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This article is from the Reggae FAQ, by Mike Pawka eznoh@niceup.com with numerous contributions by others.

17]. Why do purists look down on UB40? (Reggae)

From: tomdp@selway.umt.edu (Thomas D Potterf)

UB40 has consistently released albums with intelligent lyrics, though
sometimes Ali Campbell's enunciation is not that great! My question, why
do so many "reggae purists" consider the UB's contribution to the genre
as minimal at best? Their lyrics speak about individual power, fighting
injustice, and are backed by a solid reggae beat. Is it because they
seldom refer to Jah?
--

From: hbowser@bianca.amd.com (Horace Bowser)
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

Nah, homey... It's the sound... the sound... the One Drop, Heartbeat Riddim
I Ya! No doubt, lyrics are important and, from what you say, their's seem
to be on the one. But it's about the music.

From: walkup@phyast.nhn.uoknor.edu (John Walkup)
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

The way UB40 "reggaefies" mainstream songs annoys me.

From: eznoh@niceup.com (EZ Noh Mikey)
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

For me it's how lame their new stuff sounds compared with their early
eighties tunes like "Madame Medusa", "Tyler", "Burden of Shame" and "My Way of
Thinking".

EZ Noh, mike

From: bobko@nunki.usc.edu (Ryan Bobko)
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

I'm not too sure, but I'm almost certain Elvis wasn't writing {insert UB40's
last remake} in the mindset of a poor Jamaican fighting oppression in his
homeland. Not that much oppression of Jamaica in Tennessee...

From: TIMRAS@aol.com

it might have more to do with the fact that
Campbell is white. I think they have had a major
influence in popularizing the genre/music, and their
earlier releases (pre Rat in the Kitchen) were representive
of the whole Steel Pulse/Naturlites UK roots-dub sound.
Political lyrics, horns, bass heavy dub mixes while
Junjo and Phang and their dancehall style was the style
in Jamaica. When UB40 got more "pop"ular in their sound,
"I Got You Babe" - "Red Red Wine", which was around when
their mixer/producer Pablo Falconer? , the bass players
brother, died (in a car crash?), they lost all alot of their old fans,
me included. I still think they are great for what they do,
but "Signing Off" thru "UB44" were genius, and the 12"
mixes from that time are really great.
Ultimately race and success may have been their un-doing
in the eyes of the so called reggae "purest"
For me the best reggae is often the most un-pure.
Give me Everly Brother covers and harmonica and banjo
riffs to keep the sound the mix of influences that first
turned me on to that funky music from Jamdown.

From: kmayall@cousteau.uwaterloo.ca.uwaterloo.ca (Kevin Mayall)

In article <walkup.780270352@phyast>,
John Walkup <walkup@phyast.nhn.uoknor.edu> wrote:
>
>The way UB40 "reggaefies" mainstream songs annoys me.

The way UB40/35 "mainstreams" reggae songs annoys me.

:)

Cool.....................

Kev

----------
From: papalee@aol.com (Papa Lee)
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

I can't resist responding to this question. I think that there are many
minor reasons as to why UB40 has is so disrespected by reggae "purists"
but there are also a couple of serious reasons that many people probably
don't want to deal with.

First, the easy stuff (1) They did their most serious work and some think
their best work before A&M picked them up so many of their best and most
conscious songs were not heard until the poppier material gave them their
image. (2) They really haven't done much interesting songwriting in
about seven or eight years. (3) They don't sing about Rasta themes and
don't use Rasta iconology (4) They don't connect in any way with Jamaica
(5) There is a natural inclination among purists of all genres to dismiss
those who achieve success on a more universal level (George Benson,
anyone?) (6) There is also a fundamental distrust of any act that even
deals on a global level. Although I believe Third World's last two or
three records among their best and some of Steel Pulse's flirtations with
modern R&B to be exciting, there are too many people who pine away for the
good old days when they were on Mango. UB40, on A&M and Virgin, "suffers"
from the same attitude (7) They emerged at the same time that the Two-Tone
movement was peaking and to many are indelibly linked to Madness, the
Specials and that ilk. The relationship of those acts to "real" ska is
tenuous at best but it can influence the perception of the connection
between UB40 and "real" reggae.

