adminBand name argument costing members thousands in legal fees
UB 40 founder member Brian Travers, late last year, revealed that the battle for the right to use the group’s name had cost his version of the band more than £250,000 in legal fees.
Yet despite the quarter of a million pounds legal bill, there is still no sign of a resolution.
Former frontman Ali Campbell has been playing gigs under the UB40 name with bandmates Astro and Mickey Virtue, neither of whom were original members.
However most of the originals including Ali’s brothers Robin and Duncan Campbell are still together with Brian, also touring the world as UB40.
Jimmy Brown (drums), Earl Falconer (bass), Norman Hassan (percussion / trombone) complete the original line-up, now complemented by keyboard players Tony Mullings and Martin Meredith, and Laurence Parry (trumpet).
Although the name UB40 was originally conceived by a third party, Brian is determined that his band will win the right to the name.
“The day Ali left to have a solo career, he was not a happy man, it was like telling your old man you were leaving.
But then he began to use our name , Ali was the singer, but he wasn’t the ideas man.
The case is dragging on and every time I think something is about to happen, the other side presents more information which a judge then has to read.
We’ve spent more than £250,000 and the days when nothing happens fill me with dread because you still have to pay,” said Travers.
UB40’s turmoil has hit Brian more than most because he has not only lost his lead singer but his house and best friend too.
They were best friends at Moseley School of Art, with Ali even being best man at Brian’s wedding.
He didn’t just walk out of UB40, he moved out of Birmingham, remarried and we haven’t seen each other for eight years.
“It’s all gone too far, I haven’t got Ali’s number and his mum Pat is older now and doesn’t need the hassle. But if Ali called me up, I would talk to him and if he needed me for any reason, I’d be there for him.
We’ve had eight years of him giving us a hard time in the newspapers with not all of it has been true,” he said.
Father-of-two Brian is philosophical about having had to downsize his own lifestyle.
He had to sell his large Worcestershire property to settle debts believed to have been £2.5 million.
“Until then, I’d been the one who had good luck. I hadn’t been divorced, I had no debts and I’d been working in other fields with other bands, directing pop videos.
But, under ‘joint and several’, if several of you have debts and you’re the most solvent then you have to cover their debts.
By carrying on working we’ve come through all of that bankruptcy thing. We’re not bankrupt now, but we struggled to pay those debts because there’s a lot of us, we have managers, crew, trucks and so on.
Now, we just need to resolve this case over the name. I’m a believer in justice for all, but you have to pay for it,” added Travers.
Brian says he feels like the luckiest guy in Birmingham, having spent his life “expressing himself and paying the rent”.
Ali Campbell’s version of events
The 55-year-old star revealed the depth of the family rift as he spoke about his breakawayUB40 band’s forthcoming appearance at a Staffordshire music festival in May.
Ali will be joined by original members Astro and Mickey Virtue, and they will perform under the name UB40, even though the other members of the group are still using it, too.
The original group split up in 2008 with Brian Travers, Jimmy Brown, Earl Falconer, Norman Hassan, Robin Campbell and Duncan Campbell forming a rival band, and sparking a bitter row.
Ali said his planned UB40 tour and, the group’s new album, was his way of reclaiming ‘his band’.
“The split was acrimonious,” he told the Sunday Mercury yesterday.
“It was very bad. “I’m no longer on speaking terms with my two brothers. “When it was falling apart, Duncan said to me ‘Stop singing, do your own thing and that way you’ll get what you’re entitled to’.
“But when I left, I found out Duncan had joined the band in my place.
I was furious. “If you went to see The Rolling Stones and Derek Jagger turned up instead of Mick you’d feel a bit peeved.
“I haven’t spoken to Duncan or Robin for six years now. It has torn the family apart.
“I was the founder member in 1979 and I started it to promote reggae music. “I was forced to leave the band five years ago and I’ve sat back and watched the other boys , the ‘dark side’ as I call them “destroying the legacy of my band”, playing smaller and smaller venues.
“I have watched my brother destroy my songs. “When they released their album, and it was a country album, that was the final straw that broke the camel’s back. “I thought ‘Sod it, I’ll take my band back and I’ll reclaim the good name of UB40.”
Ali says that when he announced last year that he, Astro and Mickey would be touring and performing under the name UB40, the rival members threatened legal action to stop them using the name.
“But since then I’ve heard nothing from their solicitors,” he added. “Besides, I’m not worried.
“No-one owns the name UB40 apart from the Government because it was a Government document to sign on for unemployment benefit so no judge in the land will ever rule in their favour.
“The dark side has never once said it isn’t the original line-up, and my older brother Duncan has never recorded any hits, so it’s just nonsense.”
Ali says it is now up to the fans to decide who they really want. And that, according to bandmate Astro, is Ali’s version.
“Fans I’ve spoken to have told me that as far as they were concerned UB40 has to have myself and Ali in it,” he said.
Ali now lives with his wife and children in Christchurch, Dorset, while Mickey is in Rednal and Astro in Worcestershire.
UB40 will be headlining at the Bearded Theory festival at Catton Hall in Derbyshire on May 25. Their world tour began in October in Nigeria and resumes on April 2 when they perform in Dubai and then runs until the end of August.
Astro said: “It feels fantastic to be back, like slipping into an old pair of shoes. It’s like time stood still and nothing has changed.”
Ali explains that, in between the globetrotting, they wanted to return to the UK for the Bearded Theory festival, which was voted ‘Best Small Festival in the UK’.
“It’s always exciting to do new things and this festival is great for us because we’re the perfect festival band,” he said.
“We had 40 top 20 hits in the 1980s and 90s, and will be singing all of those at the festival.”—Online
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