Episode Details

One of the oft-asked questions when it comes to UB40 lore is how these young British born lads became multi-continent icons playing reggae-based pop. Though the Campbell brothers (Robin, Duncan and original lead singer Ali) were sons of famed Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell, they chose not to follow in his footsteps but play the reggae music that the major swell of Jamaican immigrants brought to Birmingham in the late 60s and 70s. In their multi-cultural hometown, the band members were also surrounded by Indian film music, including Bhangra and pop/Bollywood scores. The music they created - featuring insightful sociopolitical lyrics, tight reggae rhythms, dubby instrumental passages, sax solos and Jamaican scat vibes - became a quick favorite of a young, mainly blue collar and student crowd. Their music offered more depth than that of the many punk and ska and reggae influenced bands on the popular 2Tone label of the time.Finding their footing as a band during an era of skyrocketing unemployment during the early days of Thatcherism (a term referencing the conservative policies and political philosophy of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher), the band was purposely named for the UK government's Unemployed Benefit, Form 40 (which was incorporated in the cover artwork of their #2 UK debut album Signing Off), and their fourth UK Top Ten hit "One in Ten" (1981), written about UK's record number of unemployed, formed part of the soundtrack accompanying the race riots erupting in places like Brixton, Handsworth and St. Paul's in Bristol - hard pressed, inner city areas with large immigrant communities that had found themselves on the frontline in resisting the right wing policies of Margaret Thatcher's government.

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