UB40 Unveils New Singers

UB40 held a party in Birmingham yesterday for a few hundred lucky fans to unveil their two new singers. I have to say after watching the videos below that were recorded by a fan at the show that Duncan Campbell is the real deal. He looks like his brother Robin and sounds just like Ali. Its uncanny really. When they opened with my favorite UB40 song of all time (Food For Thought) and I heard the first lyrics he sang I have to admit it raised the hairs on the back of my neck. Where has he been hiding all these years? Maxi Preist also brings it and his song with the UB's may have Top 40 hit written all over it.

I'm still on a quest to hear the songs from the new album that was distributed this past weekend by The Mail On Sunday. Until I can find them and post them here, enjoy the videos below of the new UB40.

Food For Thought


Rainbow Nation


War Is Over


Dance Until The Morning Light

UB40's new album distributed free by UK paper

So I took a walk around my NYC neighborhood this morning looking for a copy of the Mail On Sunday to see if I could score a copy of the new UB40 album Twentyfourseven but apparently they are only available in the UK. So until a copy makes itself available take a look at the artwork and track list and take a listen to some of the new songs that UB40 performed live at the end of last year

Track Listing:

RAINBOW NATION

END OF WAR

LOST AND FOUND

HERE WE GO AGAIN

OH AMERICA

I'LL BE THERE

INSTANT RADICAL CHANGE OF PERCEPTION

ONCE AROUND

THIS IS HOW IT IS

THE ROAD


End Of War




Rainbow Nation




I'll Be There

And in the spirit of giving Ali Campbell equal time I have posted his new CD Running Free. Take a listen and make up your own mind if he made the righ decision.

Running Free
01. Running Free (4:06) with Beverley Knight
02. Hold Me Tight (3:59)
03. I'll Be Standing By (3:29) with Lemar
04. Don't Go (3:05)
05. Would I Lie To You (3:05) with Bitty McLean
06. I Want One Of Those (3:14)
07. Hallelujah Time (3:50) with Smokey Robinson
08. Don't Try This At Home (4:05) with Katie Melua
09. Flex (3:52)
10. Being With You (3:59) with Mick Hucknall
11. Gotta Get Away (3:33)
12. Devoted To You (3:04) with Robin Campbell
13. Village Ghetto Land (4:48) with Aston 'Family Man' Barrett

Ali Campbell - Running Free

Password: UBAli765

A 2Tone Universe

For a short time in 1979-80 a few popular recording stars we know under different names all took a shot at playing ska music. It's true. Really.

Anyone ever heard of Graduate? What about Akrylykz? How about The Executive. In fact there are a number of unsung bands of the 2Tone era that should be celebrated. I'll get to all of them in another post.

While Graduate was not a ska band they wrote and recorded this single in 1979 in response to Elvis Costello complaining about how everybody seemed to be hopping on the ska bandwagon and nobody cared much for his sound at that time. Both tracks appeared on their debut album, Acting My Age. The Bath, England new wave band lasted five singles and two albums before disbanding in 1981. Two of the members made a name for themselves later. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith formed Tears For Fears.

Many thanks to Tone and Wave for the link to the 7" download

Elvis Should Play Ska 7" - Graduate

The Akrylykz were a band from the 2Tone era from Yorkshire. Their vocalist and tenor sax player Roland Gift who was chosen by Andy Cox and David Steele (of The English Beat) to be the lead singer of their new band Fine Young Cannibals. This vinyl from 1980 is inscribed with the words "Eat your heart out 2Tone"

Many thanks to Tone and Wave for the link to the 7" download

Smart Boy 7" - Akrylykz

Finally there was The Executives. In 1979, Georgios Panayiotou (known to me and you as George Michael), Andrew Ridgely and a few friends under the spell of such dance artists as Chic and Sylvester, began writing songs together. Soon fascinated by the music of the U.K.'s ska revival, the pair formed their own ska group, The Executives; by 1982, the duo had signed a deal with the CBS-distributed Innervision label as Wham! Sorry but I have not been able to find any pictures of a young George Michael as a rude boy.

The Equals - The First Real 2Tone Band

There is a lot more to Eddy Grant than "Romancing The Stone" and "Electric Avenue". In fact the man helped to change the face of music in the UK in the 60's with the multi-racial band The Equals. Known best for the original versions of "Baby Come Back" and "Police On My Back" the band mixed 60's pop-rock with hints of ska, soul and RnB. The riff for Baby Come Back is Hall of Fame worthy in my book.

