0:00:04 > 0:00:07I started UB40 to promote reggae...
0:00:07 > 0:00:09and they're punching off that name at the moment.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16We've come to a point where we've got to defend ourselves
0:00:16 > 0:00:18from the shit coming out of his mouth.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24Because I was asking questions, they started to demonise me.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26But I couldn't get any information.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29To this day, I still don't know what happened to the money.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35It wouldn't surprise me at all if he believes the things he says now.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38The lies he's told in the last eight years are just disgusting.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40He's a pathological liar.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42You know, saying we've ruined the band's legacy,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and ruined reggae music.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Really, we're starting again.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51We're trying to reclaim the name before the legacy's destroyed.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04This is the worst case I've seen, in 45 years in the business.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08He's split the band. He's split a family.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12It's a sad story. A very sad story.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18BAND PLAY INSTRUMENTAL
0:01:28 > 0:01:31BAND END SONG
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Welcome to the Jug O'Punch Folk Song Club in Birmingham.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45This is the Ian Campbell Folk Group and our first song is The Cockfight.
0:01:47 > 0:01:49# Come all ye colliers far and near
0:01:49 > 0:01:51# I'll tell of a cockfight when and where
0:01:51 > 0:01:53# Out on the moor I heard 'em say
0:01:53 > 0:01:56# A queen of black and a bonnie grey... #
0:01:56 > 0:02:00My family ran the biggest folk club in the country,
0:02:00 > 0:02:04for many years, throughout the '60s.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06It was at Digbeth Civic Hall.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10And it was, like, hundreds, every week, huge.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13You know, nothing like your average folk club now.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16It was massive and lots of people played there. You know?
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Many different... Paul Simon... You know, all sorts of people.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24Erm, and half of them ended up sleeping on the settee
0:02:24 > 0:02:25at our house, you know?
0:02:25 > 0:02:29So, we were surrounded by music all of our lives.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Me and Ali were on stage in me dad's club.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Ali and I were on stage when he was five,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38so I must have been six, you know,
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and playing penny whistle when I was a kid
0:02:40 > 0:02:43and, you know, we always talked about being Britain's answer
0:02:43 > 0:02:46to the Jackson Five! But, you know, things change.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Me, Robin, Duncan, we used to sing together, yeah.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50We did three-part harmonies.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I can remember me mam coming in thinking it was the radio,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57when the three of us were singing, you know? And we got quite tight.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00'Obviously, the influence of our father is great
0:03:00 > 0:03:04'because we grew up surrounded by music and musicians.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07'All of our lives, if you showed any interest at all,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10'he would thrust an instrument in your hands, you know,
0:03:10 > 0:03:14'and say, "I'll get you lessons if you want," you know?'
0:03:14 > 0:03:17But, like most kids, you're diametrically opposed
0:03:17 > 0:03:19to what your parents are into, you know,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22so we were looking for something else.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27The area we grew up in was an immigrant area,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29so, I was hearing Jamaican pop music
0:03:29 > 0:03:34from the age of eight or something, you know, that's what I heard.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38# People get ready to do, do rock-steady... #
0:03:38 > 0:03:41We grew up in South Birmingham, in Balsall Heath.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43The music of the streets was reggae,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and the music in the youth clubs we went to was reggae.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50So, we thought everybody loved reggae.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53But it was only in our small area of Balsall Heath.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55You know, when we went to secondary school,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57we realised everybody else
0:03:57 > 0:03:59was listening to something entirely different -
0:03:59 > 0:04:02called Gary Glitter and Marc Bolan and David Bowie, you know!
0:04:02 > 0:04:04That all went over my head, you know.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06I didn't get into any of that music.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Half of our firm, our gang, were West Indian kids.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Jamaican kids, primarily.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16And they had music coming from Jamaica,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18their mums and dads or elder brothers and sisters.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And that's where we got our music, and it was reggae.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24If you were to take eight people out of Balsall Heath,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27where we come from, eight kids would have looked like us.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30You didn't choose your friends according to their colour.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32They were just your friends.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Most of us went to school together, in Balsall Heath,
0:04:34 > 0:04:35right in the centre of Birmingham.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Proper mates.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41We spoke about starting a band right from 13, 14 years old.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44But you've got to remember, we left school in 1975,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48in Birmingham, and, you know, there was no jobs.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51There truly was no jobs for anybody.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52Mass unemployment.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55And we figured we'd have more chance starting a band
0:04:55 > 0:04:58than we would getting a real job. No kidding.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02There was talk about being musicians,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05without it ever coming to anything.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07And I think that, really, the thing that changed it all,
0:05:07 > 0:05:12that made us serious, was first of all,
0:05:12 > 0:05:17seeing Bob Marley live in '76, I think it was,
0:05:17 > 0:05:18when he came to Birmingham.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22And we went to see him and that made me decide
0:05:22 > 0:05:24that that was what I wanted to do.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26I really wanted to be in a reggae band.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28And I think the same for Ali.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30But we still didn't actually do it.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35# Ain't no rules, ain't no vow we can do it anyhow
0:05:35 > 0:05:37# I and I will see you through... #
0:05:37 > 0:05:42And it wasn't until Ali got compensation for damage to his eye,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45you know, pub fight, that he had the money.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Because he'd never been employed,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50so he'd never had the money to buy an instrument.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53So when he got compensation, he bought himself a guitar.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57I think he also bought our very first set of drums.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59But that was kind of a catalyst.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02The first rehearsal that we had, we hired a room
0:06:02 > 0:06:04and we all turned up there,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08in fact we got eight of us and all our gear in a minivan.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11And tried to rehearse, but we didn't know how to rehearse.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Robin knew the chords to House Of The Rising Sun. That was it.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17I was the only one that could play chords,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19and I'm trying to teach people chords and stuff
0:06:19 > 0:06:21and they're not listening, they're...
0:06:21 > 0:06:23It was just total anarchy.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28And I just said, "K, it's never going to happen, is it?"
0:06:28 > 0:06:29And I left.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34So Jimmy, the drummer, Earl, the bass player and myself
0:06:34 > 0:06:38went and rehearsed for six months until we could play.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42And we did that by playing records and copying them.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47And other people started drifting in as it started to sound like music.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49I lived in this bedsit flat in Moseley
0:06:49 > 0:06:52and Earl, the bass player, lived next door in a bedsit.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54And underneath was a big cellar
0:06:54 > 0:06:56that you could get to from the outside of the building.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59You know those big tenement houses, big Victorian houses?
0:06:59 > 0:07:01And we claimed this cellar.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Nobody used it, it was full of leaves.
0:07:03 > 0:07:04So we made it ours.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Stole our electricity off a Hells Angel -
0:07:07 > 0:07:08proper badged up Hells Angel -
0:07:08 > 0:07:12who lived upstairs, who was the greatest guy, knew all about it.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15"Don't worry, just stop playing at six o'clock when I get home."
0:07:15 > 0:07:18And we practised every day.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20And then, after a few months,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22I went down with Duncan and listened,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and Brian was playing there as well.
0:07:24 > 0:07:31And they actually were making... a sound that was close to music!
0:07:31 > 0:07:34And I was impressed enough that they meant it,
0:07:34 > 0:07:39I believed that they meant it enough for me to commit.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Although Duncan wasn't!
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Duncan just said, "No, it's never going to happen."
0:07:44 > 0:07:48And I just said, "Come on, the three of us singing, you know,
0:07:48 > 0:07:50"it'll be good.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52"Let's do it."
