Ali Campbell Biography

The afore-mentioned multi-racial nature of the group has always been something of a sticking point, in fact. As Ali Campbell and his brother Robin (lead guitar) were perhaps the two band members most instantly recognisable due to their onstage prominence, certain (lazier) writers rather leaped to the conclusion that this was, wow, a 'white' reggae outfit. However, this is far from the truth, as the band contains an ethnic mix of Yemeni, Irish, English, Scottish and Jamaican stock. Campbell recently revealed in an interview with The Times how it felt to be part of such a multi-racial band and yet be referred to as a white band: 'It was more annoying for the black half of UB40 being called white reggae artists than for me. We took that racist crap for 25 years from both black and white journalists alike, which does not seem to be abating, despite reggae being played now by all nationalities around the world.' (The flip-side of all this, though, must surely be that Campbell and his band-mates have brought to their beloved reggae, dub, ska and lovers rock a mass audience of white listeners who might not otherwise have heard it lest UB40 brought it to them).

The big early break came for UB40 when they were spotted, or rather heard, by Chrissie Hynde at a pub gig, and the boys from Brum bit her hand off when she invited them on tour as the support act for the Pretenders. In the spring of 1980, the group released their first double-A side, 'King'/'Food For Thought' on the indie Graduate label, and enjoyed instant success, attaining the number four spot - in the process, making UB40 the first ever act to achieve a top ten single with an independent release. Following this up with another top ten double A-side, 'My Way of Thinking/I Think It's Going To Rain', they carried on the dole/unemployment theme with the title for their first album, however this time acknowledging their nascent success by calling it 'Signing Off' (1980).

The album performed equally well, reaching number two in the sales chart, and at the same time served to put some water between themselves and the 2-Tone acts with whom they were often lumped together - yes, they may have been multiracial, they may have been playing music predominantly Jamaican in origin, and admittedly they did deal with gritty, political topics ('King' was inspired by Martin Luther King, for example) - yet, UB40 were unashamedly suited to pop sensibilities too, and the melodic vocals provided by Ali Campbell played no minor part in this early success.

Still, this is not to suggest that they didn't also show great awareness of their political and social surroundings- after their contract with Graduate had expired, they set up their own label DEP International, and on it released the anthemic 'One in Ten' in 1981. A searing piece of social commentary, the lyrics certainly pulled no punches in discussing the staggering ten per cent unemployment level in the early years of Thatcher's reign in Britain:

'My arms enfold the dole queue
Malnutrition dulls my hair
My eyes are black and lifeless
With an underprivileged stare
I`m the beggar on the corner
Will no-one spare a dime?
I`m the child that never learned to read
`Cause no-one spared the time'

The single was another huge one, reaching number 7,and the album from which it came, 1981's 'Present Arms', fared even better, just failing to reach the number one spot (and prevented from doing so, much to their chagrin no doubt, by the 'Stars on 45' album - no accounting for taste...) Whilst their popularity in the UK was not yet matched in the USA, this changed in 1983 with the release of the album of covers, 'Labour of Love', and their first number one single, 'Red Red Wine'. (The song was also to reach the peak of the US charts, but not until its re-release there in 1988, after a DJ in Phoenix saw them perform it at a Nelson Mandela benefit concert and started giving it airplay).

Not that there is anything quintessentially lacking form UB40's own writing efforts, but cover versions have provided a great deal of their hugest hits. As well as two collaborations with Chrissie Hynde on Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You Babe'(no.1 in August, 1985) and 'Breakfast in Bed' (1988), and with even later with Robert Palmer on Bob Dylan's 'I'll be Your Baby Tonight'(1990), the band's discography is littered with cover versions on which UB40, and particularly Ali Campbell's vocals, have stamped their own unique sound. Labour of Love II and III were to come, however neither of these was to contain their other truly enormous single - '(I can't help) Falling In Love with You', which nit number one in the US and the UK (at around the same time, on this occasion!), and featured heavily in the soundtrack for the pervy Sharon Stone stalker-flick, 'Sliver'.

It surely says something of the band's lasting popularity that to this day their sound is instantly recognisable, that they still enjoy as great deal of airplay both in the UK and in the US, and also that they were deemed to be still sufficiently A-list by 2005 to bag a spot on the Live 8 stage in London. Added to this, they recently preformed on the primetime US show 'America's Got Talent', in front of an audience of 70 million viewers.

In the midst of the band's successes, front-man Ali has also managed to get out the occasional solo release - scoring a number five hit-single with 'That Look in Your Eye' in 1995, and a number six album the same year in the shape of 'Big Love'. 'Let Your Yeah Be Yeah', from the same album, did not fare quite so well, and a cannily cute (or sickly-sweet, depending on your outlook) duet with his daughter Kibibi on the Frank and Nancy Sinatra classic, 'Somethin' Stupid' reached number thirty in the yuletide charts that year.

His latest solo effort, 2007's 'Running Free' and first single 'Hold Me Tight' will no doubt please fans of UB40 no end - not least for the calibre of his collaborators, including Lemar, Mick Hucknall, Beverley Knight and the legendary Smokey Robinson. What is remarkable is that Campbell's evident hunger to keep on making music has kept him so busy well into his third decade of his career. With a new UB40 album en route, and also a documentary about the group, 'Keep On Moving' recently completed, the singer must have scarce time nowadays to just kick back and reflect on the huge popularity of the reggae-meets-pop stylings that his mellow vocals have brought to the world.

• Ali Campbell Discography