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87-463: Its occasional series, Five Decades of... interviews and appraises the work of a musician or group who may have been overlooked by other media, but who are nonetheless influential and active over the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. Key Five Decades of... features have included Vince Clarke (Issue 10, pages 54–61), Duran Duran (Issue 1, pages 52–59), Simple Minds (Issue 2, pages 58–65) and Spandau Ballet (Issue 3, pages 50–57). The magazine

174-495: A 32-song collection, encompassing four decades of Ure's rich and varied career. In August 2020, Ure was creating his "Backstage Lockdown Club" with livestreamed acoustic songs and Q&A sessions, to members on the Patreon website. Ure also invited other artists, including Mark King of Level 42 , Glenn Gregory , Howard Jones , Nik Kershaw , Gary Kemp , and Clare Grogan of Altered Images . From 4 January 2021 Ure

261-496: A Chance on Me ", and " Always ". As of November 2022, the duo have released 19 studio albums and have enjoyed a long string of hit singles spanning their four decades together. In 2011, Clarke collaborated with his former Depeche Mode colleague Martin Gore for the first time since 1981, as techno duo VCMG , on an instrumental minimalist electronic dance album called Ssss , released on 12 March 2012. The first EP, entitled Spock ,

348-592: A benefit concert for guitarist Stella Nova who was fighting terminal cancer (and who died on 24 May 2010). Although it had been over 30 years since they played together, the press reports praised the gig, which included energetic performances of "Ghosts of Princes in Towers" and "Hung on You". Rich Kids were joined onstage by Mick Jones of the Clash and Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet . Ure also played an acoustic set of Ultravox and Visage songs. In February 2016, it

435-468: A break of three months, which saw Anthem cease publication of sister magazine "Long Live Vinyl", Classic Pop returned as a bi-monthly publication with occasional special editions (such as "Synthpop Volume 2: Electric Dreams"). Classic Pop has also published special one-off editions commemorating the lives of David Bowie , Prince and Michael Jackson , as well as the careers of ABBA , Madonna , Paul McCartney , George Michael and Elton John . One of

522-564: A groundbreaking act for a while." The same year that Ultravox released the Vienna album, Visage also released their self-titled debut studio album which made the UK Top 20 and featured the hit single " Fade to Grey " (co-written by Ure and Currie with Chris Payne ), also influential in the direction of the New Romantic electropop music scene. For a while between 1979 and 1980, then, Ure

609-438: A guitar and a tape recorder, I'll strum some chords, he'll sing a melody, and we work in little sections, four or eight bars long. Then we'll try stringing the sections together. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. I find it very hard to relate songwriting to synthesisers, actually – we write songs in a very traditional way. The electronic side of things is just to create the atmosphere. It's mostly just messing about..! Once we've worked out

696-526: A guitarist in 1972. The band had been formed in Glasgow in June 1970 by the brothers Kevin (vocals) and Jim McGinlay (bass guitar). Jim McGinlay (born James McGinlay) decided to turn Ure's name backwards to "Mij" (Midge) to avoid any confusion caused by two members of the band having the same first name. Ure has since presented himself in the music scene as Midge Ure. The band performed covers as house band in

783-499: A keyboard. Ure also made an appearance at the prestigious Oxford University Union Debating Society . His fourth solo studio album, Breathe (1996), was produced by Richard Feldman . This album had a very Celtic feel with a plethora of acoustic instruments from Uilleann pipes to mandolins and accordions. Ure said in an interview 2001: "My lowest point was when my album Breathe came out. I spent two years writing and recording it to find that people weren't taking any notice. As

870-524: A little dark for his taste, but good nonetheless. Clarke also stated that he did not enjoy the public aspects of success, such as touring and interviews, and found himself frequently at odds with his bandmates, particularly on the tour bus. He also stated: "I think everybody in the band, especially myself, imagined that the reason we were doing so well was because of themselves ... We were pretty young and very lucky, and things had happened very quickly for us, and I don't think we were really mature to handle

957-756: A lot to do with it, I suppose. We had a long break from each other and when we came back together we were all working in different directions". "I think we went out with a kind of whimper but we chose to do that really, we didn't do the all-singing, all-dancing farewell tour cash-in that a load of bands do. I had decided that I was leaving before we did our last European tour, the U-Vox tour. We were in Italy." Ure and Currie had met in October 2008 and played an acoustic "Vienna" together on Absolute Radio in UK. In April 2009, Ure and

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1044-569: A one-bedroom tenement flat in Cambuslang with his brother, sister and parents, later moving to a new house in nearby Eastfield . After leaving school, Ure attended Motherwell Technical College and then began to work as an engineer, training at the National Engineering Laboratory (NEL) in nearby East Kilbride . He started playing music in a Glasgow band called Stumble (c.1969 – c.1971). Ure joined Salvation as