0:07:52 > 0:07:55And of course, he didn't, and I did.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57People think I turned down joining a band.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59But I didn't turn down joining a band,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02I turned down joining a project that was some way off.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Nobody had any instruments or knew how to play them,
0:08:08 > 0:08:10but they were going to work all that out.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12And there's lots of people who always say,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15well, I was given the chance to be a part of that
0:08:15 > 0:08:17but to be honest, I was busy!
0:08:17 > 0:08:19It didn't seem all that appealing at the time.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22He said - he had a job as a croupier, going to Barbados -
0:08:22 > 0:08:25he went, "Fuck this, I'm going to Barbados!"
0:08:25 > 0:08:27And who can blame him?
0:08:27 > 0:08:30We were in a damp cellar in Moseley, couldn't even play.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32We knew three chords, C, F and G.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36They were all in that band because they knew Ali.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Most of them were his schoolmates.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40One of them was his brother.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43So he was, undoubtedly, the founder.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45And Ali actually came to see me -
0:08:45 > 0:08:48well, Ali and Robin came to visit me,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and told me they were starting a band,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54but I couldn't have joined if I wanted to,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57because I was in prison at the time.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00We rehearsed for almost a year,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04playing any tune that we particularly loved at that time.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07You know, a reggae tune that was out and current, we were learning.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And slowly, learning to write songs.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13We had a lot of instrumentals with no words and melodies on,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17which we always had, traditionally, instrumentals on albums.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Which was just - we couldn't write words
0:09:19 > 0:09:20to go with that piece of music.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23I think at the time,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27we were nearly going to go out as Geoff Cancer and the Nicotinees.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32That's because at the time, it was post-punk,
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Poly Styrene and X-Ray Spex, you know, they had funny names.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38So we were Geoff Cancer...
0:09:38 > 0:09:42I was Geoff Cancer! And the band were the Nicotinees for a while.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44We didn't really care what it was going to be called.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47What we was interested in was actually playing music -
0:09:47 > 0:09:52and the name come from the suggestion from a friend of ours.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55He said, "Why don't you call yourselves UB40?"
0:09:55 > 0:09:57"You know, you're all on the dole, you've all got a UB40 card,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59"it makes sense."
0:09:59 > 0:10:02It gives us three million card-carrying fans instantly.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13We'd start playing gigs - but we'd only play in Birmingham
0:10:13 > 0:10:15once every four weeks, five weeks.
0:10:15 > 0:10:16So it didn't look like we were desperate.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19We didn't want it to look like that was the only gigs we had,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21we wanted to make out like we were precious.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25And we put posters up in the street, with just our name on, UB40.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27And then people would tell us, have you seen that band?
0:10:27 > 0:10:30And they hadn't seen us, because we haven't played at these places.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31Hype, you know, we were hyping.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34# Give me all you have
0:10:34 > 0:10:37- # Come over - All you got to give
0:10:37 > 0:10:39# Come over... #
0:10:39 > 0:10:42We shirt-tailed the 2-Tone movement.
0:10:42 > 0:10:43Wouldn't have got a lot of gigs
0:10:43 > 0:10:46if it hadn't been for the 2-Tone movement.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49We were never a part of it, but we sort of got a lot of gigs,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53we got gigs with The Beat and Madness and Selecter and stuff
0:10:53 > 0:10:56and we did those, but we didn't go down too well.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59We were spat at and sieg-heiled, basically, by the skinheads
0:10:59 > 0:11:01in the audience, because we weren't fast enough.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04But it got us gigs and got us exposure and eventually...
0:11:04 > 0:11:06we took off.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09# Appeal to the governor of Louisiana
0:11:09 > 0:11:13# You may get an answer the process is slow
0:11:13 > 0:11:17# Federal government don't do much to help him
0:11:17 > 0:11:21# It's been nearly five years And they won't let him go
0:11:21 > 0:11:24# Tyler is guilty the white judge has said so
0:11:24 > 0:11:27# What right do we have to say it's not so... #
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Chrissie Hynde, from The Pretenders,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32saw us playing in a little gig in Covent Garden
0:11:32 > 0:11:34called the Rock Garden.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37She came to see us play and she was number one at the time.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39And we were going, "Oh, that's that girl off the telly!
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"You know, with the number one record."
0:11:41 > 0:11:43We didn't know her name, really. Do you know what I'm saying?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46And they asked us to go on tour with them.
0:11:47 > 0:11:48# I got brass
0:11:49 > 0:11:51# In pocket... #
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I just had got The Pretenders together,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56we had our first album out,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01and I think we had our first and last number one which was...
0:12:01 > 0:12:03had just come out,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05and we were looking for a band to tour with,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08and my bass player, Pete Farndon, said there is a great reggae band.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11You know, we were all big fans of reggae, of course,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13because in the punk scene, that was all anyone listened to.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17And he said, "Go down to the Rock Garden in Covent Garden,
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"see this band. This little band."
0:12:20 > 0:12:22So I went down and there they were.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25They weren't signed or anything, but it wasn't a little band,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27the whole place was full of them.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31And so I sort of went backstage, to very sheepishly, I might add,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34ask if they would want to support my band.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I felt that was kind of a pompous thing to do,
0:12:37 > 0:12:38but I zeroed in on Brian
0:12:38 > 0:12:43because he was clearly the most accessible, friendly one.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Unfortunately, I couldn't understand a word he said!
0:12:45 > 0:12:49You know, I had to use the others to interpret what he said.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50But, I mean, they were just a great band.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53And we toured with them. They came on our first tour.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56# Must we go on ignoring... #
0:12:56 > 0:12:58It was terrifying, because it was so quick.
0:12:58 > 0:13:00We had literally been playing our instruments
0:13:00 > 0:13:01about eight or nine months,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04and suddenly we're on stage supporting The Pretenders
0:13:04 > 0:13:07in front of 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 people.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09And we were absolutely terrified.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13# I'm a British subject and I'm proud of it
0:13:13 > 0:13:16# But I carry the burden of shame... #
0:13:16 > 0:13:21When we started, 1979, in them days, if you weren't political,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23you weren't worth listening to.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26If you weren't on an independent label, you weren't worth...
0:13:26 > 0:13:28You were pretend.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31You were being hyped by one of the big multinationals.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36Everybody was left wing in the band, but varying degrees of left wing.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38You had to write a lyric everyone felt comfortable with.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40And that was the only rule, really.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43We didn't set out to write political songs,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45we didn't set out to change the world politically,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47it's just that when you write your own songs,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50you're going to write about things that are important to you,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53or things that you get emotional about, you know?
0:13:53 > 0:13:55So we wrote political lyrics.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59We weren't very good at writing love songs, actually.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01When we started, we were a bit embarrassed about it.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Well, we were kind of political, politicised.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06Disenfranchised, you know?
0:14:06 > 0:14:10We had been unemployed for three years since we left school,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12at 15, 16 years old.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14And we were part of the Thatcher era,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and if we were going to write our own stuff,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20we wanted it to be able to say something...
0:14:20 > 0:14:23- Relatable. - Relevant or sensible, or whatever.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26The UB40 thing was supposed to be a positive thing,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29the fact that you really were at the bottom of the ladder
0:14:29 > 0:14:32if you were on a UB40 - the only way was up.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34So...
