Songoftheday 6/3/14 - They say we're young and we don't know we won't find out until we grow...

UB40 with Chrissie Hynde - "I Got You Babe"
from the EP Little Baggariddim (1985)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #28 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 4

Today's Song of the Day was a collaboration between the biggest reggae act to come out of England, UB40, and the lead singer of the pop/punk band the Pretenders, Chrissie Hynde. UB40 had been opening shows for the Pretenders in the early 80s, and they scored a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1984 with their remake of the Neil Diamond song "Red Red Wine", from their covers album Labour Of Love. However their next album of originals, Geffery Morgan, didn't get much notice in the US, despite placing three hits on the British chart including a top-ten record with the great "If It Happens Again". So for their next release, the band only put out an EP in America which had a cover found on their Baggariddim remix album. Enlisting Chrissie to fill in for the "Cher" part, UB40 remade the Sonny & Cher #1 hit "I Got You Babe", basically taking the formula from their "Red Red Wine" single and applying it to the hippie love song...

"I Got You Babe" became UB40's second American top-40 hit in September of 1985, actually doing better than "Red Red Wine"'s first time on the chart. Internationally, the duet was huge, landing the band their first #1 hit in their native Britain, as well as topping the singles chart in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand, and going to # 4 in Canada.

(Click below to see the rest of the post)


Here's the classic original from Sonny and Cher...

Now this is UB40 with Hynde live on a soundcheck..

...and again, live in 1989...

...finally, recently on a TV appearance a couple of years ago with new lead singer Duncan Campbell (brother of former vocalist Ali)...

Up tomorrow: The big-voiced girl is back for Eduardo.