Ultravox News

Ultravox news 20.07.08

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:39:00 GMT

VIENNA AND RAGE IN EDEN DETAILS

Sunday, 20 July 2008

We are very pleased to announce that EMI have confirmed the release date for the remastered Vienna and Rage in Eden albums as Monday the 22nd of September, 2008. As previously discussed in our news story in April, we have been closely involved with Ultravox and EMI in the processes involved in once again making these albums available, and we can now confirm the following.

Over the coming months, EMI are looking to release all the Ultravox and Midge Ure Chrysalis-era albums. These will be regarded as Remastered Definitive Editions, and the aim is for each of them to take the following format; Disc One will contain the original UK album, whilst Disc Two will include all of the B-sides and extra tracks taken from accompanying singles, plus (wherever possible) a selection of previously unreleased material. No specific dates have been given for the release of Quartet onwards, but we can confirm that the intention is for them to be released in the order in which they were originally made available. As soon as we have further details for these future releases we will make them available on this website.

Meanwhile, the full track listings for both Vienna and Rage in Eden are as follows: -

VIENNA (Disc One)

01. Astradyne
02. New Europeans
03. Private Lives
04. Passing Strangers
05. Sleepwalk
06. Mr. X
07. Western Promise
08. Vienna
09. All Stood Still

VIENNA (Disc Two - Further Listening)

01. Sleepwalk (Early version)
      From the album 'The Very Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox'.
02. Waiting
      B-side of the 'Sleepwalk' 7 inch single.
03. Face to Face (Recorded live at St Albans, 16 Aug 80)
      B-side of the 'Passing Strangers' 7 & 12 inch singles.
04. Kings Lead Hat (Recorded live at The Lyceum, 17 Aug 80)
      Extra track on the B-side of the 'Passing Strangers'
      12 inch single.
05. Passionate Reply
      B-side of the 'Vienna' 7 & 12 inch singles.
06. Herr X
      Extra track on the B-side of the 'Vienna' 12 inch single.
07. All Stood Still (12 inch version)
      A-side of the 'All Stood Still' 12 inch single.
08. Alles Klar
      B-side of the 'All Stood Still' 7 & 12 inch singles.
09. Keep Talking (Cassette recording during rehearsals)
      Extra track on the B-side of the 'All Stood Still' 12 inch single.
10. Sleepwalk
      (Recorded live in rehearsals at The Lyceum, 17 Aug 80)
      Previously unreleased.
11. All Stood Still
      (Recorded live in rehearsals at The Lyceum, 17 Aug 80)
      Previously unreleased.

RAGE IN EDEN (Disc One)

01. The Voice
02. We Stand Alone
03. Rage in Eden
04. I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)
05. The Thin Wall
06. Stranger Within
07. Accent on Youth
08. The Ascent
09. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again)

RAGE IN EDEN (Disc Two - Further Listening)

01. I Never Wanted To Begin
      B-side of 'The Thin Wall' 7 inch single.
02. Paths And Angles
      B-side of 'The Voice' 7 inch single and A-side of 'The Voice'
      12 inch single.
03. I Never Wanted To Begin (Extended version)
      B-side of 'The Thin Wall' 12 inch single.
04. Private Lives (Recorded live at Crystal Palace, 13 Jun 81)
      Extra track on the B-side of 'The Voice' 12 inch single.
05. All Stood Still (Recorded live at Crystal Palace, 13 Jun 81)
      Extra track on the B-side of 'The Voice' 12 inch single.
06. I Remember (Death in the Afternoon)
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
07. Stranger Within
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
08. Rage in Eden
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
09. Accent on Youth
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
10. The Ascent
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
11. Your Name (Has Slipped My Mind Again)
      (Recorded live at Hammersmith Odeon, 17 Oct 81)
      Previously unreleased.
12. Stranger Within (Work in progress mix)
      Previously unreleased.
13. The Thin Wall (Work in progress mix)
      Previously unreleased.