0:14:34 > 0:14:36That's why we called our first album Signing Off.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39MUSIC: Food for Thought by UB40
0:15:06 > 0:15:09# Ivory Madonna
0:15:10 > 0:15:13# Dying in the dust
0:15:13 > 0:15:16# Waiting for the manna
0:15:16 > 0:15:19# Coming from the West... #
0:15:21 > 0:15:23I mean, I can remember walking through Moseley, I think,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25when they'd only been going for a little while,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and hearing the record out of somebody's house
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and that was... Brilliant!
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Couldn't believe it! That's me brother's, did you hear that?
0:15:33 > 0:15:36But of course, within no time at all, they were all over the telly.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38# ..Bells are ringing... #
0:15:38 > 0:15:41I suppose there must have been sometimes
0:15:41 > 0:15:45when I must have had pangs of regret, but not jealousy.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47I mean, I was always chuffed to bits.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50And proud to be the brother - and it wasn't a bad position to be in.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53# Politicians argue...#
0:15:53 > 0:15:55I watched their first appearance on Top Of The Pops.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01Top Of The Pops was the one thing that everybody watched in prison.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Which, I think, was not because everyone was very keen on music,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08I think it was because of Legs & Co,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11or Pan's People, or whatever they were called at the time.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12HE CHUCKLES
0:16:12 > 0:16:15So I saw UB40 there when they first appeared.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19# ..Coming from the West... #
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- We always thought... - It was going to be successful.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Yeah! We were quite sure of that, you know.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27And I think you have to have that when you start out.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30You've got to be a little bit arrogant.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35And we had no reason for being arrogant, we were awful, really.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38What you heard with the first album
0:16:38 > 0:16:40was what we had learned to play so far, you know.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43And I can't actually listen to that album.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47I was proud of what it did for us, but it's all out of tune!
0:16:47 > 0:16:51We weren't musicians, so we didn't know how to tune our instruments.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54They're great tunes on the album, it's just that we didn't know
0:16:54 > 0:16:57technically how to make the music that we wanted.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01So the saxophone that Brian was using was the wrong type of sax,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04tuned wrong, the bass wasn't tuned properly.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I was tuned to an open E chord.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08So we learned as we went along,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10how to tune our instruments,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14but we were three albums in before we got it right!
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- # The Earth dies screaming - The Earth dies screaming
0:17:18 > 0:17:22- # The Earth dies screaming - The Earth dies screaming
0:17:22 > 0:17:26# Your country needs you let's strike up the band... #
0:17:28 > 0:17:30We were very much like a gang.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34We decided from day one that we would share everything,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36all royalties, eight ways.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38Eight equal ways.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And that was an influence of my father's.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42Because he had told us about the business,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46how cut-throat it was and how you should never trust a publisher, etc.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50So it just got rid of all those arguments that you hear.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54"Musical differences", "creative differences", you know,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56that tear other bands apart,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59because they feel like they're doing as much work
0:17:59 > 0:18:02but the next guy who is writing all the songs
0:18:02 > 0:18:04is the guy earning the money.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09So we just wiped those arguments out, we just never had those rows.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12I think that is one of the reasons why we carried on for so long,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15because there weren't any infighting,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18people getting more than somebody else.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21I think that's why we lasted so long. You know?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25I think a lot of our fans bought into that concept, as well -
0:18:25 > 0:18:29the fact that we weren't like all the other bands which ended up
0:18:29 > 0:18:31arguing about money and stuff.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40We didn't make good money for a long time.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44We were being offered big advances, you know, of 150 grand,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47by certain major record labels, and we refused those
0:18:47 > 0:18:49because we wanted to go for the points.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51We wanted the artistic control.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54Yeah. And luckily, we sold eight million of the first album,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57so we were on great points, you know,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and we didn't look back from there.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01And then we started our own record label.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05We had plans to dominate the music world, of course.
0:19:05 > 0:19:11Before we had any money ourselves, we got a little studio together.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13We bought this old abattoir,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15disgusting old place in the middle of Birmingham,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17and cleaned it up ourselves.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20It was all big refrigerators, with giant thick walls,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22so they were instantly soundproof.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24And we started a studio.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26We had that place for 25 years.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29Spent millions on it, in the end, you know?
0:19:29 > 0:19:30The building cost 33 grand,
0:19:30 > 0:19:34and I think the last mixing desk we bought cost 275 grand.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45# My arms enfold the dole queue Malnutrition dulls my hair
0:19:45 > 0:19:49# My eyes are black and lifeless With an underprivileged stare
0:19:49 > 0:19:52# I'm the beggar on the corner Will no-one spare a dime?
0:19:52 > 0:19:55# I'm the child that never learns to read
0:19:55 > 0:19:57# Cos no-one spared the time
0:19:57 > 0:19:59# I am the one in ten
0:19:59 > 0:20:02- # A number on a list - I am the one in ten
0:20:02 > 0:20:05# Even though I don't exist
0:20:05 > 0:20:08- # Nobody knows me - But I'm always there
0:20:08 > 0:20:13# A statistic, a reminder Of a world that doesn't care... #
0:20:13 > 0:20:17People wanted to hear what we were saying, obviously.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21One In Ten has become almost an iconic song from that time,
0:20:21 > 0:20:23that mid-'80s Thatcher period.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26And I think we did turn people on to reggae
0:20:26 > 0:20:29in ways that they would never have been turned on to it otherwise.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Our mission was to popularise reggae around the world,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35because we'd been listening to it and grown up on it.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37And loved it.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40We were bit evangelistic about it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42But we just wanted to show people
0:20:42 > 0:20:45these great pop songs that we knew and loved.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48That's the reason for the Labour Of Love series.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- # I've got many rivers to cross - Many rivers to cross
0:20:52 > 0:20:55# But just where to begin
0:20:55 > 0:20:58# I'm playing for time... #
0:20:58 > 0:21:01We wanted to do Labour Of Love as the first album,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04but we were talked out of it by the record company.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06"Commercial suicide."
0:21:06 > 0:21:07Yeah, it'd be commercial suicide,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09because you're known as the dole queue band,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11and you've got to write your own stuff,
0:21:11 > 0:21:12you're not a covers band, and all that.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15You'll be perceived as a cabaret act.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17That's because record company people don't really know
0:21:17 > 0:21:20what they're talking about, usually! To tell the truth.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25And when we said we wanted to do Cherry Oh Baby and all these others,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27they said, you can't, you can't,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30you're known for writing your own material.
0:21:30 > 0:21:36# Oh, Cherry, oh, Cherry, oh, baby don't you know I'm in love with you?
0:21:36 > 0:21:39# If you don't believe that's true
0:21:39 > 0:21:42# Then, why don't you try me?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45# I will never let you down
0:21:45 > 0:21:48# I will never make you wear no frown
0:21:48 > 0:21:51# When you say that you love me madly
0:21:51 > 0:21:55# Well, then, I'll accept you gladly
0:21:55 > 0:21:56# Oh, oh, oh, oh... #
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Well, we knew it would do well
0:21:57 > 0:21:59because they were all sure-fire hits,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01as far as we were concerned, you know?
