Ultravox were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic movement, although it both pre- and post-dated New Romantic by several years, drawing inspiration variously from punk, the artier side of glam rock, pub rock and latterly straightforward synth pop. Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Jump to: navigation, search New Romantic was a New Wave music subgenre and fashion movement that occurred primarily in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... Jump to: navigation, search Glam rock (less commonly glitter rock), a style of rock music popularized in the 1970s, was mostly a British phenomenon and confined to larger cities in the U.S., such as New York and Los Angeles. ... Pub rock can refer to: Pub rock (Australia) Pub rock (UK) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Synth pop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. ...

Biography

The band was formed in 1973 on the initiative of vocalist, songwriter and keyboardist John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh). They were originally known as Tiger Lily, and were comprised of Foxx plus Chris Cross (bass guitar), Billy Currie (keyboards/violins), Steve 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!, with an exclamation mark (a reference to krautrock band Neu!, 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 debut album in Februrary of 1977. Jump to: navigation, search 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... John Foxx is a mysterious and elegant figure in Englands rock history. ... Chris Cross (born Chris Allen on July 14, 1952 in London, England) was the bass guitarist in the band Ultravox until their final demise in 1986. ... Billy Currie (born William Lee Curry on April 1, 1950 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England) is a musician known for keyboard, synthesizer, and violin work, primarily with the band Ultravox. ... Jump to: navigation, search Warren Cann was a member of the group Ultravox. ... Aint Misbehavin is a song by Fats Waller, dating from 1929. ... Jump to: navigation, search Neu! (pronounced noy) were a German band, probably the archetypal example of what the UK music press at the time dubbed Krautrock. ... Konrad Conny Plank (frequently spelled Planck) (d. ... Jump to: navigation, search Island Records is a record label that was founded in Jamaica in 1959 by Chris Blackwell. ...

In common with many other bands which would go on to form Britain's punk and New Wave movements, Ultravox! drew their inspiration from the art-school side of glam rock, from bands such as Roxy Music and The New York Dolls, plus David Bowie and Brian Eno's early pop albums. Their eponymous debut album was co-produced by Brian Eno (whose next job after these sessions was working with Bowie on his Low album) and Steve Lillywhite. Sales were disappointing, and neither the album nor the associated single My Sex managed to enter the UK charts. Jump to: navigation, search London Punks Punk culture as it is seen today started in the mid 1970s as a movement or rebellion against some styles of music which existed at the time such as Prog Rock and Heavy Metal whose stars were seen as out of touch with their... New Wave is a term that has been used to describe many developments in music, but is most commonly associated with a movement in American, Australian, British, Canadian and European popular music, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, growing out of the New York City punk rock scene, itself... Jump to: navigation, search Glam rock (less commonly glitter rock), a style of rock music popularized in the 1970s, was mostly a British phenomenon and confined to larger cities in the U.S., such as New York and Los Angeles. ... Jump to: navigation, search Image:Roxymusic2004. ... The New York Dolls were a glam rock band in the 1970s that prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era. ... Jump to: navigation, search David Bowie David Bowie (born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947 in London) is an English rock musician and actor. ... Jump to: navigation, search Brian Eno in 1977 Brian Peter George St. ... Jump to: navigation, search Brian Eno in 1977 Brian Peter George St. ... Steve Lillywhite is a well-known British music producer born in 1955. ...

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, again failing to chart. Steve Shears left the band and indeed the music industry altogether. Although most of the album was dominated by guitars and electric violin, the final track, "Hiroshima Mon Amour", was a prototypical synth-pop song. It remains a critical and fan favourite of the group's early incarnation, and was performed by the group on the Old Grey Whistle Test. During 1978 the group quietly dropped the exclamation mark, becoming simply Ultravox. Ha!-Ha!-Ha! was the second album by British pop group Ultravox, at that time formally known as Ultravox!, with an exclamation mark. ... BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station, specialising in popular music aimed at a young audience (children, teenagers and young adults). ... Alain Resnais acclaimed film Hiroshima mon amour was released in 1959, and was called The Birth of a Nation of the French New Wave ( nouvelle vague) by critic Leonard Maltin, because of its importance to the innovations of the movement. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC television music show that ran from September 1971 until 1987. ...

