THE COSY world of multi million selling superstars UB40 was shattered last year with the departure of frontman Ali Campbell.More than a year on, the band are carrying on regardless and bring their radio friendly pop reggae sound to the Midlands in December as part of a UK tour.Mail reporter TIM FLETCHER spoke to long term member Astro about how the band are coping after a bitter split which left metaphorical blood on the carpet of their Birmingham HQ. Or was it just red, red wine?ALI Campbell’s acrimonious departure from UB40 and his replacement as frontman by his brother, Duncan, attracted intense media coverage but still passed some fans by, according to the band’s vocalist, trumpeter and MC, Astro.“We played one gig currently and a guy who’d been standing right in front of Duncan sent a note backstage saying ‘Ali, I thought you were brilliant’,” he says.“He couldn’t tell the difference, even though Duncan is 11 inches taller and about two stone lighter than Ali.“The reaction we’ve had has been nothing but positive and quite a few people have come up to tell us they couldn’t tell any difference. It could have all gone horribly wrong but the crowd have really embraced Duncan and he’s doing an admirable job.” Campbell’s departure, in January last year, brought about a painful schism in the band after 30 years of existence and also saw his fellow long-term member Michael Virtue quit.The version of events Campbell presented to the media prompted his erstwhile colleagues to issue a 1,300-word statement refuting everything from his claim that he was forced out of the band and that ‘bad administrative practices’ were to blame, to his suggestion that he had been responsible for writing all the band’s songs.One thing that particularly rankled was Campbell’s decision to notify his intention to quit the band via a solicitor, according to Astro.“That was the thing that actually stung,” he says. “You’d think that, after 30 years together, he would have been able to stand in front of us and go ‘this is how it is’ rather than getting solicitors involved.” Astro says Campbell, who has not spoken to his former band-mates — even his brothers Duncan and Robin — since the split, had been unhappy for some time before walking out.“It was obvious for a couple of years that he didn’t want to be on stage and even the public started asking why he always had a gloomy face and why he would never hang around to speak to fans,” he says.“It’s sad, but UB40 is like a family and with any family you have your problems and relationships break down. I’m sure time will ease the pain.” Astro says Campbell’s departure was largely down to his desire to pursue a solo career and the fact he had booked a solo tour at a time when he was supposed to be promoting UB40 album TwentyFourSeven.The release of that record brought the band more controversy after their decision to give it away free with copies of the Mail on Sunday brought about a backlash within the industry, with firms refusing to distribute the paid-for, ‘deluxe’ album version.“It’s something our record company suggested to us,” says Astro. “There’s no doubt that it’s a great way to get a large volume of units to the public in one fell swoop and we shifted three million of them, but it backfired on us with the retailers not wanting to have the deluxe version because it had already been released.” The band have returned to a more conventional model with the release of compilation album Love Songs earlier this year and forthcoming release Labour of Love IV, the latest in a series of covers albums inspired by the music the band grew up with in 1970s Brum.“When we started out the most frequently asked question we got was ‘You all come from Birmingham, so why did you choose to do reggae music’?” says Astro.“We thought the best way to explain was to do an album of all the reggae tunes we loved as kids.“When I was growing up you would never hear reggae music on the radio and the only way to hear it was by going to one of the house parties that West Indian families would have every weekend.“They’re all classic tunes which you would hear everywhere at the time. We thought that if we could expose these tunes to the general public, they would fall in love with them in the way we did.” The series would prove a winning formula, earning the band hit singles with covers of songs such as Red, Red Wine; inspired by Jamaican rock steady performer Tony Tribe’s version of a Neil Young tune.That track earned UB40 number ones on both side of the Atlantic, but their smooth, slicky-produced, radio friendly interpretations of classic songs have seen their music dubbed ‘reggae lite’ by the critics.“It’s each to their own really but we don’t ever try to tone things down; you just do what sounds best for the melody you’re playing,” says Astro. “Reggae is not about how much you can stuff in; it’s about how much you leave out; giving it space.“I think albums like TwentyFourSeven and (2005 release) Who You Fighting For are kicking and if you play them with an open mind, I defy you to call them ‘tame’, either lyrically or musically.”
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