It's Brum, not Vienna - Midge Ure talks ahead of gig in Birmingham
After touring for the last few years focused on stripping his influential catalogue of hits back to their acoustic forms, Midge Ure is ready to build them up again.
The star of Ultravox and Band Aid is embarking on a huge UK tour with a new show that takes influence from the forward-thinking pop music with which he originally made his name.
Midge will perform his most loved hits such as If I Was, which went to number one in the UK singles charts Fade To Grey, and, of course, Vienna, which was recently voted by BBC Radio Two listeners as the greatest ever track to reach number two in the charts. Listeners of Absolute 80s Radio voted it as the song of the decade.
See Midge perform Cold, Cold Heart here:
Midge with Band Electronica will enthuse these songs with the fresh sound of modern synthesisers to create a unique and atmospheric experience. It will reach Birmingham Town Hall on Thursday.
Make a night of it when going to see Midge with our guide here
The collaborative tour, which will also feature special guest opening, acts Altered Images – fronted by Clare Grogan and famed for their hits Happy Birthday, and Don’t Talk to Me About Love, and The Christians, who will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of their eponymously titled debut album.
Midge says: “I want to revisit some material that I’ve not really been able to perform with the recent acoustic line up, so you can expect to hear songs that haven’t been aired for a while as well as the classics and a couple of surprises. I’ve really enjoyed touring with a band and now I want to expand back to a four piece and return to a more electronic based format.”
Listen to If I Was by Midge here:
Having performed in various bands throughout the mid-late 1970s, Midge rose to fame producing and creating the New-Romantic Synth-Rock sounds of bands such as Visage and Ultravox, before embarking on a successful solo career – all whilst writing film music, directing videos for other artists, and co-organising Band Aid & Live Aid.
He’s glad to be back on the road: “I think people are under the misconception that any artist sits down with a map and decides where to go. Usually an agent or promoter asks and they’ve already got the dates laid out.
“So as romantic as it sounds that we all meet and have a coffee back stage, a bit like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, it doesn’t work that way. These things are so ridiculously technical to put together and with this tour I was approached a year ago.
See the video for Vienna by Ultravox here:
“The big challenge for me was how to perform because the last few years I’ve done a lot of acoustic performances. I wanted to choose a selection of songs that would work well using technology.”
He’s part of a happy family of friends with Clare and The Christians. “It’s not a hardship at all to be on the road with those guys. Clare is absolutely lovely. Like most men of a certain age, we all had a crush on her. Gary from The Christians is a lovely guy, too. I’ve done many gigs with them, over the years in various formats. I think it’ll be a happy package. I think you get to a time at an artist where who you surround yourself with is incredibly important. Life is too short. It should be about having fun.”
Ure has had a remarkable career in which he’s constantly pushed the boundaries of what is possible, both on record and in the live arena.
“I think when you look at my musical career and you write down in chronological order what I’ve done and who I’ve been with, I look like a dreadful musical tart. That’s not the case. With Slik, I was a guitarist and singer. Unlike a lot of bands from that era, Slik were a proper live band. In the Rich Kids, we were around during the middle of punk. But I was listening to music coming out of Germany and I bought a synth and put that into the band. It broke us half and then we formed Visage.
See the video for Ultravox's Dancing With Tears In My Eyes here:
“I was using synths before they became cool, during the New Romantic era. For me, now, technology has never gone away, even when I do the acoustic things.”
And yet Midge’s biggest skill isn’t necessarily as a marshall of technology. It’s as a songwriter. He’s consistently penned hits that have provided the soundtrack to many fans’ lives.
“Songwriting doesn’t come easy. There are artists who can lie in the bunk of the tour bus and write three songs in a night. I’d love to be able to do that.”
As much as he loves being on the road, he’s just as happy when he’s back home with his family. They looked after him during a wild phase, when his drinking spiralled out of control. “They enable me to do this. My wife looked after the kids when they were younger to let me go and do this thing. It’s a partnership.”
Midge plays Birmingham Town Hall alongside Altered Images and The Christians on Thursday. Book tickets here.