1131-701: A recent concert. These have included Claudia Brücken 's This Happened at Bush Hall , London (Issue 1, pages 106–107), The Christians' European Tour (Issue 2, pages 128–129), Thomas Dolby 's Time Capsule Tour of the US (Issue 1, pages 104–105), Nick Heyward at Let's Rock the Moor! (Issue 4, pages 112–113), Let's Rock Festival (Issue 11, pages 90–91), Madness at The Queens' Diamond Jubilee Celebration Concert (Issue 1, pages 108–109), Swing Out Sister at Billboard Live, Tokyo (Issue 3, pages 128–129), Then Jerico 's Big Area Tour (Issue 2, pages 126–127). The earlier issues of

1218-484: A result all the doors that were normally open to me such as television, had closed." In 1996 the new Breathe album was followed by further extensive touring, including dates in the US as special guest to the Chieftains . In 1998 the single " Breathe " became a hit-single, in several European countries boosted by its use in a Swatch TV ad campaign, two years after its original release. It entered at No. 1 on both

1305-461: A second album, entitled Wonderful . In 2001, Clarke founded Illustrious Co. Ltd. with Martyn Ware, to create new forms of spatialised sound composition using their unique 3D AudioScape system, collaborating with fine artists, educational establishments, the performing arts, live events, corporate clients, and educational settings round the world. In 2004, Clarke provided additional music for an episode of Johnny Bravo titled "The Time of My Life". This

1392-1792: A software synth, but the great thing about the latter is that you can do far more complex modulation, both within the synth itself and on the keyboard. To emulate any of those really complex modulations on an analogue ... well, you'd need a mile of cable." " As of 2009, Clarke has installed his analogue synthesisers alongside his Logic Pro-based workstation in a custom-built commercial studio called "The Cabin" in Maine. Current & past studio equipment: Dave Smith Instruments Mopho, Roland System 700 , Roland System-100M , Roland Jupiter-8 , Roland Jupiter-4 , Roland MKS-80 , Roland SH-1, Roland VP-330 , Roland JP-8000 , Roland Juno-60 , Roland Juno-106 , Roland Super JX , Roland D-550, ARP 2500 Modular, ARP 2600 , PPG Wave 2.2 , Waldorf Microwave, Waldorf Pulse, Moog Modular , Minimoog , Moog Source , E-Mu Modular System, Buchla 100 series Modular, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 , Sequential Circuits Pro-One , Oxford Synthesiser Company OSCar, Synton Syrinx, Korg MS-20 , Korg MS-10 , Korg 700, Korg M1 , Korg DVP, Serge Modular , Polyfusion Modular, Oberheim Xpander , Oberheim SEM System, RSF Kobol, Casio CZ-101 , Casio CZ-1000 , Electronic Music Studios VCS 3 , Matten and Wiechers x2 48 track sequencers total 96 track, Sennheiser Vocoder VSM201, Apple iPad 2 , Apple Power Mac G5 , Apple MacBook Pro . Current & past software: Apple Logic Pro , Cycling '74 Max/MSP , Arturia ARP 2600 V, Arturia Minimoog V, Arturia Moog Modular V, GForce impOSCar, GForce Oddity, LinPlug Octopus, Muon Tau Pro, Native Instruments Absynth, Native Instruments Reaktor , Native Instruments FM7, Native Instruments FM8, Vienna Symphonic String & Choir Libraries . Clarke

1479-518: A song, I start programming up the arrangement on the BBC UMI sequencer, which lets me run 16 synths simultaneously. That way you get a better idea if parts are working together or not. Then we start refining the individual sounds. And finally the whole lot is transferred to my Roland MC4 , piece by piece, so it's being run in CV and Gate. Once we've got that, it's a case of Andy sketching out vocal ideas – in

1566-539: A successful solo career. Yazoo reformed in 2008/2009 for a series of live dates to celebrate 25 years since the duo's split. Clarke teamed up with Eric Radcliffe in 1983. Their idea was to collaborate with different artists on each new single, under the name the Assembly . With singer Feargal Sharkey , former lead vocalist of the Undertones , they scored the top 5 UK hit " Never Never ". Meanwhile, Clarke founded

1653-454: Is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik , Thin Lizzy , Rich Kids , Visage , and as the second frontman of Ultravox . In 1984, he co-wrote and produced the charity single " Do They Know It's Christmas? ", which has sold 3.7 million copies in

1740-567: Is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode , Yazoo , and the Assembly . In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell 's animated and hyperactive frontman antics. Erasure have recorded over 200 songs and have sold over 28 million albums worldwide. Clarke

1827-449: Is survived by her twin sister Tonya, Clarke, and their son Oscar. with Depeche Mode with Yazoo with the Assembly with Paul Quinn with Erasure Solo Collaboration with Martyn Ware with Family Fantastic RadioActivators VCMG In collaboration with Paul Hartnoll Remixes (outside of Erasure) Midge Ure James " Midge " Ure OBE ( / jʊər / ; born 10 October 1953)

