UB40 - Blender

ARTISTS

UB40

Pop-reggae group UB40 formed in Birmingham in 1978. They bought their first instruments with money that Ali Campbell, the lead vocalist, had received in a settlement from a bar fight. In 1978 Chrissie Hynde invited the band to open for the Pretenders on a U.K. tour. After their debut album, Signing Off, on an idie label in 1981, UB40 formed their own label, DEP International, and released 1981's Present Arms, which went to No. 2 in Britian. The following year, they released a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine,” which went to No. 1 in the U.K. The single was included on the 1983 album Labour of Love, which reached the Top 10 in the U.S.

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