UB40 - Dream A Lie

JUL 01 1980 · 12:00

UB40 - Dream A Lie (1980) Era: Post-Punk Reggae Dawn (1980) - The nascent UK 2-Tone and reggae crossover moment, as Birmingham's multicultural working-class underground broke onto the national stage via Graduate Records. High archival value as a rare primary visual document of UB40 in their earliest incarnation, before international commercial success, capturing the raw, politically-charged aesthetic of the Birmingham reggae underground. The confirmed use of black-and-white make-up across all eight members makes this a visually distinctive artifact of collective performance identity. Absence of director credits is itself historically informative, reflecting the informal production cultures of the UK independent label scene circa 1980. Context: Released in 1980 on the Birmingham-based Graduate Records label, 'Dream a Lie' emerged at the intersection of British post-punk austerity and the UK reggae movement. UB40, formed in 1978 from a multicultural Birmingham working-class community, with members of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish, and Yemeni heritage, crafted a sound that was politically conscious and sonically rooted in Jamaican reggae tradition. The early 1980s UK context, rising unemployment, Thatcherite economics, and racial tension, gave UB40's music urgent social resonance. The video's documented black-and-white make-up aesthetic reflects the band's collective, non-hierarchical visual identity and the DIY anti-glamour ethics of independent UK music production of the period. Director notes: IMDB (tt9223126) dates the video to 1980 and documents that all eight UB40 members appear in black and white make-up. IMVDb and the Music Video Wiki both confirm no director or production company credits are on record for this release. The video was produced in connection with UB40's Graduate Records period, around the time of their debut album Signing Off (1980). No additional production details are currently verifiable from indexed sources.