On a deeper level, I believe that there is a certain amount of racism
involved here and I also believe that many people come to reggae with a
very specific cultural perspective that is not entirely musical.

On the issue of racism, I've seen this over and over again in the
criticism and literature of different musics that were invented or
developed out of various black communities. Jazz, soul and blues have all
had passionate arguments over the issue of white musicians within those
genres and while it is undoubtedly true that jazz is fundamentally a black
based musical style, that doesn't mean that Bill Evans, Stan Getz and Art
Pepper aren't creative, innovative and exciting musicians. The same
arguments have raged over Stevie Ray Vaughn, Paul Butterfield and Joe
Cocker and they are equally pointless there as well.
As regards UB40, I have to believe that at least in their material from
Signing Off to Labour of Love (and Rat in the Kitchen as well), that the
very fact that they are (predominantly) white works against them within
the reggae community. One other band that I think suffered from this kind
of racism was the Blue Riddim Band, a truly excellent American band from
the early 1980s that never quite got the recognition they deserved despite
a tremendous talent and devotion to classic reggae.

Finally, I believe that there are distinctions to be made between reggae
and Rasta and reggae and Jamaica. The three are not identical and it is
important to keep their identities somewhat separate. Reggae is a
*musical* form that was born out of commercial necessity and grew up in a
competitive, commercial environment. It has consistently adapted
influences from all over the place and had grown tremendously in content
and popularity. The fact that many international listeners "discovered"
reggae in an era in which most musicians were dedicated to Rasta themes
or came to find the music through Bob Marley has caused them to identify
the music with that specific culture. That's a mistake. Reggae is much
broader than the music of Bob Marley would indicate just as the culture is
broader than reggae. Yet because UB40 exists completely outside of the
culture defined by Bob Marley they are dismissed by those who define
reggae by Marley's standards. That's unfortunate because UB40 are
excellent musicians who are often capable of powerful songs (although
their last three records have left me pretty cold).

One Love,

Lee O'Neill

Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 19:40:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Allen Kaatz <highnote@eskimo.com>
Subject: Re: UB40: concious reggae

> UB40 has consistently released albums with intelligent lyrics, though
>sometimes Ali Campbell's enunciation is not that great! My question, why
>do so many "reggae purists" consider the UB's contribution to the genre
>as minimal at best? Their lyrics speak about individual power, fighting
>injustice, and are backed by a solid reggae beat. Is it because they
>seldom refer to Jah?

I like UB40, myself, but the only record I own by them is a single of
"Red Red Wine", which I knew would be a hit the first time I heard it, I
thought they did a great job with that song. A long of reggae fans
prefer more rootsy Jamaican reggae, I guess. I don't know why people
waste so much energy putting them down... maybe it's easier than saying
something positive for some people. I think UB40's records have helped a
lot of younger people get turned on to reggae in general, which is a good
thing. The band themselves are always very honest about their roots,
having recorded two albums worth of older Jamaican songs (Labour Of
Love). I think that UB40 are just another facet of the modern reggae
scene, they love the music, and have as much right to play it as anyone
else. As far as the rastafarian aspect, there are plenty of non-rasta
Jamaican artists who get respect in Jamaica. Reggae is a musical form,
not a religion, and although the rastafarian movement has had obvious
influences on reggae music, it is far from the only influence on Jamaican
music. American rhythm & blues, mento, calypso, etc. are some of the others.

I have heard musicians in Jamaica mention UB40 with respect,
they seem to be accepted there, if not a favorite. Many Jamaicans,
including recording artists, seem to be proud that musicians from
other countries are interested in their music. Another point in UB40's
favor is that when they record material by Jamaican artists they have gone
out of their way to made sure that the original writer gets paid. This
type of thing does not go un-noticed by musicians & artists in Kingston.

