UB40 featuring Ali Campbell performing their Hits Tour at The Motorpoint Arena Nottingham on Tuesday 16th April 2024.

Images and Review by Kevin Cooper

The group of family and friends from Birmingham who got together in 1978 to form a band named after a government employment form, have had their well publicised and acrimonious disagreements which has resulted in founding member and front man of the original line-up touring under the banner of UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and he brought his Hits Tour to the Motorpoint Arena on Tuesday night.

Up first was the reggae, lovers’ rock and ragga singer, Bitty McLean who has previously toured with the original UB40. With a full band that included a very talented brass section, his mellow voice entertained with the likes of his hits, a cover of The Shirelles’ Dedicated To The One I Love, and Fat’s Domino’s It Keep Rainin’ (Tears From My Eyes). Other songs entertained the crowd such as We’ve Only Just Begun and Let’s Make Up which finished his too short set.

Opening with If It Happens Again to a sparse but appreciative audience, Ali’s voice has lost none of its distinctive quality. And the hits continued coming as the Arena was filled with the sound of reggae music as the likes of Food For Thought, King and Present Arms all set the pace for the rest of the set.

There was a mass sing along for The Chi-Lites Homely Girl which continued for the classic Cherry Oh Baby. Backed by a fantastic band that included a brass section that UB40 are renowned for, mid set included a number of covers such as Honey Boy’s Impossible Love, The Slickers Johnny Too Bad and Shep & The Limelites’ Stick By Me. There was a beautiful version of Would I Lie To You? which saw Bitty McLean join Ali on stage after The Way You Do The Things You Do, The Temptations 1964 timeless classic saw the crowd on their feet.

But it was the UB40 songs that are so familiar as Come Back Darling, Bring Me Your Cup and Don’t Break My Heart were all given an outing. Finishing the main set with the awesome Many Rivers To Cross, the encore saw the whole crowd singing as the familiar sounds of One In Ten, Kingston Town and Red Red Wine, the reggae infused rendition of Neil Diamond’s song filled the Arena.

Finishing with the band’s well known and loved cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling In Love, Ali must have considered hanging up his guitar after the departure of Mickey Virtue and the passing of his long time friend Astro, but like many of UB40’s songs, he’s likely to be around for some time yet.

Ali Campbell and Astro from their UB40 (seen here on the left and centre), chat with Kevin Cooper about the stagnant court case, the possibilities of a UB40 supporting UB40 tour, their latest album A Real Labour Of Love and their 2019 40th anniversary tour.

Ali Cambell, Astro and Mickey Virtue were all members of the original UB40, a band formed in 1978 when a group of friends got together and then went on to sell over 70 million records worldwide. They had more than fifty singles in the UK singles chart and were nominated on four occasions for a Brit Award.

The band’s line up was stable for nearly thirty years until January 2008 when front man Ali Campbell left the band, followed shortly thereafter by keyboardist Mickey Virtue who joined Ali’s version of the band.

Astro remained with the original band until November 2013 when he too departed to join Campbell and Virtue.

The original lined up released their debut album, Signing Off in 1980 and after great success they released Labour Of Love, an album of cover songs in 1981, which reached number one in the UK albums chart. That line up went on to also release Labour Of Love II and III.

The newly founded group, UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey are revitalising the concept of the Labour Of Love albums by exploring the songs that defined reggae in the 80s on a new album A Real Labour Of Love.

Whilst busy promoting their new album and preparing for their 2019 tour of the UK, Ali Campbell and Astro took some time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what they had to say.

Hi guys how are you today?

Astro (A) Hi Kevin I’m not too bad thank you.

Ali Campbell (AC) Hi Kev we are all good thank you.

We have all spoken previously so it is great to catch up with you once again.

AC We are old buddies then (laughter).

(Laughter) we are old something but I don’t know about buddies.

AC In that case we must be old acquaintances (laughter).