0:22:01 > 0:22:03And we just knew that if the mainstream public got to hear
0:22:03 > 0:22:07these records, they'd fall in love with them just like we did.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10We were always going to be covering our favourite reggae tunes,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12and when we realised, moving out of Birmingham,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15that, actually, most people hadn't heard these tunes,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17then that was a bonus,
0:22:17 > 0:22:21because most people know Red Red Wine from our version,
0:22:21 > 0:22:22not from anybody else's version.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26# Red, red wine
0:22:28 > 0:22:32# Stay close to me
0:22:33 > 0:22:38# Don't let me be alone
0:22:38 > 0:22:43# It's tearing apart
0:22:43 > 0:22:47# My blue, blue heart... #
0:22:47 > 0:22:49We were broke, completely broke,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51and I think we had a month's wages left,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53or even a week's wages, it might have been,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56when Red Red Wine went to number one,
0:22:56 > 0:22:58and we were saved,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00and it was a big sigh of relief.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02- HE LAUGHS - Thank God for that, you know?
0:23:02 > 0:23:04It's not our last wages, then, you know?
0:23:04 > 0:23:06So, it was peaks and troughs all the way through our career.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09# I was wrong
0:23:09 > 0:23:12# Now I find
0:23:12 > 0:23:16# Just one thing makes me forget
0:23:16 > 0:23:21# Red, red wine... #
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Well, it was a boon to many of us. There was eight of us in the band,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and a manager, you know, and the road crew.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30The road crew guys were our mates who didn't get an instrument.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33If they had have done, it could have been a 12-piece band.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36I mean, when the money came in, it had to go a lot of ways.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38We weren't really living like, erm...
0:23:38 > 0:23:41We weren't like The Who or The Beatles...
0:23:41 > 0:23:43until a few years after that.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46To run DEP, it was, kind of, 90 grand a month,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48you know, and we ran that for 28 years,
0:23:48 > 0:23:52so, if you add that up just on its own, that's a lot of dough.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Touring, you know, is very expensive.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57You've got all your airfares, your hotels,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59your PDs, your wages, you know.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00- It's...- The rider.
0:24:00 > 0:24:01When there's...
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Where there was 40 of you on the road,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05which there was in the early days, you know,
0:24:05 > 0:24:06it's an expensive business.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09MUSIC: I Got You Babe by UB40 & Chrissie Hynde
0:24:14 > 0:24:17# They say our love won't pay the rent
0:24:17 > 0:24:22# Before it's earned our money's always spent... #
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Chrissie Hynde had said, with her looks and my voice,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27we should do something together,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29and that was while we were on tour with her,
0:24:29 > 0:24:30so I went, "Go on, then."
0:24:30 > 0:24:34And then she said it was her idea to do I Got You Babe,
0:24:34 > 0:24:35which is nonsense, of course.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Well, of course Ali will lie and say it was his idea
0:24:38 > 0:24:41to do I Got You Babe, but they wouldn't have known that song.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44And, you know, it was... Obviously, it was my idea.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46They would have never acted on it, either,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48cos they can't get anything done, but I knew it would work
0:24:48 > 0:24:52with his voice and, you know, and that song.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55We did I Got You Babe and then Breakfast In Bed -
0:24:55 > 0:24:56there were two big hits with her.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59They were great songs.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01# Babe
0:25:01 > 0:25:02# I've got you, babe... #
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Well, I recorded two songs with them,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and then we, you know, over the years,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09I've got on stage with them and done things.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11I couldn't even understand what they were fucking talking about
0:25:11 > 0:25:13most of the time. Erm...
0:25:13 > 0:25:15But a real fun band,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18and I think that's the thing about them is they were such a band.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24# Whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah... #
0:25:24 > 0:25:26When we released a record,
0:25:26 > 0:25:28it'd literally come out everywhere in the world -
0:25:28 > 0:25:30and not all bands could do that,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32and I think this was down to reggae, not UB40.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I think everywhere you went,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37indigenous people adopted reggae as the rebel music.
0:25:37 > 0:25:38That was their music.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42It represented them and their concerns and their...
0:25:42 > 0:25:44their politics, which were very similar, you know.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Anybody who's got under the boot, you know,
0:25:47 > 0:25:52can get their politics from rebel music and reggae.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55So we'd put a record out and go everywhere in the world.
0:25:55 > 0:25:56We'd go on tour and we'd go everywhere.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58You know, we'd go to Russia.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02All of the South Pacific Islands - Tonga, Tahiti, the Hawaiian Islands.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Many, many times, you know. Africa, everywhere.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08We'd be on the road, sometimes, for nine or ten months at a time.
0:26:08 > 0:26:09# Yeah, yeah
0:26:09 > 0:26:10# There's a rat in my kitchen
0:26:10 > 0:26:11# What am I gonna do?
0:26:11 > 0:26:14# There's a rat in my kitchen What am I gonna do?
0:26:14 > 0:26:15# I'm going to fix that rat
0:26:15 > 0:26:16# That's what I'm gonna do
0:26:16 > 0:26:18# I'm going to fix that rat... #
0:26:18 > 0:26:21There were definitely a lot of people that were hearing the music
0:26:21 > 0:26:22for the first time when they heard us,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and were encouraged to maybe go and find out more about the music.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30I think we were part of building that recognition of reggae
0:26:30 > 0:26:32as a unique style of music.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35# There's a rat in my kitchen What am I gonna do?
0:26:35 > 0:26:38# I'm gonna fix that rat That's what I'm gonna do
0:26:38 > 0:26:39# I'm gonna fix that rat... #
0:26:39 > 0:26:41It's a beautiful thing, you know.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43There's been so many highlights over the years -
0:26:43 > 0:26:46playing Madison Square Garden, sold-out gigs,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51number one in America, album and single.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54An amazing... You know, you've reached the top.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56And then, of course, there was South Africa,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58where we were one of the first bands there
0:26:58 > 0:26:59after the ending of the boycott,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01singing Sing Our Own Song.
0:27:01 > 0:27:06# And we will fight for the right to be free
0:27:06 > 0:27:10# And we will build our own society
0:27:10 > 0:27:14# And we will sing We will sing
0:27:14 > 0:27:17# We will sing our own song... #
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Playing that song in South Africa,
0:27:19 > 0:27:24with Mandela out of prison and president and apartheid over and...
0:27:24 > 0:27:27after having observed the cultural boycott for, you know,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30the first, whatever it was, 15 years...
0:27:30 > 0:27:33to then go and play South Africa and sing that song
0:27:33 > 0:27:38to 70,000 people a night for three nights was...
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Well, we still hold the live record in South Africa, you know?
0:27:41 > 0:27:46There's no other artist who's played to 210,000 people in three days.
0:27:46 > 0:27:47So, that was an amazing time,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51and it was a hair up on the back of your neck moment, you know?
0:27:51 > 0:27:55# Amandla Awethu
0:27:55 > 0:27:59# Amandla Awethu... #
0:27:59 > 0:28:00We were going round the world.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03You know, we were selling millions of CDs,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05which enabled us to do great big tours
0:28:05 > 0:28:07and fantastic lightshows and things like that.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10You know, it was like a dream come true.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Of course, a lot of money got wasted because, you know,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17we were smoking weed and doing coke, you know, and drinking.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19But that happened all the way through our career, you know -
0:28:19 > 0:28:23we'd make a lot of money and we'd spend it.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28# Wise men say
0:28:28 > 0:28:32# Only fools rush in
0:28:34 > 0:28:41# But I can't help falling in love
0:28:41 > 0:28:43# With you... #
0:28:45 > 0:28:48My dad was incredibly proud of us -
0:28:48 > 0:28:50he just didn't like to say too much.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54In fact, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58and he gave a speech, and most of it was taken up with talking about
0:28:58 > 0:29:01what a fabulous job we'd done and how proud of us he was,
0:29:01 > 0:29:03so, you know, that was quite a surprise to me.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07He was, really, for the first time publicly acknowledging
0:29:07 > 0:29:10his sons' success, which was really nice.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15# Some things were made to be... #
0:29:15 > 0:29:17We were doing really well.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19We'd just had our biggest-selling album.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22We'd just sold 10 million copies of Promises And Lies in America
0:29:22 > 0:29:25and we'd just toured for two years solidly,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27so it was the most money we'd made
0:29:27 > 0:29:30up till then in our careers, you know...
0:29:30 > 0:29:35# Falling in love with you... #
0:29:35 > 0:29:37..and it just went missing.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43When we came back off tour,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46that was when we discovered that we were penniless -
0:29:46 > 0:29:48and not only penniless, but we were overdrawn,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52mortgaged to the hilt and in deep shtuck.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55CHEERING Suddenly the studios closed down
0:29:55 > 0:29:58and there wasn't money for wages and stuff,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00and we were all really surprised.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03"What? How did that happen?"
0:30:03 > 0:30:08It turned out that there were tens of millions of pounds
0:30:08 > 0:30:10that we'd never even been paid,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13that we should have had over the previous 20 years
0:30:13 > 0:30:15for record royalties. We never got them.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17For, you know, radio play and stuff like that,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20we never got paid for any of that, and we were...
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Throughout the '80s and '90s,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25we were probably the third most-played band
0:30:25 > 0:30:27in the world on the radio.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32So, there we were - the bank were about to foreclose on the studio
0:30:32 > 0:30:35because we'd borrowed money on the strength of it,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37without knowing it.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42So, then we had to borrow £300,000 to stop the bank taking the studio,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45and we then spent the next seven, eight years
0:30:45 > 0:30:47constantly in a cycle of borrowing money,
0:30:47 > 0:30:51recording, going on the road and paying that money back.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54I started asking questions.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56They were just normal questions about,
0:30:56 > 0:30:58"How much are we paying our staff?"
0:30:58 > 0:31:02"How come we were getting so little when we were playing sold-out gigs?"
0:31:02 > 0:31:06We were selling out the Wembley Arenas and stuff,
0:31:06 > 0:31:08and we were getting peanuts for it, and I started saying,
0:31:08 > 0:31:10you know, "What's going on?"
0:31:10 > 0:31:11You know....
0:31:11 > 0:31:13So I brought in Bill Curbishley,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15who's a famous manager in the business,
0:31:15 > 0:31:17to find out where the black hole was.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Initially I'd thought everything was being handled
0:31:19 > 0:31:23really professionally and in a good way.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27It was only after a period of time
0:31:27 > 0:31:31I started realising that in order to survive,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34they were juggling lots of different balls here.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Having been up to Birmingham a couple of times,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40and trying to sit them all down,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43and trying to get the eight of them to focus on all of those things
0:31:43 > 0:31:45was virtually impossible.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47They were so stoned, all of them.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50All they did was smoke dope all the way through the meeting,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54and I'm trying to get them to pay any attention to the questions
0:31:54 > 0:31:56that we were asking, because we weren't their business managers,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58we were their music managers.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01There were certain things that came up.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05One was there were debts to certain banks -
0:32:05 > 0:32:07loans they'd had which I was unaware of,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and had been prior to me joining them.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12There was a loan to an offshore company,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and they were repaying it at something like 33% interest.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19I asked who was behind this company,
0:32:19 > 0:32:21what was the reason for this loan,
0:32:21 > 0:32:22and didn't get very far.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27It then came out that the collateral for the loan
0:32:27 > 0:32:29was their catalogue rights,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32which I thought was absolutely abhorrent.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35You know, you get used to living a certain way,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37and, you know, for 25 years,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40we've been living like very wealthy people -
0:32:40 > 0:32:42you know, like millionaires, and...
0:32:42 > 0:32:45And that carries on, and if you've got somebody not saying to you,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48"Actually, you haven't paid. You owe half a million quid in tax."
0:32:48 > 0:32:50- CHEERING - So you have to trust people,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53and it seems traditional in the music business.
0:32:53 > 0:32:54You don't get ripped off when you're a kid
0:32:54 > 0:32:57because you haven't made enough money to get ripped off,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59or to not be noticed for a while,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02but, when you get a certain way in,
0:33:02 > 0:33:03then there's enough money to...
0:33:03 > 0:33:04for somebody to go at.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08The revenues that they must have made,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11particularly in that period in the '90s when it was arenas...
0:33:11 > 0:33:16And they were a hard-working band, you know? They toured all the time.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18When you're playing multiple arenas in America,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20that's when you're making big money,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23and selling the sort of numbers of records that they were selling,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26so it would have been awash with money at one stage.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31But the trail of where the money went,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33we could never find, you know,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35and that was a real problem.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Of course, we carried on living as we had been living,
0:33:39 > 0:33:40so we were living beyond our means,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43and so we were getting into further debt.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47We carried on trying to finance our business and our lifestyle
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and, you know, we were employing, I don't know,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52up to 30 people full-time.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54What we should have done was just closed everything down
0:33:54 > 0:33:58and started again, but we soldiered on, you know,
0:33:58 > 0:34:00into ever-decreasing circles.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02By the time we took over,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06they really only had England and Holland as major markets
0:34:06 > 0:34:08where they could still play arenas,
0:34:08 > 0:34:10and everyone else, it was theatres, so...
0:34:10 > 0:34:13But they still toured as if they were an arena band,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16so there'd be six tonnes of freight going everywhere,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19which hammered, you know, the monies that were coming in.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21And we kept saying, "Boys, why...?"
0:34:21 > 0:34:24And they went, "No, no, no, this is how our production people
0:34:24 > 0:34:25"tell us we need to tour."
0:34:25 > 0:34:28So, I think a lot of it was on wasted cost
0:34:28 > 0:34:30and, to be honest, I think they were all very naive,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32and just believed what they were told.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36The band themselves are to a great extent to blame,
0:34:36 > 0:34:38because they would sit at meetings,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and all they cared about really...
0:34:41 > 0:34:43or the general feeling I got was all they cared about
0:34:43 > 0:34:47was their monthly drawings, their monthly salaries.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49But, even when you look at that,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53it went nowhere near towards the gross income,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58not when you consider they had something like 35 top-30 singles.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00They used to sell out concerts.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04I mean, I can't really tell you what happened to that income.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06There was obviously something that was going on
0:35:06 > 0:35:08that I didn't know about.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12I was asking a lot of questions and I wasn't getting any answers,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14and, even within the band, you know,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17I was asking the band members questions,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20and they were giving me answers that I knew were false,
0:35:20 > 0:35:22and so it was all going a bit weird.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25MUSIC: Here I Am (Come And Take Me) by UB40
0:35:25 > 0:35:28# I can't believe that it's real... #
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Look, ego's a massive part of being a musician.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33If you haven't got any ego, you can't do it.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35Even people who profess, "Oh, I'm not egotistical," they are.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37You can't do it unless you're proud of yourself,
0:35:37 > 0:35:39and you can stand there and look people in the eye
0:35:39 > 0:35:41and say, "Yeah, listen to what I'm going to play now.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43"Look what I'm going to do."
