UB40 - Debut Album "Signing Off"

Introduction:

UB40's first album was titled "Signing Off", as the band were signing off from or closing their claim on the unemployment benefit. It was recorded in a bedsit in Birmingham and was produced by Bob Lamb. Norman Hassan said of the recording: "if you stripped my track down, you could hear the birds in the background." This is because his tracks were recorded outside in the garden. Signing Off was released on August 29, 1980. It featured a mix of reggae and dub material which was lyrically politically charged and socially conscious, while musically it was reverb-heavy, doom-laden yet mellifluous, best exemplified in the hits "King" and "Food For Thought" as well as the searing "Burden of Shame".

Achievement:

Signing Off is considered by many to be by far UB40's best album, as well as one of the finest reggae albums by a British group, in 2000, Q magazine placed it at No. 83 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. It entered the UK Albums Chart on 2 October 1980. It reached as high as No. 2 in the UK and spent 71 weeks in total on the chart. This album received a Platinum certification by BPI on 11 June 1981.

UB40 Tickets are available on Sold Out Ticket Market on nominal rates.