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1914-635: The Band Aid hit, " Do They Know It's Christmas? " with Bob Geldof . Ure was rehearsing with Ultravox for an episode of the Channel 4 music show The Tube when host Paula Yates handed him the phone. It was her then husband, Geldof, who proceeded, recalls Ure, "to rant on about the Michael Buerk BBC news report on the Ethiopian famine". Geldof provided the initial lyrics, with Ure working

2001-871: The Orchestrated album was released. It features orchestrated re-recordings of Ultravox and solo career songs arranged by the British composer Ty Unwin, and a new written track called "Ordinary Man". Ure returned to North America in the summer of 2018 on a co-headline tour with Paul Young , called "The Soundtrack of Your Life Tour". In 2019 Ure continued to tour with the Band Electronica (Russell Field, Cole Stacey, Joseph O'Keefe) with "The 1980 Tour", during which they performed Ultravox's album Vienna (1980) in full and also included highlights from Visage's self-titled debut studio album. On 27 September 2019, Chrysalis Records released Soundtrack 1978-2019 ,

2088-615: The Sex Pistols , stating that he felt at the time that Malcolm McLaren had "his priorities completely wrong!", a position he later reversed. Slik achieved a number one single on the UK Singles Chart in February 1976 with " Forever and Ever ". In early 1977, Jim McGinlay decided to quit the band, being replaced by Russell Webb . Slik terminated their contract with Martin and Coulter, believing that their boy band image

2175-574: The UK Albums Chart and yielded the UK Singles Chart number-one single " If I Was ". He also co-wrote Phil Lynott 's " Yellow Pearl ", which served as the theme of Top of the Pops for much of the 1980s. Born to a working-class family in Cambuslang (on the outskirts of Glasgow ), Ure attended Rutherglen Academy until he was 15 years old. For the first 10 years of his life he lived in

2262-820: The 1975 hit cover version by the Walker Brothers ), which made the UK Top 10. Ure also recorded the David Bowie track " The Man Who Sold the World " for the soundtrack to the British comedy film Party Party (1983). Ure met bassist Mick Karn at the first ever Prince's Trust concert in May 1982. Sir George Martin was the musical director and Pete Townshend of the Who was the band leader. In three days in February 1983 Ure and Karn were at AIR Studios in London and recorded

2349-531: The Children , Ure returned to Ethiopia in 2004 and 2009 and visited Sierra Leone in 2006. In August 2020, Ure contributed on ReMission International, Wayne Husseys re-recording of the Mission 's " Tower of Strength " called "TOS 2020", to help COVID-19 charities around the world. In June 1982 Ure released his first solo single, a cover version of the 1968 Tom Rush song " No Regrets " (based on

2436-481: The Glasgow and Edinburgh Clouds discothèques. The band also comprised Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Kenny Hyslop on drums. In April 1974, Kevin McGinlay left to pursue a solo career, so Ure assumed vocals in addition to his guitar duties. In November 1974, the band changed its name to Slik , with Bay City Rollers writers Bill Martin and Phil Coulter providing songs. In 1975 Ure turned down an offer to join

2523-704: The Human League , Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget . In the late 1970s, Clarke and schoolmate Andy Fletcher formed a short-lived band called No Romance in China, with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass guitar. In 1979, Clarke played guitar in the Plan, an Ultravox -influenced band, with friends Robert Marlow and Paul Langwith. In 1980, after the Plan dissolved, Clarke and Fletcher formed Composition of Sound, and were soon joined by Martin Gore . Clarke provided vocals until lead vocalist Dave Gahan joined

2610-602: The Italian and the Austrian charts. In 1998 Ure played on a European tour with Troy Donockley , and he also recorded the soundtrack to two American films that year, both directed by Richard Schenkman , October 22 , and Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five . Ure's fifth solo studio album, Move Me , was first released September 2000, on Arista label in Germany, later to be released 2001 in

2697-617: The Thin Lizzy remix compilation album The Continuing Saga of the Ageing Orphans (1979). Thin Lizzy then toured America and Japan. In 1980, during the second part of this tour, Ure switched to keyboards, and was replaced by Dave Flett and then Snowy White as guitarist. At the end of the tour Ure left Thin Lizzy and returned to his primary interest at that time, Ultravox . Ure continued to collaborate with Lynott, co-writing Lynott's biggest solo hit, " Yellow Pearl ", and produced

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2784-634: The UK Top 40. It contained the single "Cold, Cold Heart" which reached UK Top 20, and "I See Hope in the Morning Light", a song written about the possible release of Nelson Mandela and recorded as a celebration. 11 November 1991, Ure played at the Royal Albert Hall , with a five-piece band featuring drummer Mark Brzezicki , keyboardist Josh Phillips , bass player Jeremy Meehan, and multi-instrumentalists Steven A. Williams and Willie Dowling. From 22 March to 22 April 1992 Ure toured in

