Ure joking!
in Cambuslang until he was 10 and his guitar has allowed him an incredible life.
But he said: “Of course Glasgow is home. Home is the streets I remember walking along dreaming of having a guitar, going past the scout hall in Kirkhill where I first got up in front of an audience and sang.
“No one will look twice at you but, just as you are walking away, would say, ‘Are you up to see your mammy?’” ike many Scots, he’s not afraid of hard work. In the late 70s and early 80s, he was juggling Thin Lizzy, taking over frontman duties from John Foxx in Ultravox and starting Visage. And he still isn’t work shy – he toured the US, Europe and the UK last year.
And while we know he has a knack for a catchy hook in songs like Vienna, Dancing with Tears in My Eyes and Fade to Grey, he also insisted the sound of Scotland runs through his music.
Midge said: “I have spent my adult life trying to avoid learning traditional Scottish tunes.
“It wasn’t until I wrote a song for Ultravox called All Fall Down then Man Of Two Worlds. They were so ridiculously Celtic.
“The moment you hear a traditional instrument playing one of my melodies it instantly sounds Scottish.
“We like a haunting, mournful, longing song and are good at crying in our drinks.”
Well not now for Midge. Unless it’s a cup of tea.
He has been tea-total for 14 years after a Cornish holiday when his then 11-year-old daughter caught him going to the car for a bottle of alcohol rather than playing with her.
Midge said: “Stopping drinking was one of the hardest things I’ve done. It was particularly weird for me because, when I lived in Glasgow, I never drank.
“But I was brought to my knees by drink.”
As well as his bands, Midge is best known for co-writing and producing the world’s most famous charity song, Do They Know It’s Christmas. And while he isn’t a Sir yet, like Geldof, he does have an OBE. But he’s happy with that. He said: “It’s a bit like your teacher giving you a pat on the back and a gold star at school.
“That’s how it feels on a much higher scale.”
Songs, Questions and Answers goes to Eden Court, Inverness, March 7, Concert Hall, Motherwell, March 9, Queens Hall, Edinburgh, March 10, The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, March 11. The 1980 Tour is at Glasgow Barrowland on October 13. For info and tickets go to: www. midgeure.co.uk/shows.html