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UB40 are a British dub / reggae pop music band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band is one of the world's most culturally diverse dub reggae bands with musicians of English, Scottish, Irish, Yemeni and Jamaican parentage.
The band is named from the paper form issued by the UK government's Department of Health and Social Security at the time of the band's formation for claiming unemployment benefit (UB40 = Unemployment Benefit, Form 40).
UB40 were influenced by the many Blues Parties they attended as teenagers in the multiracial Balsall Heath area of Birmingham, their love of ska and reggae inspired such original tracks as "King", "Madam Medusa", "Food for Thought", "Signing Off" and "One in Ten".
Their early music style was unique, with a heavy influence of analogue synthesizers, psychedelic rock guitar, saxophone and dub producer techniques which were later perfected by the late Pablo Falconer.
They have had a number of hits, most commercially and to amusement of the band, "Red Red Wine", a cover version of a Neil Diamond song (in an arrangement similar to that of Tony Tribe's version).
Their most successful single release is the cover of the Elvis Presley ballad "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You" which was intended to be the main title to the 1992 Sharon Stone movie Sliver and was a Number One hit across Europe and in the US.
UB40 caught their first break when Chrissie Hynde noticed them at a pub and gave them an opportunity as a support act to her band, The Pretenders. UB40's first single, "King"/"Food for Thought" was released on Graduate Records, a local independent label run by David Virr. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
Their first album was titled Signing Off, as the band were signing off from or closing their claim on the unemployment benefit. It was recorded in a bedsit in Birmingham and was produced by Bob Lamb. Norman Hassan said of the recording: "if you stripped my track down, you could hear the birds in the background." This is because his tracks were recorded outside in the garden. Signing Off was released on September 6, 1980, and entered the UK Albums Chart on October 2, 1980. It reached as high as No. 2 in the UK and spent 72 weeks in total on the chart. Signing Off is now a Platinum album.
Despite great success in the UK, UB40's popularity in the United States was only established after they released Labour of Love, an album of cover songs, in 1983. The album reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200 in the US. The album featured the song, "Red Red Wine", a cover version of a Neil Diamond song (in an arrangement similar to that of Tony Tribe's version).
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