5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Midge Ure of Ultravox/Visage

Name  Midge Ure

Best known for  Ultravox, Visage, Solo, Thin Lizzy, Rick Kids, Band Aid, recipient of five honorary university degrees, OBE honor from the Queen of Great Britain, and still being relatively unknown in the USA. 

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Current city  Near Faro, Portugal. 

Really want to be in  Tokyo, Japan looking at new technology. 

Excited about  My upcoming UK/European Tour, the release of my Live at the Royal Albert Hall album and playing the Cruel World Festival in 2025.

My current music collection has a lot of  Adventurous, groundbreaking influences

And a little bit of  Nostalgia.

Preferred format  Vinyl for the entire ritual involved in choosing and playing it and streaming for the ease of use but definitely not for the minuscule artists/writers/musicians income stream. 

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, Small Faces

Little guys with big guitars who wrote and produced some of the greatest ‘60s pop songs ever. They also had one of the greatest rock vocalists in frontman Steve Marriott. 

2

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars, David Bowie

This opened up a world of songwriting, production, and musical vision I had never experienced before. The arrangements were magnificent and challenging and guitarist Mick Ronson took simple guitar work and made it otherworldly. Still my “desert island” album. The one I chose to revisit when I need my soul lifted.

3

Trans Europe Express, Kraftwerk

Since modern recording started there have been a handful of moments where the boundaries, both sonically and technically have been pushed and resulted in something unlike anything that has come before. Kraftwerk (although using synthesizers and leaning heavily on their “man machine” persona) created electronic music with a human feel. This album has that feel running through its DNA. The electronic percussion is played by the drummers rather than programmed. This was groundbreaking.

4

The Kick Inside, Kate Bush

The term “genius” is often thrown around the music industry like a Frisbee but is seldom really deserved. Kate on the other hand [earned] this and much more. She was 19 when this was released and even younger when she wrote it. A voice and a musicality way above and beyond most. When I first heard “Wuthering Heights” it completely stopped me in my tracks. The entire album has been created by an old soul in a young woman. 

5

So, Peter Gabriel

There is something magical about the way Peter sews together multiple diverse influences and pulls it all together to make a modern, contemporary album. The combination of percussion, technology and world music, and of course his songwriting, pull together on So to make something unique and inspirational. A must for every record collection.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.

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