Book Review - If I Was by Midge Ure

Book Review - If I Was by Midge Ure - Beware Spoilers

I have had this book for some considerable time and much to my eternal shame it has taken me forever to get around to reading it and then it seems to have taken me forever to read it.  I bought the book when it came out, in fact I literally bought off the man himself, I went along to the local book store when he was doing a singing and signing session, and I even asked him a question about his inspirations in the Q and A session.  So this is my treasured signed copy of the book.   Below are some photos of the event itself.

Here I also perhaps have to explain that Midge is one of my favourites and can chart his musical career against much of my own life.  From his early days in Slik when I was a 9 or 10 year old just getting into music, through the Rich Kids (vinyl records in the loft somewhere!!) and onto Visage and Ultravox (who I have seen several times now over the past 25 years or so) and then into his solo career where I have seen him several times again, more often than not at The Stables, Wavendon just outside MK.  So, of course I felt I knew quite a lot about him but there were many parts of this book which came as quite a surprise if not a revelation.  Dotted through this review are some pictures of Midge at his concerts or when I've met him afterwards.

The first part of the book, Midge's childhood and the early bands including Salvation and Slik, I found the hardest to read, whilst it was broadly chronological as autobiographies tend to be, I felt at times it jumped about a little and I found some of it difficult to follow.  Midge grew up, the middle child of 3 in a poor tenement district of Glasgow, a loving and caring family, but also a bigoted one, as Midge felt the impact of the religious divide in Glasgow, being warned by his mother to beware of Catholic girls.

Once he began talking about Visage, Ultravox and Band Aid it became a little easier for me to keep track of, it was interesting to read his perspective of being at the centre of Band Aid and Live Aid as those events are still so important to people of my generation, it was our time to change the world. 

Midge clearly enjoyed his time in Ultravox to the fullest extent enjoying the wine, women and song, but my goodness those Japanese groupies are a revelation!!  It is also evident that he still felt very strongly about the break up of Ultravox (the book written before they reformed a couple of  years ago), and the shame he felt for his behaviour in the sacking of Warren Cann from the band.  He reflected that they looked for the easiest target which was Warren rather than addressing the real problems in the band, at the point of his writing the book Midge had not seen or spoken to Warren Cann in the intervening years.  He didn't really explore his relationship with Billy Currie which was a difficult one I understand and that may be a minor complaint against the book.

This is a serious book and he is also extremely frank about his lacklustre ability to manage his finances and his knack of getting the time just ever so wrong on so many occasions when it came to buying and selling, be it property or motor cars and bikes.  There is some humour such as the time he recalls the thatched cottage he had bought for his parents burning down for the second time and the police coming to his door to tell him to be greeted by him, not enquiring about his parents but exclaiming " Bloody hell, not again!".


The book really lights up for me when he tells of his life post Ultravox, the solo career, the struggles with record companies, the dwindling chart success and radio airplay, and his own battles to come to terms with that.  It is ironic that at a time in his life when he had found his greatest personal happiness with his new partner and growing family - he is the father of four daughters, all of whom he clearly adores and dotes upon - he was at his least successful professionally.  That lack of professional success is what eventually drew him into the very severe alcohol problems from which he has battled and is in recovery, but as with any alcoholic it is a daily struggle.

From reading the book I think what he ultimately realised is that he is a very fine songwriter, regardless of whether he has the chart success and airplay to match, and he is not the only one, I can think of my own beloved Ian McNabb as another supremely talented songwriter who has never found the solo success that he truly deserves.  But Midge Ure has survived the alcoholism, the financial problems and is surely one of our most well respected songwriters.  He is a workaholic, perhaps partly due to his Scottish Protestant upbringing, and is out there writing, producing and performing on a very regular basis and I for one am very grateful that he is.

Ciao

Sue
XX

Reading challenge 15/16 - currently reading The Hunger by Carol Drinkwater (not on my list but one of Jamie's books but it's about Ireland so will interest me!!)

Ultravox - Return to Eden - Hammersmith Apollo- Friday 24th April 2009

A Stroll Down Memory Lane with Ultravox

It is 27 years give or take a month or two since I saw Ultravox at Hammersmith Odeon, then I was a fresh faced sixth former heading towards her A levels and now I'm a forty something Mum heading towards middle age. But for a short time on Friday, the years just slipped away, for me, for Ultravox and for the audience. Yes they too had aged, they were all sporting grey, receding hair well except for Warren Cann whose hair looked just like it did on that day in the summer of 1985, the last time they played together at Wembley Stadium, Live Aid. But they all looked amazingly well and seemed genuinely pleased to be back.

The approaches to Hammersmith Odeon have changed, a new shopping centre nearby and for some reason we had to take our lives in our hands to get over two major roads (we had missed the underpass!). But once inside, the place hadn't changed, not since Riverdance about 14 years ago, or Japan there in 1983, can that really be 25 years ago? The memories came flooding back.

Unusually, there was no support band and Ultravox came on at about 8.30pm. They opened with Astradyne from Vienna, which particularly pleased Mike and early in the set Warren got his chance with Mr X. Sadly the sound was a little distorted and it was a bit difficult to hear Warren Cann on that one. The lighting was also very subtle and almost subdued, they were aiming for an arty atmosphere to suit their music, although that does make photography more difficult. I did manage to get a handful of cracking shots though, which pleased me, especially as this appeared to be of the few places now policing people taking photos.

The set list was, in no particular order, Astradyne, Mr X, Reap the Wild Wind, We Stand Alone, All Stood Still, Dancing with Tears in My Eyes, Lament, Passing Strangers, The Thin Wall, Hymn, Rage in Eden, Vienna, Visions in Blue, I Remember Death in the Afternoon, One Small Day, Your Name Has Slipped My Mind Again, and for the encore Sleepwalk and The Voice. If I have missed anything or you know the order please let me know. I was pretty satisfied early on they played We Stand Alone and One Small Day, two of my personal favourites and there were all the other hits too, not really much more one could have asked for.

Hammersmith Odeon was packed and the crowd welcomed every song with a big cheer and sang happily away and each song ended to rapturous applause. Midge Ure was in excellent voice. I've seen Midge in his solo shows several times, but have rarely heard him sound better. And Billy Currie brought the memories back with his jaunts to the front of the stage with his violin. I had forgotten he did that! Warren looked and sounded as suave as ever and Chris looked a bit like your mate's Dad dancing at a wedding, sorry Chris!

The encore was Sleepwalk where there was the only hitch of the night, Billy Currie had some problems with his computer and/or keyboards but that was quickly overcome and they finished with The Voice and the crowd pleasing beating the living daylights out of the drums at the end.

Overall the show was an amazing success and flew past, the crowd had a brilliant time, that was evident from the rapturous singing along. The band really looked as if they were enjoying themselves and burying the ghosts of the bad feeling that has surrounded them for some of the past years. Is that a good way to end it, well yes maybe it is. Can they go into the studio and produce an album of the same quality as the songs they sang tonight, on the performance tonight, I think they probably could.