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Information about Midge Ure

Midge Ure OBE (born James Ure, 10 October 1953, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a rock and roll guitarist, singer, keyboard player and songwriter from Scotland, who had particular success in the 1970s and 1980s. His stage name, Midge, is a phonemic reversal of his real name, Jim.

Career

Ure began his career with Slik. Before Slik became famous they were known as Salvation and were the house band playing mostly covers in Glasgow disco Clouds (above Greens Playhouse), where all major bands played when they came to the city. Midge played guitar. He turned down an offer to be the lead singer of the Sex Pistols[1]. He would go on to play in The Rich Kids (with then-former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock) and temporarily for Thin Lizzy before replacing John Foxx as singer of electronic New Wave band Ultravox in 1979. Shortly afterwards, they had a huge UK hit with "Vienna", and became one of Britain's top bands for several years. Also later that year, Ure also formed the band Visage with Steve Strange and fellow former Rich Kid Rusty Egan. 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.

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 Ure scored his one and only solo UK number one single with "If I Was". This was followed by the album The Gift. Ultravox as a band did not last more than a year or so after Live Aid.

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.

Ure recently organized Live 8 concerts with Bob Geldof with the aim of pressing G8 leaders into taking action to end world poverty. In 2005 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. He was made a Doctor of Music by University of Edinburgh in 2006. In 2007 Ure received his third honorary doctorate from the University of Paisley for his contribution to Scottish culture and charity work.

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 Box 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.

Ure made a speech and gave prizes at Prior Park College's annual speech day, on 7 July 2007.

Solo discography

Albums

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

Year Single UK Singles Chart US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock Album
1982No Regrets9---''
1983After A Fashion (with Mick Karn)39---''
1985If I Was1---The Gift
1985That Certain Smile28---The Gift
1986Wastelands46---''
1986Call Of The Wild27---''
1989Answers to Nothing49-26-Answers to Nothing
1989Dear God559546Answers to Nothing
1991Cold, Cold Heart17-12-Pure
1991I See Hope (In The Morning Light)----Pure
1996Breathe70---Breathe
1996Guns And Arrows----Breathe
2001You Move Me----Move Me
2001Beneath A Spielberg Sky----Move Me

References

External links

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are:
  • Knight Grand Cross or

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October 10 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1920s  1930s  1940s  - 1950s -  1960s  1970s  1980s
1950 1951 1952 - 1953 - 1954 1955 1956

Year 1953 (MCMLIII
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Cambuslang
Gaelic - Camas Long
Scots - Cambuslang


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Lanarkshire (Siorrachd Lannraig in Gaelic), officially the County of Lanark, was formerly a county of Scotland.

It was bounded to the north by Stirlingshire and a detached portion of Dunbartonshire, to the northeast by Stirlingshire, West Lothian, to
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Motto
Nemo me impune lacessit   (Latin)
"No one provokes me with impunity"
"Cha togar m'fhearg gun dioladh"   
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Rock 'n' Roll (short for Rock and Roll), is a genre of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread to the rest of the world. It later spawned the various sub-genres of what is now called simply 'rock music'.
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The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist.
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A singer is a musician who uses their voice to produce music. Often the singer is accompanied by musicians and instruments. While many people sing for pleasure, vocal skill is usually a combination of innate talent and professional training.
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keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano, which is used in nearly all forms of western music. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical,
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A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. That is to say, a songwriter is a lyricist, a composer, or both.
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Motto
Nemo me impune lacessit   (Latin)
"No one provokes me with impunity"
"Cha togar m'fhearg gun dioladh"   
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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

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- The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called
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Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid 1970s, following in the footsteps of the Bay City Rollers. Nowadays they would be referred to as a boy band.

History

Slik were formed as the Glasgow based band "Salvation" in 1970, comprising Jim, Kevin and Hugh McGinlay, and Ernie
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The Rich Kids were a short-lived, much-hyped rock and roll band from London in the late 1970s.

Career

They were formed by Glen Matlock (vocals / bass guitar) after he left the Sex Pistols, and fronted by Glaswegian Midge Ure (vocals / guitars / keyboards).
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Thin Lizzy are a hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. The band was originally led by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott. They are best known for their 1976 songs "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", both major international hits still played
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John Foxx is the stage name of English musician Dennis Leigh. He was the original lead singer of the band Ultravox, before embarking on a solo career in 1979. Primarily associated with synthesizer music, he has also pursued a parallel career in graphic design and education.
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A singer is a musician who uses their voice to produce music. Often the singer is accompanied by musicians and instruments. While many people sing for pleasure, vocal skill is usually a combination of innate talent and professional training.
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New Wave was a rock music and pop genre and movement that existed during the late 1970s and the early-to-mid 1980s. In those days, many music groups were inspired by punk rock and used elements of other genres, such as electronic music, reggae, and ska.
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B-side(s) "Passionate Reply"
"Herr X" (12" single only)
Released January 15 1981
Format 7" single, 12" single
Recorded 1980
Genre New Romantic, Electronic
Length 04:37 (Single edit)
Label Chrysalis Records

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Visage was a New Romantic band that began life in 1978, mainly to provide some danceable music to be played on Steve Strange's and Rusty Egan's Blitz London nightclub in Great Queen Street.
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Steve Strange (born Steven John Harrington on May 28, 1959) is a British singer and pop icon, best remembered as an influential party promoter and as the frontman and lead singer for Visage.
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Rusty Egan (born on 19 September, 1957) was the drummer for the British New Wave band, The Rich Kids, (founded by former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock bass guitarist & singer, with Steve New guitarist & singer and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, singer & keyboard player.
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Philip Parris Lynott (August 20, 1949 – January 4, 1986) was an Irish singer, instrumentalist and songwriter, who first came to prominence as the frontman of Thin Lizzy.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1950s  1960s  1970s  - 1980s -  1990s  2000s  2010s
1978 1979 1980 - 1981 - 1982 1983 1984

Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI
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20th century - 21st century
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1981 1982 1983 - 1984 - 1985 1986 1987

Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV
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Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof[1], KBE[2], known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October 1951) [3], is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.
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Band Aid was a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market.
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Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof[1], KBE[2], known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October 1951) [3], is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist.
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