2871-525: The UK and was later certified triple platinum. After Ure's successful debut solo studio album in 1985, the fifth and final Ultravox studio album with Ure, U-Vox , was released in October 1986. Although another Top 10 hit, the album (and singles) fared less well than their earlier releases. After the end of the U-Vox Tour Ure left Ultravox. He stated in an Extreme Voice Fanzine 1991: "The spark kind of went out of it for me, Live Aid and Band Aid had

2958-417: The UK he began using an Apple Mac laptop with Logic Pro , Max/MSP , and various software synthesisers (many of which were analogue emulations). Since then he has continued to use Logic Pro, along with both software and analogue synthesisers: "Nowadays, you can take the best bits from digital and analogue. On certain projects – say, if I'm doing library music – where you need to have instant recall all

3045-724: The UK on Curb Records . 28 March 2001 Ure was the subject of the This Is Your Life TV show hosted by Michael Aspel on BBC. The same year Ure also released Little Orphans exclusively from his website. A compilation of previously unreleased recordings. It contained "Feel So Good" with Gordon Giltrap , "Heart" with Chip Taylor , "Personal Heaven" with Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and two songs recorded with Mick Karn, Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri of Japan . In November 2004 Ure released his autobiography, If I Was , through Virgin Books . In September 2008 " 10"

3132-632: The UK top 30. It featured a duet with Kate Bush called "Sister and Brother", and the single " Dear God ", which helped Ure gain his first foothold with American audiences. It reached No. 6 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and at No. 4 on the US Billboard Alternative Music chart. The following year Ure toured in the US with Howard Jones . A change of label to Arista - BMG for his third solo studio album Pure (1991) saw him back in

3219-610: The UK top 40 single "After a Fashion". They also travelled to Cairo to film one of the most expensive music videos that Karn would ever be involved in. After working on the Band Aid project and during a hiatus from Ultravox, Ure pursued a solo career in 1985. The single " If I Was " released in September was a UK number one single, and his debut studio album, The Gift , reached No. 2. Ure recruited Mick Ronson to play guitar on his upcoming solo tour. They rehearsed, but Ure

3306-759: The UK. The song is the second-highest-selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid , Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof . He acts as a trustee for the charity and also serves as an ambassador for Save the Children . Ure is the producer and writer of several other synth-pop and new wave hit singles of the 1980s, including " Fade to Grey " (1980) by Visage and the Ultravox signature songs " Vienna " (1980), " Hymn " (1983) and " Dancing with Tears in My Eyes " (1984). He achieved his first UK top 10 solo hit in 1982 with " No Regrets ". In 1985, his solo debut studio album The Gift reached number two in

3393-481: The US with four songwriters, Don Henry , Chip Taylor , Darden Smith and Rosie Flores . The tour was called "In Their Own Words". If I Was , a retrospective compilation album of solo and Ultravox hits, was released in February 1993 by Chrysalis . It went as high as number 10 in the UK album chart. To support the release he went on a tour in the UK called "Out Alone" which saw Ure performing on his own, accompanying himself primarily on just an acoustic guitar and

3480-597: The Windscreen" featuring Ane Brun . Clarke also did DJ sets in various locations in North America and Europe and also continued his production work of remixing songs for Dido and Chad Valley . On 14 July 2015, Clarke announced a collaboration with Jean-Michel Jarre called "Automatic", released as a part of the studio album Electronica 1: The Time Machine on 16 October 2015. On 10 June 2016, in collaboration with Paul Hartnoll , Clarke digitally released

3567-588: The aim of pressing G8 leaders into taking action to end world poverty. Later that year he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to music and charity in the 2005 Birthday Honours . He has received five honorary degrees and was made an Honorary Doctor of Arts in 2005 by the University of Abertay Dundee for his artistic and charity work over the past 30 years. He

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3654-473: The album 2 Square on his new record label, VeryRecords. Since 2017, Clarke has hosted The Synthesizer Show with VeryRecords artist Reed Hays on Maker Park Radio, a non-profit community streaming radio station from Staten Island, New York. Clarke's first solo album called Songs of Silence was released on 17 November 2023. When Clarke started making music, synthesisers were predominantly analogue; digital synthesizers were rare and would remain so until

3741-522: The album Pretentious . The duo collaborated again in 2001 for the album Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle , which was created with "3D music technology" specifically designed for listening in headphones. That same year also saw the release of the Clarke-produced album Erasure's Vince Clarke , which featured The Peter Pan Effect , an album that he and Eric Radcliffe produced for his long-time friend Robert Marlow . Clarke wrote "Let's Get Together" for

