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''Signing Off'' is the debut album by British
reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
band
UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by
Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
-based independent label Graduate Records. It was an immediate success in their home country, reaching number 2 on the
UK albums chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, and made UB40 one of the many popular reggae bands in Britain, several years before the band found international fame. The politically-concerned lyrics struck a chord in a country with widespread public divisions over high unemployment, the policies of the recently elected
Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
under
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
, and the rise of the racist National Front party, while the record's dub-influenced rhythms reflected the late 1970s influence in British pop music of West Indian music introduced by immigrants from the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, particularly reggae and
ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
– this was typified by the
2 Tone Two-tone, two tone, or 2 tone, etc., may refer to: Audio and sound * Two-tone analysis, in nonlinear system measurement * Two-tone attention signal * Two-tone chime, such as the "ding dong" sound of a doorbell * Two-tone sequential paging, sel ...
movement, at that point at the height of its success and led by fellow
West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
act
The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English Two-tone (music genre), 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall (singer), Terr ...
, with whom UB40 drew comparisons due to their
multiracial Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
band line-up and socialist views. Still considered by many fans and music critics to be UB40's best album, ''Signing Off'' was reissued for its 30th anniversary in 2010 as a "collector's edition" containing bonus tracks and a DVD of the videos for the singles plus television footage of the band from the time of the album's release.


Recording

After forming in 1978, the members of UB40 made an agreement to spend the next year doing nothing more than learning their instruments and practising their songs until they felt they were good enough. Saxophonist Brian Travers said, "We commandeered a cellar and started rehearsing every day, nine till five. Our first experiences of playing an instrument started together, and we'd humiliate each other over mistakes. But we were very serious about our music. It was a year before we played our first gig. It was in an upper room at the 'Hare and Hounds' pub">pub.html" ;"title=" pub"> pubin Kings Heath">pub">_pub<_a>.html" ;"title="pub.html" ;"title=" pub"> pub">pub.html" ;"title=" pub"> pubin Kings Heath, Birmingham. We played the whole of ''Signing Off'' because they were the only songs we knew." Towards the end of 1979 the band felt confident enough to start recording their songs, and approached local musician Bob Lamb as he was the only person they knew with any recording experience. Lamb had been the drummer with the
Steve Gibbons Band Steve Gibbons (born 13 July 1941) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and bandleader. His music career spans more than 50 years. Career The Dominettes Steve Gibbons started his professional life as a plumber's apprentice in Harborne ...
for much of the 1970s and was a well-known figure within the Birmingham music scene. He remembered that "'King' was the very first song they ever played to me, and it just blew my mind basically, to realise a bunch of kids could make a sound like that... it blew me away. And that was it for me, I was hooked, it was a bit like Elvis Presley">Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
walks in or something, you know, it was one of those moments." However, as the band were unable to afford a proper recording studio, the album was recorded in Lamb's own home at the time, a ground-floor flat in a house on Cambridge Road in Birmingham's Moseley district that later became affectionately known as the "Home of the Hits". Lamb would later use the money he earned from the album's success to build a proper recording studio, Highbury Studio, in an old
cricket bat A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batters in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. It may also be used by a batter who is making ground ...
factory in nearby Kings Heath, which remained under his ownership until his retirement in 2010 – during the 1980s and 90s he would go on to produce the early
demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...
for
Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
and work on the debut albums by fellow Birmingham natives
Ruby Turner Francella Ruby Turner MBE (born 22 June 1958) is a British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress. In a music career spanning more than 30 years, Turner is best known for her album and single releases in Europe and North Americ ...
,
The Lilac Time The Lilac Time is a British alternative folk-rock band, originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake son ...
and
Ocean Colour Scene Ocean Colour Scene (often abbreviated to OCS) are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Solihull in 1989. They have had five top 10 albums including a number one in 1997. They have also achieved seventeen top 40 singles and six top 10 sin ...
. However, in an interview to mark ''Signing Offs 30th anniversary, Brian Travers recalled just how basic the recording facilities of the original Cambridge Road "studio" really were: Producer Lamb described the somewhat relaxed recording process: and also remembered how easy it was to make the album: The LP album was recorded in three separate sessions: four days in December 1979 just before Christmas which produced the songs "King" and " Food for Thought" for the debut single, and two longer sessions in March–April 1980 and June–July 1980 when the bulk of the album was recorded. The three tracks for the 12" record that came with the album were recorded during 18–20 July 1980 at The Music Centre with Ray "Pablo" Falconer, bassist
Earl Falconer UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
's brother, handling production duties. Falconer would go on to produce the majority of UB40's subsequent records until his death in a car crash in 1987.


