| In
the late 1970's, early 1980's Reggae Music
got a big boost in the UK. In fact, even a
new genre within the music was born.
In Jamaica, most Reggae would be played
by a studio band in the studio's, with
different vocalists and DUB engineers doing
things with the recordings.
Other than Bob Marley and the Wailers,
there were only a few other bands who had
their own repertoire and touring schedules,
their own vocalists and so on.
How different was it in the UK, around
that period of the late 1970's, early
1980's. It was a time, wherein a lot of
bands started to play both live as well as
in the studio. Bands like Misty in Roots,
Steel Pulse, Aswad, Black Slate, and...
UB40.
The band's name was taken from an
unemployment benefit form, a thing which had
to be filled in by the many unemployed. It
was the same in the mid-west of the UK,
where the band originated from.
They started to record and play music, in
their own way. The father of the band's lead
singer was a well-known folk singer, and so
UB40's music was definitely Reggae, but with
a different touch.
And that touch turned out to be a crucial
touch, for the band became not only very
popular, they reached a super-stardom until
this very day in march 2007.
PRESENT ARMS IN DUB is the DUB companion
for their 2nd album "Present
Arms". It used to be a rare and
hard-to-find album, back in the pre-Internet
days, and therefore the most interesting as
well.
In these early years, UB40 already had
their own specific sound but well rooted in
Reggae Music. And what better way to show
that you know your Reggae, than to produce a
DUB companion with the vocal tracks?
So they did.
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