They’ve sold more than 70 million records worldwide – but some UB40 fans still have no idea what the band’s name actually stands for. The pop and reggae group, formed in Birmingham, has been creating hits since 1978 – and have celebrated worldwide success thanks to their catchy tunes.
Their most popular songs include Red Red Wine, Kingston Town, Falling In Love With You, The Way You Do the Things You Do, Bring Me Your Cup, Here I am, Homely Girl, Cherry Oh Baby, and Groovin’. The band currently has 11 members after seven notable names left the group for various reasons.
But despite being a household name worldwide, many fans still have no idea what their band name actually means, especially those living outside of the UK. Explaining their stage name, a statement on UB40 Global reads: “The story of UB40, and how this group of young friends from Birmingham transcended their working-class origins to become the worldâs most successful reggae band, selling over 100 million records and spending over a combined 11 years in the UK album charts, is not the stuff of fairy tales as might be imagined.
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“The groupâs led a charmed life in many respects itâs true, but itâs been a long haul since the days theyâd meet up in the bars and clubs around Moseley, and some of them had to scrape by on less than ÂŁ8 a week unemployment benefit. The choice was simple if youâd left school early. You could either work in one of the local factories, like Robin Campbell did, or scuffle along aimlessly whilst waiting for something else to happen.”
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The original eight musicians decided to name the band after their shared unemployment status – creating UB40, which stands for unemployment Benefit, Form 40. In the UK, a UB40 acts as an attendance card issued to those claiming unemployment benefits from the government. Commenting on this revelation, one Reddit user said: “Okay, that’s pretty good. I absolutely love UB40.”
Another user added: “The cover of their first Album, Signing Off, was an image of the the UB40 form – the ‘Unemployment Benefits Attendance Form’. It’s their best album. I have probably listened to it 1,000 times. Pure and simple Brit Reggae.”
A third user said: “They also had a song called One in Ten in reference to the near 10% unemployment at the time.” One more user added: “To people of my generation, growing up in Britain it was well known. I really like the cover of ‘Strange Fruit’ too. The album had a bonus record with a couple of extended mixes which I loved. Played ‘Signing Off’ to death. At college I used to take my boombox into the shower and play it there for the reverb.”
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