UB40 still has the same line-up they started with, 8 people who got together in 1978 to do something about being unemployed. The name UB40 comes from the file number of the form in Birmingham for unemployment benefits. This form can be seen on the cover of the band's first LP "Signing Off", which announced to the world: We have a job now! In discussing their music, UB40 said "We play Jazz-Dub Reggae, if you want to give it a name." Their texts are seeped in politics: racial justice ("Tyler"), exploitation and misery in the Third World ("Food For Thought", "Burden Of Shame") and indifference about the fate of the individual ("One In Ten"), just to name a few. The two Rockpalast concerts on this DVD took place in completely different milieus: The first one in 1981 at the Sartory-Sale in Cologne, where the festivities surrounding the Carnival season occur, the second one in 1982 on the Loreley where the enchantment of the famous "Rock on the Rhine" was given that day an extra sprinkling of magic dust with UB40's music. UB40 - who had improved musically from the year before - were, despite the seriousness of the lyrics, able to hold their own with the other artists, because the band's gentle pulsating music made people dance. The songs presented on the concerts both come from "Signing Off" (1981) and "Present Arms" (1982); the Loreley concert additionally includes pieces from "UB44" (1982).
Sartory-Sale Cologne - 19 July 1981
01. Present Arms, 02. Tyler, 03. King, 04. Food For Thought, 05. The Earth Dies Screaming, 06. Don't Let It Pass You By, 07. Lamb's Bread, 08. Silent Witness, 09. Sardonicus, 10. One In Ten, 11. Madam Medusa, 12. Don't Slow Down, 13. Dr. X, 14. Burden of Shame, 15. Signing Off.
Loreley 29 August 1982
01. Present Arms, 02. Sardonicus, 03. Silent Witness, 04. Don't Do The Crime, 05. Don't Let It Pass You By, 06. I Won't Close My Eyes, 07. Don't Slow Down, 08. The Piper Calls The Tune, 09. Love Is All Is Alright,
10. Forget The Cost, 11. Politician, 12. One In Ten, 13. Food For Thought, 14. Burden Of Shame, 15. Tyler. |
