Ali Campbell from UB40 chats to I Like Music

ILM: Your first big break you supported Chrissie Hynde and since then non stop. Is there anything that's been the main live highlight?

ALI: Johannesburg. We still hold the indoor record. But before that we'd gone over when Mr Mandela got in, because we'd supported the cultural boycott until then and had refused to go. We'd been asked several times. And the reason we left Graduate records, our original company we were with, was because they released Signing Off and deleted Burden Of Shame, a song about South Africa. And, the one place we wanted that to be heard was South Africa, so that's why we left Graduate and started our own record company. But when Mandela got in, we were invited to play in Johannesburg and 80,000 people turned up. We had a song called Sing Our Own Song, which has "Amandla, Awethu" as the chorus, which was the ANC chant in there so, to have 80,000 clenched fists and people singing "Awethu", was a very lib-wobbbling moment for all concerned. That was a pretty high point I'd say.
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