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 and 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 no.6 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified Gold by the BPI in December 1982 for 100,000 copies sold. It also peaked at #13 in Germany, and at #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.
Three into One is the first compilation album from the band Ultravox, released in June 1980 in the UK. The album is a compilation of songs from their first three albums, Ultravox!, Ha!-Ha!-Ha! and Systems of Romance, and therefore concentrates on the earlier incarnation of the band from the 1970s featuring John Foxx, as opposed to the more recognisable 1980s line-up which featured Midge Ure.
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.
"Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" is the second single from Lament, Ultravox's seventh studio album, released on 11 May 1984.
"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.
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.
