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Midge Ure
Background information
Birth name	James Ure
Also known as	James Ure, Midge Ure
Born	10 October 1953 (1953-10-10) (age 55)
Origin	Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland
Genre(s)	Glam rock, soft rock, punk rock, hard rock, synthpop, new romantic, New Wave
Occupation(s)	singer, guitarist, producer, keyboard player
Instrument(s)	Singing, guitar, keyboards, synthethizer
Years active	1972 - present
Notable instrument(s)
Yamaha SG 2000 (guitar) Vox AC-30 (guitar amp)

Midge Ure OBE (born James Ure, 10 October 1953, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland) is a pop guitarist, singer, keyboard player, and songwriter. He had particular success in the 1970s and 1980s, most notably as the frontman of the band Ultravox. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of his real name, Jim.

Career

Early years

Born to a working-class family, he attended Rutherglen Academy, in Glasgow, until he was 15 years old. After leaving school, Ure began to work as engineer and to playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble.

Salvation and Slik

Midge Ure with glam hairstyle while appearing along his band Slik in the Never Too Young To Rock movie in 1975

In 1972, he joined a band called Salvation, formed in Glasgow in 1970 by the brothers Kevin (voice) and Jim McGinlay (bass guitar). The problem was there were two members called "Jim" (Ure and McGinlay), so Kevin McGinlay decided to turn Ure's name backwards to "Midge". Ure became to name himself in the music scene as Midge Ure.^[1] In those days, the band were the house band playing mostly covers in Glasgow disco Clouds (above Green-s Playhouse), where all major bands played when they came to the city. Midge played guitar. The band also comprised Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Kenny Hyslop on drums.

Midge Ure in Slik during a Top Of The Pops presentation, 1976

But in April 1974, Kevin McGinlay left to pursue a solo career^[2], so Ure became the vocalist without leaving the guitarist's place. In November 1974, Salvation began to be Slik. In 1975, the band began to trust in Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, who wrote their songs. By those days, he turned down an offer to be the lead singer of the Sex Pistols^[3].

Although Slik were rising in popularity in early 1976, it was in its low point at the end of the year, because punk rock began to attract the youth and the music press. In early 1977, Slik were still releasing their last songs, when Jim McGinlay decided to quit the band, being replaced by Russell Webb.

Punk days: PVC2 and The Rich Kids

When Slik had no hope for popularity as a boy-band, they finished their contract with Martin and Coulter. After a number of gigs through Europe, they decided to change their style to punk and their name to PVC2. Ure only released with them the "Put You In The Picture" single by mid-1977, and departed in September, joning The Rich Kids (with then-former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock) in October.

Midge Ure during The Rich Kids days, playing the keyboards

Since an earlier time, he knew Matlock, who called him to form part of the band in early 1977, but he quit after a few gigs, to continue with PVC2, but rejoined Matlock after leaving them and moving to London. He was the main vocalist, although Matlock also sang some songs. However, the bad commercial sales led to the split of the band in December 1978, although it was announced in mid-1979.

During his sojourn with Rich Kids, Ure began to be interested by keyboards and synthesizer, and befriended band's drummer Rusty Egan, who also shared his interest in electronic music. Both formed in March 1979 a very short-lived band called The Misfits (not to confuse with the american hardcore band).

Thin Lizzy

With The Rich Kids and The Misfits finished, Ure joined Thin Lizzy in July 1979, replacing Gary Moore. Ure co-wrote a song with Phil Lynott entitled "Get Out Of Here" for the album Black Rose. He also played in a compilation called The Continuing Saga of the Ageing Orphans (also released in 1979) and toured with the band in America and Japan. In 1980, in the second part of the tour he switched to keyboards, being replaced by Snowy White as guitarist. Shortly after the tour, he left the band to concentrate on his then new and more important bands, Ultravox and Visage (see below), but did the chorus in "Chinatown" song as guest the same year and continued to collaborate with their leader Phil Lynnot.

Visage, Ultravox and another contributions

Still with The Rich Kids, Ure and Egan formed, along with lead vocalist Steve Strange, a synthpop project called Visage, in 1978. That year, the trio released a song called "In The Year 2525". In 1979, after playing with The Rich Kids and Thin Lizzy, he returned to work with a more grown line-up, comprised by Magazine members Dave Formula, John McGeoch and Barry Adamson, and Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie. Ure and Currie became friends in this line-up, and the latter was member of the synthpop band Ultravox, which lacked a lead singer (who was John Foxx, who left early the year to pursue a solo career) and guitarist (who was Robin Simon and also left shortly before Foxx went solo), being only consisted in Currie (keyboards, violin), Chris Cross (bass) and Warren Cann (drums). Ure decided to help Currie in Ultravox, joining April the same year as singer and guitarist, after being examined by the members of that band.

Although, he joined Ultravox, he also had other music recordings and performances during 1979: He was touring with Thin Lizzy, recording along Currie the single "Tar" in Visage, and doing some records with punk band The Skids. However, he reunited with Ultravox, doing a tour in USA late the year; they wrote a number of songs which were included in their album the next year.