Before we move on let me thank you both for taking the time to speak to me today.

AC No problem.

A That’s no problem.

And I have to ask, how is life treating you both at this moment in time?

A Life at the minute is fantastic as it happens. We are currently riding on the crest of a wave.

AC There is currently a bit of a renaissance going on for us. Our new album A Real Labour Of Love went straight into the charts at number two and we are rapidly approaching our thirty ninth year as a recording band. So we are going to be promoting A Real Labour Of Love together with forty years in the business throughout next year obviously with yet another extensive world tour. We will be starting out in January in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Hawaii and then we come back to the UK to play the British Arena Tour, which I have to say covers everywhere; Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Cardiff, London, Brighton, together with a couple of dates over in Ireland.

After that we will then be going over to America where we will be playing a very extensive tour, in fact it will be the most extensive tour of America that we have played in many years. So yes, as you can see, we have got a full diary.

You have mentioned the latest album A Real Labour Of Love which you released on 2^nd February. Were you happy with the fans reaction to the album?

A Well going straight into the charts at number two sums it up really doesn’t it. The fans were happy with the album; we are ecstatic about it, and as you know you always try to push your latest endeavour, you latest piece of work and it is just a great bunch of songs that we have released.

AC The good thing about A Real Labour Of Love is that we are not just singing old stuff. We have got new stuff to put forward and the promoters always like that as well as the fans. It means, to coin a phrase that we are ‘still relevant’. So you could say that we are currently a bunch of relevant elephants (laughter).

Were you happy with the final product?

AC I think that it is the best production that I have done so far in thirty-three albums (laughter). So I was well chuffed with it. I think that the choice of songs was one that only we could have made, as reggae fanatics and as true lovers of reggae music. I’m pretty sure that nobody else would have or could have come up with that selection of songs. You have got to be a bona fide reggae fan to actually know those tracks. Some of them are very well known and loved, tracks such as Under Me Sleng Teng whilst others are not so well known, such as Barry Boom’s Making Love, which was massive in the dance halls but never managed to cross over into the mainstream.

That is basically our aim with all four of the Labour Of Love albums; that is to promote songs that were great big hits in the reggae world but didn’t cross over. That was the reason why we recorded the first Labour Of Love album. We kept getting asked “why do you play reggae” and we would always answer that question by saying that they were the songs that we grew up loving. However, A Real Labour Of Love is basically an album of songs from the 80s when we were already a band, but of course continuing to love reggae, and the 80s was a very important period for reggae as it went digital. So we have made a 80s Labour Of Love and I am sure that there is a 90s one waiting in the wings somewhere (laughter).

Joking aside, will we be seeing A Real Labour Of Love II?

AC I think we should, yes.

A When we were putting together the track list for A Real Labour Of Love I think that we started off with around forty-seven songs which we had to whittle down and whittle down until we ended up with the sixteen that are on the album.

AC So A Real Labour Of Love has covered the 80s so we could quite easily move into the 90s and beyond with the next album. As long as we stay a couple of decades behind then we really should be alright (laughter).

I have currently got two go to tracks on the album. The first is She Loves Me Now, and I think that you have done a really good job on there Ali.

AC Well thank you. I have to say that in all honesty that track was the most frightening one for me because Beres Hammond is one of my big heroes. Back in the 80s Beres was the Otis Redding of reggae so basically I shit myself when I realised I had got to sing that track (laughter). Having said that thanks for saying that it is a good version. What you have to remember is that we have never tried to change the melodies of these songs because that is what we loved in the first place. We always try to stay true to the melody whilst making a more contemporary backing track, and making the track a bit more accessible. And so what was the other track you liked?

It’s sung by the gentleman sitting next to you, and it is his take on Culture’s International Herb. Astro and I have spoken about this in the past and I think that it is a great track, a great version and a perfect inclusion on the album.