Al

*Allen Kaatz* <highnote@eskimo.com>

From tpj@de-montfort.ac.uk Fri Sep 30 09:39:48 1994

Interesting question, this. At a guess I would say that UB40 are loved and
hated in roughly equal proportions! I think it is not really UB40 who are
perceived as the problem, but they do tend to get a lot of flak as the result
of a more general problem.

It is clear that UB40 have achieved a level of success exceeding their
abilities as a reggae band. I have nothing against them musically, except
to say that they are very ordinary.

A similar case can be made concerning ex-Simply Red's Mick Hucknall. He's
got a good voice, but not the best, and his style is basically an
good imitation of other people's music. Also Lisa Stansfield (sorry these are
all English examples), the soul singer- good singer, but not *that* good...
the list goes on.

Why is this?

Check out the old Macka-B song that says something like, "UB40 a-make the
most millions." In there, I don't think he's criticisng them personally,
but using them as an example of something more general a lot of black
artists have been complaining about for years. Their argument is that the
music they produce is marginalised and marketed as something alien, to
then be replaced in the mainstream by weak imitations by white artists
(or at least partly white, in UB40's case).

However, if this is indeed the case (I would tend to agree) I think that
the 'consumers' and not just the marketers of the music must shoulder some
of the responsibility for this phenomenon. Most people, and I certainly,
with hindsight, must include myself among them at some times naturally
aren't aware of this bias for whatever reasons. They genuinely think that
lisa, Mick, Ali or whoever are the better artists.

That's the opinion of this purist, anyways.
Best wishes, all.

Tom (tpj@uk.ac.dmu)

From kaleek@ibm.net Sat Apr 11 12:10:24 1998

I'm not even a purist and I have always thought this band was the
definition of cheese. Here are some reasons.
(A) Mainstream radio airplay. These days when an artist is doing some
sort of quality "rebel" music, you can be assured that it will not be on
radio. This is directly because the mass audience will not relate to it,
or enjoy it.
(B) The vocals. They are so whiney. It just makes me want to puke.
(C) They are unquestionably the artist of choice when hanging out with
the surfy crowd. Them and Depeche Mode.
(D) They look like they are about to go in for an interview at GQ
magazine. If you are so damn dread, what is the need for hair gel?
(E) Personally, I think many artists have been sucked into this
menatlity that if you want to break it big then you have to look at what
popular American radio is doing. Who are the leaders of this train of
thought? UB40. Sadly, many great bands have pursued this route to fame
and money and in turn have failed miserably. I can honestly say that I
have not seen a reggae show rock my world hard in about ten years or
more. The only exception has been the Skatalites. For some reason they
seem to understand that what made them popular in the first place is
what will keep them popular regardless of the fads in the states. I
remember the first time I saw Steel Pulse in 1985 and I was blown away.
By the late eighties they were coming out with renditions of Bobby
Brown's "It's My Perogative." What the hell is that? It sounds like
someone got signed to an American label. It is really sad to see such
extremely talented bands just go to pot. Look at the line ups for Reggae
Sunsplash. They are just awful. Bands like Big Mountain headlining? I
work at a college radio station and we get so many crappy American
focused releases of reggae. I was in a shoe store a few months ago and
they had MTV on and all of a sudden I recognized a voice. I looked up to
my dismay and disgust to see one of the guys from Black Uhuru in some
awful rap video. There is a big reason that I simply do not buy new
releases of reggae, espaeciialy from older artists. That is because they
just suck really bad. I don't think it is because these artists don't
know how to make good music, I think it is because they have some UB40
listening manager and record label executives telling them what will
sell. If anyone knows these older artists please beg them for some
roots. End the UB40ization of what once was some of the best music ever.

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