R.I.T.: "Red Red Wine"

Today's R.I.T. is Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine." This 1968 single, off of his Just For You album, went to #68 on the U.S. and #78 on the Australian chart. Diamond wrote it during a slow time while working in his father-in-laws haberdashery shop. Although he doesn't drink and rarely forgets (although he sometimes tries), he thought it'd be interesting try to compose a country ballad. It would have stayed that way until... Jamaican rocksteady singer Tony Tribe recorded a version the following year -- going to #46 in the U.K. You thought I was going to say UB40, didn't you? Well, UB40 heard the Tony Tribe version and recorded their 1983 chart-topping version without hearing Diamond's original.