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Midge Ure: If I Was
THE CANDID AND REVEALING LIFE STORY OF THE MAN BEHIND ULTRAVOX AND BAND AID The life story of Midge Ure is that of one of the most successful musicians of a generation, a brilliantly written record of twenty-five years at the cutting edge, and behind the scenes - as a video director - of the music business. Few musicians have had a career of such variety: in the past quarter of a century he has sold more than 20 million albums and been on a veritable rollercoaster ride through the rock'n'roll business. From No. 1 hits with the pop band Slik, via one of the most influential bands to come out of the age of electronica, Ultravox, to solo success touring the world and selling out leading venues, Midge has a unique perspective on the world of pop music. Among many great stories is his part in the phenomenon that was Live Aid and in particular the making of the classic charity record Do They Know It's Christmas which sold twelve million copies.
- GenresNonfiction
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 2, 2011
This was a bit of a let down as a biography. It seemed that Midge only wanted to talk about selected parts of his life and then gloss over the bits he didn't really want to discuss, which defeats the purpose of a biography for me! There was very little on the parts that we'd really be interested in reading and he seems more interested in using the book to stick the boot into people he doesn't like and moan about everyone who ever shafted him.
A prime example of his tantrums was during the Band Aid chapters. He mentioned that he was fed up being the public face of the group, and moaned because he had to deliver the food to Africa because Bob couldn't go and the cameras wanted the co-founder to be there for the news broadcasts. He claims not to enjoy all the publicity yet when Bob got the credit, he was quick to complain that he was being sidelined. He makes a big deal out of Bob having to tell the media that Midge was just as involved so Midge could have his feathers smoothed. When Live Aid happened, he was moaning that Bob got all the publicity and acclaim when he had done just as much work to get it running. Make your mind up man! You seem to want the credit when it suits you then you want to duck out when it doesn't! And I wasn't impressed when he went on to talk about how dreadful all the other famine songs were, especially 'We are the World'. Surely the main point was that these songs raised millions for the famine appeal so its pretty poor of Midge to slag them off as a waste of time!
The good bits? His friendship with Phil Lynott, his bitching about those he doesn't like and the chapters about Band Aid and Live Aid, which show how amazing it was that these events were ever managed at all! It sounded like utter chaos!
The bad bits? There was too much about his childhood in Glasgow and how he learned the guitar and all the stuff before he became famous. Too much behind the scenes of how the records were being made and issues with the recording company. There wasn't enough of the celebrity stories that you expect where he talks about laughs he had with his well known friends or disasters that happened to them. There was barely a mention of Bob and Paula's divorce or his own celebrity marriage to Annabel Giles. I wanted to hear about who was bitching about who and who was fighting on Top of the Pops etc but there wasn't really any of that which was a bummer.
Overall Midge came across as a bit of a egomaniac for me and I liked him better BEFORE I read this book. Unless you are interested in reading the Band Aid chapters, I'd advise you to give this a miss.
A prime example of his tantrums was during the Band Aid chapters. He mentioned that he was fed up being the public face of the group, and moaned because he had to deliver the food to Africa because Bob couldn't go and the cameras wanted the co-founder to be there for the news broadcasts. He claims not to enjoy all the publicity yet when Bob got the credit, he was quick to complain that he was being sidelined. He makes a big deal out of Bob having to tell the media that Midge was just as involved so Midge could have his feathers smoothed. When Live Aid happened, he was moaning that Bob got all the publicity and acclaim when he had done just as much work to get it running. Make your mind up man! You seem to want the credit when it suits you then you want to duck out when it doesn't! And I wasn't impressed when he went on to talk about how dreadful all the other famine songs were, especially 'We are the World'. Surely the main point was that these songs raised millions for the famine appeal so its pretty poor of Midge to slag them off as a waste of time!
The good bits? His friendship with Phil Lynott, his bitching about those he doesn't like and the chapters about Band Aid and Live Aid, which show how amazing it was that these events were ever managed at all! It sounded like utter chaos!
The bad bits? There was too much about his childhood in Glasgow and how he learned the guitar and all the stuff before he became famous. Too much behind the scenes of how the records were being made and issues with the recording company. There wasn't enough of the celebrity stories that you expect where he talks about laughs he had with his well known friends or disasters that happened to them. There was barely a mention of Bob and Paula's divorce or his own celebrity marriage to Annabel Giles. I wanted to hear about who was bitching about who and who was fighting on Top of the Pops etc but there wasn't really any of that which was a bummer.
Overall Midge came across as a bit of a egomaniac for me and I liked him better BEFORE I read this book. Unless you are interested in reading the Band Aid chapters, I'd advise you to give this a miss.
June 7, 2017
Pretty fun for hard core rock and roll fans. Lots of rock star trivia and inside industry stuff, esp the '80's Scots/Brits scene. The workingman's style is full of funny Scottish slang and sardonic humor.
November 5, 2018
Entertaining tale of Midges rise to fame from Glasgow to live aid. I’ve read better and worse music bios but enjoyed this one Learnt a few things and relived the club kid days of my youth.
October 10, 2012
Not the worst autobiography I've read yet somehow unsatisfying. Ure skips over large chunks of his career and focuses largely on his youth spent in Glasgow and his post-Ultravox problems with alcohol addiction and a waning career. He seems a tad bitter too about his diminished role in the Band/Live Aid story. Ultimately he's probably too much of a gentleman to dish the dirt on his fellow travellers in the 70s & 80s but for me that was kind of the point of reading this in the first place.
January 5, 2013
This was a really good biography. It starts with Midge's childhood and runs through 2005. Midge is releasing a updated e book version coming out sometime later this year that I will definitely be cheking out. A very honest yet humble guy, If your a fan of Ultravox or anything Midge has been in or done this is definitely worth reading.
August 8, 2012
Particular highlights include a naked Chris Cross being chased by an angry chef brandishing a meat cleaver.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews