just that month had a top 10 single (“The Earth Dies Screaming”) and this was their hometown, Elvis wasn’t stupid, he conceded the headline spot to the returning heroes. It was special, there wasn’t a person in the room that night that wasn’t right behind them.
“Signing Off” had artwork that mimicked a government UB40 benefit card (from whence they got their name) and was packed full of politics and ire, oh for the days when the groups that populated the charts actually had something to say rather than just product to sell !
Here are songs of how African Americans suffered at the hands of a racist justice system and how the legacy of Martin Luther King had been lost (“Tyler” and “King”). “Burden Of Shame” covered the stigma of British Imperialism, “Food For Thought” bought attention to the famines in Africa, a full 5 years before Band Aid/Live Aid. “King” and “Food for Thought” were released as UB40’s debut double A side single. Could you imagine a new band doing that now ? And it charted, it reached number bloody 4 in the charts, a song about an assassinated civil rights leader coupled with one about famine in Africa. I’m not sure who had more balls, the band or the record buying public back then !
The album was originally accompanied by a bonus 12” single that contained a cover of Billie Holliday’s legendary song protesting the lynching of Black Americans in the deep South, “Strange Fruit” (“Southern trees bear a strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees”) and also “Madame Medusa” a scathing take down of Margaret Thatcher with lyrics every bit as potent as those in “Strange Fruit” (“Round her vacant features, Gilded serpents dance, Her tree of evil knowledge, Sprouts a special branch“).
“Signing Off” is a great record but it’s one I’d never really thought I needed to own again after letting go of my original copy years ago. But this copy came through the shop, the records are in great shape but a previous owner (thank you Debbie Goldie) had actually filled in their details on the UB40 form the cover represents and I didn’t think it fair to sell it on with someone’s personal details on the cover. So never fear Debbie, your National Insurance number is safe with me !
“Signing Off” was recorded in former Steve Gibbons Band drummer Bob Lamb’s ground floor flat on Cambridge Road in Moseley on an 8-track machine powered by a single 50p piece they kept feeding through the electricity meter after kicking off the lock ! And you try to tell the young people of today that ...
Madame Medusa - https://youtu.be/P-hBBJZIxFY?si=phCZ4m0tPSTBabHE