Background
The track "Sister and Brother" was a duet with Kate Bush. [7] [8] In 1982, Ure had appeared onstage with Kate Bush while she performed live onstage during the Prince's Trust Rock Gala. After Ure's approach, Bush said she would send a vocal contribution back if she had time. Ure did not anticipate that Bush would complete her vocals in a timely manner, although Bush invited him to her recording studio a week later to listen to her vocal overdubs. Having turned her vocals around so quickly, Ure was ready for Bush's contribution to be two or three lines, namely her sister character answering the brother's questions. Instead, Bush had multi-tracked the vocals with effects Ure called: "all these wonderful Kateisms", including a choral section at the end of the song. "It was glorious. My only regret is that I didn’t see Kate at work to see how she’d done it. Hearing someone like Kate Bush pour their heart and soul into one of my songs was an incredible affirmation. I was shocked she’d taken so much time and effort." [9]
"Homeland" was written about Phil Lynott, who had died two years prior to when the album was released. Ure said in an interview 2015 about Dear God:
In a way, it's a double-edged sword that song. It's like a child's prayer: "Dear God, is there somebody out there?" And in another way, it's absolute despondent despair, saying, "Dear God, is there somebody out there?" It's a question and an explanation at the same time. [10]
Ure was pleased with the creative control he attained during the making of Answers to Nothing, and thus labeled it as his "first genuine solo album" [11]
James "Midge" Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, a hypocorism of his given name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids, Visage, and as the second frontman of Ultravox. In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second-highest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children.
Life thru a Lens is the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was Williams' first solo album following his departure from Take That. Released on 29 September 1997 through Chrysalis Records, it is influenced by Britpop, a departure from the poppier tone of the music Take That employed. The album's working name was The Show-Off Must Go On.
"Vienna" is a song by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 9 January 1981 by Chrysalis Records as the third single and the title track from their fourth studio album of the same name. Featuring Midge Ure on lead vocals, the new wave ballad is regarded as a staple of the synth-pop genre that was popularised in the early 1980s and remains both the band's signature song and their most commercially successful release.
"Running Up That Hill" (on some releases titled "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)") is a song by the English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was released in the UK as the lead single from Bush's fifth studio album, Hounds of Love, on 5 August 1985 by EMI Records.
Solo in Soho is the debut solo album by Irish rock singer Philip Lynott, released while he was still in Thin Lizzy. Current and former Lizzy members guested on the album, including Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Snowy White, and Gary Moore. Brian Robertson also contributed to the writing of one of the tracks, "Girls".
Mark Michael Brzezicki is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Scottish rock band Big Country.
"If I Was" is a song by Scottish musician Midge Ure. It was co-written by Ure and Danny Mitchell and released as the first single from Ure's debut solo studio album, The Gift (1985). The song reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for one week in September 1985. The track also reached number one in Ireland and peaked within the top 20 in eight other countries.
The discography of English singer-songwriter Kate Bush consists of 10 studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, six video albums, four box sets, five extended plays, 36 singles, seven promotional singles, and 39 music videos.
U-Vox is the eighth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 13 October 1986 by Chrysalis Records. It was the band's fifth album during the Midge Ure era, and the final one featuring the band's 1979 lineup, with the exception of Warren Cann, for nearly 26 years. The Ure-era lineup would eventually reform in 2008. It was also the last Ultravox album to reach the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine.
"Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is the second single from Lament, Ultravox's seventh studio album, released on 11 May 1984.
Derek Peter Palmer was an English musician and sound engineer, best known for his work with Kate Bush, with whom he also had a long-term personal relationship from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. He released his first solo studio album titled Leap of Faith in 2007, followed by Gift in 2010. His third solo album, Point of Safe Return, was released on 6 March 2015.
The Gift is the debut solo studio album by Scottish musician Midge Ure, released on 7 October 1985 by Chrysalis Records. It was released while his band Ultravox were taking a break; the band would go on to release U-Vox (1986) before breaking up. The album reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart partly due to the large attention drawn to it by the single "If I Was" which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1985. "That Certain Smile" was released as the second single in November 1985, and "Wastelands" was released as the third single in January 1986.
Steve Brzezicki is a British session bass guitarist and younger brother of drummer Mark Brzezicki with whom he often forms a rhythm section as "The Brzezicki Brothers". Among others, he and Mark worked together on Midge Ure's solo albums Answers to Nothing (1988) and Pure (1991), and Nik Kershaw's album Radio Musicola (1986). They also played live with ex-Marillion singer Fish on his first solo tour in 1989/1990 and Procol Harum in 2000.
Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981.
"Dear God" is a song by Midge Ure as the single from his album Answers to Nothing. It was his first and only song to reach the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 95. Elsewhere, the song also charted in the Netherlands and the UK.
"I Can't Even Touch You" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released under his band's name Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel by Chrysalis as a non-album single on 12 March 1982. The song was written by Harley and produced by Midge Ure.
Messengers were a Scottish new wave duo consisting of Danny Mitchell and Colin King. The duo were originally part of Modern Man, a Glasgow post-punk/new wave band discovered by Midge Ure of Ultravox. Modern Man disbanded after releasing one album produced by Ure, Concrete Scheme (1980), after which Ure stayed as producer with Mitchell and King as Messengers.
If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox is a 1993 compilation album by Scottish musician Midge Ure, featuring songs from his solo career and as part of the new wave and synthpop band Ultravox, along with Ure's collaborations with Mick Karn, Phil Lynott, Visage, and charity supergroup Band Aid.
Pure, released 16 September 1991, is the third solo album by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure. It was the first release by Ure with a new record label BMG-Arista. The first single "Cold Cold Heart" reached number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1991. "I See Hope in the Morning Light" and "Let It Go?" were also released as singles. The album has a blend of ethnic rhythms and clean album-oriented rock pop, pervaded by catchy hooks.
Breathe, a 1996 album by Midge Ure, was the fourth solo release for the former Ultravox frontman. The album, produced by Richard Feldman, was released first in Continental Europe, followed by the U.K. and U.S.
[4] 