Musical style and composition

''Signing Off'' 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". Four of the album's thirteen tracks were instrumentals—"Adella", "25%" (allegedly titled after the increase in wages demanded by the unions in the late 1970s to reflect a "
living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...
"), "Signing Off" and "Reefer Madness"—all heavily influenced by dub reggae rhythms and effects such as reverb and echo, and led by Mickey Virtue's keyboard and Travers' saxophone melodies. Two tracks were cover versions: an early
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...
composition "
I Think It's Going to Rain Today "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'', Eric Burdon's 1967 album ''Eric Is Here'', on N ...
" and the blues classic "
Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...
" (made famous by
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...
), two songs that dealt with compassion for fellow humans and racism respectively. The main theme in "Burden of shame" is copied from Van Morrison's "Moondance". This track and the remaining five self-composed tracks were all concerned with social and political issues: *"Tyler" was written about the young black American
Gary Tyler Gary Tyler (born July 1958), from St. Rose, Louisiana, is an African-American man who is a former prisoner at the Louisiana State Prison in Angola, Louisiana. He was convicted of the October 7, 1974 shooting death of a white 13-year-old boy and ...
, who at the age of 17 was convicted by an all-white judge and jury of murdering a 13-year-old white boy, despite serious irregularities in the prosecution case and the lack of a murder weapon ever being found. UB40 intended "Tyler" to be their first single in the United States. The band revisited the subject on the song "Rainbow Nation" on their 2008 album ''
TwentyFourSeven ''Twentyfourseven'' is a documentary-style reality show on MTV that documented the lives of seven male friends seeking fame and fortune in Hollywood. The show was described as a "real" version of ''Entourage'', in the same manner that ''Laguna B ...
''. *"King" was about the late
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, questioning the lost direction of the slain leader's followers and the state of mourning of a nation after his death. *"Burden of Shame" recounted the misdeeds performed in the name of British Imperialism. *"Food for Thought" was an attempt to publicise and condemn the famine in north Africa, comparing it with the Western over-indulgent celebration of Christmas, nearly five years before Band Aid brought the subject to widespread attention. Subsequently, it was also a prominent feature of UB40's 2005
Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...
appearance in
Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Pa ...
, 25 years after the song had been first released. Bob Lamb later revealed that the song's original working title had been "The Christmas Song" until one of the band's
roadie The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This catc ...
s suggested "Food for Thought" would be a better title. *"Little by Little" highlighted the growing inequality between the rich and the poor. *"Madam Medusa" was a vivid description of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power depicted in a grotesque style, featuring some of the band's most impassioned and bitter lyrics.


