Midge Ure & Mick Karn - "After A Fashion" b/w "Textures" 12" Vinyl, 45 rpm, 1983 (Chrysalis)

One of the things I love about the New Romantics period in pop is artists embracing the foreign and at the time, very exotic landscapes on this planet.  In a sense, they take the idea from Paul Bowles, not only as a writer, but his iconic personality as the Westerner in the exotic Middle East, or North Africa.   Bands like Duran Duran, Japan, and Ultravox liked to present themselves as an international artist(s) in a very adventurous world.   Very much of an exploitation in theory, because when you get down to it, we're all tourists.  Which I think is the most honest aspect of The New Romantics era.  Once in awhile great music comes from the juxtaposition of British pop (once part of the grand occupation) and the world that is out there.  We can almost taste it, but at the time we could only admire the tourist postcards, or in this case, album covers or publicity photographs.  Mick Karn is very much the exotic musician who started from one place and ended up embracing the world.  "After A Fashion"a one-off recording by two musicians who were prominent in British pop during the early 1980s.  Midge Ure I suspect was the more successful pop star due to his musical history with other bands, but especially with Ultravox.  

Karn was the brilliant fretless bassist, and who added exotic color to David Sylvian's Japan.  The sounds he made from his bass was like liquid being poured into a glass, or on the sand.   His textural playing and compositions (especially on his early solo albums) reflect on a world that was exciting, and sexual.  Midge Ure in his fashion (no pun intended) also explored the same landscape but through a more pop format than Karn and Japan.  What makes this 12" single fascinating is the combination of Ure's pop awareness with Karn's outer world sounds.  

The 7" single is very different than the 12", in that the song is expanded in a textural manner that flirts with the main chorus.   Almost a dub version, but not quite.  I have to imagine that it's only Karn and Ure on this recording, doing all the instruments.  It has that 'studio' feel and truly the image on the cover of this long single, is quite accurate.  The picture of Ure and Karn in Egypt is both a postcard as well as a visual interpretation of the sounds with on the record.  Paul Bowles had taken numerous photos of himself among the desert of North Africa, and for the literate or aware, this is clearly the influence of Ure and Karn's "After A Fashion."  The b-side is an instrumental that is a sound piece that reflects the aesthetic of travel and being aware of one's limits.  

Ultravox - "Three Into One" Vinyl, LP, Compilation, 1980 (Antilles)

This is how I see the world.  The center of the world is Roxy Music.   From that world (in theory) came Magazine.   And then there's another layer, and that's Ultravox when John Foxx was their chief lyricist and singer.  Keep in mind that these bands didn't imitate Bryan Ferry and company, but soundwise they do share a certain vibe.   Magazine to me is magnificent, Roxy is beyond magnificent, and Ultravox is the little brother that tries very hard to be magnificent.   Foxx and company do have that JG Ballard vibe as well, but I think there are other bands out there that were better than Ultravox in that respect.  Still, a world with Ultravox is not a bad thing at all. In fact, I enjoy the first three Ultravox albums a lot.   "Three Into One" is a compilation of the first three Ultravox albums, and issued after Foxx left the band.   What was Ultravox then, is different with Midge Ure in the lineup. 

I think the critical elements for Ultravox in general (both versions of the band) is Billy Currie's violin playing mixed in with his keyboard talents.  He has a very distinctive sound, and at times he can sound like Dave Formula, Magazine's keyboard player) who ironically enough worked with Steve Strange's Visage project.  In actuality, it's one big family.  The other is John Foxx, whose presence I presume is one from the Punk aesthetic but has a deep interest in science fiction literature, and like Bowie adopting literary works to his music, Foxx did the same.  "My Sex," "The Man  Who Dies Everyday," and "Hiroshima Mon Amour" have traces of a Ballard landscape, and it's interesting that Foxx never saw the film "Hiroshima Mon Amour" but took the title for his own purposes. 

Ultravox is conservative compared to Magazine.  Not politically speaking of course, but in the sense that their music is rarely experimental and is straightforward rock, but with added touches of electronica that gives their music so much flavor.  They can also come up with gorgeous melodies such as "My Sex" and "Hiroshima Mon Amour."   In a nutshell, Ultravox is a good band, that made good albums, but nothing exceptional about them.  Perfectly workable and enjoyable in an equal manner.  They also worked with the greats of their time:  Eno, Steve Lillywhite, and Connie Plank.  A good singles band.  Nothing wrong with that!

Ultravox! - "Ha! Ha! Ha!" CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, 2006/1977 (Island)

Not to be confused with the much later Ultravox with Midge Ure, this is the first version of the band that included the singer/lyricist John Foxx.  "Ha! Ha! Ha!" is their second album, and much improved from their first, in my humble opinion.  Foxx had a JG Ballard bent with regards to his lyrics or even with the visual aspect of the band.  At the time I thought of them as Roxy Music Jr.  Or a cousin of Howard Devoto's Magazine.   Like those two other bands, Ultravox! had an orchestrational touch to their music, meaning not strings (although there is violin in the mix) but the way the band was set-up with a wash of sound coming from them. 

They came on the scene at the height of the punk era, and was for awhile marketed as a 'punk' band, but clearly that is not what or who they are.  Songs "ROckWrok" and "The Man Who Dies Everyday" project an icy future of bleakness, and their classic "Hiroshima mon amour" (title based on the film, but I suspect that they didn't see the movie) is a beautiful electro-melody.  Steve Lilywhite did the production which is clean and energetic.  A great second album.