Consumer Guide Album

UB40: Little Baggariddim [A&M EP, 1985]
The speeded-up "One in Ten" is just like "I Got You Babe" with Chrissie Hynde as Cher--an unabashed and possibly unprincipled bid for the red wine audience from reggae men who've always been political by choice rather than racial destiny. And the statistical metaphor it draws does seem a little less grim now. But good politics are rarely grim, and though I've loved "One in Ten" since the first time I heard it, this is the version I'll put on, if only because Chrissie makes such a soulful Cher. Also, two of the five tracks are toasts, which seems about the right proportion to me. A-