"The Voice" | ||||
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Single by Ultravox | ||||
from the album Rage in Eden | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 30 October 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1981 at Conny’s Studio in Cologne, West Germany | |||
Genre | Synthpop, new wave | |||
Length | 4:23 | |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Songwriter(s) | Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, Midge Ure | |||
Producer(s) | Ultravox and Conny Plank | |||
Ultravox singles chronology | ||||
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"The Voice" is Ultravox's second single from the Rage in Eden album, recorded in Conny Plank's Studio in Cologne, Germany and released on 30 October 1981. It peaked at #16 in the UK singles chart, [1] #27 in the Irish Singles Chart [2] and #29 in the New Zealand Singles Chart. [3]
Written by the whole band, the song originated from Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Midge Ure, then Billy Currie added a little instrumental section in the middle of the song. Cann and Cross provided the vocals in the chorus section.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Voice" (single edit) | 4:23 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Paths and Angles" | 4:19 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Voice" | 5:59 |
2. | "Paths and Angles" | 4:19 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Private Lives" (recorded live at Crystal Palace Bowl, 13 June 1981) | 4:51 |
2. | "All Stood Still" (recorded live at Crystal Palace Bowl, 13 June 1981) | 4:19 |
There were two different videos made for the single. One has the band miming a performance in a slanted room; the band members appear to be standing at an unnatural angle. The other video is more elaborate, contains war imagery, single-word slogans in knock-out text, features Billy Currie appearing as a radio announcer, and Midge Ure as a soldier. The Voice, was the fourth and final music video directed by Russell Mulcahy that was included on the Ultravox The Collection video compilation. Midge Ure and Chris Cross continued to direct Ultravox next music videos. [4] [5]
Live versions of The Voice appear on the live albums Monument and Return to Eden.
Ultravox were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was their 1981 hit "Vienna".
William Lee Currie is a British multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Huddersfield, England. He is best known as the keyboard and strings player with new wave band Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s.
Christopher Thomas Allen, known professionally as Chris Cross, was an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the new wave band Ultravox. After starting his music career with Stoned Rose, a band in Preston, Lancashire, he was one of the founding members of the band Tiger Lily in 1973, before the band was renamed Ultravox three years later. The band's most successful single, "Vienna", was released in 1981.
Visage were a British synth-pop band formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album led to their breakup in 1985.
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.
"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.
"Hymn" is a song from Ultravox's sixth studio album Quartet. Released as the album's second single on 19 November 1982, it reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart and the Top 10 in Germany and Switzerland.
Warren Reginald Cann is a Canadian drummer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the British new wave band Ultravox.
Systems of Romance, released on 8 September 1978, is the third album by British new wave band Ultravox. It was the final recording for the group with original lead singer, lyricist and co-composer John Foxx, and their first album without guitarist Stevie Shears, who had left the band. Shears was replaced by Robin Simon, making his first and only appearance on an Ultravox album. Though not a commercial success, Systems of Romance had a significant influence on the electropop music that came after it.
Rage in Eden is the fifth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 11 September 1981 through Chrysalis Records. The album reached #4 in the UK album charts and was certified Gold by the BPI for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.
Quartet is the sixth studio album by the British new wave band Ultravox. The album peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI in December 1982 for 100,000 copies sold. It also peaked at number 13 in Germany, and at number 61 in the United States.
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.
Monument, released in 1983, is a live album by the British band Ultravox. It is the soundtrack to the live video of the same name, recorded at the London Hammersmith Odeon during the band's 1982 "Monument" tour. The album peaked at no.9 on the UK album chart and was certified Gold by the BPI in January 1984 for 100,000 copies sold.
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"Love's Great Adventure" is a single released by Ultravox on 12 October 1984. Having enjoyed massive radio airplay that autumn, the single became Ultravox's thirteenth Top 30 single in Britain, and was their last major hit in the UK, peaking at #12 in the UK Singles Chart.
Extended Ultravox is an Ultravox compilation of 12" extended versions of various Ultravox singles from the years 1980–1986. The album was released in 1998.
Vienna is the fourth studio album by British new wave band Ultravox, first released on 11 July 1980 through Chrysalis Records. Vienna was Ultravox's first album with their best-known line-up, after Midge Ure had taken over as lead vocalist and guitarist following the departures of John Foxx and Robin Simon, as well as the group's first release for Chrysalis. The album peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart and reached the top ten in Australia, New Zealand and several European countries.
The Best of Ultravox is the seventh compilation by Ultravox, released on EMI Gold records, in 2003, being one of the more recent compilation albums of the band. The songs of the disc are from the success era of the band, in the 1980s, while Midge Ure was the singer.
Progress Live is the twelfth album released by English pop band Take That. It is also the band's second live album to date and was released as a double disc album in Europe on 21 November 2011 and in the UK on 28 November 2011. The album was recorded during their Progress Live tour at Wembley Stadium in London and Etihad Stadium in Manchester in June and July 2011.
Brilliant is the eleventh and final studio album by British synth-pop band Ultravox, released on 25 May 2012 by Chrysalis Records. It is the group's first studio album in 18 years, and the first in 28 years from the "classic" Ultravox line-up consisting of Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Warren Cann and Chris Cross. The title track was released as its lead single, and premiered on 17 April 2012 on BBC Radio 2.