Book: If I Was - Midge Ure (2004)

Who can forget the moody intro to the Ultravox hit ‘ Vienna ’? It sums up the early electronic 80’s like no other song at the time. I always remember the lead singer, Midge Ure, with his rather dapper raincoat and funny little moustache wandering through the grey rain soaked streets of Vienna singing his little heart out. I picked up the book (which was in a sale) because in my advancing years I have a yearning to find out what had happened to all those bands and singers I used to like way back in my youth. With Midge’s book I wasn’t disappointed as he referred to his contemporaries all the way through. I don’t think he was too impressed with Paul Weller as he referred to him as a misery, but I can’t say I’m too surprised about that because he is. Overall though he wasn’t in any way ‘bitchy’ and his book was a good solid account of his early life in Glasgow up until the present day. It pretty much follows the same format that most autobiographies do and the childhood, schooling, first loves, first jobs and first bands are detailed and well written. The band that finally got him recognition was of course the moody Ultravox. Midge was asked to join after John Foxx the lead singer departed to go solo. This was a blessing in disguise for the band as before Midge they hadn’t been exactly mainstream and success was bypassing them somewhat. Midge, to be fair, was a good front man as he had the voice and the look that fitted the moment. The success followed and inevitably he branched out into other projects to stretch his wings. One of these efforts was Visage. Visage was fronted by Steve Strange the very colourful individual with a lack of talent. Midge wrote their more memorable hits (‘Fade To Grey’ for example) for the band but when Mr. Strange got a bit too big for his pixie booties, Midge decided to leave them to it. Not long after that Visage came to an end. I think the one thing that still rankles with Midge is that despite being one half of the team who wrote the hugely successful Band Aid single, he is much overshadowed by Bob Geldof, the other half of the partnership. Bob has a big mouth and Midge hasn’t, that’s the only difference. After Band Aid, with Ultravox on the wane, Midge went solo. He never really regained his footing in the charts though and went through some hard times coping with it, surprisingly he admitted to being an alcoholic. To look at him you wouldn’t guess it but I admire his honesty. He is still battling with that problem even now, but his life seems to have mellowed and taken an easier route as he has got older and he is just writing and enjoying his music and playing to smaller audiences. I wish him well, he sounds like a nice guy.
Score Board: 8/10 a good, well written book that will take you back to the 80’s (bliss)