Ultravox Electrical pioneers

Ultravox are a group who found fame in two parts. The seventies saw the band influenced by glam rock and then towards the end of the decade were starting to experiment with drum machines and a more electronic feel.

Originally the band were led by singer John Foxx and the rest of the band consisted of Chris Cross, Warren Cann and Billy Currie. The band signed to island records but made moderate sales and although the band were one of the first to feature a drum machine on a album, the sales ultimately decided there fate and not featuring in the charts eventually lead to a crisis of confidence. Island records dropped them after the release of the third album 'Systems of romance' The album was more akin to the krautrock genre and many felt this would succeed but with failure both in the UK and America and the disharmony in the group which many thought would see the end of the group.

John Foxx left the band to pursue solo projects and the rest worked with various other projects. The Ultravox story was not over and Midge Ure revitalised the band after a stint with Thin Lizzy, the rest of the band were working on the Visage project.

The band were impressed with him and asked him to join the band and the release of the album 'Vienna' far surpassed the sales of any previous albums. The bands first top 40 single 'sleepwalk' was starting to get the band noticed. The third single was to be there biggest commercial hit and the title song of the album 'vienna' the single reached number 2 and was kept of the top by the annoying 'shaddap your face' by Joe Dolce.

The second album was released in 1981 called 'rage in eden'. Commercially it was a success but not in the same scale as Vienna but 2 top 20 singles 'The thin wall' and 'The voice' cemented there position as one of the leading electronic giants. This album was followed by the album 'quartet' and in 1984 saw the release of 'lament' which spawned the hits 'lament' and 'Dancing with tears in my eyes' and towards to the end of 1984 they released a greatest hits album and a single 'loves great adventure', the album reached number 2 which was there biggest selling album to date.

Around this time Midge Ure was writing the band aid single 'do they know its christmas' and a solo project kept him busy with 'if i was' reaching number one and his solo album 'the gift' reaching number 2.

The band got back together in 1986 to work on the u-vox album but the drummer Warren Cann was sacked and replaced, the album was not a great success and this prompted Ure and Currie to leave the band to work on there respective projects.

Ultimately, other projects had prevented the band from achieving more they enjoyed a 5 year period of relative success and help influence other bands with synth pop mixed with a guitar rock sound and the music promos that were like mini films. It was a band that always looked to move forward and never stand still.

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