Do The Reggae

The Police were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion)…

A quick internet search brings up some extraordinary footage of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing a session at the Black Ark. Taken from the film ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’, directed by Jeremy Marre, the sequence shows Junior Murvin collaborating with members of the Congos and the Heptones on a song improvised on the spot for the film crew. Before the vocals are recorded, the Upsetters lay down the backing track. The musical director of the session is the afro-haired bass player, Boris Gardiner; unusually, it is he who counts in the band to start each take. After a long conversation with Boris a few years back, I asked Lee about his contribution to the Black Ark sound.

The Best of UB40, Vol. 1 is an adequate collection of the group's biggest '80s hits, including "Breakfast in Bed," "Red Red Wine," "Rat in Mi Kitchen," "Food for Thought," "Please Don't Make Me Cry," "Don't Break My Heart," and "Sing Our Own Song." Although it doesn't give enough weight to the group's earliest, edgiest (and best) recordings, it still offers a good sense of the band's evolution into a fine pop-reggae band, and it will satiate the needs of most casual fans. The Best of UB40, Vol. 2 concentrates on the group's '90s recordings, when the band concentrated on pop-reggae crossovers instead of genuine reggae. There are a number of hits here – including "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)," "Kingston Town," "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "Where Did I Go Wrong?," "Until My Dying Day," "Higher Ground" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" – but fans of UB40's political edge and their genuine reggae roots won't find much of interest here. This is a collection for pop fans, not reggae fans, and in that sense, it is a good summation of the band's second decade indeed.