Tracks that have previously been available were remastered between March and May 2008 at Abbey Road Studios, London, with the previously unreleased material mastered for the first time specifically for these new editions. For reference, previously available recordings were taken from the original master tapes, and not the production masters as previously reported, while the extra tracks were taken from a combination of other sources that include EMIs tape archive and from recordings provided by Ultravox. Given that the recordings are now up to twenty-eight years old, the extensive work that has been undertaken has given these albums a fresher edge that has not been captured on any previous editions. We believe therefore that everyone will be thrilled with the results.

It's worth noting that some of the previously unreleased material was, by their very nature, not up to the usual fidelity of studio recordings, but they have nevertheless been mastered to the highest possible standard. The decision was taken by Ultravox and EMI to include them for their 'historical significance'. These 'extra' tracks all capture moments that would otherwise have remained unheard and further add to the 'Definitive' nature of these releases.

As you'll no doubt have read in the wider media, EMI have undergone considerable restructuring following their purchase by Terrafirma in late 2007, and therefore new practices have fed into how albums will look when released. EMI have adopted a standard approach on what physical (i.e. CD) releases will take across the company's entire catalogue and in line with this Vienna and Rage in Eden will have a protective cardboard 'O' slip case box together with an eight page full-colour booklet. This booklet will mainly contain appropriate photographs and imagery, but sadly no lyrics. However, the individual album design has remained as we always intended and in line with EMI's guidelines for digital downloading, a separate twenty page version of the booklet will be made available that will comprise the full design, including photos AND lyrics. We understand that Ultravox were keen that the latter was made available to as many fans as possible. We are therefore very pleased to confirm that a downloadable booklet will be available for all albums through this website on the day of their release, as well as through all of the other official sources.

As we confirmed in the April newsletter, Rage in Eden is going to be released with the re-instated original front cover ('Rage Face') artwork. This was withdrawn by Chrysalis after legal issues soon after its release back in 1981 and has been replaced by alternative artwork on all subsequent editions. The licensing of the 'Rage Face' artwork currently only extends as far as the initial run of the physical release of the album (set at 10,000 units worldwide). Future editions will feature new alternative artwork based around the 'three-horse' logo which appeared on the poster that originally came with the album. This 'alternate' front cover artwork will also be used for the digital release.

As stated previously, we are in the midst of writing a second 'All You Need To Know' companion piece - the first of which was completed for the Island Records re-mastered albums back in 2006 - detailing the full process behind the Anthology and remastered album re-releases. We will publish this on the website in due course.

Thanks for your continuing support.

Extreme Voice

JOHN FOXX NEWS

Ongoing

As John is currently so busy it's hard to keep up, so it's best if we refer you to the News subscription list on his official website at metamatic.com, and also John's MySpace page and MySpace blog where he tends to post his (often bizarre!) stories.

MIDGE URE LIVE

Ongoing

As Midge is currently performing a rolling set of live dates which are constantly updated, it's best if we refer you to the News page on his website.

To go to midgeure.com, click here.

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Ultravox news 07.04.08

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 21:48:00 GMT

AN UPDATE ON THE EMI PROJECTS

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

As many of you know, information regarding EMI's planned Ultravox re-releases was recently made known. This is the second major project Extreme Voice has been progressing on EMI's behalf, the first being 'Anthology', and we are now in a position to give a small update on the current progress and what the future holds.

EMI are intending, wherever possible, to release double disc versions of the entire Chrysalis-era Ultravox and Midge Ure solo catalogue over the next twelve months as 'Definitive Remastered Editions', in the order in which they were originally released - i.e. chronologically from 1980 to 1988. This second project came out of several conversations we had with EMI at the beginning of March 2006 around the main 'Anthology' release. We can confirm that these re-releases are intended to complement the main project ('Anthology') rather than replace it.