The Equals were a pop/reggae/rock group that formed in North London in 1965. They are remembered mostly for the fact that Eddy Grant, then sporting dyed blonde hair, was in the group. Also in the original line-up were the twin brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon, as well as John Hall and Pat Lloyd with supporting drummer Paul Pegler.

They first started rehearsing on a council estate at Hornsey Rise, North London in 1965. In 1966 the group released the "Hold Me Closer" / "Baby Come Back" single, which did not capture much attention in the United Kingdom. However, in Germany and The Netherlands it went to #1 - a position its re-issue would later reach in the UK. Thus, the racially mixed London group gave President Records their only number one hit. A gold disc was presented to the group in June 1968 for a combined one million sales of the record. The year 1968 saw the release of "I Get So Excited" which appeared in the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. It was reported in September 1969 that all five members of the group had been injured in Germany, when their car ran off an autobahn in a gale.

A string of single releases followed up to 1970, all of which charted in the UK. The group also attracted attention as one of the few racially integrated bands of the 1960s, which was reflected in the group's name: The Equals.

In 1971, Grant went home to Guyana, following a collapsed lung and heart infection which put him out of action at the beginning of that year. He promptly left The Equals to pursue his solo career. He would have eventually release several Top 40 singles in the late 1970s and early 1980s; among them, "Living On The Front Line", "Electric Avenue", and "Romancing the Stone". Grant also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1982 with "I Don't Wanna Dance". Although the band never charted again after Grant's departure, they remained a popular live act, performing into the late 1970s and beyond.

In the late 1970s, The Clash recorded a successful cover version of The Equals' song "Police On My Back". In 2006 Willie Nile released his cover of "Police on My Back" on his Streets of New York CD. Plus, The Hypertonics have covered "Police On My Back" in concert.

The Equals' song, "Green Light", was covered by The Detroit Cobras, on their 2007 album, Tied & True.

The song "Baby Come Back" refused to go away. The track returned in 1994, when Pato Banton scored an unexpected UK number one with his cover of the song.

The Equals - The Best of The Equals


Now here is some music history. Check out this amazing set of songs by The Equals from German TV in 1966 featuring Baby Come Back/Hold Me Closer/Hey Baby It's Time You Got Going.




Here is a great 2-part interview with Eddy where he discusses the early days of his career. The interviewer appears to be from Eastern Europe so the intro is not in English but the interview itself is in English. Enjoy.

The Equators - The best ska band from the early 80's you never heard

The Equators were way ahead of their time. I remember borrowing a copy of Hot their debut for Stiff Records from our original guitar player Steve Parker. He told me that he wished Bigger Thomas could sound like the songs on this record. I remember listening to the songs and wondering why I had never heard of the band or why they weren't more popular. They released their album during 2Tone mania and should have had the same level of success as The Specials, The Beat and The Selecter. In my mind they suffered from I call "Fishbone Syndrome". That is that they were an amazing band that was doing something way ahead of its time and that didn't fit preconceived notions of what black or white music should sound like. Instead it was a melting pot of different musical sounds and it seemed to throw a lot of people off.

Below is a piece written by Tazy Phillips who helped to organize a re-recording of the original songs by the band by a band that included some of the original members a few years ago. It really gives the best description of the band, their sound and the high praise their contemporaries had for them.

Formed in 1977 by the brothers Bailey (Donald, Leo & Rocky), the offspring of Jamaican immigrants to England, The Equators were discovered by Stiff Records’ President, David Robinson, performing with another Birmingham band, The Beat (which shared The Equators’ 20/21 Management team). Robinson, ecstatically impressed with the raw energy of their concert performance & the soulful innovation of their ska-pop-reggae sound, moved to sign the band to the famous Stiff Records label (home of Madness & Elvis Costello).

The Relationship with Stiff Records began with The Equators backing the Jamaican ska-reggae great, Desmond Dekker ("Israelites", "007 Shanty Town"), on his Black and Dekker album.

As Rocky recollects, "It was a wonderful time in our life. Stiff Records was always full of surprises . . . One day we’re recordin’ with Desmond Dekker & The Pioneers ("Long Shot Kick the Bucket"). The next time we’re recordin’ our first single, "Baby Come Back," with pop-reggae producer & musician Eddy Grant ("Electric Avenue"), which scored a top 10 hit in Europe in 1980."

