'One in Ten - a statistic, a reminder'

By Caroline Gall
BBC News, Birmingham

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UB40's James Brown and Brian Travers say the current recession is worse than in 1981

A deep recession bringing high unemployment, businesses forced to close leaving buildings empty and racial tensions bubbling under the surface.

This was the climate in the early 80s in which Birmingham reggae band UB40 achieved chart success, with one song in particular - One in Ten - epitomising the gloomy outlook many people faced.

The song, by a band using the name of the benefit attendance card, represented the number - 9.6% - of the workforce in the West Midlands claiming benefits in the summer of 1981.

Fast forward 30 years and is the atmosphere so different?

The West Midlands region now has the highest rate of unemployment in the UK, with 285,000 out of work, according to figures released on Wednesday.

In the UK, the number of people claiming benefits has risen to 1.58m.

The musicians say the demise of the car industry has hit the city hard

More than 6% of the workforce in the region is now claiming benefits, according to figures from West Midlands Regional Observatory.

Back in July 1981 when One in Ten reached number seven in the charts, just over 2m were claiming benefits in the UK with 255,900 of those in the West Midlands.

The haunting melody and lyrics of the song - "I am the one in ten, a number on a list... a statistic, a reminder of a world that doesn't care" - summed up an era.

The separate 2Tone movement in neighbouring Coventry was also ringing in the ears of the unemployed, with songs like Ghost Town highlighting the bleak reality in England's towns and cities.

Both types of music united black and white at a time when skinheads and the National Front showed their anger towards the immigrants who had settled in the region.

I think we were part of that first generation where the promise had kind of been broken Brian Travers

Although not directly race-related, riots erupted in the Handsworth and Lozells areas in 1981, and again in Handsworth in 1985, after residents rose up against what they perceived to be heavy-handed police tactics.

As the mood showed signs of turning ugly at the start of the 80s, for some the prospect of finding full-time work felt like an almost impossible task.

Perhaps ironically, UB40 was created in 1978 with its members acting in the spirit of entrepreneurship, the mantra of the Conservatives who would be in power when One in Ten entered the charts.

Realising job prospects were slim, the lads channelled their creativity and formed UB40. They were soon selling the same number of records as there were unemployed.

Many of UB40's songs were influenced by unemployment and recession

Band member Brian Travers said the mood at the time was one of "broken promises".

"We didn't have jobs and we didn't have money so, we started a band and that was easier than the idea of getting a job.

"We were a pop group on the telly every week and it was still tough. It wasn't easy - we had it easier than most, admittedly.

"I think we were part of that first generation where the promise had kind of been broken.

"Where, if you work hard at school, you do the right thing, you get a good job and life's going to be okay.

"We were maybe the first wave of that that realised that it wasn't actually true.

"I think kids nowadays know that there's nothing for them.

"There is no promise left, the promise doesn't exist any more."

In some ways I think Birmingham is more depressed than it was, because at least you had the car industry in those days James Brown

Fellow band member James Brown cited the loss of the once formidable car industry in the region as a major factor in its latest downturn.

The Serious Fraud Office said on Tuesday it would not launch a criminal investigation into the collapse of carmaker MG Rover in 2005 with the loss of 6,500 jobs.

Van maker LDV went into administration in June with the loss of more than 800 jobs at its Washwood Heath plant.

There is also uncertainty over the future of Jaguar Land Rover.

"I must have had three of four uncles who worked in the car industry," Mr Brown said.

"That is Birmingham... in some way or other you are going to work in the car industry but, of course, that's all disappeared now.

James and Brian say the band is proud of its roots

"In some ways I think Birmingham is more depressed than it was, because at least you had that in those days - now (the car plants) they're empty."

Despite massive investment in redeveloping Birmingham and the appearance of several landmark buildings, Mr Travers believes property developers are the scourge of the city.

"The greed for the dollar and the pound is what is ruining Great Britain now and ruining our cities.

"Our city has been handed over to the property developers.

"We have a city now, the UK's second city - Birmingham - with a huge population but we've got more empty duplex apartments in our city centre ghost town than anywhere else in the world.

"You don't judge a city or get the character of a city by its apartment blocks - you get it by the people and the art and expression."