In 1980, around three million Britons were unemployed. Among those unemployed were the band members of UB40, who named themselves after the form you had to fill in to be entitled to benefits. On the debut album Signing Off (1980), the grim eighties are mainly echoed in the group's lyrics. In Burden Of Shame, the group celebrates the English role in colonialism, while their breakthrough single Food
… For Thought was a protest against the famine in Ethiopia. UB40 immediately broke through to a large audience with Signing Off. Unfortunately, that success also heralded a period of creative anemia, in which pop songs were mainly 'far-reggae'. Anyway, with its strong songs, urgent lyrics and delusional dub effects, Signing Off is still a classic reggae album thirty years later. This re-release contains an extra CD (with singles and b-sides) and a DVD with video clips, a live show from 1981 and the band's first appearance in Top Of The Pops. (PdK)more