Dave Wakeling remembers with enthusiasm, "The Equators were brilliant. In our earliest formulations of The Beat sound we discovered that if one played an all punk set, the audience would get burnt out; & if one played an all reggae set, the audience would fall asleep. Therefore our music would encompass the energy & intensity of punk & the hypnotic, laid-back groove of reggae, a punky-reggae hybrid."

But just when we thought we discovered something new, we discovered The Equators, right in our home town of Birmingham, who had already come up with a similar formulation . . . Whereas we were a bunch of kids searching out, learning, & adopting this music, The Equators were first generation Jamaicans in England." Prince Buster was part of their own heritage. It was from The Equators that The Beat learned to stylize this blend in a soulful, delicate manner. It was from The Equators that we learned lightness & depth of touch in playing’ this music."

With The Beat in mind, it makes one wonder why The Equators did not sign with the famous 2 Tone label which significantly defined the second wave of ska. Donald responds, "In the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, everybody wanted to be on 2 Tone. Everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon when really 2 Tone was just a springboard for bands to get onto the majors (e.g. both Madness & The Beat jumped ship after one 2 Tone single)." We thought, hey, we were playin’ this music before the 2 Tone thing came out. Why give it up to 2 Tone? Our music, our sound, has always been about originality. That’s what Stiff Records saw in us, & the deal was right so we went with Stiff which also happened to be where Madness ended up."

But after two world tours, loads of singles & an al-bum under their belt, The Equators disbanded because in the words of The Equators, "Stiff didn’t know how to market us." As Neville Staples of The Specials explains, "The Specials were one of the first to break down the race barriers in England by having both white & black musicians play side by side (followed by The Selecter, The Beat, etc.). The 2 Tone label, Stiff Records & others appealed to this new-enlightened intrigue over multiracial musicians & music among the white middle class." That’s why it was so easy for Stiff Records to move Madness . . . Stiff didn’t know what to do with The Equators, an all black band, & unfortunately, that is why they did not reach the magnitude that such bands as The Specials & The Beat have been graced. They are a band that rightfully deserves to reach such heights. Like The Specials, it is fantastic that they are comin’ back after all these years."

The Untouchables lead vocalist, Jerry Miller, remembers, "Man, it was because of bands like The Equators that we formed The Untouchables. We were very big fans of 2 Tone, but with The Equators, that’s where it was at with us because it was so groovin’ & soulful." Their recordings were sacred to us. We used to listen to ‘em in the dark & take in their influence... I remember when The Equators toured the U.S. in 1981. My friends & I went to see ‘em at the Reseda Country Club dressed in our best mod & rudeboy get-ups & attitudes. Then The Equators took the stage, a bunch of black guys dressed in sweat pants & such. At first our mod-fashion heads were taken back. ‘Where’s the style in this?’ we thought. Then they started to play . . . & by the end of the show we were questionin’ our own mod & rubeboy identities. Who were we to judge when The Equators’ music, style & performance was so real, so smooth & so authentic."

Tracklisting:

Rescue Me (2:40)
Age Of 5 (4:02)
If You Need Me (3:40)
More Than A Person (3:56)
Rankin' Discipline (3:11)
Mr. Copper (3:43)
Nightmare (2:36)
Where Did Johnny Go (3:46)
There Is Someone (3:10)
Learn My Lesson (2:46)
Feelin' High (3:41)

The Untouchables - America's First Ska Band

The Untouchables really deserve the credit for being the very first U.S. ska band. They almost singlehandedly created the U.S. ska scene and I want to make sure they get the credit they should. I also saw them play a memorable show in the early 80's at Fordham University opening for Fishbone that was one of the sweatiest shows I ever saw. They also had small parts in several 80's movies (any one remember the mod scooter gang in Repo Man who kicks the crap out of Emilio Estevez for trying to repossess their grandma's car??). They were like a ska version of Captain Gooch and The Shrimp Shack Shooters in the movie "That Thing You Do. "

For the uninitiated, The UT's formed in 1981 as part of the embryonic L.A. mod revival, after being inspired by the ska revival. Since some couldn't play instruments, they either hastily learned, or became vocalists. The original lineup included: Kevin Long (vocals), Chuck Askerneese (vocals), Terry Ellsworth (rhythm guitar), Clyde Grimes (guitar), Rob Lampron (drums), Herman Askerneese (bass) and Jerry Miller (vocals, timbales).