The album, recorded early 1980, was Vienna, whose singles "Sleepwalk", "Passing Strangers", "Vienna" (which was a huge UK hit) and "All Stood Still", did Ultravox became one of Britain's top bands for several years. The same year, Visage released their Visage album, which was successfull along single "Fade To Grey", whose main song was a New Romantic hymn.

The following year, Ure and Thin Lizzy leader Phil Lynott co-wrote Lynott's biggest solo hit, "Yellow Pearl". A re-recording of the song done in 1981 was used as the theme for Top of the Pops.

Midge Ure during his Ultravox days.

Ultravox (Midge Ure) in concert, April 1984

In 1982, he left Visage shortly after the releasing of The Anvil, due to his differences with frontman Steve Strange. The same year, Ultravox recorded and released their third album Quartet, produced by Beatles' famed George Martin.

Midge also worked as a producer for other artists, including Steve Harley, The Skids, and New Wave group STRASSE.

In 1984, Ure co-wrote with Bob Geldof and produced the Band Aid hit, "Do They Know It's Christmas-". He and Geldof jointly set up the Band Aid Trust and he remains active as a Band Aid Trustee to this day. He was also the co-organiser of Live Aid. The following year Ultravox disbanded and saw Ure score his one and only solo UK number one single with "If I Was". This was followed by the solo album The Gift. He released the non-album single "Call Of The Wild" in 1986, which reached #27 in the charts.

Solo career

After members of Ultravox went their separate ways, Ure pursued a solo career which included the international hit, "Breathe," also used in a Swatch TV ad campaign.

In 2005 he organised Live 8 concerts with Bob Geldof with the aim of pressing G8 leaders into taking action to end world poverty. Later that year he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music and charity.

Ure received three honorary degrees in recent years. He was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts in 2005 by the University of Abertay Dundee for his artistic and charity work over the past 30 years.^[4] He was made a Doctor of Music by University of Edinburgh in 2006.^[5] In 2007 Ure received his third honorary doctorate from the University of Paisley for his contribution to Scottish culture and charity work.^[6]

He is an Ambassador for Save the Children and in recent years has gone back to Ethiopia and visited Sierra Leone in that capacity.

Ure continues to perform his own songs, along with popular Ultravox songs, in concerts both solo, acoustic and with a band. In 2007 the single "Personal Heaven", credited to Midge Ure & X-Perience was released in Germany.

Personal life

Ure resides in the village of Southstoke near the city of Bath.

Ure has been married twice: to actress and writer Annabel Giles (with whom he has one daughter, Molly) and to Sheridan Forbes (with whom he has three daughters, Kitty, Ruby and Flossie).

His daughter Molly has followed her father into the music industry, as the guitarist and vocalist of pop punk band The Faders, who split in July 2006. She is now pursuing a solo career.

Ure's two main passions are music and cooking. He was able to indulge the second of these in the 2007 Celebrity Masterchef series, easily winning his heat and progressing to the final on 15 June, alongside Nadia Sawalha and Craig Revel Horwood. Although all three competitors greatly impressed the judges, the trophy was won by Sawalha.

Equipment

During the recording of the Vienna album, he used a Yamaha SG 2000 guitar^[7] and a Vox AC-30 amp ^[8]. However, he recently is using a AD120VT amp of the latter mark.^[9].

Since his Ultravox days, he was using Gordon-Smith guitar models.^[10]

Solo discography

Albums

• 1985 The Gift (#2 UK Albums Chart)
• 1988 Answers to Nothing (#30 UK Albums Chart, #88 Billboard 200)
• 1989 Come the Day (Class of 1999 soundtrack)
• 1991 Pure (#36 UK Albums Chart)
• 1996 Breathe
• 2000 Went to Coney Island (soundtrack)
• 2001 Move Me
• 2001 Little Orphans
• 2006 Duet - Midge Ure and Troy Donockley
• 2008 10

Other Albums

• 1991 Live In Concert (live album)
• 1993 If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox (compilation album) (#10 UK Albums Chart)
• 2000 No Regrets: The Best of Midge Ure (compilation)
• 2001 A Glorious Noise - Breathe Live (live album)
• 2002 One Night in Scotland (live album)
• 2002 Intimate Moments April 12th - 22nd 2002 (a collection of songs and musings recorded on tour in 2002)
• 2003 Once Upon a Time in America (CD & DVD)
• 2004 Septemberfest (live album)
• 2005 Re-Live (live album)
• 2006 Move Me (expanded) (double CD)

Singles

References

1. ^ Kevin McGinlay Salvation
2. ^ Kevin McGinlay Salvation
3. ^ Midge Ure on Rocking Scots Radio 4 12th May 2007
4. ^ Midge Ure given honorary degree, 12 October 2005
5. ^ Midge Ure in line for great big honour from university, 1 March 2006
6. ^ Third degree for Scots singer Midge Ure, 26 June 2007
7. ^ [1] Midge primarily used his Yamaha SG-2000 guitar..., Warren Cann, 1997
8. ^ [2] Midge primarily used his Yamaha SG-2000 guitar through his Vox AC-30 amp ..., Warren Cann, 1997
9. ^ [3]
10. ^ [4] ...Midge has been using their (of Gordon-Smith) electric guitars for over 18 years,...

External links

• Official website
• Midge Ure discography @ Discogs.com
• Listings of all Ultravox albums and music sampler