UB40 Interview
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There’s no doubt that UB40 played a huge role in bringing Reggae music into the mainstream in the 1980s, and the buzz surrounding the reformation of Ali, Astro and Mickey is evidence enough of the influence they still have on popular culture. ‘Red Red Wine’ and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ are an example of classic tracks that will never get old, and the release of ‘Reggae Music’ shows they haven’t lost any of their love of the genre. With a new album waiting for release and an Australian tour this December, we chatted to Mickey for his take on the comeback and how it feels to tour all these years on.
Hi Mickey, how are you?
Great!
Whereabouts are you at the moment?
I’m in Birmingham.
Have you been enjoying the sunny weather?
You have to take it when you get it – it doesn’t happen very often! We’re really enjoying it. We’ve been doing a lot of outdoor shows, so it’s been nice. I think Glastonbury will be dry this year – for a change!
The news that Astro, Ali and yourself have reunited as UB40 has not only been exciting news for fans but also controversial as the band you all left are still touring; can you explain the situation?
The members that we left were all made bankrupt, so they don’t actually own anything; they don’t own the record catalogue, they don’t own the trademark. All of this is in the hands of a liquidator who we’re negotiating with, but it still doesn’t clarify the situation because no one has the right to the name UB40. We all individually have the right to use it, so we’re taking advantage of that fact, and at the moment it’s all still up in the air.
How does it feel for you guys to be back together again as UB40?
It’s just like the old days. It really doesn’t feel any different. The shows we’re doing, most of the songs we’re doing are UB40 songs, and it hasn’t been any kind of problem. It’s been like putting on an old pair of shoes. The musicians we have supporting us are all the crème de la crème, so the shows have been getting great reviews and everybody’s really happy with the way it’s going. We’ve got a couple of records in the offing, and we’re looking forward to coming down to Australia again and having a great time as we always do.
You said that it’s been like slipping on an old pair of shows, but you’ve been touring for over 30 years; how has it changed since the early ‘80s?
When we started we were generally in the back of a transit van with all the gear, driving up and down the motorways, so in that respect things have moved on a little bit! It’s not quite as rough as it used to be. We can travel quite well now and stop in nice hotels, but touring is always quite frantic anyway, we generally don’t have much time to hang out, but it’s a lot easier now – thankfully – I don’t think I could go back to the old days!
What sort of luxuries do you take with you?
Decaffeinated teabags, a CD player so I can play music. That’s about it really.
Who would you say was the biggest diva out of the three of you?
I suppose it would have to be Ali, because of the amount of attention he tends to attract [Laughs].
The UB40 name is highly associated with Reggae and you’re clearly proud to be creating it with your most recent track, ‘Reggae Music’; how has your love for that sound continued?
It was always the plan; the whole reason the band ever came into existence was because we wanted to promote Reggae music. Back when we were younger, Reggae music didn’t really get much airplay, so we set out to reverse that trend and I think we managed it to a certain extent. The main push was to promote it so people around the world could enjoy what we were enjoying.
Where did your love for it come from in the first place?
Birmingham is a very multi-racial city, so growing up I was exposed to music from all over the world. If I’d grown up in any other city that didn’t have such a cultural mix, I wouldn’t have been exposed to so many types of music. At the same time, my Dad’s a Jamaican immigrant, who came over and he used to buy records from Jamaica, specialist shops. He used to love Country & Western, Soul, Reggae that was coming out of the Caribbean, so it wasn’t something I had to go out looking for. It was all around me growing up. It’s the same for the rest of the band; they were exposed to music that they normally would never have heard, and we just couldn’t understand why it wasn’t number one around the world. We could see how many people loved them, but because they weren’t getting airplay, the rest of the world was missing out. That’s why we did the Labour Of Love series, to show people the kind of music we’d been listening to.
So when ‘Red Red Wine’ and ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ did so well, were you doing that for Reggae music?
Being musicians, it’s a very selfish life, because you have to please yourself. When you make a piece of music, you have to be happy with it before you put it out there in the public domain. The original push was that we loved the music so much, we never understood why these classic tracks had never been successful. We managed to turn that around with the Labour Of Love series.
What do you think about Reggae and its presence in British music today?
Worldwide, it’s a very young music; it used to be Ska, but around the mid-‘60s, Reggae became the most popular form and in that respect it’s a very young form of music but its influence has been great. If you look at Hip-Hop, Reggae predates all of that, and it’s a massive influence on that style and the way records are mixed today. Things we take for granted were unknown before Reggae music came on the scene. I would say it’s one of the most influential musics out there.
All the material that you brought out in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it’s still relevant to this day in terms of popular music…
Yeah, a good song is a good song; generally time tends to weed out the weaker tunes from the strong ones.
Do they still play a big part in the live shows?
Oh yes, I think there’d be riots if there were certain tunes that we didn’t play. There are tunes that we’d love to play but can’t because we don’t have access to Chrissie Hynde, but generally most of the shows have a lot of Labour Of Love material. We’ve had so many hits that someone’s always going to be disappointed, but on the whole, we tend to play the right tracks.
You’ve brought out ‘Reggae Music’ as a taster of the full album. Has the album been completed yet?
It is completed, there’s a lot of haggling going on about releasing it, but it is ready to go. It’s a bit frustrating for all of us; it would have been nice to have something out there, but I’m sure by the time we reach Australia, it’ll be out there.
Well, we can’t wait to hear it!
It’s great – you won’t be disappointed!
Thanks for your time, Mickey!
Check out UB40 tour dates below and get yours now!
Friday 5th December – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth available from www.oztix.com.au
Sunday 7th December – Riverstage, Brisbane available from www.ticketmaster.com.au
Tuesday 9th December – Enmore Theatre, Sydney available from www.ticketek.com.au
Thursday 11th December – Palais Theatre, Melbourne available from www.ticketmaster.com.au
By Charlotte Mellor
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