UB40's Ali Campbell: Signing Off was out of tune

Oct 17 2010

BIRMINGHAM supergroup UB40 should not re-release their 30 year-old debut album Signing Off because it is out of tune, former lead singer Ali Campbell has claimed.

EMI is issuing a deluxe edition of the record next month to coincide with the Birmingham band’s 30th anniversary tour, named after their famous first disc.

But Ali, who quit the reggae group acrimoniously in 2008, says the move is a totally backward step.

‘‘It’s ridiculous that they’re re-releasing our first album,’’ he said. ‘‘Maybe they should retitle it Signing On!

‘‘I can’t even listen to Signing Off because it’s all out of tune. I’ve tried to listen to it, it was a zeitgeisty album in its day, But its day was 30 years ago.

‘‘It’s very primitive, the sax is all sharp because we had the wrong type of sax at the time, it was in the wrong key for everybody else.

‘‘I’m also shouting, not singing. I shout through the whole album.

‘‘I know it sold eight million copies but I think it’s very primitive and it’s like going backwards.’’

The irony of Ali’s own situation does not escape him as he is also delving into the past for his new album, Great British Songs, a collection of reggae versions of classic pop tracks from the sixties and seventies.