0:35:43 > 0:35:45And it's even more profound in singers,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49and I think he started thinking it was his band,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52he'd manifested his will, and this is who we are, and we could see
0:35:52 > 0:35:55as he stood with his back to us every night of the week.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Do you know what I mean? On stage.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00# Here I am, baby
0:36:00 > 0:36:02# Come and take me... #
0:36:02 > 0:36:05So, anyway, I think Ali became increasingly unhappy,
0:36:05 > 0:36:07as the music business is dying,
0:36:07 > 0:36:09and this huge amount of money's not coming in,
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and I think he tried to continue living in the same style
0:36:12 > 0:36:14he'd become accustomed to,
0:36:14 > 0:36:16and getting increasingly unhappy,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18and we were getting increasingly unhappy with his behaviour.
0:36:18 > 0:36:19We'd be going to...
0:36:19 > 0:36:22We went to start a tour, and unless we paid a credit card bill
0:36:22 > 0:36:24he couldn't pay, he wasn't doing the tour,
0:36:24 > 0:36:26and that happened a few times.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28We were going, "No, we can't pay your nonsense,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30"because there's less and less money coming in.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32"You know, we've all got our own responsibilities."
0:36:32 > 0:36:35And so, you know, he didn't make us feel the happiest we'd ever felt.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37There was a lot of stuff going down,
0:36:37 > 0:36:42and I never got any answers to any of the questions that I was asking.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45You know, for four years I couldn't get any information.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49To this day, I still don't know what happened to the money.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53And because I was asking questions, they started to demonise me
0:36:53 > 0:36:55as the nutter and, you know,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57I didn't know what I was talking about.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01So, I was singled out, and I ended up having to leave.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06That's not what happened.
0:37:06 > 0:37:07It's...
0:37:07 > 0:37:09It's not really down to how I remember it,
0:37:09 > 0:37:11it's down to exactly what happened,
0:37:11 > 0:37:15which was he told us he'd been offered money to do a solo tour,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18erm, and we...
0:37:18 > 0:37:22having already delayed the release of our album by six months
0:37:22 > 0:37:26so that he could promote his album while we were on tour,
0:37:26 > 0:37:28we then baulked at the idea of him doing a summer tour
0:37:28 > 0:37:30in the middle of our tours.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32We said, "You know, we've got dates. We're already committed."
0:37:32 > 0:37:34And he said, "Well, I've been offered this money.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36"I'm doing this tour."
0:37:36 > 0:37:38And we said, "You can't, cos we've got shows."
0:37:38 > 0:37:41And he said, "I'm leaving, then," and that was as simple as that.
0:37:41 > 0:37:42He's a 50-year-old man.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45You know, who starts a solo career in your 50s? Who's...?
0:37:45 > 0:37:4950-year-old people don't take pop singers that seriously.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52Kids do, teenagers take teenagers seriously -
0:37:52 > 0:37:55they don't take somebody the same age as their grandfather seriously.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59But in him doing that, we had to cancel an American tour,
0:37:59 > 0:38:00a South American tour...
0:38:00 > 0:38:04and he cancelled it all cos he said he'd booked a solo tour.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06And we went, "We've had the advances off this."
0:38:06 > 0:38:08So we had to... That money had to go back.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12The remaining members of UB40 have maintained all along that
0:38:12 > 0:38:17I left to pursue a solo career, which I have said is a lie,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19and this is my resignation letter.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22"I refuse to tour for more years for silly money
0:38:22 > 0:38:25"in order to keep Reflex and its staff employed.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28"Nothing at all has changed since we all decided things had to change.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31"I don't agree with most of the band's recent decisions.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33"I don't even know who makes them any more.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35"In short, I've had enough."
0:38:35 > 0:38:40And that's what happened. I never left to pursue a solo career.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Why would I? You know, I would have done that, erm,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46with the first solo album I made in 1994,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48when we were at the peak of our careers, you know?
0:38:48 > 0:38:51That's when I would have gone solo if I'd wanted to at all,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53but I never intended to go solo ever.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55It was my band.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Them saying that, you know,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59that I was going to let them down and we'd been paid for gigs...
0:38:59 > 0:39:03The gigs we'd been paid for and contracted to do, I did.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06He did the Australian tour and one gig in Africa on the way home,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08which I think was Uganda,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12and then he walked off the stage after the Uganda gig
0:39:12 > 0:39:13and we never saw him again.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18# Red, red wi-ne
0:39:20 > 0:39:23# Goes to my he-ad
0:39:25 > 0:39:28# Makes me forget that I
0:39:30 > 0:39:34# Still need her so-oh
0:39:36 > 0:39:38# Red, red wi-ne...#
0:39:40 > 0:39:42No matter how many sell-out shows we did
0:39:42 > 0:39:43and how much money we earned,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46there was never any money at the end of the tour.
0:39:46 > 0:39:47You have to remember,
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Ali had been asking for years to look at the books.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53Four years.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Just being told, "Oh, we forgot to bring you...
0:39:55 > 0:39:57"We'll bring you in, next week."
0:39:57 > 0:39:59And just the same thing, over and over again.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08I knew they were committing commercial suicide,
0:40:08 > 0:40:10if they were willing to let Ali go.
0:40:13 > 0:40:14When he left the band,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17he seems to think that they were going to go away.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20They were all going to go into retirement somewhere.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22But they're not going to, you know?
0:40:22 > 0:40:25They were going to get another singer, whatever happened.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28They were going to continue, I'm quite sure of that.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31When Ali left, I then went to Duncan and offered him the job
0:40:31 > 0:40:35as our new vocalist and he had just said to me,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37that, yes, he'd love the job
0:40:37 > 0:40:40but he wouldn't do it without Ali's blessing,
0:40:40 > 0:40:44which infuriated me, actually, because I was saying,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46"Ali's just walked out on us. Why have you got to ask Ali?"
0:40:46 > 0:40:50And he said, "Because he's my kid brother and I won't do it."
0:40:50 > 0:40:53"I want to do it but I won't do it unless he's OK with it."
0:40:53 > 0:40:55Duncan phones me up, drunk,
0:40:55 > 0:40:59and says, "I've joined the band, Ali."
0:40:59 > 0:41:01And I went, "You are kidding!"
0:41:01 > 0:41:04And he went, "No, I'm not kidding."
0:41:04 > 0:41:07And I said, "Well, I'm very disappointed in you,
0:41:07 > 0:41:09"but I can't tell you not to." You know.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13"But I'm seriously disappointed in you, Dunc."
0:41:13 > 0:41:17I immediately rang Ali and told him that I'd been offered the...
0:41:19 > 0:41:22..the chance to do it and if he didn't want me to, I wouldn't do it.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24But, he says, "Well, I can't..."
0:41:24 > 0:41:26"Well, I can't say I'm pleased about it,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29"but, of course, I wouldn't ask you not to."
0:41:29 > 0:41:31And I said, "OK, fine."
0:41:31 > 0:41:33Unfortunately, he's never spoken to me since that day.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36I don't really...
0:41:36 > 0:41:38I don't see how that's a betrayal.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42All he did was accept Ali's job when it was offered to him.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46And he's broken-hearted,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50because he and Ali were the closest of all of us
0:41:50 > 0:41:52because they are less than a year apart in age.
0:41:52 > 0:41:58And Duncan is very, very unhappy to have lost his little brother.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03When Ali left, that kind of reinvigorated us, you know,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06because it had to.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08You know, we were in shock.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13You know, and traumatised - and, yeah, we had something to prove
0:42:13 > 0:42:16but, also, the fans' reaction to Duncan was so good
0:42:16 > 0:42:20that it just gave us a new lease of life, you know.
0:42:20 > 0:42:21We knew that we could carry on.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24We knew that we'd got somewhere to go.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27To be honest, I thought it was only something I could fail at.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30It's just a matter of how badly I did!
