I'll admit that with the elections across the country today my cursory glance of the news this morning didn't really inspire me to write much. Plus for obvious reason's I'm not going into last night's football, especially as it had never happened in my lifetime, in that competition.
What I was drawn to was the news that Ali Campbell who quit earlier in the year as lead singer of UB40* has been replaced by his other brother Duncan. Now where has Duncan been all these years while Ali and other brother Robin, the bands guitarist have been touring the world and recording as the world's most sucessful mixed race Reggae band. Well he has been a professional spoon player. Yes you did read that right, in fact he was the only professional spoon player registered with the Musicians Union in the UK. He'd followed his Scottish father Ian's passion for folk music rather than his brother's passion for the reggae culture they grew up with in Birmingham. Apparently Duncan has suggested he could play the spoons in UB40 but the band are said not to be too keen, however, if he ever did no doubt it would be the first reggae rhythm beat out on two pieces of cutelry.
*Short history lesson for youger readers. The UB40 (Unemployment Benefit form) was the precurser to the JSA40 (Job Seekers Allowance). When the band formed in the late 1970s unemployment was heading to a 'record high' (although regigging how it's counted since has led to some dipute on this) of over 3 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment