For someone who had pop success, in the sense that his music was topping the charts in the late 1970s, 80s and 90s, Midge Ure has enjoyed an impressive audience long after his greatest hits left the charts.  

“That’s probably because a series of events made that possible,” Midge says. “You must rewind to when people bought albums and things like that. A [commercially successful] piece of music would have a shelf life of six weeks if everyone did their job and you were incredibly, incredibly lucky getting your song on the radio or television; it would hang around for a couple of weeks and then drop, probably
never to be heard again, except to hardcore fans of course.

“We only had radio as a medium [back in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s],” he explains. “Even television offered minimal opportunities for live music performances.
We didn’t have the internet. We didn’t have smartphones. We didn’t have 24/7 television or social media – none existed.”

So, 30 years into a career, no different to Steve Louw or Cindy Alter, suddenly technology flips, and there’s a plethora of possibilities. “That said, how people listen and consume music at that turning point, and now, is radically
different,” Midge points out.

“Today, people buy very little; instead, they find and stream content online through games and similar platforms. For example, I recorded a version of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” in the early 80s for a pretty dodgy British movie, and a game used it more recently, leading an entire wealth of young people to discover this piece of music. To them, it’s new. They can’t tell whether someone recorded it yesterday or 40 years ago.