Despite the current industry trends and market conditions record companies are currently operating in, EMI have been tremendously supportive of both projects. The album re-releases are being put out through EMI Catalogue rather than EMI Gold, and so have benefited from a different perspective and budget, allowing us to 'think bigger' for what we would want these albums to be and include. With a broadly blank canvas, we were initially given a wider brief than we had previously had and we have been encouraged to revisit everything connected with the albums. We have considered and worked incredibly hard to bring a new dimension and ideas to everything you will see and hear on every album, this includes artwork, lyrics, photography and obviously, the music.

The original recordings will be digitally remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London. The first albums to undergo this process, 'Vienna' and 'Rage in Eden', were transferred from the original production master tapes at the beginning of March. The final track-listings cannot yet be confirmed until the members of the band have listened to, commented on and approved the proposed extra tracks. We will give more details and release dates as soon as they are confirmed to us by EMI.

However, one thing we can confirm is that with the help and support of EMI, 'thinking big' has allowed us to pursue and now be in a position to reinstate the original front cover artwork for the 'Rage in Eden' album. This was withdrawn by Chrysalis after legal issues soon after it was originally released and has been replaced by alternative artwork on all subsequent editions. The process from initial conversations with Peter Saville about identifying the art which inspired the cover, through to our extensive work in contacting the original artist's estate to establish intent and culminating with EMI concluding licensing negotiations for its use took over a year, but we are absolutely thrilled with this achievement and to now be able to restore the image to the physical CD release. Digital downloads of 'Rage in Eden' that will be available online will have alternate artwork as the agreement for use does not cover any other editions of this album, either now or in the future.

We are currently writing a second 'All You Need To Know' companion piece (the first of which was completed for the Island Records re-mastered albums back in 2007) detailing the full process of the 'Anthology' and remastered album re-releases. We will publish this on the Extreme Voice website in due course.

AJANTA MUSIC - GIG & NEW ALBUM

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

AjantaMusic Live in London, Wed 23rd April 2008

Paul and Robin Simon will be performing live with their band AjantaMusic on Wednesday April 23rd 2008 at Inn On The Green, 3 Thorpe Close, London W10 5XL. They 0will be joined by vocalist Gina Watson, dancer Minnie Russnak, plus Montana Verde VJ Visuals and AjantaMusic DJs. 0

AjantaMusic will be previewing material from their second album, 'Above The Cloudline', due for release in May. Guest musicians on the album include Dave Formula (Magazine, Visage), and Pete Jones (Public Image Ltd) plus vocalists Gina Watson and Danelle Harvey. 0

For further updates, and exclusive previews of the album (as they become available), visit www.myspace.com/ajantamusic. Click the poster below to see a larger version.

MIDGE URE - COVERS ALBUM

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

A preview of Midge's long-awaited covers album will be released as a 2-track promo single, to German radio for the tour there in April. This limited edition CD (1000 copies), entitled simply 'Two', will also be sold at the German shows and online in the midgeure.com shop, shipping from April 28th.

Track listing:
01. Man Of The World
02. Alfie

The full CD, entitled 'Ten', is to follow later this year.

MIDGE URE - INTIMATE MOMENTS 2

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

A new 'Intimate Moments' live CD and DVD set has just been released. It will be for sale on the German tour this month and will be shipping from the midgeure.com store from around April 28th.

Track listing:

AUDIO CD
01. Waiting Days
02. Man Who Sold The World
03. Fade To Grey
04. Let Me Go
05. Song For While I'm Away
06. Little Girl In Bloom.
07. Personal Heaven
08. I Survived
09. Lament
10. Vienna
11. All Fall Down
12. Dancing With Tears
13. If I Was
14. Hymn
All recorded live in Oldenburg, Krefeld, Koln & Hamburg in 2006.

DVD
01. Dear God
02. Personal Heaven
03. Cold Cold Heart
04. Song For While I'm Away
05. Fade To Grey
06. Let Me Go
07. Survived
08. One Small Day
09. Man Who Sold The World
10. Lament
11. Man of The World
12. Beneath A Spielberg Sky
13. Somebody
14. No Regrets
15. Breathe
All recorded / filmed in Langholm, Scotland November 2007.

