Midge Ure – Podcast (Part 1)

Midge Ure had been kicking around in a number of bands since the early 70’s, from soft pop with bands like Slik through to punk with PVC2 and The Rich Kids. But it was the 1980’s when Midge really made his mark. His initial success in that decade arrived via Visage and the massive hit he co-wrote Fade To Grey.

Soon after he was fronting Ultravox scoring hits with songs like Vienna, One Small Day and Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. Then a phone call changed his life. It was Bob Geldof asking Midge if he could help write a song to raise money for the millions starving in Ethiopia. It became the biggest selling single in UK history and the Band Aid project then became Live Aid, a global phenomenon.

Band Aid and Live Aid were life changing events. Midge went from selling millions of records to saving millions of lives and in the process changed his outlook on the world. He continues his work with Bob Geldof through Band Aid and still tours with Ultravox and as a solo artist.

Midge has been travelling the world on the Something From Everything retrospective tour and he’s about to hit Australia and New Zealand with a set list covering songs from his entire career. What better opportunity to look back at the incredibly diverse and remarkable life of Midge Ure.

In part 1 of this podcast Midge talks about his early life – escaping Scotland and his pop music beginnings before being thrust into the cauldron of punk just as it was about to explode in London. As the fire of punk begins to run out of fuel he becomes interested in the first digital synthesisers, which leads to the formation of Visage and then his move into Ultravox and why that groundbreaking video for Vienna was so crucial to the song’s success.

*Midge Ure tour dates.

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