Meeting My First Crush...

When I was 15, I started listening to George Gilmarc every Sunday night on KZEW to hear all of the "new wave/punk" music.  At the time, I was a huge Police fan and loved their music immensely.  The cool part about George's show was that he introduced me to music that just did not make the regular rotation on other stations.  (Well, not until THE EDGE showed up in 1989).  

I heard the G0-Gos, Magazine, UB-40, U2, Depeche Mode, Devo, Bauhaus, The Sparks, and many others.  My other favorite band was called Ultravox.  Their music followed along with the "New Romantic" era - mainly synthesizers, but it rocked as well.  The song I fell in love with was called "Vienna".  I had seen the video on one of the late night music video shows.  At that time, the video was quite the experience - it captured a story and was elegant.  I loved it.

Soon, the next song I fell in love with was "Reap the Wild Wind".  Something about that song the first time I heard it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.  I immediately fell in love with it.  I had wanted to see the band perform, but at that time, most of these bands rarely played Reunion arena - they played nightclubs where I was too  young to attend alone.

By my freshman year in college, I was a full-blown Ultravox fan with the entire vinyl and cassette collection I could get my hands on.  My friend, Caroline, would encourage my fandom by getting bits and pieces of articles and press releases for me - at the time, she was working her way to be a music journalist.  Her thoughts were that I should not go into computers, but be a writer - I had gained an extensive background on the British music scene and could provide accurate information on all bands.  (I spent too much time reading and listening to music.)

In 1984, when Band Aid recorded Do They Know It's Christmas?, I was all over that because the lead singer, Midge Ure, from Ultravox had helped write the song with Bob Geldof.  Live Aid - I stayed up and recorded the entire show, but was only interested in the London performers.  When Ultravox came to the stage, I was glued to the TV.  I missed hearing Reap the Wild Wind, but was able to see the band perform the other songs.

After that, hearing much from Ultravox was scarce.  The band never really came back to the US for touring.  Next, was Midge's solo stuff.  For his first solo album in 1985, he toured in NY and other east coast places, but never made it to Dallas.  It seemed to be a trend with many British bands - after their "heyday", no one rarely saw them tour this part of the states.  I figured I would probably never get to see him live and I just lived with that.

In July, Retro Futura started promoting their tour of British 80's bands, such as Howard Jones, Thompson Twins (Tom Bailey), Katrina from Katrina and the Waves, China Crisis, and MIDGE URE.  Whoa!  I started viewing the tour dates.  Again, only touring in the east and west coasts.  The closest place to see the band would have been in California or Las Vegas, NV.  Due to animal health issues, I just cannot spend the money for that.  I posted a message:

Why won't you come to Dallas?

The organizers of the tour stated that bands like them did not sell well in the SE.  I thought, maybe I should contact KXT and see if they could help as they had supported various other 80's bands going to the The Granada Theater.  I figured it would be the perfect venue for the bands.

I got wrapped up with work and pet stuff, then an announcement was made that the tour would be making a stop in Dallas at the Verizon Center.  I decided I really should go because I had posted that question and next, how could I possibly miss getting to see Midge Ure?  This might be my last chance!  So, when tickets were released for sale - I got one!

I had a great seat near the front of the stage.  Seeing Katrina perform was great - she was chatty, but I love that.  That makes me feel like part of the performance.  China Crisis came out after her and I was reminded how much I had really liked them.  When Midge Ure hit the stage, I was excited to hear everyone give him such huge applause.  For years, I felt I was alone in liking Ultravox and his solo work in this area, but now, I knew there were other fans!

It was so great to see him perform - he was fantastic!  His voice had not changed one bit over the years and he really rocked out the songs.  At the end of Midge's set, the first 3 bands went to the front and did a meet and greet.  If I passed on that, I was crazy.  After awhile, they all showed up and signed stuff and had their pictures taken.  

When I finally got to meet Midge, I told him what I huge fan I was of Ultravox and his solo work.  I inquired if he would be able to bring his acoustic show to the Dallas area.  He told me that he was really pushing for getting into America, but when Ultravox stopped touring the US, his management group and he had lost their various contacts, but they were working on it.  I asked if Ultravox would be doing another release and he stated that the band was dormant, but the band member just needed to decide upon their next direction.  

At that point, I got my picture made - I did not have anything for him to sign.  Honestly, I had been a fan member and I had some signed stuff from that.  The picture meant more to me than anything else.  The person behind me was kind enough to take two pictures.  I am more than thrilled to have met this wonderfully talented man.  I am grateful I did not lose it, too!  LOL

I had to share this story because I have been on air since meeting Midge.  I do hope he comes through for an acoustic show.  I would be there for that!