Seven guys from UB40 pose for a photo that would go on to be used on 1991 MusiCards #102. The two guys in the back seem to be standing in front of engraved text; perhaps a memorial or something? The band's Wikipedia page has one of those handy "band member timeline" charts, and according to that, there were 8 people in the band at the time, though I'm not sure who got left out here. I gotta wonder if the omitted guy was there sitting on the side and just got cropt out of the card (but then wouldn't it have made more sense to orient this card horizontally? And seeing how this particular photo is so low-resolution, you'd think there must've been a better option!). As the Trading Card Database shows, UB40 has several cards (if stickers or playing cards) from the 80s, many of which manage to squeeze in all 8 musicians just fine.
Another thing to mention here-- you probably have to be a big MusiCardork like myself to notice, but the band name text appears to be bold on this card compared to the rest of the set.
In the above pic, you can tell the "U" in UB40 is thicker than the "U" in U2 or Tina tUrner. Just another of the set's quirks thanks to a lax QC department at Pro Set, I suppose. Not sure if there are other emboldened cards in the set, but I'll keep an eye out as the blog advances. And by the way, the same UB40 card (front) is repeated in the UK edition, but with the Super Stars logo moved to the opposite corner, and the band name isn't bold on that one.
I wasn't aware of the Russian love or the name origin, so that's cool. Crazy how "Red Red Wine" was recorded by UB40 back in 1982, released to little attention in 1983, and then eventually became a #1 hit in 1988, ignited by a televised performance.
Another funny thing about the UB40 track is they were actually covering a different reggae cover of the song (by Tony Tribe), and didn't realize Neil Diamond originally wrote it until after their version was released.
Another cover song, the Elvis standard "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You", got them back to #1 in 1993, but things settled down for them after that. UB40 is still technically around since forming in 1978, though they've lost some original members over the years and haven't done a whole lot this decade.
I consider myself a casual UB40 fan and have put together a playlist of my favorite songs of theirs that I remember hearing on the radio back in the early 90s:
Red Red Wine (LP)
The Way You Do The Thing You Do
Here I Am (Come and Take Me)
One In Ten
Cherry Oh Baby
(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You
Where Did I Go Wrong
If It Happens Again
Rat In Mi Kitchen (LP)
Notating "LP" a couple times here because you have to go with the long versions over the single edits that cut out the best stuff.
Oh wow, love this song and didn't realize until just now that it's the great Herb Alpert on trumpet. I learn a lot doing this blog! ha
He got name-checked on the back on the UB40 card, but Neil Diamond probably deserves his own MusiCard, eh?
Mixing things up with a Legends subset custom. He seems to be strumming a D chord here, I think.
I heard a lot of Neil Diamond as a kid thanks to him being one of my mom's favorite artists at the time. His schmaltzy ballads never did much for me, but stuff like (They're Coming to) "America" (Today!), "Cracklin' Rosie", and "Forever in Blue Jeans" are fun songs. And of course there's "Sweet Caroline" that everyone loves singing along to (or maybe hates by this point?), a familiar song at sporting events, perhaps most notably for baseball fans, at Red Sox home games.
Mr. Diamond is still with us at age 84, though he has retired from touring and unfortunately has Parkinson's disease slowing him down now. For further reading on his impressive career, here's the link to his Wikipedia entry.
Thanks as always for taking a moment to stop by. If you've got any thoughts to share regarding UB40 or Neil Diamond, I'd love to hear it in the comments below.
Never bought tapes, albums, or CD's of either... but I remember hearing Red Red Wine a lot back in the 80's. As for Mr. Diamond, my mom liked his music, so I heard his songs a lot.
ReplyDeleteUB40 is a solid reggae band. I did know about the origin of their name--it's also mentioned in the lyrics of "Going Down To Liverpool", originally by Katrina and the Waves but made famous by The Bangles. ("Where you going with that UB40 in your hand? I'm going down to Liverpool to do nothing.")
ReplyDelete"Red Red Wine" was actually something of a hit in 1983; it was on MTV a lot and got a fair amount of AOR radio play, but didn't really cross over, peaking at #34 on the Hot 100. The 1983 single release was an edit without the rap, but I believe the 1988 single release was the full version. Incidentally, the b-side was a song called "Sufferin'", but the juke box labels mistitled it "Surfin'"!
I'd say my favorite song of theirs is "Higher Ground", which is NOT the Stevie Wonder song. Their version of "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" (originally by Al Green) is a good one too.
I'll pick "The Boat That I Row" as my favorite from Neil Diamond. And I love the stuff he wrote for The Monkees.