UB40 Red Red Wine Tour Stops At The Jersey Shore

UB40 brought sunny island vibes to the Seaside Boardwalk last Friday, creating an instant highlight of the summer for anyone who was there.

Bodies swayed as people danced in the sand and on the boardwalk against the idyllic backdrop of Tilt-A-Whirl lights and games of chance on the boardwalk a few feet behind them. The weather was perfect as a cool breeze blew in from the Atlantic that cooled us off as we sweat to the oldies! 

UB40 were part of a larger musical British Invasion of the Eighties and like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones before them, they first rose to fame by introducing a new generation of fans to Black music. When they put a reggae backbeat to a soul classic like “The Way You Do The Things You Do” by The Temptations, they created something entirely unique. My first shows on the airwaves were on WMCX at Monmouth University in the midst of that British Invasion, and UB40 was on continuous airplay in our format because of their dominance on MTV. 

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The memories of my college days flashed like the strobe lights onstage as the band opened with Al Green’s “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” and proceeded to make joyful waves of noise for the next 90 minutes. “Cherry Oh Baby,” a song by reggae pioneer Eric Donaldson (originally made famous when the Stones put it on their 1976 album Black and Blue) and The Slickers’ “Johnny Too Bad” were deep cuts that were lapped up by diehard fans like my husband, and it was nice to hear a couple of new songs, such as the cover of Brenton Wood’s “Gimme Some Kind of Sign.  By the time they got to the end of their set with a run-through of their Neil Diamond-penned hit “Red Red Wine” and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You,” the boardwalk crowd that looked on were creating a constellation of swaying stars with their lit mobile phones in their hands. 

There were countless number of provocative t-shirts observed for sale on the boardwalk and on the backs of vacationers that endorsed opposing political candidates that night in Seaside, and those divisions melted away as soon as UB40 brought the reggae riddims. It was a testament yet again on how music can unite people from all walks of life. 

The band is wrapping up their Red Red Wine 40th Anniversary, and it is clear their ability to bring us together is needed now more than ever. Long live UB40!