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. John Foxx left to pursue a solo career whilst Robin Simon left to join Magazine. Musically, the album was very similar to 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. Jump to: navigation, search 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... Konrad Conny Plank (frequently spelled Planck) (d. ... Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: Magazine - Shot By Both Sides Magazine was a UK post-punk band formed in 1977 by Howard Devoto after he left the Buzzcocks, its original lineup included John McGeoch, Barry Adamson, Bob Dickinson, and Martin Jackson. ...

Midge Ure, an already accomplished musician, 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 band fronted by Steve Strange. Midge therefore replaced John Foxx for their next album, which would become their most successful to date; as with Systems of Romance, it was produced in Germany by Conny Plank. Midge Ure OBE (born James Ure on October 10, 1953 in Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a rock and roll guitarist, singer and songwriter from Scotland, who had particular success in the 1970s and 1980s. ... Slik were a Scottish pop band of the mid-70s, following in the footsteps of the Bay City Rollers. ... Glen Matlock (born August 27, 1956) was the original bass player of punk rock band the Sex Pistols. ... The Rich Kids were a short-lived, much-hyped rock and roll band from London in the late 1970s. ... Jump to: navigation, search Thin Lizzy in 1975 Thin Lizzy was a hard rock/proto-heavy metal band, formed in Dublin by bassist and singer Phil Lynott in the late sixties. ... Visage was a New Romantic band that began life in 1978 in the London, England nightclub Billys. ... Steve Strange (born May 28, 1959), born Steven Harrington in Porthcawl, south Wales, was was the frontman and singer for the band Visage. ...

The band released the album Vienna on the new label Chrysalis Records and achieved 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 forty 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. Chrysalis Records is a record label that was created in 1969. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director, winner of an Academy Award for his film version of the musical, Oliver! (1968). ... Jump to: navigation, search The Third Man (1949) is a film noir directed by Carol Reed. ... Joe Dolce is an American-born, Australian-resident singer/songwriter of Italian ancestry who achieved fame with the song Shaddap You Face, recorded under the name Joe Dolce Music Theatre. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1981 (MCMLXXXI)is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Ultravox teamed up with legendary producer George Martin for 1982's Quartet and this became their most successful album in the USA. The group appeared at Live Aid. For the author, see George R. R. Martin. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Reece Griffiths sucks dong Live Aid was a multi-venue rock music concert held on July 13, 1985. ...

Upon completion of 1984's Lament, Warren Cann left Ultravox to pursue a solo career, and the remaining members, along with Big Country's Mark Brzezicki, resurfaced with U-Vox in 1986 before going their separate ways. Billy Currie and Robin Simon reformed the band in 1993 to record Revelation and Sam Blue lent his voice to their final release, Ingenuity (1996). Jump to: navigation, search This page is about the year 1984. ... Jump to: navigation, search Big Country was a rock band from Dunfermline, Scotland, popular in the early to mid 1980s, but still releasing material for a cult following as recently as 2004. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

Discography

Albums

• Ultravox! (1977)
• Ha! Ha! Ha! (1977)
• Systems of Romance (1978)
• Three Into One (1979)
• Vienna (1980)
• Rage in Eden (1981)
• Quartet (1982)
• Monument (1983)
• Lament (1984)
• The Collection (1984) [Comp]
• U-VOX (1986)
• Revelation (1993)
• Ingenuity (1996)
• The Island Years (1999) [Comp]

Singles and EPs

• Dangerous Rhythm (1977)
• Young Savage (1977)
• Rockwrok (1977)
• Retro Live EP (1978)
• Slow Motion (1978)
• Quiet Man (1978)
• Sleepwalk (1980)
• Passing Strangers (1980)
• Vienna (1981)
• All Stood Still (1981)
• The Thin Wall (1981)
• The Voice (1981)
• Reap the Wild Wind (1982)
• Hymn (1982)
• Visions in Blue (1983)
• We Came to Dance (1983)
• One Small Day (1984)
• Dancing with Tears in My Eyes (1984)
• Heart Of The Country (1984)
• Lament(1984)
• Love's Great Adventure (1984)
• Same Old Story (1986)
• All Fall Down (1986
• All in One Day (1987)

External links

• http://www.ultravox.org.uk/
• http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/ultravox.htm