After a shaky start playing at parties, the integrated septet were eventually booked at the O.N. Klub (known as the On to regulars). The band had guaranteed the club that they would pack the venue, and they did not disappoint. In middle of that year, they released their first 7" single, copies of which were snapped up by local mods. The Untouchables originally played covers such as "We Ain't Got Nothing Yet" (Blues Magoos), "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" (Small Faces) and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (Monkees) in addition to their own songs. Late in 1982, the band began a stint as the house band at the Roxy Theatre. Terry Ellsworth left the band in the summer of 1983, at the height of the California mod revival. Josh Harris was added on keyboards, and Will Donato (who became a successful smooth jazz artist) started on sax.

Their second single, "The General," became a minor local hit, despite poor distribution. The band performed "The General" in the 1984 comedy The Party Animal, and they appeared as a scooter gang in the movie Repo Man. In early 1984, they were signed to Stiff Records. Concerts with The B-52's, Black Uhuru, Bow Wow Wow, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fishbone, No Doubt and X all over California gave the group a disparate following of whites, blacks, mods, punks, surfers and rockabilly fans, with the local performances drawing up to 1,500 people. The band also appeared in the 1984 film Surf II, performing "Dance Beat", and 1987's No Man's Land, performing "What's Gone Wrong".

Vocalist Kevin Long (who had named the band) left in 1984. Guitarist Clyde Grimes took on more vocal leads, and in 1984 the band recorded "Free Yourself", which became very popular, especially in the United Kingdom. The band has gone through many lineup changes since then, and as of 2006, only vocalist Jerry Miller remains from the original lineup.

Here is the famous scene from Repo Man:



Check out this news story from LA in the 80's warning people about the Mods that features The UT's:



Finally here is the classic video for "Free Yourself" that threatened to put the UT's into the charts.

UB40 Replace Ali Campbell with his brother Duncan

I read all about it on the UB40 fan boards but now traditional media are also finally reporting that Duncan Campbell, older brother of Ali and one of 4 Cambell brothers, has been tapped to replace Ali who left because of concerns about band management (his story) or to puruse a solo career (the band's story). The band has also added a new keyboardist to replace Mickey Virtue. There is also truth to earlier news stories that Maxi Priest is also joining the band. He will tour as an additional vocalist.

Here is the story from BBC News

UB40 singer replaced by brother
By Ian Youngs Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Former UB40 singer Ali Campbell is to be replaced in the band by his brother Duncan, with reggae singer Maxi Priest also bolstering the line-up on tour. Ali Campbell, who fronted the group for 30 years, quit in an acrimonious fall-out earlier this year.

Duncan, a former professional spoon player, will join his other brother, guitarist Robin Campbell, in the group. He said he asked for Ali's blessing before stepping in, but stressed they were not otherwise on speaking terms. "I told him if he objected strongly, I wouldn't do it," Duncan said.
Ali replied that he was "disappointed but didn't object", according to Robin.
"But I haven't spoken to him since," Duncan added. "The wounds are fresh."

In January, Ali said he left the group because he was unhappy with the management of the band's financial and business affairs. He's my kid brother and I felt dumped, as did every other member of the band Robin Campbell on Ali. The remaining band members say he quit to go solo. "He left to pursue a solo career for the financial benefits that that brings," Robin said. "That's what he told me."

Robin Campbell said the brothers' relations with Ali would "take a lot of healing".
"He's my kid brother and I felt dumped, as did every other member of the band," he told the BBC News website. "We felt deeply hurt and those things take time to heal.
"Obviously things are difficult, but he's my baby brother so it doesn't stop me loving him. I wish him all the very best. "I'm just still disappointed and sad about the way it's happened, but life goes on and the band goes on."

The band are giving away a version of their new album, Twentyfourseven, with the Mail on Sunday newspaper this week. The 10-track CD is the last work recorded with Ali Campbell.
An extended version with seven further tracks recorded since Ali's departure will go on sale in June. It includes contributions from Maxi Priest, who will also perform with the band on tour in the UK, Europe and US later this year. Priest is best known for his late-1980s and early-1990s hits such as Close to You and Wild World. UB40 formed in Birmingham in 1978.

Duncan Campbell sang in a harmony group with his brothers when they were children and has performed with their father, Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell, on stage.
He said he had also recorded a reggae album in Jamaica for Ali's record label, but it was never released. "I was the only professional spoon player in the country registered with the Musicians' Union - until they registered me as a vocalist," he added. "I have suggested playing the spoons in UB40 but they don't seem very keen."

Discussing his previous jobs, Duncan said: "I opened and managed the first casino in Barbados, I ran a fish and chip shop in Perth, Australia, and I've been an actor on and off."