0:42:32 > 0:42:34You know, I thought it was a sort of...
0:42:34 > 0:42:37I don't know, a cleaning up process, a fizzling out type thing, you know.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Ali certainly didn't think there was much hope for us.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45It seemed an obvious choice to see if I could do it
0:42:45 > 0:42:50because it'll keep the brother blend with Rob and all the rest of it
0:42:50 > 0:42:52and I'm able to do it.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54And it's worked.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58He was very highly strung about it for a long time
0:42:58 > 0:43:00because he had big shoes to fill, you know,
0:43:00 > 0:43:05and he went from, you know, playing small folk clubs with his dad,
0:43:05 > 0:43:07you know, sometimes,
0:43:07 > 0:43:12to suddenly playing to thousands in arenas, you know
0:43:12 > 0:43:14and travelling all over the world.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16And, yeah, it was terrifying for him
0:43:16 > 0:43:20but, as he became instantly accepted,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23then he learned to accept the idea himself.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25# If you say that you love me madly
0:43:25 > 0:43:28# Babe, I'll accept you gladly
0:43:29 > 0:43:31# Oh-oh-oh... #
0:43:56 > 0:43:58I stayed on with the others.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00Whether you like it or not, I found myself constantly,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03constantly phoning the office to find out what's happening.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06"Are we getting paid this week?"
0:44:06 > 0:44:08And then, when I've got certain members going,
0:44:08 > 0:44:14"Well, the trustees aren't after my house." "I'm OK, Jack." You know.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17And I'm supposed to sit there, you know,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21after selling my house to pay off debts, consequently,
0:44:21 > 0:44:23I've paid my share of the debt
0:44:23 > 0:44:26but I've also paid other members of the band's debts,
0:44:26 > 0:44:30who are still sitting pretty in their houses,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34haven't been disrupted one iota, just made my blood boil.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37There's no way I could actually physically go out on the road,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and be in that person's company
0:44:39 > 0:44:41without wanting to smack them in the face.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45And so, I thought, best thing to do, leave.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50It was terribly painful, really,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53because we felt like he'd been a complete Judas.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56He came to us and he said, "I'm so skint, I've got no money."
0:44:56 > 0:44:58We gave him all the money we had in the bank account.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00He said, "I'm leaving if I can't get any money."
0:45:00 > 0:45:02"We can't give you the money you want
0:45:02 > 0:45:04"because it isn't there, but have this."
0:45:04 > 0:45:06It was everything we had in the company accounts
0:45:06 > 0:45:08and he left the next morning.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10Well, you didn't want to stay around
0:45:10 > 0:45:13to continue with the country vibe, as well, did you?
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Well, that was totally...
0:45:15 > 0:45:18That was the last straw, that really was.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21And this Getting Over The Storm album,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24I found myself trying to convince my mates
0:45:24 > 0:45:27that it could work and they're just looking at me, like,
0:45:27 > 0:45:29"Don't know where your head's at, mate.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31"But, you know, that ain't reggae."
0:45:32 > 0:45:34# Blue eyes crying in the rain...#
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Well, the whole decision was ridiculous, to make a country album.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42They're the biggest selling reggae band in the world, you know.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44And they decided to make a country album.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47It's a slap in the face to the fans who, you know,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49bought all our records all along.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51It's a slap in the face to Astro
0:45:51 > 0:45:54and it's certainly a slap in the face to me,
0:45:54 > 0:45:58as I'd started UB40 to promote reggae, you know.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02And for them to do a country album is still jaw-dropping stuff, for me.
0:46:06 > 0:46:07We released an album with, like,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10a country influence album and he attacked it furiously,
0:46:10 > 0:46:14saying we'd ruined the band's legacy and ruined reggae music.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16It's fucking ridiculous.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18We're musicians.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21We're just trying other stuff and it's a very successful record.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24All around the world we go and people know the songs
0:46:24 > 0:46:25and it paid for itself.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30The worst review we've ever had for it is Ali Campbell.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32He's made it his mission in life to run us down, now
0:46:32 > 0:46:36and he's given us a terrible hard time in the press.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38# I've got to run
0:46:38 > 0:46:40# To keep from hiding... #
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Whereas, as a band, UB40, we've stayed away from it
0:46:43 > 0:46:44because it's just...
0:46:44 > 0:46:47It's just not very sophisticated.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49It's just a bit wanky, innit?
0:46:49 > 0:46:50To run people down and talk about people
0:46:50 > 0:46:53when they're not there to defend themselves.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56I would take anything Brian says with a pinch of salt, you know,
0:46:56 > 0:46:58because they've launched this...
0:46:58 > 0:47:01- Hate campaign.- Yeah!
0:47:01 > 0:47:03A campaign to discredit me, you know.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05Well, it's absolutely true because, when Ali left,
0:47:05 > 0:47:07I can remember the band saying,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10"Right, we'll take the moral high ground. We say nothing."
0:47:10 > 0:47:13And I'm in total agreement with that.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16Because, as far as I'm concerned, this just involves the band,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19it doesn't concern anybody else outside.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22Within four hours of Ali leaving,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26poor little Brian's little fingers were tapping away,
0:47:26 > 0:47:29just assassinating Ali by the second.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31And then Jimmy Brown, the drummer,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34he jumped in and they haven't stopped since.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37They just haven't stopped. It's just been relentless.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42And the same thing's happened with me.
0:47:42 > 0:47:47When I left, there's that beautiful quote from fans, you know,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50"Sorry to see you go." "Thanks for the memories", etc, etc.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53Five hours later, Jimmy Brown, straightaway, you know.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57"He's been caught with his hands in the till."
0:47:57 > 0:47:59Which is what he said about me.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01"Don't let him fool you, this is all about money."
0:48:01 > 0:48:04"He wanted more than everybody else." You know.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08This is the man who hasn't spent a penny on repaying the loans.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12You know, so, let them get on with it.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14It's a difficult one for me, this,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17because Ali was my best friend when we were children.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20He was the best man at my wedding. We were best mates.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22We lived next door to each other in Jamaica.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26We went on holiday together, always, with our families and kids.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30So it's very painful. He's not the guy I grew up with and knew,
0:48:30 > 0:48:34and we've come to a point where we've got to defend ourselves.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Not for egotistical reasons, not for personal reasons
0:48:38 > 0:48:42but I've got to defend my friends, his brothers
0:48:42 > 0:48:45and I've got to defend my partners here
0:48:45 > 0:48:48from the shit that gets written about them, coming out of his mouth.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57- I take it that there's no chance of you getting back together again.- No.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00It will. About 10 minutes after hell has frozen over.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07No. I don't care what he does. Really. You know, he's...
0:49:09 > 0:49:13The vitriol he's heaped on me and, you know,
0:49:13 > 0:49:16fellow band members and Duncan.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19The lies he's told in the last eight years are just disgusting.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23You know, I've lost all feeling, really.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27I've become numb to the whole thing, to be honest.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30I'd rather not get back together with him.
0:49:30 > 0:49:32It got... I love him but,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34as I say, but he hasn't spoken to me since that day.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36He doesn't keep in touch with the family.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38I mean, he doesn't live in Birmingham any more,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40as we all still do.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44And Dad passed away and Ali didn't come to the funeral,
0:49:44 > 0:49:46or couldn't come to the funeral, whatever.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48You know, we haven't seen him.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50It's, er...
