After KUT/KUTX took over the Cactus Cafe, international touring acts disappeared from the line up for a while. Thankfully they wised up and brought them back with my second show in a year (the previous being Justin Currie). I didn’t know I would be seeing another Scotsman, Midge Ure has a very distinct accent or brogue. All these years I figured he was English, I never heard him speak much and you can never tell completely when performers sing, everybody converts to “American.”
As always, I can hear the virtual crickets in the background with the majority of my friends going “who is Midge Ure?” I’ll cut to the chase for the majority…he co-wrote “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?” while Bob Geldof got all the publicity along with a worthless knighthood. The holiday hit is a footnote to me. Midge was really the singer in one of the greatest early Eighties synth bands…Ultravox. He did have a solo run, worked with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and Visage, you know, the “Fade to Grey” song on all those New Wave compilations. The venue being the Cactus Cafe, the show was just Midge on the stage playing songs new and old on his acoustic guitar which was awesome! The guy has a helluva’ voice too. I don’t think he really needed a microphone given the Cactus’ dimension and his power. Another observation, I have yet to meet a Scotsman who wasn’t funny. Maybe it’s something in the water or the cold climate.
It was such a thrill to see him perform and meet Midge after the show. Ultravox was one of the earlier new acts I got hooked on through MTV’s inaugural, legendary period (alongside Roxy Music, Duran Duran, Split Enz and Squeeze). When music videos filled the majority of its air time much to the annoyance of American radio programmers wanting to keep pushing their Arena Rock, aka REO Speedwagon (ugh). The uplifting news was Midge is trying to work out an Ultravox reunion tour for the States. They were never big in America during the initial existence; he gave an anecdote of being interviewed on a Rock/Pop station and half-way through the DJ said, “You speak really good English,” because he thought Midge was in Kraftwerk. Ultravox’s following has grown over the years though. I was amazed how many people applauded for “Vienna.” Speaking of that, my good friend Chip got me a new 180g vinyl copy of Vienna for Midge to autograph. Getting a frame soon!
