More reggae at the top of the charts, after Shaggy and Ace of Base over recent weeks. And it’s Britain’s best-sellers in the genre who are bringing it there…
(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You, by UB40 (their 3rd and final #1)
2 weeks, from 6th – 20th June 1993
As with their last #1, a cover of ‘I Got You Babe’ with Chrissie Hynde, this is a dub take on a golden oldie (though note the slight title change from the Elvis original, a chart-topper in 1962). And I can see what they were going for – a softened version of their reggae sound, with clear nineties dance influences in the swaying beat – but I can’t take to it. ‘Plodding’ and ‘slow’ were the two notes I took on first listen. I also gave their version of ‘I Got You Babe’ a ‘Meh’ award, so I’ve got form.
Ali Campbell’s voice is an acquired taste most of the time, and especially so here. I don’t know if he’s trying to imbue his lines with emotion, but it mainly sounds as if he’s straining to get them out. Obviously it doesn’t help that the listener automatically compares his efforts to Elvis’s from thirty years earlier… And yet, the quality of the song shines through – there’s a reason why it’s become a standard – and I do like the addition of the short, sharp horn fills towards the end.
Like ‘Oh Carolina’ before it, ‘(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You’ featured on the soundtrack to the Sharon Stone movie ‘Sliver’. There are very few film soundtracks to have included multiple #1s, and it’s amazing that a movie as poorly regarded and forgotten as this ‘Sliver’ managed it. Still it gave UB40 their 3rd and final chart-topper, and became their biggest hit in the US, staying at #1 for seven weeks.
And we should note the impressive longevity of the band, given that those three number ones were spread out over a decade (while the Campbell brothers have one more shot at top spot, in a featuring role, to come). But I think it’s fair to say, and this is coming from someone who wouldn’t count himself as a fan, that UB40 are not best represented by their three #1s. Two of them are fairly pedestrian covers, while ‘Red Red Wine’ – which was also a cover, of course – has bit more charm to it, though still plays it fairly safe.
They had a few more years of chart hits in them, including two further Top 10s, but its perhaps right to mark this as UB40’s swansong. They remain a going concern, with four of the original eight members still in the band. Ali Campbell, however, left in 2008, after disagreements with the band’s management.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
‘Plodding’, ‘slow’ – it’s difficult to add to that. I never cared much for UB40, and it’s probably down to Campbell’s voice as much as anything. Give me Eddy Grant or Bob Marley any day. The first version of the song I ever heard was the 1970 one by Andy Williams, and that’s always remained my favourite by a mile.
I’ll have to check the Andy Williams’ version out… It must be one of the most covered songs of all time.
Sorry, I meant to add it – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eY691roHQI – looks like it should be a live TV performance, but it sounds like the single has verb overdubbed, especially as it fades out. It’s faster than Elvis or UB40, and I remember one reviewer when it came out took exception to him speeding it up a little. Yes, probably covered over the years almost as much as ‘Unchained Melody’. There was even a Celtic folk version in 1986 that reached No 42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-__OdJ5b6A
Wow…we will switch with this one. Would I take the original instead? Oh yes and twice on Sundays as the old saying goes…but this one doesn’t bother me. It IS slow but I guess I may have liked it because it was familiar.
I think the quality of the song still shines through, and I like the addition of the horns. Other than that… Meh : )
LOL…it’s SO nice talking about a song and this time I’m the positive one!
Hahaha you’re not that bad
I hope not…
I was a big fan of UB40, and I have this on 12″ vinyl. But I do, sadly, have to agree – and I think this was the start of them becoming ‘ordinary.’ I still liked this and just about everything that followed, but by this time, their ‘reggaefying’ other hits did come across a tad lame.
(I still remain a fan, though, having said that – they just set such a high bar in their early days.) 🙂
Rating: 2.5/5
Don’t hate this one, but I don’t love it either. Elvis’ one is obvious GOAT in terms of the many, many versions, but this isn’t a butchery.
UB40, I dunno how I feel about them. Some of their songs are okay, but some of their songs I really don’t like. I really hate “Red Red Wine”. I guess I’m lukewarm on the band? The lead singer, his voice can get REALLY damn annoying on repeated listen.
I like this version – it’s laid-back rather than dreary (sorry Elvis) or annoying (Stylistics is just awful) but I agree with above praise for Andy Williams, that one I liked too. If I could have had my druthers, I’d ruther Food For Thought, Kingston Town or Don’t Break My Heart have topped the chart, but they have quite the huge back catalogue and did their bit to take reggae classics to the world and also to write their own social commentary songs, and I still buy Ali’s stuff here and there, and the rest of the band too – after 43 years I have fond memories and I still like his voice on a good song. Happily never hear I Got You Babe or Red Red Wine again though! 🙂