A Well thank you very much. I have to say that it was fun doing that. That particular song has always been a favourite of mine so to get it onto the album was something very special. I have to say however that if you play the original version alongside mine you will see that I have changed the lyrics and have tried to bring the song right up to date if you like. The original melody holds firm so we haven’t tried to be too clever because we love the songs in their original state.

AC We love Culture, we love the song and we love the late Joseph Hill so we want to do them proud by covering one of their songs as well.

Are there any thoughts on writing a new studio album which contains entirely new material?

AC Yes there is, in fact we have got about a dozen ideas for new songs right now. But of course we are not going to be running into the studio anytime soon because we have got a year’s worth of touring to look forward to promoting A Real Labour Of Love (laughter).

A Our biggest problem is actually getting ourselves into the studio. We have no shortage of music but finding the time to actually get into the studio is the biggest problem. As Ali has already mentioned we are booked solid until September next year plus extra dates are always being added. So by the time September comes, who knows, we will most probably still be on the road in November. We will just have to keep trying to find the time to book into the studio.

AC Having said all of that being out on the road for that long actually gives us more time to concentrate on writing lyrics which I have to say is not our strongest point. We have got music coming out of our ears; music is easy for us and writing melodies is easy for me, but I do have to say that we kind of struggle with lyrics because we have set a benchmark for our lyrics. We have set a standard all the way through our career with our self-penned stuff and we always try to use the platform that we have got to say responsible things that we are passionate about and feel seriously about. So we have to continue in that vein; we simply won’t do throw away lyrics. So basically that is where we are at. We have got music coming out of our ears; we have got melodies like dirt, and we have just got to write some lyrics to go with that (laughter).

I last saw you playing live on Astro’s birthday at Sherwood Pines here in Nottingham…

A That’s right, we always seem to be gigging on my birthday. The whole crowd sang Happy Birthday to me which was fantastic.

Well don’t take this the wrong way but whenever I see you performing outdoors you always seem to come alive and step it up a gear. Would you agree with that?

A That’s easy, the bigger the crowd the better I feel. You can keep the small intimate gigs where you can see the whites of their eyes; the bigger the gig the better I feel. I am happiest when I am on stage. I know that I have to do some work in the studio but to be honest, I have the attention span of an ant. But when I am on stage that is when I feel alive, that is where I belong, that is what I was meant to do.

You have briefly mentioned the fact that in January and February you are heading off down under to Australia and New Zealand, are the fans good to you down there?

A Our fans are brilliant everywhere we go. We don’t have any bad gigs anywhere.

You will be touring the UK in March and April on your fortieth anniversary tour, what can we expect?

A Well it is going to be a greatest hits tour together with some new material from our current album. We won’t put too many of the new songs onto the set list as we don’t want to be too indulgent, we are not like that. Whenever people come along to our shows they want to hear the hits, the hits that they have bought, the hits that they listen to on the school run, the hits that they listen to when they are relaxing.

AC So we have got to try and marry the new hits with the old hits on the set list for the tour (laughter). We have got a lot of fans who come along to see us every year, so we will try to change the set around slightly. Having said that we can’t change it around that much because there are songs that we have to sing. We would be killed if we didn’t sing Red Red Wine, Can’t Help Falling In Love, Kingston Town and Cherry Oh Baby; they are always in the set but we have to find a new way of presenting them. Plus we have to put in some good new old ones if you like.

A Plus we have to play some of the songs that haven’t seen the light of day now for well over twenty years.

AC So it’s a new set but it is still a greatest hits collection.

Will there be a tinge of sadness when there are two versions of UB40 both out on the road at the same time here in the UK both celebrating their fortieth anniversary?

AC I didn’t know that the other ones were. What I do know is that we have very nearly sold out the O2 in London already. You have to remember that we are playing arenas; it’s just not the same for the other guys. However, we still do insist whenever we play anywhere that the promoters tell everyone exactly who they are coming to see. We insist that they know from the outset that they are coming to see Ali, Astro and Mikey’s UB40. We do that in order to differentiate ourselves from ‘The Dark Side’ as I call them. Then what happens is that people know who they are getting when they come along to see us whereas they certainly don’t know who they are going to get when they go to see the other UB40.

