Music and stories from Midge

Feb 10 2009 by Andrew Welsh, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

ULTRAVOX frontman Midge Ure is set to play highlights from his near-40 year musical career in Perth next week.

The 55-year-old singer-songwriter will be performing a solo acoustic show at Perth Theatre on Monday as he warms up for a reunion tour with his former band mates in April.

One of the UK’s most decorated musicians, Ure, from Cambuslang, started out in Glasgow pop outfit Salvation in 1972.

The band changed their name to Slik in 1974, with Ure famously turning don an offer to become the lead singer in the embryonic Sex Pistols the following year.

Despite scoring a number one single in early ‘76 with Forever And Ever, Ure’s eyes were firmly on punk and he joined ex-Pistol Glen Matlock in The Rich Kids in October ‘77 and was pivotal in the formation of electro pioneers Visage in 1978.

The versatile Ure joined rock legends Thin Lizzy in 1979 as a guitarist and keyboard player, before replacing John Foxx as lead singer in arty synthpop outfit Ultravox shortly afterwards.

And it’s his work with the most successful incarnation of the Vienna hit-makers that the former apprentice engineer is best known for.

The band released a series of massive singles in the Eighties, also including All Stood Still, Hymn, Reap The Wild Wind and Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.

Ure even found time to co-write the Band Aid anthem Do They Know It’s Christmas in 1984, and the OBE recipient landed a solo number one with If I Was two years later.

His intimate acoustic shows combine a selection of his own hits with some of his favourite songs by artists such as Queen, Travis and Fleetwood Mac.

Fans rolling up at Ure’s Perth gig can also expect to hear some humorous stories from his star-studded life in music.

Tickets for Monday’s concert, at 7.30pm, are available from the High Street venue by calling 01738 621031.