The band was formed in 1973 in London, United Kingdom on the initiative of vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh). Originally known as Tiger Lily, the first lineup included Foxx plus Chris Cross (bass guitar), Billy Currie (keyboards/violins), Stevie Shears (guitar) and Warren Cann (percussion). The group released one single in 1974, a cover of "Ain't Misbehaving," before changing their name to Ultravox!, the exclamation point being a reference to the krautrock band Neu! that was produced by Conny Plank (who later produced some Ultravox albums). On the strength of their live act, they signed to Island Records in 1976, releasing their eponymous debut album in February 1977.
In common with many other bands which would go on to form Britain's punk and New Wave movements, Ultravox drew inspiration from the art-school side of glam rock, from bands such as Roxy Music and the New York Dolls, as well as from David Bowie and Brian Eno's early pop-fueled albums. Their eponymous debut album was self-produced by the band, yet Brian Eno (whose next job after these sessions was working with Bowie on 'Low') co-produced two songs and Steve Lillywhite also contributed. Sales were disappointing, and neither 'Ultravox!' nor the associated single "Dangerous Rhythm" managed to enter the U.K. charts.
Ultravox returned later in 1977 with the punkier 'Ha!-Ha!-Ha!'. Although sales of both the album and its lead single "ROckwrok" (which, despite a chorus featuring the lines "Come on, let's tangle in the dark/Fuck like a dog, bite like a shark", was played on BBC Radio 1) were still unimpressive, they had a growing fan-base. Steve Shears was sacked, later deciding to form the new band Faith Global. Although most of 'Ha!-Ha!-Ha!' was dominated by guitars and electric violin, the final track, "Hiroshima Mon Amour," was a prototypical synth pop song which gave a hint to the band's new direction. It remains a critical and fan favourite of the group's early incarnation, and it was even performed by the group on the 'Old Grey Whistle Test'. In 1978, the group quietly dropped the exclamation mark, becoming simply "Ultravox".
Their third album, 1978's Systems of Romance, was recorded under the ear of Conny Plank at his studio in rural Germany and featured new guitarist Robin Simon. It also failed commercially and Island dropped the band. After a US tour in 1979, John Foxx left to pursue a solo career whilst Robin Simon left to join the band Magazine. Musically, the album was a distinct development from the band's previous work and provided a blueprint for Ultravox's subsequent work, bringing synthesisers to the forefront of the group's sound. Island released a compilation of highlights from the group's first three albums in 1979, Three Into One, which was until the mid-1990s the most widespread of Ultravox's early releases.
Midge Ure, an already accomplished musician, was asked to join the band. He had achieved minor success with semi-glam outfit Slik and Glen Matlock's more punk-inspired The Rich Kids, although in 1979 he was temporarily playing with hard rock band Thin Lizzy. Midge Ure and Billy Currie had met in the Visage project, a studio project fronted by Steve Strange. Midge therefore replaced John Foxx for their next album, which would become their most successful to date, taking the already influential Ultravox sound and giving it a commercial appeal it had previously lacked.
Recorded in London and mixed by Conny Plank and the band once more in Germany,
Vienna was released on the new label Chrysalis Records in 1980, achieving a substantial hit with the title track (inspired by Carol Reed's The Third Man), which was accompanied with a distinctive video. It topped out at number two (Joe Dolce's "Shaddap You Face" infamously kept it from the top spot) on the UK Top 40 in 1981. The album reached number five, and was soon followed by Rage in Eden (1981), the band returning to Conny Plank's studio for what turned out to be a difficult recording session.
Ultravox teamed up with legendary producer George Martin for 1982's Quartet, which became their most successful album in the USA.
After touring with their 1984 Lament, and appearing at Live Aid, Warren Cann was fired and pursued a career in acting in the USA. The remaining members, along with Big Country's Mark Brzezicki, resurfaced with U-Vox in 1986 before going their separate ways the following year. Billy Currie and singer/guitarist Tony Fenelle reformed the band in 1992 to record Revelation, and Sam Blue lent his voice to their final release, Ingenuity (1996).
The band's international legion of followers yearned for some sort of reconcilliation. Both Billy Currie and Midge Ure pursued solo careers after the band were put officially on ice by Currie in 1996, Ure continuing to peform solo versions of Ultravox hits live.
