Red Red Wine by UB40
Artist: UB40 Weeks at #1: 1 week Chart dates: October 15, 1988
About
“Red Red Wine” is sung from the perspective of somebody who can only rid himself of heart-break and misery by drowning himself in red wine. The song was originally written and recorded by Neil Diamond, and the UB40 version is modeled on the cover of the same song by The Wailers and is similar in arrangement to a version sung by Tony Tribe (The Labour of Love album is a collection of covers). “Red Red Wine” topped the UK charts in 1984 and peaked at #34 in the US that spring. Later, in 1988, Phoenix radio station KKFR began spinning the song and after it became popular in the area, rival station KZZP also began airing the song. A&M Records began hyping the song’s renewed popularity to other stations nationwide, eventually pushing it all the way to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 that October.