3828-457: The band signed briefly to Radar Records for the release of their first single " Tar " in November 1979. The single failed to chart, but the band managed to secure a deal with Polydor Records , the following year. In November 1980 their second single, " Fade to Grey ", became a hit-single (making the top ten in the UK and topping the chart in several other countries), and was quickly followed by

3915-516: The band, which was renamed Depeche Mode. At that time he adopted the stage name Vince Clarke, by which he is currently known. The band initially adopted a slick synthesised electropop sound, which produced the studio album Speak & Spell and the Clarke-penned singles " Dreaming of Me ", " New Life ", and " Just Can't Get Enough " in 1981. Clarke left Depeche Mode shortly thereafter. He commented on Depeche Mode's later material as being

4002-463: The classic line-up, with Currie (keyboards, violin), Chris Cross (bass) and Warren Cann (electronic drums). Although Ure had spent the latter half of 1979 on tour with Thin Lizzy, Ultravox found time late in the year to tour in the US. During this time the band wrote a number of songs which were included on their first studio album with Ure. The album, Vienna , was released in July 1980. Although it

4089-459: The control of his analogue instruments: "... the secret is having a good patch system – not as in patching to the mixing desk, but in patching CV and Gate. Because we don't use MIDI at all, you have to run three or four cables between each synth module – CV, Gate, Filter, Amplitude or whatever – and you've got to have a really unique system to do that." " In 1993 Clarke described his approach to songwriting: "Andy [Bell] and I get together with

4176-419: The film noir The Third Man (1949), the music video for "Vienna" was directed by Russell Mulcahy utilising cinematic techniques, and became quite influential. In an interview Ure recalled the way that "music video changed after that. All these things that became video clichés – cropping the top and bottom off the screen, shooting on film as opposed to videotape, making it look like a movie ... we were quite

4263-610: The island was impacted by volcanic activity. Ure himself lost a house on Montserrat, which was destroyed. On 24 July 1999, Ure was the Musical Director of the Wicked Women concert for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity held at Hyde Park in London, featuring artists Ronan Keating , Big Country and Lisa Stansfield . In 2005, he organised Live 8 concerts with Bob Geldof with

4350-451: The label Reset Records with Radcliffe. During 1983 and 1984 he produced four singles, " The Face of Dorian Gray ", "I Just Want to Dance", "Claudette", and "Calling All Destroyers" for his friend Robert Marlow , which were released on this label. They also produced a studio album, at first shelved but later released in 1999, under the name The Peter Pan Effect . In 1985, another collaboration took place with Paul Quinn of Bourgie Bourgie;

4437-554: The launch of the Yamaha DX7 in 1983. In order to connect analogue synthesisers , analogue drum machines and analogue sequencers together, multiple CV/gate cables were required between each device. This system was not standardised, so inter-operability between instruments from different manufacturers was not always straightforward. In addition, some manufacturers used their own proprietary interfaces. When an industry-wide standard called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)

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4524-505: The live album Monument released in October 1983, Ultravox released their fourth studio album with Ure, Lament , in April 1984. The album was another Top 10 success and contained the Top 3 hit " Dancing with Tears in My Eyes ". The band released The Collection , their first "greatest hits" album at the end of the year, featuring all the singles from 1980 onwards. The album peaked at no. 2 in

4611-463: The magazine included the lyrics to a particular song. These were Deacon Blue – Chocolate Girl (Issue 4, page 12), The Farm – All Together Now (Issue 5, page 12), Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes (Annihilation) (Issue 6, page 12), Spandau Ballet – Gold (Issue 2, page 12), Squeeze – Cool for Cats (Issue 3, page 12). Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke ,

4698-1977: The magazine's lead sections, every issue has profiled one or more musicians with an interview and induction into Classic Pop's "Godmothers/Godfathers of Pop". The following artists have been bestowed the title: Marc Almond (Issue 16, page 18–19), Adam Ant (Issue 19, page 17), Wally Badarou (Issue 12, page 19), Tom Bailey (Issue 4, page 19), Andy Bell (Issue 13, page 17), Blancmange (Issue 1, page 21), Thomas Dolby (Issue 23, page 33), Wolfgang Flür (Issue 20, page 17), Martin Fry (Issue 9, page 17), Glenn Gregory (Issue 3, page 19), Clare Grogan (Issue 12, page 17), Tony Hadley (Issue 6, page 19), Daryl Hall (Issue 16, page 21), Morten Harket (Issue 3, page 17), Nick Heyward (Issue 19, page 19), Peter Hook (Issue 5, page 19), Trevor Horn (Issue 10, page 17), Steve Jansen (Issue 23, page 35), Matt Johnson (Issue 18, page 17), Howard Jones (Issue 2, page 19), Gary Kemp (Issue 1, page 19), Nik Kershaw (Issue 1, page 23 and Issue 21, page 33), Mark King (Issue 11, page 17), Annie Lennox (Issue 4, page 17), Ron Mael (Issue 10, page 19), Phil Manzanera (Issue 22, page 19), Dieter Meier (Issue 7, page 19), Daniel Miller (Issue 20, page 19), Kylie Minogue (Issue 2, page 17), Giorgio Moroder (Issue 6, page 17), Yoko Ono (Issue 7, page 17), Andy Partridge (Issue 15, page 17), Kate Pierson (Issue 21, page 31), Nick Rhodes (Issue 5, page 17), Nile Rodgers (Issue 8, page 17), Shaun Ryder (Issue 18, page 19), Cathal Smyth (Issue 22, page 17), Lisa Stansfield (Issue 8, page 19), Susan Ann Sulley (Issue 15, page 19), Bernard Sumner (Issue 17, page 17), John Taylor (Issue 9, page 19), Tracey Thorn (Issue 17, page 19), Toyah (Issue 13, page 19), Midge Ure (Issue 11, page 19), Martyn Ware (Issue 14, page 17), Pete Waterman (Issue 14, page 19). Each edition of Classic Pop devotes five pages to an in-depth examination of