JORI HULKKONEN & JOHN FOXX

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

The new Jori Hulkkonen single 'Never Been Here Before', which features John Foxx, is now available in digital and 12" vinyl formats.

Only two tracks are available to buy on iTunes for some reason, but all four can be bought via Play Digital.

'Never Been Here Before' is the first single to be taken from Jori's new album 'Errare Machinale Est', which is available in digital download and doublepack vinyl formats. A limited edition compact disc version is also be available, but ONLY in Finland.

The album was released by F Communications on the 24th of March, 2008.

Track listing:
01. Never Been Here Before, featuring John Foxx (Jori Hulkkonen Dub): 7'51"
02. Never Been Here Before, featuring John Foxx (Sasse Dub): 10'16"
03. Never Been Here Before, featuring John Foxx (Jeff Benett Mix): 7'22"
04. Never Been Here Before, featuring John Foxx (Sasse Vocal Mix): 10'15"

JOHN FOXX - AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

John Foxx and Louis Gordon are all set to embark on a tour of Australia in May. The shows at selected venues will be augmented with a performance of 'Tiny Colour Movies'. Below are the dates which have so far been confirmed:

Sunday the 4th of May, 200
The Tivoli, 52 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane 4006, Queensland
Telephone: (07) 3852 1711, Fax: (07) 3257 1583
Web: www.thetivoli.net.au
Also includes a performance of 'Tiny Colour Movies'.

Tuesday the 6th of May, 2008
Fowlers Live, 68 North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia
Email: fowlerslive@internode.on.net
Web: www.fowlerslive.com.au
Including DJ Trip.

Thursday the 8th of May, 200
Corner Hotel, 57 Swan Street, Richmond, Melbourne 3121, Victoria
Telephone: (03) 9427 9198, Fax: (03) 9427 9646
Email: info@cornerhotel.com
Web: www.cornerhotel.com
Including Support.

Friday the 9th of May, 2008
ACMI, Federation Square, Flinders Street, Melbourne 3000, Victoria
Telephone: (03) 8663 2583
Web: www.acmi.net.au
A screening of 'Tiny Colour Movies'.

Saturday the 10th of May, 2008
The Metro Theatre, 624 George Street, Sydney 2000, New South Wales
Telephone: (02) 9550 3666, Fax: (02) 9550 2990
Email: metro@centuryvenues.com.au
Web: www.metrotheatre.com.au
Also includes a performance of 'Tiny Colour Movies'.

JOHN FOXX - 'THE QUIET MAN' IN ITALY

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

John Foxx will be performing sections from his ongoing 'Quiet Man' novel at the 14th Genoa International Poetry Festival in Italy on Saturday the 21st of June, 2008.

The festival organisers have sent us the following information about the event:

Since 1983 the Circolo dei Viaggiatori nel Tempo (CVT) have organised several events in the fields of literature, poetry, visual arts and music. During the last thirteen years, its international activity has increased in importance and in significance. After the success of the Genoa International Poetry Festival, that every year invite the most known authors and the best young poets and performers, several European cities and regions (Paris, Helsinki, Lille, Munich, Brugge among the others) have asked the CVT to organise similar literary and poetry events.

The 'Genoa Poetry Festival', which started in 1995, is now considered the biggest poetry event in Italy and one of the most important in Europe.

In previous years over 700 authors have performed their works in Genoa, from the Nobel Prize winners Czeslaw Milosz, Derek Walcott and Wole Soyinka, to other poets and artists such as Lou Reed, John Giorno, Dacia Maraini, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Peter Hammill, Tony Harrison, Jack Hirschmann, Simon Armitage, Joy Harjo, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Joanne Kyger, Pedro Pietri, Charles Tomlinson, Brian Patten, Adonis, Fernando Arrabal, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mario Luzi, Alvaro Mutis, Michel Houellebecq, Tahar Ben Jelloun, and many others.

