On the Hot 100 in the early вЂ™90s, that was like entering two different cheat codes into your Game Genie at once. UB40вЂ™s second and final Hot 100 chart-topper was another smoothed-out take on an old song, and it showed up on the soundtrack of an erotic thriller. Sometimes, though, you have to go with what works. This hadnвЂ™t been the plan for the leftist, working-class Birmingham band. In the wake of вЂњRed Red WineвЂќ blowing up, UB40 had reinvented themselves as a group who played pleasantly breezy lite-reggae covers of beloved old hits. The second time that UB40 reached #1 in the US, their success was a whole lot more predictable. Through no real effort of their own, UB40 won the chart lottery. That cover gains steam, and eventually, a reissued вЂњ Red Red WineвЂќ goes all the way to #1. He goes rogue and starts playing the groupвЂ™s old Neil Diamond cover instead. Then, five years later, a radio programmer in Phoenix decides that he doesnвЂ™t like UB40вЂ™s latest single. (They thought they were covering Tony Tribe, the Jamaican reggae singer whoвЂ™d covered the Neil Diamond song.) That cover becomes the bandвЂ™s first US hit, but it stalls out at #34. The tale of UB40вЂ™s first #1 hit is a glorious little piece of fun chart-history chaos: A British reggae band covers a Neil Diamond song without realizing theyвЂ™re covering a Neil Diamond song. So maybe it really was a fitting introduction to suburban life. ItвЂ™s a cynical exercise, presented cynically, for cynical reasons. But itвЂ™s not like I really need any extra reasons for disliking UB40вЂ™s cover. I wasnвЂ™t happy about any of those life changes, and I probably harbor some deep-seated resentment for UB40вЂ™s вЂњ(I CanвЂ™t Help) Falling In Love With You,вЂќ with its pointlessly elongated title and its random-ass parentheses.

My family moved out of Baltimore city into a drab, boring suburb, and I started eighth grade at a school where virtually everyone rocked bowl cuts and Starter jackets. But during the stretch of time that UB40вЂ™s cover sat at #1, a few big things did happen to me. I donвЂ™t remember my 14th birthday as any kind of important life moment. I wouldвЂ™ve much rather claimed the song that came right after. I happened to turn 14 one day before UB40вЂ™s version of the Elvis oldie вЂњCanвЂ™t Help Falling In LoveвЂќ finished its interminable reign at the top of the Hot 100. I donвЂ™t think it says too much about who I am, either. When I looked up my song, I was not very happy with the result. In The Number Ones, IвЂ™m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chartвЂ™s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present.ДЄccording to a meme that was floating around on Twitter a few years ago, the song thatвЂ™s at #1 on your 14th birthday tells you who you are.

I cant help falling in love with you