They don’t put ‘not original line-up’ or ‘UB40 featuring Duncan Campbell’. So we are still getting reams and reams of complaints every time that they play. So one of the reasons why we decided to call ourselves UB40 again was because they were destroying the legacy of my work and my band. The band that I started back in 1979 have now started recording country albums and basically they are simply not up to par. So when Astro came back to the fold we decided to call ourselves UB40 in order to try to salvage just what was left of our legacy (laughter). But there you go.

A It is so infuriating when PR Companies and Promoters advertise our gigs and then we are told that they have used a picture of the other UB40 and not of Ali, Astro and Mickey’s UB40. How hard is it for someone to use the correct photograph? That is the main reason why we do, as Ali has just said, whenever we are going to play a concert we make sure that all posters and all promotion material clearly states ‘UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey’.

AC How can it happen all of the time when they can advertise one of our gigs which clearly states ‘UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey’ and then put up a picture of Robin, Duncan and Brian? That is a big thorn in our side. All that it does is confuse people which is why we always say that it is ‘UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey’. To be totally honest with you I personally feel that that there is some skulduggery afoot. It is Ali and Astro’s UB40 and we always make that perfectly clear. We do that so that people won’t get upset or disgruntled.

How are ticket sales for the forthcoming UK tour going?

AC To be honest with you the whole tour is already two thirds sold out basically because we have had a number two album. We have got months to go but we are already selling really well. This tour will be a sell-out tour just like the last one. We are well happy about that.

Are there any thoughts on a support for the UK leg?

AC We are talking about that right now actually. We have had talks with some people who want to open the shows for us but to be honest we are still arguing amongst ourselves about that. What I can tell you is that we are really excited to have Ziggy Marley supporting us on the American leg. So Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers will be supporting us over there. It will just have to be a surprise as to who is going to be supporting us in England (laughter).

You will be playing here in Nottingham at the Royal Concert Hall on Monday 1^st April. Will you have time to take in the sights of what we have got to offer?

AC Well we have been to a lot of the cities many times now. In fact we have seen more of England that most English people (laughter). It’s the same whenever we visit America; we have been to almost every state in America. We have most definitely seen more of America than most Americans have. But it all depends upon the tour schedule. Of course if we have got a day off then yes, we will go out and about, we will find a good Indian restaurant, a good pub or even a boat trip if I am involved (laughter). The guys all call me Ali ‘Boat Trip’ Campbell. So if it’s nice, keep an eye open because you will find us out on the briny (laughter).

We do generally try to enjoy ourselves and make time to get off the bus and out of hotels. We do actually stay in lots of beautiful hotels but even that can get boring. You will usually find us across the road from the venue in a bar or a pool hall (laughter). We had a great time the last time that we were there playing in the forest.

I suppose that an ideal day for Astro would be if Birmingham were playing Nottingham Forest at The City Ground.

A That would be great and wouldn’t it be fantastic if we were playing at half time (laughter). We always have great gigs whenever we play in Nottingham.

Will we ever see a tour where UB40 are supporting UB40?

AC No, simply because we want a better support than them.

A No, because we believe in giving our fans value for money (laughter).

AC Exactly, we don’t want to piss our fans off.

Whenever we speak I always ask you, what’s happening with the UB40 court case?

AC Absolutely nothing. Basically it was a big waste of time. It all started when they tried to stop me using the name of my band which I started and they didn’t have a leg to stand on. They didn’t have the money to continue with the court case, so basically a load of lawyers got a million quid out of it and it has all ended up in thin air. So we are just continuing to support and promote reggae music around the world. We are called UB40, or Ali and Astro’s UB40, or UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey. There you go.

I have to ask you how is the wine going?