Fans were therefore delighted when an announcement came in November 2008 that the 'classic' Cann/Cross/Currie/Ure line-up were to reform and play a fourteen-date UK tour entitled Return To Eden in April 2009. With Vienna and Rage In Eden being remastered and re-released and plans for a greatest hits compilation to accompany the tour, Ultravox are now set for a return to prominence.
After their successful 'Return to Eden Tour', Ultravox signed a deal with Universal Records and talk of new studio albums heated up. On February 21st 2011, a new EP, Moments from Eden, came out.
The band's latest album is 2012's 'Brilliant', featuring the 80s line-up of Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Chris Cross, and Warren Cann. Picking up a strong fan response, their recent touring has brought them to big crowds alongside rockers Simple Minds.
Website: http://www.ultravox.org.uk
Breathe
Ultravox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We walked in the cold air
Freezing breath on a window pane
Lying and waiting
A man in the dark in a picture frame
So mystic and soulful
It stays with you until
The feeling has gone only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
The music is weaving
Haunting notes, pizzicato strings
The rhythm is calling
Alone in the night as the daylight brings
A cool empty silence
The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky
It fades to the distance
The image has gone only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
This means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
The lyrics to Ultravox's "Vienna" paint a picture of a hauntingly beautiful, yet ultimately empty and meaningless experience. The first verse sets the scene with a bitterly cold and lonely night, where a man in a picture frame symbolizes the yearning for connection and soulfulness that drives the song's narrative. The next verse adds on to this mood, with the music weaving its way through the singer's consciousness and a feeling of emptiness pervasive despite the warmth offered by a partner's hand. Throughout the song, the refrain comes back to the sentiment "this means nothing to me," a stark juxtaposition to the majestic and cinematic instrumentation that has made "Vienna" such a beloved and iconic song.
The meaning of "Vienna" is open to interpretation, as great lyrics often are. Some have interpreted the song as an exploration of a faltering romance, with the singer trying to recapture the passion and wonder of a relationship gone stale. Other listeners have posited that the song speaks to the ultimately disappointing and unfulfilling nature of celebrity and fame. Either way, the images and emotions conjured by the lyrics of "Vienna" are impossible to forget, and the song remains a classic of new wave and pop music to this day.
Line by Line Meaning
We walked in the cold air
We went outside on a cold day
Freezing breath on a window pane
Breathing out made the window frosty
Lying and waiting
We waited while lying down, anticipating something
A man in the dark in a picture frame
There was a picture of a man in the dark
So mystic and soulful
The man in the picture had a mysterious and emotional presence
A voice reaching out in a piercing cry
A strong and emotional voice could be heard loudly
It stays with you until
The effect of the voice was long-lasting
The feeling has gone only you and I
The emotions experienced were only shared between us and are now gone
It means nothing to me
The experience was insignificant to me
This means nothing to me
I don't care about this experience or memory
Oh, Vienna
The song is a reference to the city of Vienna, Austria
The music is weaving
The melody of the music is intricate and intertwined
Haunting notes, pizzicato strings
The music evokes a feeling of eeriness with the use of plucked strings
The rhythm is calling
The pulse of the music is compelling and urges you to move
Alone in the night as the daylight brings
We were by ourselves at night as the sun began to rise
A cool empty silence
The air was chilly and there was no sound around us
The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky
Despite the coldness, there was comfort in holding hands as we looked at the grey, cloudy sky
It fades to the distance
The image of the sky and our hand-holding slowly becomes less prominent as time passes
The image has gone only you and I
The memory of the scene is shared only between the two of us
This means nothing to me
The memory of this experience is not significant or important to me
Writer(s): Midge Ure Copyright: Leaf Songs
Contributed by Isabelle B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Anima.Libera
With every waking breath I breathe
I see what life has dealt to me
With every sadness I deny
I feel a chance inside me die
Give me a taste of something new
To touch, to hold to pull me through
Send me a guiding light that shines
Across this darkened life of mine
Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
Breathe to make me breathe
For every man who built a home
A paper promise for his own
He fights against an open flow
Of lies and failures we all know
To those who have and who have not
How can you live with what you've got?
Give me a touch of something sure
I could be happy evermore
Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
To see, to make me breathe
Breathe your honesty
Breathe your innocence to me
Breathe your word and set me free
Breathe to make me breathe
This life prepares the strangest things
The dreams we dream of what life brings
The highest highs can turn around
To sow love's seeds on stony ground
Breathe
Breathe
Breathe some soul in me
Breathe your gift of love to me
Breathe life to lay 'fore me
To see, to make me breathe
Breathe your honesty
Breathe your innocence to me
Breathe your word and set me free
Breathe to make me breathe
@ChaniChastain-mi2xo
I'm Indigenous Native American and Scottish ... Midge, thank you for all your music !!! It speaks to my heart.
