For those of you settling in for a good read about the Midge Ure fronted, 80’s synth-pop chart botherers, yer in the wrong place (we will however go as far as the first Midge Ure Ultravox album, “Vienna”). The Ultravox! we will be concerning ourselves with for the next 3 records will be the real deal, the group originally fronted by John Foxx. 

Ultravox! (the ! was a tip of the hat to Krautrockers Neu!) were formed as far back as 1974 under the name Tiger Lily. After releasing one single (a cover of Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” which later turned up in a soft porn movie) for Gull Records they went through a number of name changes before being signed by Island Records on the strength of their live show. The band wasn’t the only thing that changed names, singer Dennis Leigh became John Foxx and bassist Chris Allen became Chris Cross. 

Ultravox! were very much influenced by Roxy Music, Bowie, Kraftwerk and Krautrock, you can hear those influences plainly on this album, which was co-produced by Brian Eno, who would very shortly go off to work with Bowie on “Low”. I always think of Ultravox as part of the early Punk thing but also an electronic/synth band but this album is not really in that mould. Opening song “Satday Night In the City Of The Dead” owes as much to the 60’s British R&B/Freakbeat boom as it does to Mr Moog with its slashing guitars and wailing harmonica. The last song on side one “I Want To Be A Machine” promises electronica in its title but is in fact steered by guitars and violin. 

One of my favourite songs on this album is the haunting slow burner “My Sex”, but not this version of it. In early 1978 Ultravox! released a live EP, “Retro Live”, made up of live takes of non-album single “Young Savage”, next album, “Ha!-Ha!-Ha!”, track “The Man Who Dies Every Day” and from this album “I Want To Be A Machine” and an absolutely stunning recording of “My Sex” from a gig at Huddersfield Polytechnic (oh the glamour !) which is well worth a listen (https://youtu.be/M8HwBCDMy6w?si=AArIm82-n0Fku9Ow). It’s not until we reach “My Sex”, the last track on the album, that the keyboards push themselves to the forefront, even then it’s mostly piano rather than synthesizer that takes the lead until the refrain between verses when the synth steps forward.

Ultravox! came to be seen as primarily a synth band, mainly because of the Midge years, but this album is far more guitar driven than they would become, in fact Billy Currie’s violin plays as big a part on this album as any electronic keyboard. It’s Roxy/Bowie influences are worn proudly, with a nod to the New Wave that was happening at the time, look at the cover image, yes it’s a little bit Punk but it’s equally Glam in its makeup. We have here a collection of great songs delivered by a band that could see what was going on around them but were, in reality, far ahead of some of their contemporaries musically.

The Wild, The Beautiful And The Damned - https://youtu.be/CFLDo5fT9WI?si=WGIxWOIsC7qdjTD8