Address: Palazzo Ducale, Piazza Matteotti, Genoa, Italy
John's performance is scheduled to start at 21:00 on Saturday the 21st of June.
Admission: free.

For more information and the complete list of who's scheduled to appear this year, please point your browser at www.festivalpoesia.org.

JOHN FOXX - 'THE QUIET MAN' IN LEEDS

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

John will also be performing sections from his ongoing 'Quiet Man' novel at the Victoria Hall, Leeds at 21:00 on Friday the 7th of November, 2008. He will be playing a grand piano to accompany a pre-recorded reading of the text, and there will also be a series of 'Quiet Man' images projected onto a screen in the hall.

Tickets are now on sale priced at 310.00. Concessions are priced at 38.00.

Address: Town Hall, The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AD
Box Office: 0113 224 3801
You can also buy tickets directly on the Leeds City Council online ticket sales page

JOHN FOXX - A NEW KIND OF MAN

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

For anyone who was able to attend any of last year's live shows based around the 'Metamatic' album, this will be a fantastic souvenir. Entitled 'A New Kind of Man', this album features the entire 'Metamatic' live set as performed by John Foxx, Louis Gordon and Steve D'Agostino.

Track listing:
01. Film One
02. Plaza
03. He's a Liquid
04. Underpass
05. Metal Beat
06. No-One Driving
07. A New Kind of Man
08. Blurred Girl
09. 030
10. Tidal Wave
11. Touch and Go
12. Glimmer
13. Mr No
14. This City
15. My Face
16. Burning Car
17. 21st Century

Label: Metamatic Records
Catalogue Number: META16CD
Release Date: 28th of April, 2008
Available from: www.townsend-records.co.uk/product.php?pId=10002904&pType=1

ULTRAVOX.ORG.UK UPDATES

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

Ultravox.org.uk has just received a few updates, with new merchandise in the Shop (including some autographed items), nine new Covers Competition entries and a special Visage treat from Andi (BlueVision). Additionally, we have two rare Rage in Eden tour metal tie-pin badges up for auction on eBay, for those interested. The first one is here and the second one here.

COVERS COMPETITION

Tuesday, 8 April 2008

The closing date for the 2008 Ultravox Covers Competition is drawing near! Don't forget to get your entries in - you have until midnight GMT on May 31st. Good luck!

MIDGE URE LIVE

Ongoing

As Midge is currently performing a rolling set of live dates which are constantly updated, it's best if we refer you to the News page on his website: www.midgeure.com/newstour.html.

Subscribe to Ultravox News via email by entering your email address below:

All you need to know (the Island Years)

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:05:00 GMT

All you need to know (the Island Years)

June 27, 2006

Various questions have been asked about the content of the Island remastered CDs being released next month, so we thought we'd better explain the process that these releases went through.

From our position, the journey to get the first three Ultravox albums re-issued has taken almost ten years. It's easy to forget, but the thing we never appreciated in the beginning is that rarely are these types of projects completed within months as a tremendous amount of work is put in by all involved to get something released. Even albums which, at the time this started for us, were up to 20 years old...

We first approached Island Records back in 1996 after we'd completed the artwork for both "Monument - The Soundtrack" and "The Gift" for the EMI Gold label. We sent copies of these albums to Island as examples of what we had been allowed to produce. Seeing these (and being impressed by them we assumed), Island expressed their interest in involving us to work on re-releases of the "Ultravox!", "Ha! Ha! Ha!" and "Systems of Romance" albums. They provided us with details of the material they held in their tape archive, and from this we suggested track-listings for each album, initially ensuring that every track that had formally been released at that time was included.

As you may be aware, there are a number of other tracks which we know (from various sources) were also recorded during this period of the band. We identified a number of these to Island - "I Came Back Here To Meet You", "TV Orphan", "I Won't Play Your Game", "Do the Mutation", "Dark Love", "The Day the World Ended", "The Riff", "Radio Beach", "Storms of Things", "You Were Someone Else Then", "The Joker", "Car Crash Flashback" and "City Doesn't Care".

