"King"
Single by UB40
from the album Signing Off
A-side"Food for Thought"
Released1 February 1980
Recorded21–24 December 1979[1]
StudioBob Lamb's "Home of the Hits", Moseley, Birmingham
Genre
Length4:31
LabelGraduate
Songwriter(s)UB40
Producer(s)
  • Bob Lamb
  • UB40
UB40 singles chronology
"King" / "Food for Thought"
(1980) 		"My Way of Thinking" / "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
(1980)

"King" is a song by British reggae band UB40, released as their debut single in February 1980 from their album Signing Off. It peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart as a double A-side single with "Food for Thought".[3]

Background and release

"King" is about Martin Luther King Jr.,[4] questioning the lost direction of the deceased leader's followers and the state of mourning of a nation after his death. It was written by the group after having watched a documentary on King.[5] It was the first song UB40 played to producer Bob Lamb, with Lamb recalling that "it just blew my mind basically, to realise a bunch of kids could make a sound like that... it blew me away. And that was it for me, I was hooked, it was a bit like Elvis walks in or something, you know, it was one of those moments".[6] The band were unable to afford to record in a studio, so they used Lamb's bedsit in Moseley to record the entire Signing Off album.[7]

"King" was released as the main A-side with "Food for Thought" as the AA-side. It was therefore intended to be the side promoted; however, radio disc jockeys saw "Food for Thought" as the better radio track and as such it gained more airplay than "King" and became the hit.[6] The song was positively received, with Simon Ludgate for Record Mirror describing "King" as "superb, spacy reggae. Best crossover reggae / pop I've come across in months. It has a soothing, cool effect that is very therapeutic".[8]

Charts

Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 36
Ireland (IRMA)[10] 10
UK Singles (OCC)[3] 4
UK Independent Singles (Record Business)[11] 1

References

  1. ^ Signing Off (sleeve). Graduate Records. 1980. GRADLP 2.
  2. ^ Harrington, Jim (2016). "UB40 - Signing Off". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 468.
  3. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  5. ^ Ryan, Gary (13 August 2020). "UB40's Ali Campbell: "There will never be a reunion between me and my brother"". NME. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b Coley, Sam (producer) (2010). UB40: The 30th Anniversary of "Signing Off" Documentary (radio documentary). Birmingham City University. Between 6:10–10:30. Retrieved 6 May 2023 – via Soundcloud.
  7. ^ Lewis, Pete (5 October 2010). "UB40: One in a Million". Blues & Soul. No. 1036. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  8. ^ "Singles" (PDF). Record Mirror. 9 February 1980. p. 8. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 316. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
  10. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Food for Thought". Irish Singles Chart.
  11. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). "UB40". Indie Hits 1980–1989: The Complete U.K. Independent Charts (Singles & Albums). Cherry Red Books. ISBN 0-95172-069-4. Archived from the original on 20 April 2004. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
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