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- Newsgroups: rec.music.reggae
- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!torn!watserv2.uwaterloo.ca!watserv1!wes.on.ca!tomh
- From: tomh@wes.on.ca (Tom Haapanen)
- Subject: Re: UB40
- Organization: Waterloo Engineering Software
- Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 15:33:46 GMT
- Message-ID: <1992Dec25.153346.4019@wes.on.ca>
- References: <1992Dec24.015247.1@woods.ulowell.edu>
- Lines: 32
-
- mcginnisj@woods.ulowell.edu writes:
- > I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on the group UB40.
- > I know that they are supposedly reggae, but I heard they weren't very good.
- > Any comments or opinions??
-
- Well, I suppose beauty is in the eye (or ear?) of the beholder, but UB40 is
- one of my favourite groups. While they are British, over 50% white and
- somewhat more commercial than some "pure" groups (but decidedly less so than,
- say, recent Third World), they are most decidedly first and foremost a
- reggae group.
-
- While some of UB40's most popular hits have been covers of earlier reggae
- greats from Labour of Love and Labour of Love II (such as Red Red Wine and
- Kingston Town -- my wife's favourite), most of their material is original.
- Like Marley, they are not afraid to make statements or take a stand on issues.
-
- Take a listen to some of their best material -- my favourites include "One
- in Ten", "King", "Present Arms", "Riddle Me" and "Burden of Shame". They
- have a distinctive sound, they have excellent lyrics and they are quite
- danceable.
-
- If you're interested in getting into UB40, I'd recommend starting with either
- their debut album (with the British unemployment form, UB40, on the cover)
- or Jeffery Morgan. While the Labour of Love albums are packed with great
- old reggae tunes (most from the pre-political era), they don't give you any
- impression of UB40's songwriting skills.
-
- Just my opinions...
-
- [ \tom haapanen "i don't even know what street canada is on" -- al capone ]
- [ tomh@wes.on.ca "trust the programmer" -- ansi c standard ]
- [ waterloo engineering software "to thine own self be true" -- polonius ]
-