Signing Off

Signing Off
Studio album by UB40
Released	29 August 1980
Recorded	21 December 1979 - 20 July 1980
Genre	Reggae
Length	66:22
Label	Graduate Records
Producer	Ray Falconer, Bob Lamb, UB40
Professional reviews
	Allmusic link;
UB40 chronology
Singles from Signing Off
	"King / Food For Thought"; Released: 1 February 1980; "My Way Of Thinking / I Think It's Going to Rain Today"; Released: 6 June 1980;

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Signing Off is the debut album by UB40, released in the UK on 29 August 1980 by Graduate Records. It reached #2 on the UK Albums Chart and spent a total of 71 weeks on the chart, and received a Platinum certification by BPI on 11 June 1981.

[edit] Overview

Signing Off was UB40's first album and 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".

"King" was a song written about the late Martin Luther King, Jr., questioning the lost direction of the deceased leader's followers and the state of mourning of a nation after his death. Perhaps the biggest success of the album was the song "Food For Thought", which was an attempt to publicize and condemn the Ethiopian famine in Africa, comparing it with the Western over-indulgent celebration of Christmas, a full five years before Band Aid brought the subject to widespread attention. Subsequently it was also a prominent feature of UB40's 2005 Live 8 appearance in Hyde Park, London - 25 years after the song had been first released. Both "King" and "Food For Thought" were released together as a Double A-side, as their debut single in February 1980. It topped the Indie chart for three months, reached #4 in the UK charts, and went on to sell half a million copies.

The follow-up "My Way of Thinking" / "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" peaked at #6 on the UK charts in June 1980. Although this was their second single before the album was released, "My Way of Thinking" was not included on the album. The group was not entirely happy with the number and Ali Campbell had confessed to being embarrassed with the sexist nature of some of the lyrics.

The original vinyl album consisted of a ten-track LP plus a 3-track 12-inch record which included the tracks "Madam Medusa", "Strange Fruit" and "Reefer Madness". The opening track "Tyler" was written about a young black American Gary Tyler, who was convicted of murdering a 13-year-old white boy, at the age of 17. UB40 intended "Tyler" to be their first single in the States. "Burden of Shame" recounted the misdeeds performed in the name of British Imperialism. "I'm a British subject, not proud of it/While I carry the burden of shame". The 12-inch single contained one of the band's finest compositions: "Madam Medusa" featured some of their most impassioned and bitter lyrics. The song was a vivid description of Margaret Thatcher's rise to power depicted in a grotesque style - a lyrical equivalent to the goriest caricatures of the Iron Lady!

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". The latter two were released two months after the release of Signing Off, and were wrote during the release of the album.

As an indication that 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 number 83 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

[edit] Cover Art

The front cover and reverse has been made to look like the UB40 unemployment benefit attendance card from which the band took their name.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by UB40 except where noted.

[edit] LP

Side One

#	Title	Length
1.	"Tyler"	5:51
2.	"King"	4:35
3.	"12 Bar"	4:24
4.	"Burden of Shame" (UB40, Van Morrison)	6:29
21:19

Side Two

#	Title	Length
1.	"Adella"	3:28
2.	"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman)	3:41
3.	"25%"	3:31
4.	"Food for Thought"	4:10
5.	"Little by Little"	3:44
6.	"Signing Off"	4:24
22:58

EP Side One

#	Title	Length
1.	"Madam Medusa" (Ian Campbell, UB40)	12:52
12:52

EP Side Two

#	Title	Length
1.	"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan)	4:05
2.	"Reefer Madness"	5:08
9:13

[edit] Cassette

Side One

#	Title	Length
1.	"Tyler"	5:51
2.	"King"	4:35
3.	"12 Bar"	4:24
4.	"Burden of Shame" (UB40, Van Morrison)	6:29
5.	"Adella"	3:28
6.	"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman)	3:41
7.	"25%"	3:31
31:59

Side Two

#	Title	Length
1.	"Food for Thought"	4:10
2.	"Little by Little"	3:44
3.	"Signing Off"	4:24
4.	"Madam Medusa" (Ian Campbell, UB40)	12:52
5.	"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan)	4:05
6.	"Reefer Madness"	5:08
34:23

[edit] CD

#	Title	Length
1.	"Tyler"	5:51
2.	"King"	4:35
3.	"12 Bar"	4:24
4.	"Burden of Shame" (UB40, Van Morrison)	6:29
5.	"Adella"	3:28
6.	"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (Randy Newman)	3:41
7.	"25%"	3:31
8.	"Food for Thought"	4:10
9.	"Little by Little"	3:44
10.	"Signing Off"	4:24
11.	"Madam Medusa" (Ian Campbell, UB40)	12:52
12.	"Strange Fruit" (Lewis Allan)	4:05
13.	"Reefer Madness"	5:08
66:22

[edit] Personnel

Astro – Voices
Neil Black – Assistant Engineer
Jim Brown – Drums, Group Member
Ali Campbell – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Robin Campbell – Guitar, Vocals
Earl Falconer – Bass
Ray Falconer – Producer
Norman Hassan – Congas, Percussion, Vocals
Bob Lamb – Engineer, Producer
Rafe McKenna – Engineer
Brian Travers – Tenor Saxophone
UB40 – Producer
Michael Virtue – Keyboards, Organ, Strings

Signing Off

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] Cover Art

[edit] Track listing

[edit] LP

[edit] Cassette

[edit] CD

[edit] Personnel

Views

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