Midge Ure at Band Aid's 40th and back on tour at 71

On November 25, 1984, a number of British pop and rock stars came together to record a charity single in support of the Ethiopian famine relief.

The list was impressive: U2's Bono, the late George Michael, Phil Collins, Sting, Duran Duran, Bananarama, Boy George and many more.

The group was brought together by fellow musicians Sir Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, who had no idea of ​​the impact of the song being recorded: Do They Know It's Christmas? – would continue to have.

Now, forty years later, it has raised millions of charities, become a Christmas staple across the generations and has also resonated in popular culture. It has had a revival after making a big splash in the BBC sitcom Gavin And Stacey, where the character Smithy sang it in his battered Volvo. estate.

“What was meant to be a six-month project, to see it unfold over 40 years is terrifying. It goes beyond what anyone could have dreamed of at the time,” Ure reflects.

The song was recorded on three separate occasions, Band Aid (1984), Band Aid 20 (2004) and Band Aid 30 (2014), and to celebrate the upcoming milestone a Band Aid 2024 Ultimate Mix has been created by producer Trevor Horn. which merged the voices of different generations into one song.

“When Bob and I met and talked about how we could generate some income, a record was the only way, the only thing we were reasonably good at. We’re not good at anything else,” says Ure, explaining how the pair thought it would be a six-month project and then be over.

“We never thought for a moment, 'Well, it's a Christmas song.' It could be played every Christmas.” Bob and I gave the songwriting royalties to the Band Aid Trust. So every time that record is played forty years later, and well beyond, it raises money and royalties for charity. Who saw that? We never saw that happen at the time,” says the musician.

The song “keeps rolling along like the big dinosaur that it is,” and Ure is convinced that “every generation of artists has to take that song and give it their interpretation, take it apart, rewrite the lyrics, do whatever with it you want, because every generation can propagate that and tell the story again.”

But even outside Band Aid, James 'Midge' Ure's own musical story is paved with success. In his early days he performed as part of bands such as Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and most notably as the frontman of the electronic pop group Ultravox, whose song Vienna (the title track of their studio album of the same name) is among the best. -famous songs from the eighties.

Ure joined the band in time to write much of the 1980 album Vienna, which took them in a more new romantic direction. Ultravox's first incarnation, Tiger Lily, was formed in 1974 and consisted of Dennis Leigh (now better known as John Foxx), Stevie Shears, Chris Cross, Warren Cann and Billy Currie.

Later they became Ultravox! – dropped the exclamation point in 1978, the same year Shears left and released Systems Of Romance, their last album with John Foxx.

Ure also pursued a successful solo career and last year he celebrated his 70th birthday with a sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall.

He is currently on his catalog: The Hits Tour in November and December, with a final tour performance scheduled for Glasgow on December 18.

“I love touring. I've always toured. I've been touring all my life, but it's a lot of fun to do it at this level because the Catalog tour, as I've been calling it, grew out of performing at the Albert Hall in London last year for my 70th birthday,” he explains.

“And it just dismissed the idea of, 'Wait a minute, I don't have to just play Ultravox and Visage and solo stuff. I can stretch a little further and celebrate the amount of time I spent making music, not necessarily the early years when I wasn't writing or producing it, but from the late 1970s until now.

“And that's great because it gives me something to sink my teeth into, instead of just playing hits all the time. I mean, obviously the hits are going to be in there, but to have the challenge of playing things that maybe I've never played before, in addition to the hits, that's good. That's what a musician wants to do.”

Despite a career spanning some four decades, Ure has not lost his passion for touring.

“If you don't want to do it, don't do it. Do something different,” he says matter-of-factly. “So I'm still passionate about it. It still makes me very excited, and it makes me nervous. I still get a little tense and a little butterfly-like right before you walk on stage. Because even though my musicians are fantastic and never do anything wrong, I do.”

He compares performing on stage and touring to a vacation.

“There's an element of nervousness, an element of excitement, and the fun of going on tour with your friends, the crew and the lighting people, the sound people and the musicians, is my equivalent of when guys go out and go on a golf vacation . a weekend away or going skiing without the women,” he explains, adding: “I don't do that. This is it. This is what I do. This is my vacation.”

For young musicians coming up in the ranks, it's a different industry than the one in which Ure started. So when asked what advice he has for the stars of tomorrow, he says it's about “making it work for you.”

'I'm lucky that I did it and made my mark, which I'm happy to say will stick with you. I made my mark when it was still old school. You have played against those clubs. You played everywhere you could. You learned your trade,” he says.

“You didn't go on a reality show or a talent show and then suddenly be thrown out into the big, wide world.

“So, for emerging talents, never believe anything written or said about you, good or bad, because you know if you are doing something that is right, that feels good to you. And follow your own path, if you can, if you are brave enough.

“It's a wild world out there. Play for the fun of playing. Don't play just to keep a roof over your head. Make it work for you.”

Midge Ure's 'Catalogue: The Hits Tour' will be at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on December 9. He will also appear at Brit Fest Cheshire next July. Visit midgeure.co.uk