Peak
34
Weeks
15
Score
1,350
Chart Year
1984
"Red Red Wine" was written and first recorded by Neil Diamond. His original version first appeared on his 1967 album Just For You (Bang 217) and was produced by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich (a.k.a. The Raindrops of "The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget" fame). Neil's version of the song (Bang single 556) peaked at #62 over a three-week run in April 1968. In the UK, two versions of the song charted in 1969: a soul cover by Jimmy James & The Vagabonds hit #36 (it also made #127 in the US), and a reggae rendition by Tony Tribe hit #46. UB40, whose members grew up listening to these versions, took it to #1 in their native UK with their 1983 cover. The lyrics sing the praises of wine, and its ability to make you forget your problems. Diamond wrote another song about red wine in 1970 with Cracklin' Rosie. UB40 recorded this as a cover of the Tony Tribe 1969 reggae version, which reached #46 in the UK charts. The band did not realize until after it topped the charts that Neil Diamond wrote it and originally recorded it. Lead singer Ali Campbell recalls in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits: "The funny thing about the song is we only knew it as a reggae song. We had no idea that Neil Diamond wrote it." Terence "Astro" Wilson, confirmed: "Even when we saw the writing credit which said N. Diamond, we thought it was a Jamaican artist called Negus Diamond or something." UB40's "Red Red Wine" was revived in America in the summer of 1988 when the Phoenix radio station KKFR put it in rotation after featuring it on their "Most Popular Request Of The Week" segment. UB40's promotion man, Charlie Minor, was miffed because the band was set to release their Chrissie Hynde collaboration "Breakfast In Bed" - already a hit in the UK - as a single in America, and he wanted that to be the focus. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the rival Phoenix station KZZP also started playing the song, which then spread to other stations around the country like a contagion. Accordingly, UB40's label issued it as a single, and it climbed to #1 in October. "Breakfast In Bed" did get a single release but was buried under the wave of "Red Red Wine." The full version of the song, as it appears on the album, runs 5:16 and contains a rap by group member Terence "Astro" Wilson. When the song was issued as a single in 1983, it was without the rap, but down to 3:00. Conventional wisdom held that pop listeners were averse to rap and would turn off songs with rap interludes, so labels often excised the raps when they presented songs to radio stations. But Astro's rap was the spice that brought all the flavors together, and when the song became a hit in 1988, it was in the full version, rap included. Report this ad The 1969 Tony Tribe version caught on in England with a hooligan crowd known as "bovver boys." These guys typically sported shaved heads, heavy boots, and cropped pants held up by suspenders (or as they're called in England, "braces"). Tribe performed the song in September 1969 at a reggae festival held in London at Empire Pool; other acts on the bill included Desmond Dekker, Johnny Nash and Max Romeo. To show his support for the bovver boys who bought his record, Tribe wore suspenders for his performance. His cover of the song would later find its way onto various "skinhead reggae" playlists. The album Labour Of Love is a collection of covers comprised of reggae songs the band grew up listening to; other tracks include "Many Rivers To Cross" by Jimmy Cliff and "Cherry Oh Baby" by Eric Donaldson. It was UB40's fourth album, and the group was eager to expose their expanding fanbase to the reggae classics they loved. "Before we come along, people just looked on reggae as Rastaman, and half the white English people don't want to know," the group's rapper Astro Wilson told NME. "To some degree that alienated people from getting into reggae. When we came out - just the fact that half the band are white when reggae was supposed to be for Rastas only - they started to realize that reggae is just music and it's there for whoever wants to listen to it, and whoever wants to play it." This song didn't take off America when it was first released in 1983, but another reggae tune did: "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant, which hit #2. UB40 bass player Earl Falconer recalls being mistaken for Grant when the band toured in America around this time. In the music video, lead singer Ali Campbell is actually drinking beer, and not red wine. The video was filmed in a local Birmingham, England pub where you wouldn't want to be caught drinking wine. To avoid hiring extras, the band invited guys from a nearby factory to join them at the pub, graciously paying the bar bill in exchange for their services. It was shot in the morning, and by noon, most of these hired hands were blotto. According to various accounts, when they staggered back to work, they were fired on the spot, although later given their jobs back. The black-and-white clip was directed by Bernard Rose, who worked on many of UB40's videos and also directed the original, bacchanalian "Relax" clip for Frankie Goes To Hollywood. In America, a slower, string-laden version of the song made #70 Vic Dana (Liberty 56163) in 1970. UB40's next #1 UK hit came in 1985 with another reggae-tinged cover of a song by an American artist: "I Got You Babe." They recorded the song with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, who brought them on tour early in their career. This cover also made #28 in America. Though Neil Diamond once said this is one of his favorite covers, he has, according to Ali Campbell, never expressed this to UB40. "I'm sure it annoys Neil no end that people think it's our song," Campbell surmised to Billboard: "Of course he did make a lot of money out of it, but he's never sent us a card saying thanks or anything like that." UB40's version has such an upbeat tone many listeners may overlook the melancholic lyrical content. "It's actually a very sad song," Campbell pointed out. "It's all about a bloke drinking his sorrows away." Despite this, the reggae beat makes for an uplifting experience. "It's the drum and the bass that says it all," the UB40 singer added. "The thing about reggae music is that it is elating. It elates me when I'm listening to it, whether old reggae or new reggae. That's why I love it. It changes the mood of everything." UB40 fractured in 2008, with founding members Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue leaving the band. When Terence "Astro" Wilson left in 2013, the three formed UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey. A year later, they began selling their own wine, a Bordeaux they describe as having blackberry notes and a "long, elegant finish."