AC It’s actually going very well, thank you very much for asking. In fact it has done so well that we are going to be bringing out a different bottle of wine this year which will actually be a lot cheaper. The new wine will not be a Bordeaux Supérieur’ because we feel that we went a little too high brow with that one (laughter). It was costing us thirty quid to get them online and to be honest most people don’t want to be spending that much on a bottle of wine. Having said that it is a cuvee and really is a beautiful wine. We will be making a cheaper wine that you will be able to get at UB40.org or at Eminent Life.

Are there any thoughts on putting your name to any spirits?

AC No because we don’t drink spirits anymore, we are well past that age. We grew up and stopped drinking whiskey (laughter).

A I might be brewing a beer sometime in the future. That is currently in the pipeline. I would love to brew a real ale as a long standing Camra member.

Because the festive season is rapidly approaching I have to ask, how will the two of you be spending Christmas?

AC Well we have all got families, we have all got kids, and grandkids so it really is a family time for us. We have been offered a little gig in the Maldives which we might do, and then again we might not.

It is such a hard life (laughter).

AC We were in Antigua last New Year’s Eve which really was groovy (laughter). We are very lucky people and we get to go to the most beautiful places; places that some people will save all their lives to be able to go to and we are there three or four times a year having a beautiful time (laughter). We do recognise how lucky we are and that’s why we are still touring. We love what we are doing and we have done it all of our adult lives. It’s just that now we are not sitting in the back of a Luton van with all of our gear on top of us. We are flying business class to a beautiful hotel in Hawaii or wherever.

A We love our luxury travel (laughter).

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing what you are doing?

A I would most probably have been a chef.

AC I would probably be in prison. I would be in Winson Green.

On that note Ali and Astro let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me today, it’s been interesting.

AC Massive respect Kevin, thanks for having us.

A You take care Kevin and we will see you in Nottingham.

Astro, (seen here in the centre), English musician, rapper and toaster with Ali Campbell’s UB40, chats with Kevin Cooper about the origins of the name Astro, why hell will have to freeze over before there will be a full UB40 reunion, their latest UB40 Unplugged album and performing at next year’s Newark Riverside Festival.

Astro, (real name Terence Wilson) is an English musician, rapper and toaster, who is a member of Ali Campbell’s UB40.

UB40’s line-up had been stable for nearly 29 years, from March 1979 until January 2008, when front man Ali Campbell left the band; followed shortly thereafter by keyboardist Mickey Virtue. Astro, remained with the band until November 2013, but then left to team up with Campbell and Virtue in a new version of UB40. In 2014, legal advice was sought by the original band (now consisting of remaining co-founding members drummer Jimmy Brown, guitarist Robin Campbell, bassist Earl Falconer, percussionist Norman Hassan, and saxophonist Brian Travers, along with new vocalist Duncan Campbell) against the group containing Campbell, Virtue, and Astro over usage of the band name, due to it being used by both parties. That legal battle is currently before the courts for determination.

With UB40 having had 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart culminating in over 70 million records being sold worldwide, they have an enormous catalogue of songs which includes fans favourites, Red Red Wine and Can’t Help Falling In Love. Their two most successful albums, Labour Of Love (1983) and Promises And Lies (1993), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

Whilst preparing to perform in New Zealand in the New Year, Astro took time out to have a chat with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say

Astro how are you?

Hi Kevin, I’m not so bad, how are you today?

I’m very well thank you and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me.

No problem, no problem at all, it’s my pleasure.

I have to tell you that I have tried to get hold of you a couple of times now but I have always been lumbered with Ali (laughter).

Oh, well you have had the rest now why not have the best (laughter).

How’s life treating you?

Life at the moment is great to be honest with you. We have been on tour for the last eighteen months, working more or less nonstop. We have been around the world twice and it is pretty much still ongoing. We have managed to get most of December off but then we are off back on the road on the 27^th December ready for a New Year’s gig over in New Zealand.