4785-407: The making of, and influence of, a pop album. Since May 2014, the singles reviews section has been written by a guest contributor. These have included: Every issue of the magazine has included a column – most often written by Ian Peel or John Earls – examining and assessing a single or album that in their option should be considered classic or influential with hindsight, but which has fallen off

4872-595: The material that would become Fragile . The album featured the song "Dark, Dark Night", a collaboration with Moby . In August 2014, Ure also returned to the US with the Retro Futura Tour, featuring Howard Jones, Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins , China Crisis and Katrina Leskanich of Katrina and the Waves . In 2015, Ure's recording of "The Man Who Sold the World" was featured in the video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain . On 1 December 2017,

4959-461: The music will never sound as good as it did in the good old Futurist days. That's why our tracks sound the way they do." For Erasure's fifth studio album Chorus (1991), he gathered together his collection of analogue synthesisers from various recording studio locations in London and set up a small studio in Amsterdam. This led Clarke to assemble an intricate patch system to more easily enable

5046-403: The musical theme on a small keyboard in his kitchen. The second half was composed by Ure, with the bridging chorus only assembled in the studio when the artists had gathered. Ure has described the song as not one of the best he has ever written, commenting that "the momentum the artists gave it in the recording studio is what made it". At the studio recording Ure took on the production duties for

5133-486: The next year with a second round of the tour. In late 2010, Ultravox started working on their sixth studio album fronted by Ure. This album, titled Brilliant , was released in May 2012. Following this release the band embarked on the 'Brilliant Tour' performing shows in the UK and Europe in late 2012. In November 2013, Ultravox were special guests on a four-date arena tour with Simple Minds . Ure also did backstage photography for Ultravox. In November 1984, Ure co-wrote

5220-529: The other members (Cann, Currie and Cross) reformed Ultravox for the Return to Eden tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album Vienna (1980), and in their own words, the "anniversary of their classic line-up". Ure stated in a BBC interview in April 2009, "we are not trying to get our youth back, nor the hair that's fallen off already". After appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival 2009 Ultravox followed up

5307-461: The pages of the NME . Musical tensions within the band led to Ure's departure. Having acquired a Yamaha CS50 synthesiser, Ure – alongside bandmate Rusty Egan – wanted to integrate the new instrument into the band's sound. With Glen Matlock and Steve New preferring to remain with the traditional guitars and drums approach, the band broke up. In January 2010, Rich Kids reformed, for one night only, for

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5394-446: The pop girl group Girl Authority for their second and final studio album Road Trip (2007). The song was originally meant to be for Depeche Mode but was never recorded by them. Clarke also co-wrote "What Do I Want from You?" with Freeform Five , for their debut studio album Strangest Things (2005). Clarke participated in a 2000 project called Family Fantastic . They produced the album Nice! . In 2008 Family Fantastic released

5481-455: The radar of the media or public-at-large. The following releases have been covered in this section: Classic Pop runs an occasional series of in-depth appraisals of record labels. These have included: For five issues in 2014, Classic Pop ran a series of interviews with songwriters describing the creative process behind some of their work. The songs examined in this series were: A pictorial based on behind-the-scenes photos and commentary from

5568-408: The release of their self-titled debut album which was also a chart success. In 1982 the second album "The Anvil" went silver in the UK and reached number 6 in the album chart, although the album spawned two further hit singles ( "The Damned Don't Cry" and "Night Train" ), tensions within the band members were beginning to threaten its musical future. Ure left Visage shortly after the second album