Release and promotion

The album's release was preceded by two
double A-sided The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
singles. The first, "King"/"Food For Thought", was released as UB40's debut single in February 1980. It topped the
independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...
chart for three months, reached number 4 in the main
UK singles chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and went on to sell nearly half a million copies, having been certified silver for sales of 250,000 copies in May 1980. It was the first single on a completely independent label without the backing of a major record company to reach the top 10 of the UK singles chart. Upon the single's release "Food for Thought" gained more radio airplay than "King" – speaking about the single in 2010, Bob Lamb said, "'Food for Thought' was actually the B-side of 'King' originally: although it was a double A-side 'King' was always going to be the main song, but the DJs picked up on 'Food for Thought' because it was quicker and chirpier, more dancey, more of a radio track. So they played that a lot, and really that became the hit, 'Food for Thought', but whenever you bought the record it always said 'King'/'Food for Thought' – 'King' was always, like, the first name on the record, which I thought was pretty cool." The follow-up single "My Way of Thinking"/"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" peaked at number 6 on the UK charts in June 1980. Although this was the band's second single before the album was released, "My Way of Thinking" was not included on the album, despite gaining far more radio airplay and television exposure than "I Think It's Going to Rain Today": however, by the time of the album's release the group had come to dislike "My Way of Thinking", with singer Ali Campbell describing the song as "awful". The original 1980 vinyl release of ''Signing Off'' consisted of a ten-track LP (played at the standard 33 rpm) plus a three-track 12" record (played at 45 rpm) which contained the tracks "Madam Medusa", "Strange Fruit" and "Reefer Madness". On the cassette version all thirteen tracks were split over the two sides of the cassette. When the album was issued on CD for the first time in 1984, it contained all thirteen tracks of the LP and cassette versions. In 1985 the album was repackaged as a double album under the title '' The UB40 File'', with the addition of "My Way of Thinking", "The Earth Dies Screaming" and "Dream a Lie", thus collecting together on a single album all of UB40's output on Graduate Records, before the band's subsequent releases on their own
DEP International Dep International was a British record label founded in 1980 in music, 1980 by members of British group UB40. It specialised in reggae and dub music. The label went into administration (law), administration in October 2006 and into liquidation ...
label. The latter two songs were released as UB40's third single (another double A-side) two months after the release of ''Signing Off'', and were written and recorded at the same time as the album. For a short time in 1981–82 in Australia, the original album was released with a bonus 45 rpm single containing these two tracks, packaged in an identical smaller version of the album cover. ''The UB40 File'' has subsequently also been released on CD. In 2010, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album's release
Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...
reissued the album as a three-disc (two CDs and a DVD) "Collector's Edition", with extensive
liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...
by Birmingham-born journalist
Peter Paphides Peter Paphides (born 1969 as Panayiotakis Paphides or Panayiotis Paphides) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Early life Paphides was born in Birmingham to a Greek Cypriot father, Chris, and a Greek mother, Victoria. He has an elder broth ...
. The bonus tracks on the second CD included the 12" versions of all four sides of UB40's second and third singles, and the two sessions the band recorded at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
's
Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...
for the
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
and
Kid Jensen David Allan "Kid" Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 ...
shows on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. The DVD contained the videos made for five of the six songs on their first three double A-side singles, the band's first ever appearance on the BBC television programme ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' performing "Food for Thought", and the concert recorded at
Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
for
BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
's television series ''
Rock Goes to College ''Rock Goes to College'' (RGTC) was a BBC series that ran between 1978 and 1981 on British television. A variety of up-coming rock oriented bands were showcased live from small venues and broadcast simultaneously on television and radio during a ...
''. To tie in with the 30th anniversary reissue, the band announced a concert tour where they would perform a first set of the album in its entirety, followed by a second set of other hits.


Artwork

The front and back covers of the album are a replica of the yellow British UB40
unemployment benefit Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compu ...
attendance card from which the band took their name, emphatically stamped with the words SIGNING OFF in capital letters. It was a statement by the band of leaving behind the world of unemployment and of their arrival on the music scene. The artwork was created by brothers Geoffrey and David Tristram: Geoff went on to become an artist and novelist, while David became a comic playwright.


