UB40’s Top Hits Collected for New Greatest Hits, to be Released September 30 by Virgin/EMI

 Career-Spanning CD and Digital Album Features 21 of the UK Reggae Group's

Top Hits, Including 'Red Red Wine,' 'Here I Am (Come and Take Me),' and '(I

                   Can't Help) Falling In Love With You'



    HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 12 /EMWNews/ -- For more than 25 years, UB40

has been one of the world's premiere pop-reggae acts, with several

international chart-topping singles and global sales totaling more than 70

million albums. On September 30, Virgin/EMI will release UB40: Greatest

Hits, a new CD and digital collection of 21 hits and standout tracks

spanning the influential group's career.



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    Included on UB40: Greatest Hits are the group's first #1 smash, 1984's

"Red Red Wine," and their reggae-splashed hit versions of "Here I Am (Come

and Take Me)," "(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You," and "The Way You

Do The Things You Do." Also included are two songs featuring The

Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, "I Got You Babe" and "Breakfast In Bed." "Swing

Low", the official anthem for the England rugby team's triumphant 2003

World Cup campaign in Australia, was the group's 49th UK chart single.



    After many years performing live and developing a name for themselves,

UB40's fortunes changed at the beginning of 1980, when they were asked to

support The Pretenders on a UK tour. The cover art for UB40's first album,

released that year, was a reproduction of the UK's unemployment benefit

card, with the title Signing Off rubber-stamped in red. It referred to

"signing off" the dole and getting a job, both an acknowledgement of the

launch of the band and a celebration of their new status.



    Because they were from the West Midlands and they were a large

multicultural group playing music of Jamaican origin, UB40 were initially

thought to be part of the two-tone music scene which had burst out of

nearby Coventry. Rooted in Caribbean ska, rock steady and reggae, the

two-tone style was popularized by Coventry bands including The Specials and

The Selecter. Signing Off made it clear that UB40 were not part of the

two-tone movement. While they were part of the same social and political

tendency, their musical approach was quite different. Their sound was more

relaxed, sophisticated and sultry.



    In 1983, UB40 released the album Labour of Love, a direct tribute to

the musicians who had inspired and influenced them. The phenomenally

popular 'Red Red Wine' was the album's first single, and it went straight

to #1 on the UK charts upon its release, remaining on the British charts

for two years. In 1984, the song became UB40's first U.S. #1 and went on to

be a worldwide hit for the group.






    UB40: Greatest Hits (CD, Digital Album)

    1.  (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You

    2.  One In Ten

    3.  Red Red Wine

    4.  If It Happens Again

    5.  Here I Am (Come And Take Me)

    6.  Sing Our Own Song

    7.  I Got You Babe [featuring Chrissie Hynde]

    8.  Groovin' (Out On Life)

    9.  My Way Of Thinking

    10. The Way You Do The Things You Do

    11. Higher Ground

    12. Please Don't Make Me Cry

    13. Kingston Town

    14. Come Back Darling

    15. Don't Break My Heart

    16. Cherry Oh Baby

    17. Breakfast In Bed [featuring Chrissie Hynde]

    18. Rat In Mi Kitchen

    19. Homely Girl

    20. Until My Dying Day

    21. Swing Low [featuring The United Colors Of Sound]