5655-649: The result was the single " One Day " by Vince Clarke & Paul Quinn. However, the project never took off, and Clarke moved to other projects. In early 1985, Clarke placed an advertisement in Melody Maker for a singer, and one applicant was Andy Bell , who was a fan of his earlier projects. He teamed with Bell to form the group Erasure , and the duo became one of the major selling acts in British music with international hits like " Oh L'amour ", " Sometimes ", " Chains of Love ", " A Little Respect ", " Drama! ", " Blue Savannah ", " Chorus ", " Love to Hate You ", " Take

5742-587: The scene, Ure wrote "Das Beat". Whilst Flür went on to record his own version of the song for his album Magazine 1 released in 2022, Ure laid down "Das Beat" with Band Electronica in its original form. Following the 2019's 'The 1980 Tour', Ure and the Band Electronica returned in 2022 with the 'Voice & Visions' tour in Europe, celebrating 40 years since the release of Ultravox studio albums Rage in Eden (1981) and Quartet (1982). The much delayed UK leg of

5829-479: The situation." Clarke was replaced by musician Alan Wilder . Clarke then teamed with lead vocalist Alison Moyet (at the time known by the nickname of Alf) to form the popular synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in the US), which produced two studio albums and a string of hits, including " Only You ", " Don't Go ", " Situation ", " The Other Side of Love " and " Nobody's Diary ". Yazoo disbanded in 1983, and Moyet had

5916-589: The song. In 1988, Ure helped to organise the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute , at which he also performed. He first performed at The Prince's Trust rock concert 1982, and has also been the Musical Director at the concerts 1986, 1987, 1988, 2010 and 2011. Ure performed at Music for Montserrat on 15 September 1997 to raise funds for the Caribbean island of Montserrat , which had been devastated by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and again in 1997, when

6003-643: The song. Although Trevor Horn had been approached to undertake this role, he needed more time to fulfill other obligations than was available. Ure stepped into the breach, with Horn providing his studio, remixing the track and producing the 12" version. Ure and Geldof jointly set up the Band Aid Trust , and he remains active as a Band Aid Trustee. He also co-organised the Live Aid concert of 1985 along with Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith . Geldof and Ure have been honoured with two Ivor Novello Awards for writing

6090-536: The studio we use two 48 track digital tape machines, which gives Dinger 24 tracks just for his voice!" " Clarke continued to expand his collection of analogue synthesisers and in 1994 set up "37B", a recording studio built adjacent to his custom-made home, "Ammonite", in Chertsey, Surrey. From 1994 to 2003, all Erasure studio albums were either wholly or in part recorded at "37B". In 2004 Clarke moved to Maine. While waiting for his studio equipment to be shipped from

6177-517: The time, then it's obviously much more convenient to use the computer. When it comes to writing a new song, though, I still like to have the old analogue gear there, too. But, a lot of soft synths have a character of their own, too; the Moog Modular V is just crazy! I think that analogue has an inherent sound to it – it's like the old argument over vinyl versus CD. It seems that you hear more frequencies coming from an analogue synth than you do from

6264-621: The track "Together" on The Philip Lynott Album . In 1979, Ure and Billy Currie formed a close bond playing together in Visage . Rusty Egan persuaded Billy Currie to ask Ure if he was interested in joining a revived Ultravox. Ultravox had been presumed defunct since guitarist Robin Simon quit and lead vocalist John Foxx had left to pursue a solo career. In April 1979 Ure regrouped the band and assumed duties as singer, songwriter, guitarist and second keyboardist. This second incarnation would become

6351-661: Was a collaboration with Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs . On 21 May 2009, Clarke was awarded with an "Outstanding Song Collection" prize, during the Ivor Novello Awards ceremony of the same day, in recognition of 30 years in the music industry. Clarke was featured in the BBC Four documentary Synth Britannia (2009). In 2012, Clarke produced a cover of the Depeche Mode song "Fly on

6438-689: Was announced that Rich Kids would reform for a joint headline show with the Professionals at London's O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire . In 1978, Egan and Ure formed Visage with lead vocalist Steve Strange , and utilised their new synthesiser when they recorded a cover of the Zager and Evans classic " In the Year 2525 " for promotional purposes. The line-up was expanded in 1979 with the addition of Magazine members Dave Formula , John McGeoch and Barry Adamson , and Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie , and

6525-623: Was deeply committed to three different bands, all of them quite successful: Ultravox, Visage and Thin Lizzy. In September 1981, Ultravox released their second studio album with Ure as frontman, Rage in Eden , which was a Top 5 hit in the UK. This period saw Ure also work as a producer for other artists, amongst them Steve Harley , Peter Godwin , and Strasse . In 1982 Ure had left Visage, and Ultravox released their third studio album with Ure, Quartet , in October 1982, with production by Beatles producer George Martin . The album became their third Top 10 hit and featured four Top 20 singles. After

6612-410: Was devised and founded by Ian Peel , who was also editor for the first 19 issues. Rik Flynn stepped in as editor until Issue 23 followed by current editor Steve Harnell. Ian Peel remains involved as Founder & Editor-at-Large. Launched by Anthem Publishing, Classic Pop had become a monthly magazine by the time Anthem temporarily paused publication of the title in April 2020 due to Covid-19. After

