Ali Campbell: My anti-capitalist dad said 'go for profits'

When I was 17 I worked as a cashier at a Butlin’s holiday camp for £22.50 a week, which I thought was an enormous amount of money. After the season ended I was then on the dole for three years on £7.90 a week until UB40 were offered their first record deal. Several major labels offered us £150,000 advances but we turned them down on the advice of my dad who – despite being a confirmed anti-capitalist – said, “go for percentage points of profits,” as he knew that publishing was where it was at. At that time we had the best deal in the country next to Paul McCartney. We were on 15pc when everyone else was on 8pc.

How did you finance the early days of UB40?

I was hit in the face with a glass in a pub on my 17th birthday so my older brother David, who was working as a legal executive, put a claim in with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board and when I was 19 I received £4,000. I gave £1,000 to my two brothers Duncan and Robin – who weren’t in the band at that point – to set up a second-hand car dealership. That failed so I never got any of that back, and the rest of the money went on equipment for the band and luckily Chrissie Hynde asked us to support her 35-date UK tour.

We then released the AA-side single King/Food for Thought, which went to number four, and we never looked back. For the first year before we received our first big advance we paid ourselves £35 a week, financed from a £75,000 loan from a philanthropist butcher friend of ours called Dave Cox. As soon as we got our first big advance we paid him every penny back.

^{UB40, whose name came from Unemployment Benefit Form 40, have been plagued by financial disputes}

When the royalties began how much were you earning?

The first album, Signing Off, sold eight million, then the second album, Present Arms, did really well but the third – a dub version of Present Arms – confused people and didn’t do as well so the money went down. And by the time we did Red, Red Wine for the Labour of Love album we were broke again. We only had one week’s wages left but there were eight of us in the band, plus a crew of the same amount and office staff so we were paying £90,000 a month in wages for 28 years.

How much were you worth personally at the band’s peak?

After the Promises and Lies album I held out for a solo deal, so for that album, Big Love in 1994, I’d been out of the country for two years to be tax exempt, and I got a £1m tax-free advance from Virgin, but rather than promote the album I just took the money and ran. So they then cross-collateralised it, trying to make that money back from other UB40 albums, which caused a bit of friction.

With so many band members was there always financial friction?

Everybody in the band got the same money even though there were only a couple of us doing the work, which was always a bone of contention. Then suddenly I started worrying about where the money was going. I was playing big gigs at venues like the Ahoy in Rotterdam and only getting five grand. That’s when I brought the Who’s manager Bill Curbishley in to find out where the black hole was. I wasn’t being given information by half of the band including my brothers Duncan and Robin.

How much was unaccounted for?

I can’t give you a figure but we grossed £60m for Virgin on our Promises and Lies tour and Virgin used that money to develop and promote the Spice Girls. They’d never have happened without us. Of that £60m I got £1.2m, so £10m in total for the whole band.

^{Ali Campbell: "The Spice Girls would never have happened without us"}

Has your lifestyle reflected your financial peaks and troughs?

Not really because we only ever took a little wage so we could carry on the same lifestyle in lean times. We never had yachts and mansions and that gave us the longevity to stick around for 28 years. Looking back, though, I’d rather have taken the money properly and looked after it myself rather than trusting people, because the people I trusted let me down.

What financial impact did your bankruptcy order in June 2011 have?

I was declared bankrupt for different reasons to the other band members. The bloke that was looking after my finances kept a bank account open without my knowledge for 10 years, accruing £80 a day interest so I ended up with a £350,000 bill. I refused to pay because I’d not had that money or had any knowledge of it, so I went bankrupt because of that. The other guys went bankrupt for putting their houses on the line to buy the back catalogue – which was 30 years of my work – which again I wasn’t told about and received no money for. My finances are more stable now though as myself, Astro and Mickey have a new band, a new album and a world tour so hopefully things will get back on an even keel.

Does money make you happy?

Money hasn’t made me happy at all. It’s got in the way of a lot of stuff and it changes people’s attitude to everything. When there’s money involved you find out who your friends are. I’ve found out I didn’t have any brothers. I thought we were a band of brothers, not just my blood brothers. When I left I found out that every member of UB40 had had a quarter of a million quid that I hadn’t had so it’s all got very nasty.

Money might put your kids through a good school and help you live in a nice home somewhere but other than that it gets in the way. We’re told all our lives that success is making lots of money, but I’d say success is holding on to it.

What are the main financial lessons you’ve learnt?

Not to trust anyone. I was a very trusting person and that’s been my downfall. I trusted people who stabbed me in the back and betrayed me. I didn’t want to become someone who is suspicious but you have to become like that otherwise people take advantage.

At the height of UB40’s success did you ever spend extravagantly?

I had a home and studio in Jamaica and built a little hotel there but again the partner we had ripped us off and built exactly the same home down the road for his dad. He was ordering double. We ended up in litigation with him.

How do you prefer to pay: card, cash or cheque?

I don’t really like handling money. I’m not good with it, I leave it to my wife. I don’t carry anything in my wallet and I’ve got a tour manager who pays for everything.

Do you have any credit or store cards?

Again, I leave all of that to my wife. I don’t like having anything to do with money.

Do you have a pension?

Mickey and I have got pensions that remain uncrystallised but there is no money left in the funds.

Any other investments?

I did have the stuff in Jamaica but the hotel we had is in litigation and I lost the studio. I put $1m of equipment in there and then found out the partner I had didn’t own the studio. He’d stolen it from the Bob Marley estate.

How do you tip?

I tip more in America than I would in Europe, or England. I’m quite generous.

What’s the biggest current drain on your finances?

Legal costs. I’m involved with court cases with my brothers Duncan and Robin and that’s bleeding me dry. I’ve spent hundreds of thousands on legal bills, which hurts, but it’s only money. I’ve got a roof over my head, I’m not starving so all’s good. I came from £7.90 a week so it’s all been a bonus.

If you cashed in your total assets today how much would you be worth on paper?

I wouldn’t dream of trying to cash anything in. It’s all too precarious.

What do you like least about dealing with money?

The professionals. Solicitors and lawyers are the scum of the Earth. I’m seen as a cash cow by everyone. For me it’s about making music and sometimes I wish I didn’t make money.

• Ali Campbell’s new album 'Silhouette’ is out October 6 on Cooking Vinyl

more