@marksardinia4978
Avevo 13 anni, le giornate passavano felici e spensierate, sentivo spesso questa canzone in radio mentre andavo in vacanza con i miei genitori al mare....splendidi ricordi di un tempo ormai passato
@CizzuCizzu
Ecco, ora che hai scritto la solita frase nostalgica che si legge 10mila volte sotto ad ogni videoclip datato, sei contento?
@surprised1305
@@CizzuCizzu E io sono lo scassacazzi qui per gli Haters che ti fa notare che il tuo commento rimane in ogni caso più inutile e frustrato del suo e del mio se li rileggi tutti 🚶
@Fantuzpop
@@CizzuCizzu i video musicali sono belli anche perché persone lasciano i propri commenti nostalgici di un'epoca passata ma che, grazie a canzoni come queste, ti fanno tornare a quei giorni...non saranno commenti come i tuoi a fermare la gente ad usare la musica come viaggio nei bei ricordi.
@CizzuCizzu
@@Fantuzpop Tu pensi che io scriva con l’intento di fermare qualcuno? Sarei un ridicolo ottimista. No, è solo l’esasperazione. Sai cosa significa l’esasperazione? Significa che hai oltrepassato il limite della pazienza e della comprensione, che a leggere 10, 100, 1000 commenti tutti uguali, scritti con lo stampino, ti sale la nausea e lo sconforto, e scivoli nell’esistenzialismo, e ti chiedi perché l’uomo abbia questo ridicolo bisogno di esternare fatti della sua vita, come se a qualcuno là fuori possa interessare davvero qualcosa di quel che cavolo facevi 10-20-30 anni fa. È egocentrismo. Ma poi mi sorprende il cervello di queste persone: trovi mille commenti tutti uguali, e nonostante questo, aggiungi comunque l’ennesimo insignificante commento nostalgico.. tanto per dire: ci sono anch’io. Ecco, che pena. Mi viene da sbottare.
Uno la musica la usa come cacchio vuole, ma se sente il bisogno di esternare ciò che fa mi puzza di protagonismo. O le persone si credono pateticamente di essere il centro del mondo, oppure lo fanno con l’illusione di sentirsi tutti uguali, credono di combattere la solitudine scrivendo un sentire comune. Ma è una stupida illusione, anch’io provo della nostalgia, io vivo di malinconia, ma so anche che tra me e te, c’è un abisso. Questo altro bisogno di sentirsi tutti uguali non lo comprendo, e anzi, mi inquieta.
@zaffone
@@CizzuCizzu beh in realtà a me interessa ricordare e condividere eccome la storia passata e recente e anche dei mitici anni 90, non sono l unico, ma non serve fare una polemica se una persona è troppo nostalgica ha già dei problemi per i cavoli suoi, poi è anche vero che l Italia degli ultimi 15 anni come sistema socio economico è diventato una catastrofe per molti quindi è comprensibile.
@manugahan1863
Grandissimo Midge Ure e gli Ultravox ! Midge Ure e Bob Geldof per chi non lo sapesse sono gli organizzatori del Live Aid del 1985 e questo brano forse qualcuno lo ricorda perché fu testimonial della pubblicità degli swatch del 1998....! In realtà dietro quella colonna sonora c'e un grande artista! Anzi,voglio ricordare che Midge Ure fu anche uno dei componenti nonché voce del gruppo musicale "Visage" nel brano "Fade To Grey"...brano bellissimo del 1981 !
@francospecchia9283
🇮🇹... CASPITA C'È SEMPRE DA IMPARARE , NON SAPEVO DI QUESTE COSE, TRA L'ALTRO LA CANZONE. " FADE TO GREY" DEI VISAGE, È UNO TRA I BRANI PIÙ BELLI DEGLI INIZI DEGLI ANNI 80, QUANTI RICORDI , SALUTI DALLA PUGLIA ✋ IL TUO COMMENTO È MOLTO INTERESSANTE PER CHI APPREZZA LA MUSICA
@manugahan1863
@@francospecchia9283
Ciao! Saluti da Taranto! 👍