Legendary singer Ali Campbell needs no introduction. Born and raised in Birmingham, UK, Ali and his gang formed the band UB40 in 1978, and their innovative blend of Jamaican Ragge and British tunes took the English music scene by storm.
At 64, Campbell still performs with the same energy and enthusiasm as he did 40 years ago. He continues to make audiences groove to his reggae-pop tunes and chart-toppers like “Red Red Wine” (1983), “I Got You Babe” (1985).
The iconic English band UB40 featuring Ali Campbell is returning to India with The Goldies India Tour this October. As we gear up for the big day, the lead vocalist of the band, Ali Campbell, exclusively spoke to WION.
In this interview, Ali talked about his return to India after decades, and why it is special to perform in the country. The singer reflected on UB40’s history and also mentioned how he is a fan of Mohammad Rafi.
Read excerpts from the interview here:
WION: You have been touring the world for over a decade and maintained the same level of enthusiasm and energy. What is your secret?
Ali Campbell: We travel around the world, all over the world, all the time. We don’t really take a break. I’ve taken this band over the last decade to 72 countries. So, we don’t get a lot of time. And we have to plan ahead before we go somewhere. Just these three little gigs that we’re doing in Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai this October. It’s taken enough just to organise these three. But I do want to come back to India next year because I’m doing a world tour next year, as always. And I’d love to include more dates in India and try and stay for a little longer and enjoy it more.
WION: The band is coming to India. How are you feeling and what do you love most about the country?
Ali Campbell: Well, I’ve only been to India once before, and that was for the Filmfare Awards, and that too in the 90s. That’s why we’re very excited to be coming for this three-city concert tour. It’s really more to give India a taste of who we are and remind them of our music. And then we would like to come back in 2024 and play more shows in India on our world tour. Well, from memory, I remember the food that we were eating was so fantastic. I think it was the best vegetarian food I’ve ever had. So, we’re always excited about the food because we grew up in Birmingham, and we all grew up on Indian food. So that’s one thing that we look forward to.
WION: As you have revealed you grew up listening to Indian songs. One Indian singer with whom you would love to sing a duet.
Ali Campbell: Well, I loved Mohammed Rafi’s voice. I think he’s probably one of the greatest singers of all time. Asha Bhosle, obviously too. I grew up listening to music in cafes where Indian music was on the jukebox as well as Jamaican music. And later on, in the ’80s and ’90s, of course, there was a great movement for Bhangra in Birmingham. So, we had lots of good bands, Satran, the Larp, Golden Star, all these great little bands that came out of the Midlands playing Bhangra. So generally, I’ve been surrounded by Indian music of some source all my life. I don’t know too many of the new films and the new singers because I grew up with the old ones.
WION: Apart from Indian music, have you ever watched a Bollywood movie and is there any Indian actor that you love watching?
Ali Campbell: Mother India is my favourite movie and I love listening to Mohammed Rafi’s songs from Pyaasa.
WION: Singers getting attacked on stage has become the new norm. What are your views on this?
Ali Campbell: Singers being attacked on stage. If anybody attacked me, they’d get attacked right back.
WION: Can you recall any memorable moments from your early days as a musician when Reggae wasn’t widely popular? How did audience react to your early hits?
Ali Campbell: In the early 1980s, very few people knew about reggae, and when UB40 performed in the US, fans would tell the band, ‘We love your style of rock and roll, but could you turn the bass down a bit?’ I can recall that when the group released a dub album, people returned the CDs to the store, saying they were faulty and had no vocals. No one knew what dub music was unless you were, you know, a West Indian or a big fan of reggae or you went to Blues parties. So, people thought something was wrong with the record. Of course, many people enjoyed it as well, and we were happy that it was on the Top 10 charts. Dub is more influential than anything in contemporary dance music: The mixing is bass-led and stems from reggae. And kids are still hip to it. That’s why we are still here. You are great not because you are UB40 but because reggae is great. People worldwide love reggae, which made it possible for us to travel to 72 countries in the last five years, including Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
WION: The band lost one of its core members Astro in 2021. Please share one fond memory with him that you will cherish always.
Ali Campbell: Well, Astro was like a brother to me, you know, so he left a very big hole that will never be filled. UB40 founding member Brian Travers, the sax player, also we lost in the same year so two of the important members of UB40 are gone. Of course, there are two UB40s out there – one featuring me, Ali Campbell, the lead singer of all the original hits and of course, there’s the old other half of UB40 that remains to have a guy cover my hits. So, it’s easy, for you to choose which one to go and see. When you go back to talking about Astro, he was just a very funny guy. You know, he spent most of his time pulling jokes and cracking jokes.
UB40 – We all knew that the band’s name came from the ‘unemployment benefit form’ of the time, but how did you guys decide to stick to It, please share the backstory.
Ali Campbell: We were disenfranchised youth of [Margaret] Thatcher’s Britain. We were unemployed as soon we left school, we were kicked out of school, unemployed and no chance of getting a job. So that’s why we called ourselves UB40 because it meant unemployment benefit, which is what we were all living. That was something we all had in common. And I don’t think it’s any better now for kids growing up in England. In fact, I think it’s probably worse, you know. So, we just carry on complaining like we always have.
WION: Unprecedented came out in 2022. Have you started working on your next album? If yes, when can we expect it to be out?
Ali Campbell: I’m not working on an album at the moment. We’re still enjoying the success of Unprecedented. But I am working on some new material. I’ve done some little projects with different artists. Soon to be announced. All big secrets, of course.