Though he enjoyed and was proud of the work he was doing with them, the group was a studio-based project with the sole purpose of creating dance music for London’s club kids to pose and preen to at the nightclubs Egan was running with Steve Strange.
With his eclectic musical background, Ure was feeling limited by Visage. Egan knew that Midge had been a fan of Ultravox and that they were looking for a singer and a guitarist – Ure was both, therefore Rusty was convinced they’d be the perfect match. It was during the latter that he was introduced to Ure by Rusty Egan. Chris played with James Honeyman-Scott, Warren with Zaine Griff and The Buggles and Billy performed on Gary Numan’s The Pleasure Principle album and tour before working on Visage’s debut record. The lack of commercial success for the John Foxx-fronted five-piece had led to them being dropped by Island Records and a last-ditch attempt to save the group with a US tour instead led to its implosion.įoxx and guitarist Robin Simon departed the group, leaving remaining members Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie with little more than debts, doubts and dilemmas.įacing an uncertain future and financial ruin, the remaining trio were forced to seek session work with other artists in order to generate some money. The stylish image overhaul reflected the musical shift on the encased record, with the glam-influenced art-rock of the band’s previous three albums replaced by sparse synth-pop and killer melodies resulting in a less pretentious entity that was capable of breaking them to a mainstream audience.Īs the 70s drew to a close, the disarray within Ultravox at the time made the break-up of the band a very real prospect. W ere it not for Ultravox: Vienna sleeve designer Glenn Travis’ bold typography reassuring fans that the stark monochromatic cover photo by Brian Griffin was indeed Ultravox, the band’s fourth album could well have escaped the attention of their fanbase, such was the radical change of direction of the group with new lead singer Midge Ure. John Foxx was out, Midge Ure was in for Ultravox: Vienna… By Mark Lindores Ultravox: Vienna cover
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