0:49:50 > 0:49:51It's unfortunate.
0:49:53 > 0:49:58What has happened is our family has been ripped asunder.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01You know, it's been ripped apart, you know.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03My father, before he died,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07refused to talk to me because he took Duncan's side and Robin's side.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10You know, and to say I didn't make Dad's funeral -
0:50:10 > 0:50:14I was in New Zealand at the time. You know what I mean?
0:50:14 > 0:50:17That's just a nasty, silly thing to say.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21It's very disappointing that Ali's behaved the way he has,
0:50:21 > 0:50:24you know, but not altogether surprising
0:50:24 > 0:50:27when you've lived with him as long as I have.
0:50:27 > 0:50:31My mum refuses to take sides. You know, we're all her boys
0:50:31 > 0:50:34and she loves us equally and treats us the same
0:50:34 > 0:50:37and refuses to become embroiled.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41It's just become so poisonous, the whole situation.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45It's particularly sad for our mother,
0:50:45 > 0:50:50who has said to me that she's always taken comfort
0:50:50 > 0:50:55from the knowledge that her four lads were there for each other.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59And she's had to accept that that simply isn't the case now.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18They're trying to sue us and we've got to defend ourselves.
0:51:18 > 0:51:24Their argument is that we're passing off as UB40.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27Our argument is that they're passing off because they've never said
0:51:27 > 0:51:29that it's not the original line-up
0:51:29 > 0:51:33and they've never said UB40 featuring Duncan Campbell,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36or featuring Duncan, Robin, and Brian.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39We always make it very clear who comes to see us,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42it's UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47They know that if they have to go out
0:51:47 > 0:51:49with "UB40 featuring Duncan Campbell"
0:51:49 > 0:51:51that they'll never get a booking
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and we're playing the O2, selling it out.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58The guys that left the band, left the band of their own accord,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02you know. Leaving us, the remaining members of the band,
0:52:02 > 0:52:03to carry on as UB40.
0:52:05 > 0:52:10Until they used the name, Ali's career hadn't happened
0:52:10 > 0:52:12and then it dawned on him that...
0:52:12 > 0:52:15When he went to Africa and places like that
0:52:15 > 0:52:18and he sold himself as UB40, then he suddenly thought,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21"Aye, aye, I can...I can do this...everywhere!"
0:52:21 > 0:52:23And that was what he did.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26I don't see why this couldn't be resolved very easily.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29But of course, once emotions get involved
0:52:29 > 0:52:34and bad feeling from the past and accusations -
0:52:34 > 0:52:39it gets very muddy and nobody has any rationale or common sense.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42But this could have been resolved a long time ago.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45Both parties are in for a quarter of a million quid already
0:52:45 > 0:52:48and as soon as you start the ball rolling like this,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51it's very difficult to stop it, you know, because...
0:52:51 > 0:52:55If they walk away with their hands down, they have to pay our costs.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And if we do the same, then we have to pay their costs.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01So it just has to keep going and the only people that win
0:53:01 > 0:53:03are the lawyers, obviously.
0:53:03 > 0:53:07We're prepared to go as far as we have to go. We've already...
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Again, you know, broken ourselves spending money
0:53:11 > 0:53:15for two years on lawyers.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18Very expensive lawyers, you know. We're prepared to go
0:53:18 > 0:53:24as far as we have to go to...be able to use our name.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33I've never seen a whole band suffer to this degree.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37They've been cleaved down the middle in terms of family members.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41They're all at odds with each other. They've all lost their houses
0:53:41 > 0:53:46and they've all been bankrupt. It doesn't get much worse than that.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49It's quite stunning, in a way, cos when I first joined them,
0:53:49 > 0:53:53I really thought they were a bunch of happy-go-lucky guys
0:53:53 > 0:53:57and for them, none of them, to be seen to have the rewards
0:53:57 > 0:53:59from their previous hard work -
0:53:59 > 0:54:02it just doesn't make sense.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13I'd love to think that somewhere there's this
0:54:13 > 0:54:17big pot of money that the eight boys who made up this fantastic band,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21would be able to get hold of. But I don't think it exists,
0:54:21 > 0:54:24I think it's just been frittered away or been skimmed off
0:54:24 > 0:54:26over the years.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29It's quite fitting, as well, that they had an album called
0:54:29 > 0:54:33Promises And Lies. Because it seems to me that's what's been
0:54:33 > 0:54:35the motto of their career -
0:54:35 > 0:54:37promises and lies.
0:54:38 > 0:54:43And, erm...it's a sad story, a very sad story.
0:54:43 > 0:54:45MUSIC: Dream A Lie by UB40
0:54:46 > 0:54:48# We're still together just the same
0:54:48 > 0:54:50# The morning sun I raise my head
0:54:50 > 0:54:52# A lonely room an empty bed
0:54:59 > 0:55:02# Always seems that way
0:55:02 > 0:55:06# Yes, it always seems that way... #
0:55:07 > 0:55:09Really, it's starting again.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13We're trying to reclaim the name before the legacy is destroyed.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17As soon as Astro came back and played with us, the fans have just -
0:55:17 > 0:55:18they're loving it, you know,
0:55:18 > 0:55:22and really it seems they feel it's a solution
0:55:22 > 0:55:25that finally, you know... We've reunited again
0:55:25 > 0:55:28and we're back flying the flag for reggae!
0:55:28 > 0:55:32So, yeah, it's looking good for us. And I think it was inevitable...
0:55:32 > 0:55:34Fans, you know, will vote with their feet.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38No, we'll never get back together again -
0:55:38 > 0:55:40there's been too much skulduggery, you know.
0:55:40 > 0:55:44And musically, I wouldn't want to play with those guys again
0:55:44 > 0:55:46because the band I've got now is...is
0:55:46 > 0:55:50a lot better. There's no egos involved in...in our UB40,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53you know. Er, and the music's better.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58Since Ali left eight years ago, we've been recording,
0:55:58 > 0:56:04performing as UB40. And I still love my life, you know.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07I still pinch myself every day that I've had the life I've had,
0:56:07 > 0:56:11so, I'm not about to be twisted and bitter and...
0:56:11 > 0:56:15I'm not about to let that kind of thing consume me, you know.
0:56:15 > 0:56:20It's not worth it. That time's gone. I had a wonderful time living...
0:56:20 > 0:56:23while it was going on. I still enjoy my life.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26It's not as comfortable as it should be but, you know,
0:56:26 > 0:56:29it's a lot more comfortable than it would have been
0:56:29 > 0:56:31if I had never been in UB40.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35And we'll keep going until we drop, you know.
0:56:37 > 0:56:38# Never was a better time
0:56:38 > 0:56:40# To try to set the words to rhyme
0:56:40 > 0:56:42# Of when a golden love turns blue
0:56:42 > 0:56:45# And dreams of dreams that won't come true
0:56:45 > 0:56:48# Every night I call your name We're still together just the same
0:56:48 > 0:56:50# The morning sun I raise my head
0:56:50 > 0:56:52# A lonely room an empty bed
0:56:52 > 0:56:55# Always seems that way
0:56:55 > 0:56:58# Always seems that way
0:56:58 > 0:57:02# Always seems that way
0:57:02 > 0:57:05# Yes, it always seems the way
0:57:07 > 0:57:09# Always seems that way
0:57:14 > 0:57:18# Always seems that way
0:57:18 > 0:57:24# Always seems that way
0:57:24 > 0:57:28# Yes, it always seems that way... #