Midge Ure

The 1980s music scene saw many iconic figures and one of those although didn't bang his drum was the Scottish musician Midge Ure.

Midge career in music started in the 1970s and enjoyed success with Slik and Thin Lizzy and the 1980s saw the success continue with the Rich Kids, Visage and more famously the frontman with Ultravox coupled with a successful solo career. To add more strings to his bow he also co-wrote the biggest selling single at that time 'do they know it's Christmas' with Bob Geldof and then as a consequence of that success also organised the biggest show in the world when Live Aid hit the stage and TV in 1985.

Initially in the 1970s Midge was involved in the Punk scene having worked with the Sliks and Thin Lizzy and in the late 1970s he formed Visage with Rusty Egan, Steve Strange on vocals and Billie Currie on keyboards. During this period Midge struck a great friendship with Billie and they decided to resurrect Billie previous group Ultravox who had gone into a hiatus with Robin Simon and John Foxx pursuing other directions.

The classic Ultravox line up was confirmed along with Chris Cross and Warren Cann. They recorded the classic album 'Vienna' although not a success at first it wasn't until the release of the self titled single that interest and sales followed. The song spent four weeks at number 2 kept of by a combination of John Lennon and Joe Dolce and went on to be the 5th best selling single that year.

The album sale also rose and the album peaked at number 3 in the UK charts. The video promo also received rave reviews as directed by Russell Mulcahy and was aground breaking video which set the pace for how videos should be produced.

Around this time Visage also released an album and had huge success with 'Fade to Grey' which Midge co-wrote and this song was seen as the blueprint for the new romantic scene. Keen to capitalise on the success of Vienna they released Rage in Eden which was a top 5 album in the UK which featured the Thin Wall and the Voice both top 20 singles and following that Midge and Currie worked on Visage second album The Anvil, the album was again a top 10 but Midge left Visage to concentrate more on Ultravox.

Another album followed named Quartet and this was produced by the legendary 5th Beatle George Martin and the album contained the following single successes 'Reap the wild wind', 'Hymn', 'visions in blue' and 'we came to dance' all top 20 hits along with a top 10 album.

Midge took time out to carve out a solo career and tested the market with a Walkers brothers cover 'No regrets' which again made a top 10 entry. It was a productive time as Ultravox released 'Lament' which was a top 10 album in the UK and featured the classic 'dancing with tears in my eye' which was a top 3 hit. The band and record label then released what was an unusual thing they released a greatest hits album showcasing all there work from 1980 and the album was a huge success and peaking at number 2 in the UK album charts.

The band last album was released called U-VOX, the album went top 10 but the singles barely dented the top 30 and many declared this not up to scratch on there previous work but still the album did well. Around this time Midge concentrated on his solo career and enjoyed a rare number one single with 'If I was' and the subsequent album 'the gift' enjoyed a number 2 slot which featured Mark King of Level 42 and Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17. The subsequent album 'answers to nothing' did not do as well.

During the 1980s his solo career saw 2 album releases and 8 single releases with 5 top 30 hits and a number one. His spell at Ultravox saw 5 studio albums which all went top 10 with Vienna peaking at number 3. They also released 20 singles with 10 top 20 singles with again Vienna going close at number 2. With visage he was involved with 2 top 20 albums with the Anvil peaking at 6, also 8 singles released with 4 top 20 hits with Fade to Grey peaking at number 8.