Why did Ultravox change musical directions?

When one considers the changes Blondie made, they'd make a disco song, but never became a disco act. They'd rap, but never became a rap band. A band moving from punk to post punk, or punk to new wave seems more expected or "normal." On the surface, at least, it seems punk has little to do with electronic music. If you asked a layperson they'd probably think electronic music came out of pop or dance.

Some have suggested here that, perhaps, much of Ultravox were actually more into electronic music at the outset, so when punk kind of died off they were open to trying something different. But I don't know if that was the main or only driver.

 

There are variations and different branches of electronic pop. Ultravox and Joy Division developed into quasi synth pop bands but still used electric guitars bass etc. Then you had Kraftwerks followers who were never punk and fully electronic from the beginning such as Human League Depeche Mode etc

 

Midge.

 

Have you heard the recent white vinyl repress? A local store has it sealed for a tenner but my original "Systems Of Romance" vinyl - Made In West Germany - is very nice so I haven't picked it up.

 

Sorry, no, not heard the recent repress. I have the CD. Hopefully they got it right on the new one - because as I say, the original pressings of the album weren't particularly good.

 

Ha! Ha! Ha! is my favourite album by Ultravox/Foxx, but I don't think Foxx likes it. As I remember he only ever plays occasional songs from SOR live these days unless someone knows differently. I requested Distant Smile from him at a gig once, but all I got in return was a distant smile.
My suspicion is that although Ha! Ha! Ha! and the first album are a sort of punk style, Foxx only did it to get noticed because it was fashionable - what was Alternative In at the time. What he really likes is what he's doing now - fiddling about with processors and dance beats etc.
I don't really like his stuff post the Golden Section as much, save the odd tracks.

All these groups (Ultravox, Tubeway Army { - I love the S/T debut and Replicas}, OMD, Human League) were better in their earlier incarnations IMO except Japan who just got better with every album. Polaroids and Tin Drum are incredible albums.
Maybe I just like the raw experimental energy - anger - and willingness to experiment. I also really like guitar distortion and the sound of early analogue synths, though Numan's Berserker sequencers really appeal to me.

 

I really like those first two Visage albums - Steve Strange gets a bit of a slagging for being a clothes horse, but I always rated him. Magazine's Real Life/Visage ST are so good.

 

That original I Am The Walrus version of Endlessly was amazing. Also stuff like Annexe is just pure Beatles. Fantastic.

 

I hear ya. My enjoyment of Gary Numan starts with Replica's, and ends with Pleasure Principle. Ultravox it's only the Foxx era, The Jam it's In the City (same era, different style) or nothing. I think follow ups, and sophomore albums, were the anti-Christ for punk bands. As soon as a band made one, they were selling out. Like the Clash, the debut great, the rest not so much. The Stranglers gave us two great albums (Rattus and No More Heroes) and then became a bit embarrassing, imo. I think we're talking about capturing lightning in a bottle.

 

Cripes you're writing off some great albums. I'm kind of the opposite in that I prefer the later more sophisticated albums. The Stranglers from 79 - 82 or so made some incredible music - Golden Brown being the most well known example.

 

Indeed, Stranglers had a couple good songs, Golden Brown that you mention, and the exquisite Strange Little Girl - but the albums were really poor to my ear. By the time those albums came out I was fully in "album mode", rather than bothering with singles. If I couldn't stand the album, it was a no go, even with a good song or two. Those first two albums are fantastic though, so take nothing away from them. I could probably swing a "good" toward Black and White, but it's still a step down, imo.

I think your use of the term "more sophisticated" is both telling and accurate. The lightning in a bottle thing - they were more mannered, more deliberate. It just didn't work for me. Then again, it's not like they could go on recording Rattus type albums. They moved on, and that's fine. Come to think of it, Wire are another example. Two great albums, their debut was magnificent, but I remember buying I think their third album, and it had synths.... I couldn't bail out fast enough.

 

It's actually one of my all time favorite albums ever. It's hard to be objective, naturally, but I think it has held up really well over the years. It would be easy for an album like that to sound dated, but very much like the Bowie Berlin trilogy, there is a timeless quality to it.

And the recent two-disk version on Edsel with all the b-sides and Burning car stuff is essential.

UNDERPASS!

 

I think the last reissue - goodness knows how many different copies of Metamatic I have - is perfection indeed. They finally managed to get rid of the tape hiss that other releases had, without destroying the music. A really nice job. Metamatic is otherworldly. I like there was once a world where Underpass could chart.

 

I agree with you but Vienna has a few good tracks. I still really like Astradyne and the live Eno cover Kings Lead Hat. As an album it got a bit tiresome with repeated listenings, whereas that doesn't happen to me with Metamatic, The Garden or either of the Visage albums.
I can listen to Ultravox!, Ha!Ha!Ha! and Systems of Romance forever.

Correction to my earlier post - John Foxx does do a good version of My Sex live recently.

 

When Ultravox did that raiders of the lost ark spoof video they lost a lot of cred with that one.

 

I didn't know The Thin Wall is edited on the single. I need Rage In Eden!

 

Wow, great to read a thread full of comments by people loving and knowing so much about the Foxx-era Ultravox! Most synthpop/electronica fans, even the casual Ultravox fans, are hardly aware Ultravox already had a complete career before Midge Ure joined.

 

A "career" that was "complete" when Island Records unceremoniously dropped the band in 1979 and the singer left. Who knows what might have happened if Robin Simon and Billie Currie wouldn't have bumped into Rusty Egan... who introduced them to several of his friends.

 

Album and 12" version of "The Thin Wall":

 

Forever And Ever by Slik (with Midge) - number one in '76. The chorus is good but the verses are Ultravox weird

 

The Dancer still hits the spot. 2.38

 

Great post and spot on, I would say.

 

Indeed. I would add Simple Minds for a good example on that kind of transition. Life in a Day (1979) to New Gold Dream (1982) was quite a journey and with excellent music throughout.