By John Voket

NEW HAVEN - The 19th Century French dramatist and poet Jean Baptiste Legouvé once wrote, "A brother is a friend given by Nature."

That may be true, but in the 21st Century, Ali Campbell - musician, songwriter, and co-founder of the monster reggae outfit UB40 - might offer the caveat, "A brother becomes an enemy when he butchers your music and sues you to keep your band name."

Ali Campbell, along with band co-founders Astro (Terence Wilson) and Mickey Virtue, will be hitting the stage at New Haven's College Street Music Hall on Wednesday, August 24, with support from another authentic reggae ensemble, The Wailers. And while this group, which technically calls itself UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey, continues to be embroiled in legal action initiated by the "other" UB40's Duncan Campbell (Ali's brother), the New Haven crowd will not be deprived of hearing all the classic UB40 hits.

In a recent interview with The Newtown Bee, Ali Campbell said that he and his two UB40 co-founders will not be deterred from giving audiences what they came to hear, just because a competing group is suing to prevent him from representing the brand that arguably made reggae famous to millions across the globe. So the College Street crowd will still be able to hear classic UB40 hits like "Red, Red, Wine," smoking covers of "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You" and "I Got You, Babe," along with the group's brand-new single, a cover of the popular oldie "Silhouette."

Ali Campbell told The Bee that his discovery and devotion to reggae was inspired by Bob Marley, and that his and UB40's burning desire to expose the world to that energizing groove was not unlike British Invasion bands that fell in love with rootsy American blues, and sought to bring their interpretations to worldwide audiences.

After amassing record sales topping 70 million, Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue left the band in 2008 and were reunited with Astro when he left in 2013, famously describing the act that had just made a stab at recording a country-style album as a "rudderless ship."

The original members of UB40 with Ali Campbell, Astro, and Virtue enjoyed huge success from 1979 until 2008, pumping out number one albums and multiple Top 10 gold- and platinum-selling albums, getting Grammy nominations, as well as producing four worldwide number one hits.

For those still trying to navigate the band's weird breakup, Ali Campbell's UB40 website offers the following disclaimer: "We would not want anyone to confuse Ali, Astro and Mickey's band with the band that carried on using the name UB40 after 2008 made up of other founding members and new members they tried to replace us with in their attempt to trade off the reflected glory of the success of the original lineup.

"Only with Ali Campbell, the legendary voice of UB40, reunited with Astro and Mickey can audiences get to experience the closest thing to the sound of the hugely successful original line-up of UB40 as all the hits are played. They can also get to hear these three founding members' and UK reggae pioneers' latest take on the genre."

New Haven fans will see and hear UB40 material in all its glory, thanks to an 11-piece touring band featuring a three-piece horn section. And Ali Campbell promises a show that fans deserve.

The multiracial band, formed in 1979 in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley, pooled a diverse set of influences to put a fresh, indigenous slant on Jamaican reggae. After encouragement from Chrissie Hynde, who offered them support slots with The Pretenders, they recorded their independently released debut album, Signing Off, on an eight-track tape machine in the home of producer Bob Lamb.

An unexpected number two album, it gave them the conviction to chart their own course.

The group's latest studio effort, Silhouette, which was recorded after Astro rejoined with Ali Campbell and Virtue, has re-energized the band as well as fans who were grappling with the fallout between the Campbell brothers. The band has since recorded a greatest hits package that is available online and at their concerts, and an unplugged hits project is in production now, Ali said.

Astro described the process of recording Silhouette as a flashback.

"Going into the studio with Ali again took me back in time," said Astro in a band advance. "We hadn't recorded together for years. But, once he started singing, the years just rolled away. And, whenever I had my own ideas for a vocal part, I was encouraged to go for it. There was never any hassle, as we're all having such a blast."

"Silhouette is like a continuation of the solo albums Ali has made since leaving the old band," added Virtue. "Musically, he's been really consistent. Ali's genius is the way he can work a set of lyrics around a great melody. Any song he sings could easily be a UB40 tune."

Among the album's highlights is the title track and first single, a 1957 hit for the American doo-wop group The Rays, though the yearning take that appears on the album owes more to an early 1970s version by the late reggae artist Dennis Brown.

Amid covers of The Beatles "Any Time At All" and Bob Dylan's "I Want You," and originals like the self-explanatory "Reggae Music" and "Cyber Bully Boys," the new album contains the poignant "Tomorrow On My Shoulder," a previously unpublished track written by Ali's father, Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell.

"It's a song about parenthood," said Ali. "My dad gave it to me when I had my first son."

Before chatting about some of his latest work, Ali began by addressing the status of his touring version of UB40.

The Newtown Bee: It seems from some of the more recent articles on you and the band, preserving the legacy of UB40 and its music is a major priority as well as a huge concern because of the second band out there under your brother's leadership using the same name.

