Midge Ure Biography
James Ure, 10 October 1953, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Ure worked as an apprentice engineer at the National Engineering Laboratories in East Kilbride while playing part-time with the Glasgow-based Stumble. He began his professional career as guitarist/vocalist with Salvation, a popular Glasgow-based act that evolved into Slik in 1974. By this time, he had adopted his more famous nickname, which came about by reversing the name Jim to Mij and altering the spelling! Although accomplished musicians, Slik's recording contract bound them to ill-fitting, "teeny-bop" material, reminiscent of fellow-Scots the Bay City Rollers. Frustrated at this artistic impasse, and despite enjoying a UK chart-topping single ("Forever And Ever"), Ure opted to join the Rich Kids, a punk/pop act, centred on former Sex Pistols bass player Glen Matlock. However, despite strong support from EMI Records, the band's chemistry did not gel and they unofficially disbanded in December 1978, barely a year after inception. Ure subsequently joined the short-lived Misfits before founding Visage with Steve Strange (vocals) and Rusty Egan (drums). Ure's involvement with this informal New Romantic act was disrupted when he replaced Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy midway through an extensive US tour. His position, however, was purely temporary as he had already agreed to join Ultravox, who rose from cult status to become one of the most popular acts of the early 80s.
The ever-industrious Ure also produced sessions for Steve Harley and Modern Man, collaborated with Phil Lynott ("Yellow Pearl") and Mick Karn ("After A Fashion"), and in 1982 enjoyed a UK Top 10 solo hit with his version of "No Regrets", penned by Tom Rush and previously a hit for the Walker Brothers. Two years later he set up Band Aid with Bob Geldof. Their joint composition, the multi-million-selling "Do They Know It's Christmas?', was inspired by harrowing film footage of famine conditions in Ethiopia and featured an all-star cast of pop contemporaries. Ure was also heavily involved in the running of 1985"s spectacular rock concert, Live Aid. He resumed his solo career later in the same year with The Gift, which reached number 2 on the UK charts. The album spawned a number 1 single, "If I Was". Ure enjoyed further UK Top 30 chart success with "That Certain Smile" (1985) and "Call Of The Wild" (1986). During this period, Ure also worked as the musical director of the Prince's Trust charity concerts. Answers To Nothing, recorded when Ultravox had eventually fizzled out in 1987, proved less successful. This effort was not followed up until three years later when the singer, now signed to Arista Records, produced Pure in autumn 1991. The album demonstrated that Ure had not lost his touch for melody, and he returned to the UK Top 20 with "Cold, Cold Heart'. Although later recordings have been undistinguished and largely ignored in England, Ure continues to maintain a healthy following on the European market. 1996"s Breathe topped the charts in Germany, with the title-track enjoying extensive media coverage when it was used on a Swatch advertisement. In March 2001, Ure was honoured by the long-running UK television series This Is Your Life.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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