Critical reception

The album was extremely well received and lauded by the UK music magazines at the time of its original release. ''
Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' awarded ''Signing Off'' five stars out of five, claiming that "it is an (almost) perfect album... It's rare to find a debut album so detailed, so excellently played and so packed with bite – I sometimes think it hasn't really happened since ''
The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
''." ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' described the album as "a courageous debut... Their radical sentiments and trenchant lyrics are given all the more force by the soft-fist of UB40's measured musical delivery... The music might be mellow, but the hard-backed sentiments are hardly those of the nice reggae band you may have pigeonholed the UBs as." ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' said "The UBs, chirpy and still fully independent, have wrapped up their initial promise and persuasion and delivered a well-girthed winner of a debut album... Certainly the music of UB40 benefits far more in both quality and quantity from the exacting freedom of an LP than any of their close contemporaries... the band have broadened out the unique, shy commerciality of the two singles, "King" and "Food for Thought"... to an approach that sharpens the shape of their music and magnifies the message." ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'' called the band "important" and observed that "their subtle dance music is opening up a lot of ears to the pleasures of British reggae". More recent critical reviews show the album remains highly regarded.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
said "Their rhythms may have been reggae-based, their music Jamaican-inspired, but UB40 had such an original take on the genre that all comparisons were moot... Their music was... revolutionary, their sound unlike anything else on either island eferring to Great Britain and Jamaica">Jamaica.html" ;"title="eferring to Great Britain and Jamaica">eferring to Great Britain and Jamaica.. It's hard to believe this is the same UB40 that later topped the U.K. charts with the likes of 'Red Red Wine' and 'I Got You Babe'. Their fire was dampened quickly, but on ''Signing Off'' it blazed high, still accessible to the pop market, but so edgy that even those who are sure there's nothing about the group to admire will change their tune instantly." In 2008 ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...
'' magazine's online website revisited the album as part of their "Disc of the Day" series, calling it "the Brum reggae institution's original and best" and going on to say that "''Signing Off'' was a singular British take on Jamaican music, in some ways truer to the reggae source than 2-Tone but with a punky, multi-cultured sensibility of its own... it's a superb balance of lightness and weight, as spry, skanking tunes rub up against militant lyrics made soulful by vocalist Ali Campbell." The print edition of the magazine also reviewed the 2010 reissue, stating that "''Signing Off''... has retained much of its fire... this is flinty, political and Britain-focused reggae, distinct from the later output of a band that... still acts as the form's global ambassadors." Reviewing the 2010 Collector's Edition,
BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...
said "''Signing Off'' is still believed by many to be the group's greatest album, and it remains the clearest window into what the band were all about... thas energy and intelligence that made it stand out from so much
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
pop. This set sums up a bunch of young
Brummie The Brummie dialect, or more formally the Birmingham dialect, is spoken by many people in Birmingham, England, and some of its surrounding areas. "Brummie" is also a demonym for people from Birmingham. It is often erroneously used in referring to ...
s schooled in the
West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...
blues dances of
Balsall Heath Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...
, angry about the world around them and articulate enough to express that without simply ranting."


Accolades

''Signing Off'' was placed at number 13 in the ''NME'' critics' list of the albums of the year for 1982, while the singles "King"/"Food for Thought" and "My Way of Thinking" were at numbers 14 and 18 respectively in the equivalent singles of the year list. ''Sounds'' placed "King"/"Food for Thought" at number 8 in its end of year rankings for singles of the year, while ''Melody Maker'' ranked the same single at number 22 in its own list. In June 2000 the British monthly music magazine '' Q'' placed ''Signing Off'' at number 83 in its critics' list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". The album is also included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
'', the only UB40 album to feature.


Track listing

All tracks written by UB40 except where noted. On some versions of the album, such as the US CD release, "Burden of Shame" is credited to UB40 and
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...
after the similarities to Morrison's own song "
Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album ''Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morris ...
" had been noted, but on both the original 1980 release and the 2010 reissue the song is credited solely to UB40.


LP


Side One

#"Tyler" – 5:51 #"King" – 4:35 #"12 Bar" – 4:24 #"Burden of Shame" – 6:29


Side Two

#"Adella" – 3:28 #"
I Think It's Going to Rain Today "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (or "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today") is a song by American singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It appears on Julius La Rosa's 1966 album ''You're Gonna Hear from Me'', Eric Burdon's 1967 album ''Eric Is Here'', on N ...
" (
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...
) – 3:41 #"25%" – 3:31 #" Food for Thought" – 4:10 #"Little by Little" – 3:44 #"Signing Off" – 4:24


12" EP Side One

#"Madam Medusa" – 12:52


12" EP Side Two

#"
Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...
" (
Lewis Allan Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986)Baker, Nancy Kovaleff, "Abel Meeropol (a.k.a. Lewis Allan): Political Commentator and Social Conscience," '' American Music'' 20/1 (2002), pp. 25–79, ; see especially note 3. was an Ameri ...
) – 4:05 #"Reefer Madness" – 5:08


