UB40 - Little Baggariddim

Little Baggariddim, not to be confused with the actual LP Baggariddim or the 2021 Bigga Baggariddim, is a UB40 EP featuring 2, count 'em 2, versions of the mortal Sonny Bono classic I Got You Babe. Sorry, that was uncouth. I'm dropping Ms like Rik Ocasek now. See how i borrowed the "im-" for the next sentence. How droll of me. 

People often say UB40 and The Specials are the same band, but other than being from the same place and time, both mixed race bands expressing Socialist views at a time when conservative racist policies were rising to political power, and not at all beating around the Thatch about it, i disagree. The Specials merged Punk and Ska to create Two-Tone while UB40 is straight Reggae/Dub. Image-wise similar, music-wise incredibly different. 

I don't think any sane person is gonna run out into the streets or the rooftops to loudly pretend that I Got You Babe is one of the greatest songs a human brain ever wrote, but i definitely like this version with Chrissie Hynde better than the original. It's syrupy and sweet as opposed to silly and ditzy, plus the pun works perfect. 

You might say "Bottle, why are there so many albums that are just reworked versions of their own songs with various guest performers? That seems kinda lame." 

What are you, some kinda jerk? It's not lame at all. Jamaican music culture is fascinating and i definitely recommend reading about it on your own, i'm just gonna skim the parts that are relevant for UB40. We're talking actual parties with actual DJs spinning records, toasting over the musical interludes, building their own sound systems, searching for rare and new records that other DJs don't have or know about, trying out potential singles to see how the crowd reacts before investing in thousands of copies, getting bands to make special and exclusive versions of songs to stand out, using their equipment to overdub and mess around with the recordings by cutting the vocals or adding reverb. 

So, Dub as a genre is essentially the "riddim" of the song with prominent drum and bass and no vocals. The last track is their Dub version of I Got You Babe. The best song is by far One In Ten. I don't need to dissect it, it speaks for itself. If you only want to hear one real UB40 song make it that one. 

I do have to dissect the prominence of Reggae in popular music though. It's pretty common to raise an eyebrow at UB40, Shaggy, Snow, i was even on the fence about Fire From The Gods if you recall. There are large populations of Jamaicans in the US, the UK, and Canada because Jamaica's switch from a slave plantations to subsistence farming to national independence from the British Empire happened rather quickly and lots of people left looking for better international opportunities. But, that means there's no shortage of non Jamaicans puttin' on the patois. Most of them did have an honest appreciation for the music and the leafy greens and honestly wanted to popularize the music, but if you can name any names other than Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff i'll be really surprised. UB40 is inarguably less cringeworthy than most because you can hear they mean it rather than trying to make it a surprise gimmick. 

I think we all learned something in there somewhere, tomorrow's album should be a total non-sequitur, if i know me.