It’s a hard life but somebody has got to do it (laughter).

Well this is it, what can I say, I’ve got broad shoulders (laughter). I will just have to take one for the team.

I have to ask you before we move on, where did the name Astro come from?

It was a name that I was given as a kid. I always wore a pair of Doctor Martin boots everywhere that I went and the actual model name of the boots was Astronaut’s. Fortunately, no one called me astronaut because it is rather a mouth full so they shortened it to Astro and it has stuck ever since.

You are heading up this way to play the Newark Riverside Festival on Saturday 17^th June, are you looking forward to that?

Yes I am, I really can’t wait. It is a few days before my birthday but I will be kicking up my heels in Newark, trust me.

It looks to be a great line-up with yourselves, Level 42 and The Original Wailers.

Yes it does, what a great line-up and don’t forget the new band from Jamaica called Raging Fyah. They are a roots-rock outfit; all youngsters from Jamaica who play real reggae and not dance hall. They also sing cool concert lyrics which is brilliant. They don’t sing about guns, murder, violence and gangs which is also great. They are a really good refreshing change. Overall, it’s a great line up and I really do think that the crowd are going to enjoy themselves.

Does touring still give you that buzz?

Oh yes, most definitely. There is no job on this planet that gives you the job satisfaction that I get. I live to be on stage. I have got the attention span of an ant when we are in the studio; I really do hate being in the studio. I know that it is a necessary evil but I crave a reaction straight away. You might be recording something in the studio that you think is the best thing since sliced bread but until the public hear it, it is only then that you know whether it is good or not. It is the public that decide whether the song will be a hit or a flop. So my ideal situation would be to be able to record live in front of an audience where I could get that instant reaction whether it be good or bad (laughter).

If it is bad then you can stop and pursue something else and if it is good then you know that you are on the right track. But in answer to your question I never ever get tired of coming out onto the stage. It’s my chosen profession; it is what I have always wanted to do since I was a kid. However, what I will say is that you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs. Touring would be great if you didn’t have to travel. However, that is the nature of the beast and after doing it for many years now you just have to go into automatic pilot. We have got a saying which is hurry up and wait. You are always rushing here and rushing there and when you finally get there you have still got to wait (laughter).

You hurry to get to the airport and you have still got to wait two hours before your flight takes off. If I am honest with you I could well and truly do without the airport scenario. When we toured around the States we did it on our tour bus which was great because we never had to go to an airport the entire time that we were touring. We just carried on partying on our bus which was just like being at home with your mates (laughter).

You have mentioned the tours, in particular New Zealand and America and they are all sell-outs which must give you a fantastic feeling?

Oh yes very much so, and it is great to see the fans voting with their feet. Everyone is now well aware of the split between us and the Dark Side as we like to call them. People are coming in their droves to see us. We have just done a British tour where we sold out the O2 in London, the NIA in Birmingham, and the 3 Arena in Dublin; everywhere that we have played we have just been smashing them to smithereens. We have had nothing but positive reports so we must be doing something right and as I say, the public have been voting with their feet.

I saw you last year at the Royal Concert Hall here in Nottingham and I have to say that it was a great gig.

Well, you don’t have to sound too surprised Kevin (laughter). That is what we are trying to do every time that we play. We can go anywhere in the world, play anywhere in the world and people know all of the songs. There is something there for everybody at our shows. We refuse to go away.

(Laughter) well I have to tell you that I have been following the band since I first saw you supporting The Police at Milton Keynes Bowl way back on the 26^th July 1980.

Oh wow, that’s a long time ago now. There was so much rain that day that we called it The Milton Keynes Mud Bowl (laughter). Rockatta D’Mud (hysterical laughter).

You bought up the subject of the split from Dark Side so I have to ask you after thirty years in UB40 was it a difficult decision for you to make to shift sides?

Yes it was, but it was made easier when I heard the vitriol coming from certain other members in the band. Nowadays, I don’t even think about them and I really can’t say what I think about certain members. What I will say is that we know what we want to do, we know that we are helping to popularise reggae music all around the world. That is the mission that we are on. We won’t allow ourselves to be sideswiped by country music (laughter).

Can you ever envisage the day when there will be one UB40 and you will all be back together?

Yes.

Really?

Yes, it will be about ten minutes after hell freezes over (laughter).

You should be careful what you say, you have only to take a look at The Eagles (laughter).

(Laughter) there is not a chance in hell of that ever happening. We are happy as we are and I honestly feel that we have got the happiest band in the world out there on the road at this moment. It would most definitely be a massive step backwards for us if we were to get back with the others. The musicians who we have now got with us have far more experience than the original members because they have only ever been in one band, whereas everybody who is with us now have played with everybody, and I really do mean everybody across the spectrum. They are all masters in their own right. It makes our lives so much easier; we do not have to think about anything else other than going out and having a great time with the audiences. We don’t have to worry about cocking up on stage, it’s just easy peasy lemon squeezy. There are no egos to contend with; it’s simply a pleasure to go to work.

So just how are things between you, Ali and Mickey at the moment?

Things are good, really good. The chemistry is still there together with the old banter. I can still remember when I did my first gig with them at the O2 Indigo in London after I had re-joined the band. When I heard the response from the crowd, re-joining the band for me was just a no-brainer, and I have to say that I haven’t looked back since.

You have just released the UB40 Unplugged album. Was it fun for you to be able to reinvent some of those songs?

It really was actually. However, I have to tell you that we never originally set out to record an unplugged album. We had been asked to play quite a few radio sessions for the BBC but the studios there are very small and could not take an eleven piece band. So what we thought was that it would be far easier for Ali, Mickey and myself to go into the BBC and play an acoustic set for them. We played sets for the late Sir Terry Wogan, Chris Evans, and people like that and each time that we played these sessions we played a couple of different numbers. So by the time that we had finished playing four or five of these sessions we realised that we had an albums worth of material. All that it needed was for us to stick in a couple of our hits and it was ready to go.

Are you happy with just how well it was received, because the fans have gone mad for it?

Oh yes, I am very happy with how it has been received. On the day of its release it went straight into the charts at number seventeen which was just great news within itself. I have been following our fans online and reading their reaction to the album and yes, everybody seems to be loving it.

Are there any thoughts on a new studio album?

Yes there are, we have been talking quite a lot about recording a new studio album but the problem is finding the time to get into the studio and actually do it because we are quite literally around the globe nonstop. We are currently involved in a couple of projects at the minute that we are hoping will come to fruition in the early part of 2017. We are working on a collaboration with the West Coast Reggae Scene and in particular with a band called Revolution. Ali mixed an album a few years ago which never saw the light of day so we have handed them over to the West Coast posse for them to mix after they have put their touch onto them.

We have also sent the same tracks down to the reggae artists in South America for them to put their influence on them, and when it’s all done we will put our little bit on there and then hopefully, by next summer, we will be touring that album around the world before bringing it back to the UK and Europe.

As its coming up to Christmas I wanted to ask you a couple of Christmassy type questions if I may?

Okay go for it.

What was your favourite Christmas gift?

The best gift that I ever received at Christmas was an Aston Martin DB7 (laughter).

(Hysterical laughter) couldn’t you have said a nice selection box or something along those lines?

Well you did ask (laughter).

What is your favourite Christmas song?

That’s easy, it has to be Roy Wood and Wizard singing I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day.

What would be your perfect Christmas?

My perfect Christmas would be waking up, slipping into my Bermuda shorts, flip-flops, string vest and walking out onto the beach in Jamaica.

On that note Astro let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me. It’s been fantastic. You take care and I will see you in Newark.

It’s been a pleasure Kevin. You make sure that you come and have a drink with the boys in Newark. Bye for now.