小简介
Pop-reggae乐队UB40于1978年组建，其乐队成员都是来自于社会救济阵营中。他们的名字来源于得到国家补助的英国失业者。这支乐队的组成反映了工人阶级、黑人等下层劳动人民的街头文化，吸引了不满于现实社会的青年表现其政治愿望。
UB40乐队的核心人物是两兄弟，主音吉他手Robin和吉他主唱Ali Campbell，同时还包括贝斯手Earl Falconer、键盘手Mickey Virtue、萨克斯手Brian Travers、鼓手Jim Brown和打击乐手Norman Hassan，他们的制作人是Terence“Astro”Wilson。乐队用Ali campbell在一场酒吧争斗后取得的赔偿金买了第一件乐器，却几乎无人能知道怎么摆弄它。但是到了年底，乐队被Pretenders邀请参加他们的巡回演出。乐队的单曲《Food For Thought》在1980年达到U.K.流行排行榜的前十位，并逗留了相当长的时间，《Singsing Off》、《Present》都有很大的销售量。在他们的音乐中，有关于政治话题的《One in Ten》是一首批评国家失业率的歌曲，也上榜排在了前十位。1983年，为《Labour of Love》的发行，乐队出版了宣传画册，在英国特别畅销，这首歌曲被收入了他们的首张专辑，并为乐队赢得了第一个冠军头衔。专辑在英国销量迅速上升，而在美国却成绩平平。
UB40乐队取得的又一大成绩是闯进了Top30的《I Got You Baby》，这首歌曲还成为Pretender的Chrissie Hynde的插曲，为乐队成为世界一流的乐队奠定了雄厚的基础。1998年，乐队在Nelson Mandela的音乐会上演出了《Red Red Wine》引起轰动，随着Phoenix电台的循环播放，这首歌曲荣登冠军榜首，并且震撼了美国市场。
不久，专辑《Labour of Love II》出版，《The Way You Do The Things You Do》、《Here I Am》进入了单曲排行榜前十名，而《Can’t Help Falling In Love》在美国更是引起巨大的轰动，不仅成为电影《Sharon Stone》的插曲，而且还在排行榜首停留了7周之久。
直到今天，UB40乐队仍然活跃在世界乐坛中，并且屡有新作。去年，他们又推出了《Labour of Love III》，风采依然不减当年。
by Steve Huey
Named after a British unemployment benefit form, pop-reggae band UB40 was formed in a welfare line in 1978, and its multiracial lineup reflected the working-class community its 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 countrys unemployment rate. 1983s 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 Diamonds Red Red Wine. Several albums of original material sold well in the U.K., but only respectably in the U.S., where the groups biggest hit was a Top 30 cover of Sonny and Chers 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 re-entered 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 Greens Here I Am (Come and Take Me). The group scored a huge hit in America with Elvis Presleys Cant 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 its trademark left-wing politics and was concentrating more on perfecting its reggae oldies covers than its original material; however, the gimmick has thus far resulted in huge sales figures in both the U.S. and U.K., with Promises and Lies reaching number six and number one, respectively. In the spring of 1998, UB40 released Presents the Dancehall Album in the UK. 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 bands roots in reggae in a selection of classics. In 2003, the band scored a major hit in the U.K. when their version of the spirtual Swing Low with the multi-cultural 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 announcment was made that the band would be working with Birminghams Repertory Theatre to stage a new musical in Spring of 2006.
