Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Midge Ure of Ultravox tells the story of the band's amazing classic hit Vienna. It was kept out of #1 by the Worst song of the decade: Shadup you Face by Joe Dolce but it was later voted the greatest #2 hit of all time. Interview about an 80s new wave and rock classic song.
#classicrock #shorts #80smusic #onehitwonder
It’s time for another edition of our series #1 in our hearts where we celibate a song that unquestionably deserved to be #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 but for various reasons was kept out. Here we even the playing field. and this one was a no-brainer. Truth be told. More people on this planet should know who Midge Ure is. He’s definitely one of the most under-appreciated singer-songwriters and producers of the rock and roll era.
He not only helped revitalize a broken up Ultravox, He also co-wrote and produced one of the most influential recordings of the entire 80s with Do They Know It’s Christmas, the #1 smash from 1984 that led to everything from We Are the World to Live Aid. Hailing from Scotland, his name is actually James Ure but took his first name and did a phonetic reversal to Midge. Ure came onto the scene in the 70s with several different bands. With the band Slik that included Bay City Rollers writers Bill Martin and Phil Coulter providing songs. Interestingly in 1975, Ure said no to an offer to be the lead singer of the Sex Pistols saying that he felt at the time that Malcolm McLaren had "his priorities completely wrong!", a position he later changed. In early 1976 Slik achieved a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart with "Forever and Ever".
Later Ure went on to join former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock in Rich Kids, a Punk outfit, then Ure would form the band Visage with former Rich Kids bandmate Rusty Egan, with the peculiar lead singer Steve Strange who amongst other compositions in the punk and new wave scene released the equally peculiar and haunting single Fade to Grey. Then Ure would leave to join Thin Lizzy. Ure already knew singer Phil Lynott. Ure received co-writing credit for Get Out of Here on Thin Lizzy’s LP black rose.
So in mid-1978, Midge are joined up to help Thin Lizzy finish a US tour when guitarist Gary Moore abruptly left. Midge would also play guitar on the songs Things Aren’t Working Out and Dublin for the Lizzy album The Counting Saga of Aging Orphans. Although Ure would continue to collaborate with Phil Lynott, as he would co-write Phil LYnott’s biggest solo hit Yellow Pearl, Midge would leave to join Ultravox.
This was in 1979. Midge had developed a close friendship with Billy Currie when the two were in Visage.
Midge Ure of Ultravox tells the story of the band's amazing classic hit Vienna. It was kept out of #1 by the Worst song of the decade: Shadup you Face by Joe Dolce but it was later voted the greatest #2 hit of all time. Interview about an 80s new wave and rock classic song.
#classicrock #shorts #80smusic #onehitwonder
It’s time for another edition of our series #1 in our hearts where we celibate a song that unquestionably deserved to be #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 but for various reasons was kept out. Here we even the playing field. and this one was a no-brainer. Truth be told. More people on this planet should know who Midge Ure is. He’s definitely one of the most under-appreciated singer-songwriters and producers of the rock and roll era.
He not only helped revitalize a broken up Ultravox, He also co-wrote and produced one of the most influential recordings of the entire 80s with Do They Know It’s Christmas, the #1 smash from 1984 that led to everything from We Are the World to Live Aid. Hailing from Scotland, his name is actually James Ure but took his first name and did a phonetic reversal to Midge. Ure came onto the scene in the 70s with several different bands. With the band Slik that included Bay City Rollers writers Bill Martin and Phil Coulter providing songs. Interestingly in 1975, Ure said no to an offer to be the lead singer of the Sex Pistols saying that he felt at the time that Malcolm McLaren had "his priorities completely wrong!", a position he later changed. In early 1976 Slik achieved a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart with "Forever and Ever".
Later Ure went on to join former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock in Rich Kids, a Punk outfit, then Ure would form the band Visage with former Rich Kids bandmate Rusty Egan, with the peculiar lead singer Steve Strange who amongst other compositions in the punk and new wave scene released the equally peculiar and haunting single Fade to Grey. Then Ure would leave to join Thin Lizzy. Ure already knew singer Phil Lynott. Ure received co-writing credit for Get Out of Here on Thin Lizzy’s LP black rose.
So in mid-1978, Midge are joined up to help Thin Lizzy finish a US tour when guitarist Gary Moore abruptly left. Midge would also play guitar on the songs Things Aren’t Working Out and Dublin for the Lizzy album The Counting Saga of Aging Orphans. Although Ure would continue to collaborate with Phil Lynott, as he would co-write Phil LYnott’s biggest solo hit Yellow Pearl, Midge would leave to join Ultravox.
This was in 1979. Midge had developed a close friendship with Billy Currie when the two were in Visage.
