If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox

Personnel includes: Midge Ure (vocals, guitar); Kate Bush, Phil Lynott, Steve Strange (vocals); Ian McLagen (piano); Billy McIssac (keyboards, vocals); Billy Currie (keyboards, violin); Jim McInlay, Chris Cross, Russell Webb (bass); Glenn Matlock (bass, vocals); Kenny Hyslop, Mark Brzezicki, Simon Phillips (drums).
Producers include: Midge Ure, Ultravox, John Hudson, Rik Walton, Mick Karn.
Engineers: John Hudson, Rik Walton, Geoff Emerick.
Personnel: Midge Ure (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Steve New (vocals, guitar); Billy McIsaac (vocals, keyboards); Glen Matlock, Steve Strange, Kate Bush, Ali Campbell , Robin Campbell (vocals); John McGeoch (guitar); Billy Burrie (violin, keyboards); Paddy Moloney (tin whistle, Uilleann pipe); Gary Barnacle (brass, horns); John Thirkell, Peter Thoms, Derek Watkins (brass); Ian McLagan, Craig Armstrong (piano); Josh Phillips-Gorse (Mellotron, keyboards); Dave Formula, Robbie Kilgore (keyboards); Paul Mosby (synthesizer); Kenny Hyslop (drums, percussion); Lindsey Elliott, Warren Cann, Mark Brzezicki, Rusty Egan, Simon Phillips (drums); Steve Williams (percussion, electronic percussion); Chris Ballin, Ricci P. Washington, Yona Dunsford, Jackie Sheridan, Gwen Depree, Phil Gannon, Vicki St. James, Kate Stephenson, Angela Brown, Jackie Challenor, Glenn Gregory, Michael McCloud, Lorenza Johnson, Gwen Dupree, Carol Douet, Sheilah Cuffy, Mae McKenna, Sylvia Mason James, Angie Brown, Carol Kenyon (background vocals).
Audio Remixer: Midge Ure .
Photographers: Peter Sherrard; Trevor Ray Hart.
Midge Ure's career, as fans well know, did not begin nor end with Ultravox, and IF I WAS: THE VERY BEST OF MIDGE URE & ULTRAVOX attempts to give an overview of one of Britain's most popular singers. In the early-'80s, Ure was fronting two hit-bound bands: Visage and Ultravox. Visage gets short shrift here, Ultravox invariably, if unfairly, the better represented of the two. In 1981, as both bands' albums and singles swept up the charts, Ure linked up with Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott for yet another hit, "Yellow Pearl." The following year, the new romantic hero launched his solo career with the Top 10 single "No Regrets." By the end of 1982 Ure had departed Visage, but in the New Year he joined forces with Japan's Mick Karn for the "After a Fashion" single, another hit. And then, of course, there's "Do They Know It's Christmas", co-written by Ure and Bob Geldof, to raise millions for Ethiopian famine relief. 1984 was to be Ultravox's swan song, but Ure re-emerged the next year as a solo artist, with hit following hit into the beginning of the new decade. All of them are here, and for fans, this is a solid set.