6699-554: Was hindering their chances of success during the rising punk rock scene. They changed their name to PVC2 and adopted a more punkish style. Ure's only release with the band under this name was the single " Put You in the Picture ". By October 1977, Ure had left PVC2 to join former Sex Pistol bass guitarist Glen Matlock in Rich Kids . He moved to London and soon found himself immersed in a scene he had previously only read about in

6786-468: Was hosting on Scala Radio , on their show The Space. 8 October 2021 Ure released the single "Das Beat" with Band Electronica. The project came about when Ure was performing in Düsseldorf in 2020. Wolfgang Flür of Kraftwerk was in the audience and later asked Ure to join a new project he was working on. A few days later, with thoughts of Flür's electronic drumming, the role Düsseldorf has played in

6873-629: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of Depeche Mode. Vincent John Martin was born on 3 July 1960 in South Woodford , Essex; he later moved to Basildon, Essex . He initially studied the violin and then the piano. Clarke's early musical influences included Sparks , Paul Simon , and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), who inspired his interest in electronic music . Clarke also cites electronic influences such as

6960-532: Was introduced in 1983, Clarke, like most other electronic musicians, gradually migrated to the new technology. However, he continued to prefer his older analogue instruments: "... CV and Gate is tighter. I can hear and feel that it's tighter than MIDI – we can even prove it using 'scopes'. Because everything is clocked simply, it arrives bang on the beat. The whole production starts to 'tick over'. Just look at Kraftwerk 's stuff. I think that 'feel' has been lost with MIDI sequencers. No matter what you do with MIDI,

7047-523: Was made a Doctor of Music by University of Edinburgh in 2006. In 2007, he received his third honorary doctorate, from the University of Paisley , for his contribution to Scottish culture and charity work. In 2008, Glasgow Caledonian University awarded him his fourth honorary doctorate, for his musical and humanitarian achievements. Ure was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Bath in December 2010. As an ambassador for Save

7134-666: Was married to Tracy Hurley Martin (the twin sister of Tonya Hurley ) who was a booking agent and publicist to various entertainment artists. Among the musicians Tracy served as a publicist for included Prince, George Michael and Clarke's former band Depeche Mode. She also represented “Goosebumps” and the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen brand. Several films she produced were screened at the Tribeca and Edinburgh film festivals. Tracy died in January 2024 after two years of stomach cancer. She

7221-564: Was not satisfied with Ronson's playing. A rehearsal live recording of "Fade to Grey" with Ronson's guitar is available from 27 September 1985. Zal Cleminson took over in the five-piece band, alongside Craig Armstrong on keyboards and Kenny Hyslop on drums. After returning to Ultravox for what would be their last studio album together until their 2012 reunion album, the band effectively disbanded in 1987 and Ure concentrated solely on his solo career but with less commercial success. The second studio album, Answers to Nothing (1988), reached

7308-568: Was released worldwide exclusively on Beatport on 30 November 2011. The second EP, Single Blip , was once again first released exclusively on Beatport on 20 February 2012. Their third EP, Aftermaths , was released on 20 August 2012. In July 1984, Clarke teamed with Stephen Luscombe of Blancmange , Pandit Dinesh , and Asha Bhosle . The group, West India Company, released a four-track, self-titled EP. Clarke worked with synth-pop producer Martyn Ware (of Heaven 17 and The Human League ) in 1999 as The Clarke & Ware Experiment and released

7395-455: Was released, citing creative differences with frontman Steve Strange. Ure already knew Thin Lizzy singer Phil Lynott , and in early 1979 Ure received co-writing credit for "Get Out of Here" on Thin Lizzy's ninth studio album Black Rose (1979). In July 1979 Ure stepped in to help Thin Lizzy complete a US tour following guitarist Gary Moore 's abrupt departure. Ure also contributed guitar parts to "Things Ain't Working Out" and "Dublin" for

7482-578: Was released. The album contains Ure's own interpretations of 10 songs that influenced him and shaped his songwriting. It was recorded in a log cabin in Eastern Canada, near Montreal, during the long snow bound winter of 2007–2008. Ure worked for over a decade on the next solo studio album, Fragile , which was released on 7 July 2014. The making of Fragile coincided with Ultravox's 2012 reunion album Brilliant . Reuniting with Ultravox inspired him to focus on music again, and ultimately finish

7569-439: Was the band's fourth studio album, it was the first with Ure, and the first one to chart, although it was only a minor success on first release. However, when the title track " Vienna " was released as a single in January 1981 it became a huge hit and spent four weeks at no. 2 in the UK singles chart and was the 5th highest selling single in the UK that year. The album itself re-entered the album chart and peaked at no. 3. Inspired by

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