Ali Campbell: Listen, I think I've got the hottest reggae band on the road in the world at the moment. The whole reason that UB40 played reggae in the first place is because of me. I live and breathe reggae and I'm a fanatic, you know? I started UB40 all those years ago in 1979 as a kid to promote reggae and to promote dub, and when the 'dark side' as I like to call them, started making a country album it wasn't just a slap in the face to me, it was a slap in the face to all our fans. And that was the reason for Astro coming over and joining me. Since Astro has rejoined with me, we are selling out everywhere because people are happy we're together again. We're selling out arenas in the UK while what I like to call 'the dark side of UB40' is playing clubs. The reuniting has happened. So when people start asking if I see UB40 reuniting, well, this is it - this is us reuniting. Unintentionally, what we've done is reinvent ourselves, like most acts that have longevity. We've sorted the wheat from the chaf, and the people left in the 'dark side' are the ones that were never into reggae in the first place. They weren't on the same mission as I was, and they are running around like headless chickens. We're the real deal, we're there to support reggae, and that's what we're continuing to do. That's why we're selling out everywhere, I guess.

The Bee: So what were the challenges you faced trying to perform some of your most beloved hits?

Campbell: Absolutely. The 'dark side' issued a writ against us trying to stop us from using the name UB40. For six years I was out there using, 'Ali Campbell, The Legendary Voice of UB40.' But when Astro rejoined me we had three original members of UB40, we had the two original vocalists. So now we're using 'UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey' so we don't get confused with the UB40 that's off making country records. We don't pretend to be the old UB40 because they're an embarrassment now. They don't go out saying 'featuring Duncan Campbell,' so they're the ones trading on the brand name, that's how they're still getting shows. But the fans seem to be voting with their feet. And at the end of the day it's all about the music. People care about a good record, not about us airing our dirty laundry in public. I thought we were a band of brothers, but all the demonizing me on-line and the cyber bullying started happening when I left the band.

The Bee: It's coincidental that you brought up cyber bullying, because that's the first new video I saw on the new band website. So as you travel the world, do you hear appreciation from fans because you're shedding some light on this subject with a new song about cyber bullying?

Campbell: I wrote it because there were members of 'the dark side of UB40' bullying my fans, but it covers a very serious subject. I think we should remove the anonymity of people bullying others online. I don't think you should be allowed to hide behind a pseudonym or whatever. I think you should say who you are so you can be responsible for what you say. This is a world wide problem, with everyone from school kids to adults. I mean, you've got people committing suicide because of the way they're being bullied online. It's a serious problem.

The Bee: You talked about your early influences of reggae. Would you say the discovery of Reggae music for you was a lot like the young folks of the US got hooked on the British Invasion back in the '60s?

Campbell: I think you could draw a lot of comparisons to The Beatles and The Stones, who were listening to American blues. It was emulating American blues and selling it back to Americans. What we were doing was emulating Jamaican reggae and trying to popularize it in the same way. My older brother David - who is eight years older than me - his prophet was Bob Dylan. And ten years later, our prophet was Bob Marley. I think that's a simple way of putting it. So it's great that we've got Jo Mersa Marley, Bob Marley's grandson, playing with us, and we've got the Wailers opening for us. People ask whether I influence other people with my lyrics. And I can't say. But I will say my life was changed by Bob Marley's lyrics, and I saw him in 1975 - I stood on the back of the chair for that whole concert. My favorite album even up to today is African Herbsman.

The Bee: Do you have any influence from the 'dancehall' movement?

Campbell: Sure. We've been around reggae in all its forms all our lives. We've been affected by all the styles. We don't do gangster lyrics. We listen to all styles. At the moment there are some young guys coming out of Jamaica doing some wonderful stuff, like Raging Fire. They're doing one drop reggae again with conscious lyrics. I think the gangster era is over. We liked the music but we didn't like their lyrics. But now with these young kids getting back to roots reggae, it's all looking very healthy.

The Bee: Where do you come down on re-purposing songs from your past by maybe adding different rhythms or arrangements to keep them fresh?

Campbell: All the time. And we love adding covers. We did a cover of "Purple rain" a few years ago with the guys from Fun Loving Criminals and it was a smash hit. After that, we also did an album of great British songs. So we did an album in Jamaica, and we did "All Right Now," "Baker Street," and we did a song by The Beatles, and The Kinks. I tried to get as far away from reggae as possible in terms of the original songs, and it worked. One of my favorites was "Baker Street," we loved doing that one.

The Bee: What are the hardest songs to write for you - love songs or those that are trying to espouse some sort of political or social message?

Campbell: Absolutely love songs. It's much harder to write a love song. I think it's quite easy to write a song about something you're angry about. I know for me, I'll get myself wound up about something ad I'll scribble a song out about it. I find that kind of easy. Lyrics have always been a bit of a struggle. We've made 24 albums, and we always want to try and stay reasonable and say something relevant, not something silly.

The Bee: And I guess if you stand by the old cliche, after lovemaking you probably don't want to jump right up and write a song. Maybe you want to relax and have a cigarette?

Campbell: Exactly... well, maybe not a cigarette, but you want to smoke something, if you know what I mean (laughing)?

For tickets to the August 24 UB40 show featuring Ali Campbell, Astro, and Mickey Virtue, visit the College Street Music Hall box office at 238 College Street in New Haven, or go to collegestreetmusichall.com.

Check out Ali Campbell leading UB40 on the band's latest single, "Silhouette"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqFZyujElB8

UB40 ft Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey Virtue perform the monster hit "Red, Red, Wine" in Singapore on April 2, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3yovDpGCk

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