Ultravox, official biography out now: "Too rock for electronic fans, too electronic for the rock crowd"

From the experimental beginnings with John Foxx to international success with Midge Ure, passing through the birth of synth-pop, internal tensions and the subsequent reunions: here comes “Looking Backwards Towards the Future: The Story of Ultravox”, the first authorized biography of Ultravox. The book, written by Richard Evans and published on October 8 by Omnibus Press, traces more than four decades of history of one of the most influential bands in British electronic music, with a foreword penned by Moby.
The book, a 400-page hardcover edition, is the result of extensive research carried out with the direct cooperation of the band's main members, their collaborators, record labels and management. Evans, already the author of “Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983”, gathered unpublished testimonies, archival documents and personal memories to reconstruct an artistic journey marked by constant transformation, great insight and creative conflict.

The story

The story begins in London in 1974, when the band was formed under the name Tiger Lily, before turning into Ultravox! under the leadership of John Foxx. Initially tied to an experimental art-rock sound, the musicians gradually developed a language in which guitars, synthesizers and post-punk suggestions coexisted in an original balance. Collaborations with producers such as Brian Eno, Steve Lillywhite and Conny Plank helped define a sound that anticipated many of the developments of 1980s electronic music, without however achieving immediate commercial success.

The turning point that would lead to international success came in 1979, with Midge Ure replacing Foxx. The following year, “Vienna” brought Ultravox into the charts, turning them into one of the flagship bands of the new synth-pop and new romantic era. The title track, with its interplay of synthesizers, piano and strings, reached number two on the UK chart, while between 1980 and 1986 the band racked up seven Top 10 albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK.
But Evans's biography aims above all to go beyond the band's best-known hits, restoring to Ultravox the role of pioneers that, according to the author, has never been fully acknowledged.

Interviewed by the specialist site Side-Line, Evans explained that this very contradiction was one of the main reasons that drove him to devote an entire book to the British band. “They were one of the few groups who were often ahead of musical trends, genuine pioneers, but so far ahead of their time that they almost never got the recognition they deserved”, he said. “I was also drawn to them because they never made life easy for themselves. They kept trying to explore new territory, often sacrificing the chance of more immediate commercial success”.
According to the author, Ultravox's difficulty in being pinned down to a precise genre is one of the most fascinating aspects of their story: “They never really fit into any category. They were too rock for electronic purists, too electronic for rock audiences, too artistic, too stubborn in their convictions. All qualities that make them such an interesting band”.

Foxx/Ure: two eras compared

A significant part of the book is naturally devoted to John Foxx, whose artistic vision is considered fundamental to the birth of the band's identity. Evans recalls that the original idea for Ultravox was born almost as a kind of university project, inspired by a lecture Foxx attended during his art studies. “John Foxx is a fascinating character, he'd deserve a biography all of his own. He's incredibly articulate and curious, a genuine innovator, and his career spans music, art, design and academia”.
Particular attention is given to “Systems Of Romance”, the 1978 album made with Conny Plank, considered one of the key steps in defining the language of modern electronic music. “That record represented a special moment, when creativity and technology were being explored in new ways, and Ultravox were among the very first to do so”, Evans observes. “Listening back to those records during my research, I discovered so many quirks and fragments of a musical DNA that anticipated everything that would come afterwards, not just for the band, but for music in general”.

The arrival of Midge Ure marked a profound change, not just commercially, but also in the creative balance of power. While in the first incarnation Foxx's personality had been the main artistic driving force, in the later line-up, according to Evans, a more equal relationship developed among the members. “I think the key was really equality. The previous band was essentially a John Foxx project, whereas in the new line-up everyone carried the same weight, and that produced a very strong creative connection”.
The relationship with the new romantic scene is also reassessed from a less conventional angle. Evans points out that Ultravox didn't particularly identify with that label, preferring instead to call themselves “Futurists”. And yet the movement that grew up around London's Blitz Club was decisive for the success of “Vienna”, because it helped build a shared imagery around sounds that were still unfamiliar to the general public. “It took the Blitz and the new romantics to build a whole world around that music, adding dance floors, fashion and a convincing post-punk aesthetic. That scene allowed very different artists, Ultravox included, to break into the mainstream under the cover of New Romanticism”.

Depeche Mode and the reunion

The book also includes a curious episode involving Depeche Mode. Evans interviewed Vince Clarke, reconstructing the story of Stevo, founder of Some Bizzare, who had dangled in front of the Basildon band the possibility of opening for Ultravox as an incentive to get them to sign with him. “The story is absolutely true”, the author confirms, though he adds that he doubts Stevo was actually in a position to keep that promise.
Another central aspect of the biography concerns Ultravox's refusal to repeat formulas that had already proven successful. After the triumph of “Vienna”, rather than making an easily marketable follow-up, the band released “Rage In Eden” in 1981, a darker, more complex and eccentric work. “It's very typical of Ultravox that, after a huge success like ‘Vienna’, they made such a strange and eccentric album, when the safer choice would simply have been to repeat what they had already done”, Evans points out.

Success, however, also ended up altering the band's internal balance. The relentless pace of recording, releasing and touring fed personal tensions and creative difficulties. The author doesn't shy away from these aspects, while trying to represent the different accounts given by those involved. While preparing the book, he also consulted interviews published by the fanzine “Extreme Voice”, including a particularly candid testimony from Warren Cann given after his departure from the band.
The research involved, besides the musicians, figures such as Steve Lillywhite, Vince Clarke, Nick Rhodes and Moby. The latter, a great admirer of Ultravox especially from the Midge Ure era, agreed to write the foreword after talking with Evans. “His enthusiasm for Ultravox was so contagious and sincere that he seemed like the perfect person to introduce the book”, the author recounts.

Evans also dwells on the 2008 reunion, which came about almost by chance when former manager Chris O'Donnell contacted the four members of the classic line-up to see whether they might be willing to perform together again. All of them responded positively, kicking off a new phase that culminated in the 2012 album “Brilliant”. An experience that, according to the author, ended up bringing some of the old tensions back to the surface.

An authorized but independent biography

Despite being an authorized biography, Evans insists on the independence of his work. None of the musicians, he explains, asked to read the manuscript while it was being written, nor did they impose any particular conditions. Faced with conflicting memories, he tried to present the different perspectives, leaving out only elements he considered unfair, excessively personal or unsupported by evidence. The result is a portrait that attempts to capture the full complexity of a band too often identified solely with “Vienna” and “Dancing With Tears in My Eyes“, but whose contribution spans post-punk, new wave, synth-pop, and reaches all the way to Detroit techno and subsequent generations of electronic musicians.

“I don't think Ultravox have ever really received the respect they deserve”, Evans concludes in the Side-Line interview. “I hope this book can remind people of what they achieved and help them get that recognition. If it manages to show readers aspects of Ultravox they didn't know about before, that would be fantastic. Even just reminding people of the breadth and quality of their catalogue and bringing attention back to those songs would already be a significant achievement”.
“Looking Backwards Towards the Future: The Story of Ultravox” thus presents itself not merely as a biographical reconstruction, but also as a critical reassessment of a band that helped change the language of pop music, often anticipating transformations that others would later ride to success.

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