Cassette


Side One

#"Tyler" – 5:51 #"King" – 4:35 #"12 Bar" – 4:24 #"Burden of Shame" – 6:29 #"Adella" – 3:28 #"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) – 3:41 #"25%" – 3:31


Side Two

#"Food for Thought" – 4:10 #"Little by Little" – 3:44 #"Signing Off" – 4:24 #"Madam Medusa" – 12:52 #"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan) – 4:05 #"Reefer Madness" – 5:08


CD

#"Tyler" – 5:51 #"King" – 4:35 #"12 Bar" – 4:24 #"Burden of Shame" – 6:29 #"Adella" – 3:28 #"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) – 3:41 #"25%" – 3:31 #"Food for Thought" – 4:10 #"Little by Little" – 3:44 #"Signing Off" – 4:25 #"Madam Medusa" – 12:53 #"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan) – 4:05 #"Reefer Madness" – 5:08


30th Anniversary Collector's Edition


CD1

#"Tyler" – 5:51 #"King" – 4:35 #"12 Bar" – 4:24 #"Burden of Shame" – 6:29 #"Adella" – 3:28 #"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) – 3:41 #"25%" – 3:31 #"Food for Thought" – 4:10 #"Little by Little" – 3:44 #"Signing Off" – 4:25


CD2

#"Madam Medusa" – 12:53 #"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan) – 4:05 #"Reefer Madness" – 5:08 #"My Way of Thinking" (12" Version) – 6:50 #"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (12" Version) (Randy Newman) – 7:32 #"The Earth Dies Screaming" (12" Version) – 8:21 #"Dream a Lie" (12" Version) – 7:54
BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
Session 12/12/79 (first transmitted 02/01/80):
  1. "Food for Thought" – 4:49
  2. "25%" – 4:05
  3. "King" – 5:38
BBC Radio One
Kid Jensen David Allan "Kid" Jensen (born 4 July 1950) is a Canadian-born British radio DJ and television presenter. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Jensen began as a radio DJ on Radio Luxembourg. Jensen was later a broadcaster for the BBC from 1976 ...
Session 11/02/80:
  1. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman) – 4:42
  2. "My Way of Thinking" – 2:54


DVD

Promo Videos: #"Food for Thought" #"My Way of Thinking" #"The Earth Dies Screaming" #"Dream a Lie" #"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' 20/03/80:
  1. "Food for Thought"
''
Rock Goes to College ''Rock Goes to College'' (RGTC) was a BBC series that ran between 1978 and 1981 on British television. A variety of up-coming rock oriented bands were showcased live from small venues and broadcast simultaneously on television and radio during a ...
'' 19/01/81 (recorded at
Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
):
  1. "King"
  2. "Strange Fruit"
  3. "The Earth Dies Screaming"
  4. "Little by Little"
  5. "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
  6. "Food for Thought"
  7. "Tyler"
  8. "Signing Off"
(total running time of DVD = 57:45)


Personnel

;UB40 *Astro – talk-over vocal *Jim Brown – drums *
Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *Robin Campbell – lead guitar, vocals *
Earl Falconer UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
– bass * Norman Lamont Hassan (misspelt as "Norman Lamount Hassan" on the credits of the original 1980 release) – percussion, congas *Brian Travers – tenor saxophone, melodica *Michael Virtue – keyboards, strings, organ ;Production *UB40 – producers, all tracks *Bob Lamb – producer and engineer on LP/tracks 1 to 10 on cassette & CD versions * Ray "Pablo" Falconer – producer on "Madam Medusa", "Strange Fruit" and "Reefer Madness" *Rafe McKenna – engineer on "Madam Medusa", "Strange Fruit" and "Reefer Madness" *Neil Black – assistant engineer on "Madam Medusa", "Strange Fruit" and "Reefer Madness"


Charts


Certifications


Release history


References


External links


''Signing Off''
(
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...
) at
Radio3Net Radio 3 net is the former ''Radio România Tineret'' (or Radio 3). More than 20,000 albums are stored on Radio 3 net. A few of the prominent features available on the website are "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "Search & Play". ...
(streamed copy where licensed)
'Why UB40's Signing Off is still a reggae classic''
{{Authority control UB40 albums 1980 debut albums