An Evening in Conversation with Midge Ure
9 December - 7.00pm
We are delighted to welcome one of the most successful musicians of his generation, Midge Ure to BME for an evening in conversation.
An artist who has received Ivor Novello, Grammy, BASCAP awards along with a flotilla of gold and platinum records, really needs very little introduction. By the time Midge's single "If I Was" went to No1 in 1985 he had already crammed several musical lifetimes into a 10-year professional career - Slik, The Rich Kids, Thin Lizzy, Visage, Ultravox and of course the most famous one-off group in musical history Band Aid all had the guiding hand of his musical navigation.
November 25, 1984 was a historic day for Midge and all of pop music, as 36 artists by the collective name Band Aid gathered at SARM Studios in west London under Ure's production. They recorded 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' a song he had just written with Bob Geldof as the industry's heartfelt and eloquent contribution to Ethiopian famine relief. 600,000 copies sold in its first week in the UK alone and that was only the beginning: 800,000 more were bought in the second week, more than three million world-wide, and the unstoppable emotion engendered by the project led to Live Aid, the summer 1985 global concert that, all exaggeration aside, spoke for a generation. Within months, a staggering £8 million had been raised for the starving in Africa, and Geldof said that without Ure's initial enthusiasm for the idea, not to mention his rapidly penned sketch for the single, neither Band Aid nor Live Aid could have happened.
Midge’s career continues to this day as writer, musician, producer and TV presenter. Midge and his band Electronica are returning to the UK with the ‘Voice & Visions’ tour, celebrating 40 years since the release of Ultravox’s Rage In Eden and Quartet albums.
For this special evening, Midge will be in conversation with publisher Ronnie Gurr talking about his career to date. As an extra treat he will also perform a couple of acoustic songs. Midge’s new photobook, ‘in a picture frame’ will also be on sale at the event - a stunning collection of photographs taken by Midge on his travels between 1980 and 1985.
All tickets £16. On sale Friday 5 November, 10am.
Tickets to the event will allow you unlimited general entry to the BME for one whole year. You can help us support and grow the archive and collection of instruments and outfits by agreeing to Gift Aid your event ticket. We will receive £0.25 for each £1 spent. Remember to complete your Gift Aid declaration and hand it to us on arrival. Thank you for the support.