in my younger, more impressionable days, i heard that Ultravox were crap, and heard the chorus of Vienna, didnt think too much of it, an decided to go with the imparted consensus that they were, indeed, A Bad Thing.

also, considering how offensively bad (musically) i found the band aid 20 thing, midge ure's talens were, in my eyes, belittled.

a couple of months ago, a friend started raving about Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. i gave it a listen, figured that it was "alright as far as 80s pop goes". kinda dug it in an ironic, plastic soulful kinda way.

THEN! t'other day i bought a stack of second hand vinyl at a local junk shop, including Ultravox's The Collection, pretty much just to have some kind of vicarious giggle with said "Dancing..." lover. Gave it a listen before handing it over to him to use as wall decorarion or something and...

BAM.

shock AND awe at Ultravox being, in many, many ways, REALLY FUCKING GREAT.

the synths, the beats, the guitars (still not toooo hot on the vocals), all good in the way many elements of Phil Collins stuff is exemplary. just lots of fucking CREATIVITY and ORIGINALITY in their music.

the moral of the story being
um
second hand vinyl is a cheap way of trying to understand music you dont normally come into contact with.

or something.