The first single from the new album, “Gimme Some Kinda Sign” breathes new life into the 60’s classic originally recorded by Brenton Woods. Combining the band’s insouciant grooves, a breezy melody and trademark effervescence, “Gimme Some Kind a Sign” is a bona fide triumph. Lead vocalist Matt Doyle suggested it to Robin Campbell, unaware that it had been sitting on his wish list since the Labour of Love (1983) album days four decades ago.
“Gimme Some Kinda Sign” is the first single from the band’s upcoming album “UB45”. The album releases globally on Friday April 19th, via the SRG-ILS label imprint.
“UB45” is also a featured release on Record Store Day (April 20) in the United States and United Kingdom. This exclusive pressing on bright yellow vinyl also includes a 12-page booklet with exclusives photos and full liner notes from the band.
UB40 is supporting the new album with a massive world-wide tour which includes 21 dates in North America. Maxi Priest, Inner Circle, Third World and Big Mountain to join on select dates. https://ub40.global/tour/
- July 2 New York, NY
- July 3 Boston, MA
- July 5 Ledyard, CT
- July 6 Charlestown, WV
- July 7 Selbyville, DE
- July 10 Bergen, NJ
- July 11 Niagra Falls, ON
- July 12 Flint, MI
- July 13 Davenport, IA
- July 19 Park City, UT
- July 21 Tacoma, WA
- July 25 Saratoga, CA
- July 26 Cabazon, CA
- July 27 Primm, NV
- Aug 2 Santa Ynez, CA
- Aug 3 Chandler, AZ
- Aug 5 Santa Fe, NM
- Aug 8 Clearwater, FL
- Aug 9 Pompano, FL
- Aug 10 St Augustine, FL
- Aug 11 Melbourne, FL
UB40 is one of the most successful and influential British groups of all time, with more than 100 million albums sold, and more than 50 charting singles in the UK, including their trademark global #1 hits “Red Red Wine” and “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You”; and U.S. Top 10s “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” and “The Way You Do The Things You Do.” The reggae/pop legends set the stage this summer for their highly anticipated 45th Anniversary celebration this year, along with the release of their new, forthcoming 45th Anniversary album featuring new songs and reworked classics, both titled UB45. The nine-piece ensemble’s UB45 tour, which includes on select dates, Maxi Priest, Inner Circle, Third World and Big Mountain.
“For more than 40 years, we’ve been one of the hardest working touring bands in pop music,” says guitarist/vocalist and UB40 co-founder Robin Campbell, who along with Jimmy Brown (drums), Earl Falconer (bass, vocals) and Norman Hassan (percussion, trombone, vocals), have been the core of the band for its entire ever-evolving history. “We aim to have a party every show. As much as we’ve enjoyed our Zoom chats these past few years, there’s no substitute for the relationship and synergy we have with our audiences live.”
Lead singer Matt Doyle joined the band in 2021 when he was a member of the popular Birmingham reggae band KIOKO – taking over for Duncan Campbell, UB40’s lead singer since 2008 who retired after suffering a stroke. UB40 first got wind of the magic Doyle brings to the stage as a singer and performer when KIOKO opened for them in 2018 at The Royal Albert Hall and supported UB40 on their subsequent UK and European tours. Says Campbell, “Watching Matt standing there in the middle of the stage like a rabbit in headlights, full of shock and awe that he’s playing with a band he loved growing up, is simply fantastic.”
For Doyle, naturally, it’s beyond a dream to be in those proverbial headlights. “Everyone has been so warm and welcoming,” he says, “and I’ve received so many beautiful wishes from fans from around the world, saying I’m the perfect guy for the job and they can’t wait to see me perform. Not only is it amazing being with the band singing these incredible songs I grew up with, but it’s also a blast sitting in a room just listening to these guys with so much worldwide touring experience tell their stories. KIOKO were doing very well, and I’m grateful for my time with them which allowed me to find my voice and hone my craft. But joining UB40 is like jumping on a ladder and climbing straight to the top floor.”
In addition to Doyle, Campbell, Brown, Falconer and Hassan, UB40’s current lineup includes long time members Martin Meredith (saxophone/WX7/keyboards), Laurence Parry (trumpet/ flugel/trombone),Tony Mullings (keyboards), and Ian Thompson (saxophone) plus permanent guest emcee Gilly G.
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.
Aside from their ability to capture the Zeitgeist of the era they launched in, one of the keys to breaking UB40 to mainstream success was their association with Chrissie Hynde, who saw them perform in a small venue and invited them on a six week tour with her fast-rising band the Pretenders just before the release of UB40’s double sided debut single “King/Food For Thought.” The exposure helped lift the track to #4 on the UK singles chart. By the time they finished the Pretenders tour, UB40 was selling out as headliners of the same venues.
Catapulted from bars to large theaters overnight, UB40 quickly became an unstoppable force, spending more time on the UK charts – and the “Top of the Pops” – in the 80s than any other UK band. Their later duets with Hynde were hugely successful; their 1985 cover of “I Got You Babe” hit #1 and “Breakfast in Bed” (1987) reached #6. Their inimitable re-imaginings of classic pop, R&B and reggae songs – including the Jackson 5’s “Maybe Tomorrow,” Jimmy Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross,” “Please Don’t Make Me Cry,” The Chi-Lites’ “Homely Girl,” “Kingston Town,” The Manhattans’ “Kiss and Say Goodbye” and of course, Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine” and the Elvis originated “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You” – launched them to global superstardom.
Yet as Robin Campbell points out, it’s important to note, “We’ve only done a few albums of covers and close to 20 of original material. I can see how the popularity of the covers makes people think that’s all we do, but there’s so much more to our band.” Equally responsible for building their legend at home in the UK were their self-penned 80’s hits “Food For Thought,” “1 In 10,” “If It Happens Again,” “Don’t Break My Heart,” “Sing Our Own Song” and “Rat in Mi Kitchen,” and “Higher Ground” in the 90s. Of the 12 gold and platinum studio albums they scored in the 80s and 90s, the biggest selling were their #1s Labour of Love (1983), Promises and Lies (1993) and Labour of Love II (1989). In 1987, their classic compilation The Best of UB40 – Volume 1 went six-times platinum in the UK. The band’s popularity has continued into the 2010s and 2020s with their well-received studio albums Labour of Love IV (2010), Getting Over the Storm (2013), For the Many (2019) and the collaboration album Bigga Baggariddim. In 2021, UB40 embarked on their first post-pandemic national U.S. tour, and released their new single, “Champion,” part of an all-star album celebrating the XXII Commonwealth Games which took place in the band’s hometown of Birmingham.
“We continue to make albums for the simple reason that we love doing it and we’re forever inspired by the reactions of our multiple generations of fans,” says Campbell. “Playing ‘Red Red Wine’ and having thousands of people sing back to us every night is fantastic, but we never want to become a cabaret act or do a Vegas residency where we only play decades-old hits for nostalgia’s sake. There’s always an incredible buzz when we present new material and get the stamp of approval from the audience.”
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