Unlike in 1982, when we went from Musical Youth, to Culture Club, to Eddy Grant, this is an isolated outbreak. Sadly, though, this #1 isn’t heralding a second consecutive Reggae Autumn. I suppose it would have been a bit of a stretch, in 1983, to have a bunch of Birmingham lads ordering bottles of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The band order beers, though, not red, red wine. The video ties in with the theme, set as it is in a pub. It’s a bit lightweight, I guess, if you wanted to nit-pick, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Red, red wine… Goes to my head… It’s a song about drinking, which is usually a good thing, even if it is about drinking away your misery… Just one thing, Makes me forget… Red, red wine… It’s laid-back, it’s cool, the chimes in the background sound like my school bell. And when this record’s slow-shuffling rhythm kicks in, my heart does a little flip…
But tracking the genre’s progress, from Desmond Dekker, past ‘Double Barrell’, Johnny Nash and Althea & Donna, to last year’s Reggae Autumn, I realise that I’ve enjoyed most of it. I was never that convinced by the genre, having spent too much time in beach bars on holiday, where the same dull ‘reggae chill-out’ playlists are looped year on year. Red Red Wine, by UB40 (their 1st of three #1s)ģ weeks, from 28th August – 18th September 1983
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