As well as identifying preferred track selections for the albums, we provided John with 'rough' lyrical transcriptions for the tracks that would be included (as well as some which didn't make the final cut) to help with the compilation of the definitive lyrics, a number of which will appear in the final artwork. Rob sourced over seventy original press interviews, reviews and articles. These were in turn forwarded to Steve Malins who was responsible for writing the extensive sleeve notes as well as coordinating all of the research material which included a series of new interviews. Rob also contributed a large number of high resolution scans (many of which were retouched by him) which included the following: the three album sleeves (including the inner sleeves and, in the case of "Ultravox!", the image through the centre of the gatefold), all of the single sleeves which were designed by John ("Young Savage", "ROckwrok", "Retro", "Sl ow Motion" and "Quiet Men"), as well as several press advertisements and a series of promotional photographs dating from the appropriate periods the individual re-releases relate to.

Additionally, whilst we were going through material provided by Chris Cross and Warren Cann for Anthology we also came across a number of alternate versions ('work in progress' and 'live') of more familiar tracks from this period. Whilst these would not be appropriate for Anthology (as that is set to only cover Ultravox from 1980 onwards), a number of these were put forward for inclusion on the 'Island' albums.

As we've previously mentioned, helping (or assisting) on music releases doesn't always prove easy - we've learned so much as progress started, then stopped, then started, with the process repeating (seemingly untroubled) numerous times. On the Island re-releases, we've encountered and negotiated our way through set-backs and false-starts (examples being changes of record company staff and changes in catalogue priorities, etc) which all inevitably resulted in delays whilst relationships were re-made and project directions redefined. However, despite these occasional blips, Island have always continued to be very supportive of these projects and of our involvement throughout.

In May 2005, Island's interest in re-releasing the albums resurfaced and so the process once again started when we were asked to provide thoughts as to what tracks could be included. Given the time from when the process had originally begun in 1996, we believed this now could be the only time the albums would ever be re-released. With this in mind, it was suggested that each album could be coupled with a second disc featuring live material from corresponding live shows, which was known to also be available in the vaults.

Taking all of this into account, tapes were sourced and 'listening' discs of all the material that we had identified were produced by Island and distributed for comment. However, a consensus of opinion could not be reached on whether unreleased material that had not previously been made available should be included on these CDs. In deference to this, Island made the decision to remaster and release only what has been previously available.

As far as we're aware (and despite what may have been indicated to the contrary in the music press) there are no plans for a disc of 'rare' tracks to be released at any future point. This is not to say that these tracks may never see the light of day (we genuinely do not know whether they will or not) as Islands priorities towards the Ultravox material may change as download technology begins to play an increasingly important role in music delivery. So, although we will "never say never", from our perspective we can only state that these albums are pretty much (as far as we're concerned) closed unless we are asked by the record company to help revisit available material for them at a future date. Realistically, our influence on what will and won't be released in the future is limited. For us also, it is perhaps time to step back a little and let others set the pace rather than for us to continue hounding record companies on what we feel they should and shouldn't be doing.

With the Island re-releases, we won't enter into discussion as to exactly what was contained within our suggested track-listings for obvious reasons. We appreciate that these releases weren't quite what some of you may have been expecting, but it is the way these things go sometimes, despite our best efforts. We are fans ourselves (again, something it is easy to forget sometimes...), and we do appreciate that it is frustrating as we too would love to see everything released in some form so that it could be enjoyed. But it's just not possible, sadly. Whichever way you look at it, when these albums are finally released, they will have all been re-mastered, will contain extra tracks, will contain lyrics and sleeve notes and will be as definitive as possible given what Island have allowed for inclusion. In our opinion, these elements alone will make them an essential addition to all of our collections.

We hope this answers all your questions. Thanks for your continued support in this!

Cheers,
Rob & Cerise.

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