UB40: Love and loss
After getting down on one knee, Robin couldn’t wait to record some new tunes – with a little Kiwi help
After two decades of blissful togetherness, UB40 musician Robin Campbell could have knocked his partner Luci Crossman down with a feather when he casually suggested they get married.
“We were talking matterof-factly about making the relationship legal and I said, ‘Let’s do it then!’” the guitarist and vocalist dishes while chatting to the Weekly from England.
“She was very surprised, but delighted. We’d been together 20 years, so it hasn’t changed our life, but we thought we ought to make it legal because we’re happy and we see it as permanent. She and my ex – the mother of my children – get on well and my kids love her, so it was about time!”
Father-of-two Robin and Luci, who runs The Juci Luci Cake Company (and made the couple’s wedding cake), tied the knot “quietly and quickly” in England early last year.
But little did they know, while jetting off to their Thailand honeymoon, that they would emerge from their secluded beach getaway to a whole new world.
“We got to the airport and everyone was wearing masks, but we knew nothing about Covid-19 until we got home. Within a couple of weeks, lockdown happened. The world changed.”
The time since has been challenging with Robin, 66, losing his mum Patricia to pneumonia, and helping his brother and ex-bandmate Duncan recover from a stroke. In addition, the band’s planned tour dates were all cancelled.
“I enjoyed lockdown at first because I was all loved-up and freshly married, but then the novelty wears off and you just want to get back on the road. I’ve been going stir crazy,” he laughs.
The silver lining? Having time to complete Bigga Baggariddim, which is based on UB40’s 1985 album Baggariddim. Making the album saw UB40 reunite virtually with the same artists they’d collaborated with on the original album 36 years ago – as well as collaborating with other artists for the first time. And among those other artists was Kiwi musician Carl Perkins.
Carl was in the homegrown reggae group Herbs and the Kiwi icons greeted UB40 at the airport four decades ago, when the chart-topping UK band visited Aotearoa.
“They took us to parties and made us feel welcome,” recalls Robin, who recalls Carl’s sons, Te Omeka and Isaiah, being “starstruck” when they first met.
During UB40’s return visits, Carl, who went on to form band House of Shem with his sons, continued showing Robin good times and often opened for the
Red Red Wine crooners, most recently in 2017. But in 2018, the beloved musician died of bowel cancer, aged 59.
“He refused to lie down,” says Robin. “He said, ‘It’ll take me when it takes me, but I’m not giving up.’ You’d never know he was ill on stage.”
Robin was devastated about Carl’s passing, however “incredible news” followed as he learned that before his death, Carl had recorded vocals for three tracks
UB40 had sent House of
Shem to work on for Bigga Baggariddim, including Message of Love.
“Message of Love epitomises what the man stood for,” says Robin, choking up. “He was a lovely, genuine man with a good heart.”
Robin remains in touch with Carl’s sons, who will support UB40 when they tour New
Zealand next year.
Like Te Omeka and Isaiah, Robin’s accustomed to making music with family.
His brother, ex-UB40 frontman Ali Campbell, left the band in 2008, citing management disagreements. The pair haven’t spoken since.
“It was traumatic at the time and disappointing.
I had another brother in the cupboard, so I dusted him off!” Robin says about Duncan, who replaced Ali, but recently stepped down after falling ill.
“We were happily the same line-up for 30 years and that’s unusual, so we’ve done well. I’ve got no hopes for reconnecting with Ali. It was his decision to leave and not talk to us any more. I’m still having a great time with the band of brothers I started with 40-odd years ago.”
Robin, meanwhile, has been helping Duncan, who suffered a stroke last August. Although he was walking and talking within a week, he faced mental and cognitive challenges. His recovery was further thwarted by a seizure in June, which prompted his retirement.
“After the stroke, he was terrified he wouldn’t be able to sing again, so we rehearsed and he was singing like always. But he’s struggling mentally and with remembering how to do the simplest things.”
Matt Doyle, from UK reggae band Kioko, has stepped in for Duncan, but there’s another Campbell who could one day take over the mic –
Robin’s 34-year-old son, also called Matt.
“He has a lovely voice. I tell him, ‘We’re going to make a record together someday!” says Robin. In the meantime, Matt’s working as UB40’s manager. “It’s fantastic because he’s technically-minded and understands social media.
We’re dinosaurs compared to him! He’s opened up the world for us.”