Red, red wine goes to my head Makes me forget that I still need her so Red, red wine, it's up to you All I can do I've done Memories won't go, memories won't go I'd have sworn that with time Thoughts of you leave my head I was wrong, now I find Just one thing makes me forget Red, red wine, stay close to me Don't let me be alone It's tearing apart my blue heart I'd have sworn that with time Thoughts of you leave my head I was wrong, now I find Just one thing makes me forget Red, red wine, stay close to me Don't let me be alone It's tearing apart my blue heart Red red wine, you make me feel so fine You keep me rockin' all of the time Red red wine, you make me feel so grand I feel a million dollar when you're just in my hand Red red wine, you make me feel so sad Any time I see you go, it make me feel bad Red red wine, you make me feel so fine Monkey pack him Rizla pon the sweet Dep line Red red wine, weh give me whole heap of zing Whole heap of zing, make me do my own thing Red red wine, you really know how fi love Your kind of lovin' like a blessing from above Red red wine, I loved you right from the start Right from the start, and with all of my heart Red red wine inna eighties style Red red wine inna modern beat style Yeah Give me a likkle time, let me clear up mi mind Give me a likkle time, let me clear up mi mind Give me red wine, the kind make me feel fine You make me feel fine all of the time Red red wine, you make me feel so fine Monkey pack him Rizla pon the sweet Dep line The line broke, the money get choked Bun bad ganja pon him likkle rowing boat Red red wine, I'm gonna hold on to you Hold on to you 'cause I know yuh love truth Red red wine, I'm gonna love you til' I die Love you 'til I die, and that's no lie Red red wine, can't get you out mi mind Wherever you may be, I'll surely find I'll surely find, make no fuss, just leave us Give me a little time, let me clear out my mind Give me a little time, let me clear out my mind Give me red wine, the kind make me feel fine You make me feel fine all of the time Red red wine, you make me feel so fine Monkey back and ease up on the sweet deadline The line broke, the money get choked Bun bad ganja pon him likkle rowing boat Red red wine, you really know how fi love Your kind of lovin' like a blessing from above Red red wine, I loved you right from the start Right from the start, and with all of my heart Red red wine, weh give me whole heap of zing Whole heap of zing, make me do my own thing Red red wine inna eighties style Red red wine inna modern beat style Yeah Red red wine, you make me feel so fine You keep me rockin' all of the time Red red wine, you make me feel so grand I feel a million dollar when you're just in my hand Red red wine, you make me feel so sad Any time I see you go, it make me feel bad
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan 28, 1984 | 83 | 43 |
| 2 | Feb 4, 1984 | 69 | 57 |
| 3 | Feb 11, 1984 | 61 | 65 |
| 4 | Feb 18, 1984 | 53 | 73 |
| 5 | Feb 25, 1984 | 48 | 78 |
| 6 | Mar 3, 1984 | 43 | 83 |
| 7 | Mar 10, 1984 | 41 | 85 |
| 8 | Mar 17, 1984 | 37 | 89 |
| 9 | Mar 24, 1984 | 36 | 90 |
| 10 | Mar 31, 1984 | 34 | 92 |
| 11 | Apr 7, 1984 | 34 | 92 |
| 12 | Apr 14, 1984 | 60 | 66 |
| 13 | Apr 21, 1984 | 73 | 53 |
| 14 | Apr 28, 1984 | 78 | 48 |
| 15 | May 5, 1984 | 97 | 29 |