UB40 Signing Off
“It’s a real ensemble piece. Every time you listen to that album - and a lot of what UB40 do - you really appreciate the deftness and lightness of touch they have. Everyone speaks about Ali’s vocals - but let’s speak about some of the other things… Jim Brown, what and incredible drummer - and Earl’s bass playing was just so heavy! Unless you put this album on and you turn it up full, and turn up the bass frequencies, you don’t get the full effect. But together they were such an incredible force. It’s really worth emphasising just how important this album was nationally. When this album came out - it was everywhere… everyone had it.”
Prof Paul Long, Faculty of Arts, Monash University
Signing Off at 30 Radio Documentary · Absolute Radio · 2010
2010 marked the 30th anniversary of UB40's debut album Signing Off — still regarded by many as the most influential release in the band's catalogue, and the record that launched one of the world's biggest reggae acts. This 45-minute documentary traces the story behind the album's recording in 1980, explores life in Birmingham in the early eighties, and examines the band's political convictions — as strongly held today as they were at the outset. Among the locations featured is the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath, where UB40 played their first ever gig, and where the band interview for this documentary was recorded.
The documentary was presented by Ranking Roger of The Beat, who died in 2019. It features fresh interviews with members of UB40, alongside Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders and producer Bob Lamb, among others. The programme was produced to coincide with the album's reissue in October 2010 and its accompanying nationwide tour.
Production assistance was provided by Steve Thornton and Chris Williams, radio students at Birmingham City University at the time. Special thanks are due to UB40, Andrew Dubber, and Jez Collins of the Birmingham Music Archive.
"A fresh piece of programme-making that avoided formulaic production techniques in its celebration of a neglected but brilliant album, Signing Off. Instead it caught the spirit of the times with its tales of band members lounging in the tall grass outside the studio between takes, during a long hot summer. Hugely enjoyable." — Sony Radio Academy Awards judges, 2011
Signing Off at 30 was named a finalist in the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2011 in the Best Music Special category. Sections of the documentary aired on BBC WM's breakfast show and Sunday morning history programme, with the full version broadcast on Christmas Day. Birmingham community radio station Switch broadcast a remixed director's cut, featuring an additional ten minutes of material. Radio New Zealand broadcast a special edition during their summer programming in 2011.
A revised and expanded edition was produced in 2024. UB45: Celebrating 45 Years of UB40 — a 55-minute documentary for Radio New Zealand — was broadcast on 29 March 2024, marking the band's 45th anniversary.
