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Vienna (Ultravox song)

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"Vienna"
Single by Ultravox
from the album Vienna
B-side
  • "Passionate Reply"
  • "Herr X" (12-inch single only)
Released9 January 1981 (1981-01-09)
Recorded1980
StudioRAK, London, UK
Genre
Length
  • 4:37 (single edit)
  • 4:53 (album and 12-inch version)
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Ultravox singles chronology
"Passing Strangers"
(1980) 		"Vienna"
(1981) 		"All Stood Still"
(1981)

"Vienna" is a song by British new wave band Ultravox, released on 9 January 1981 by Chrysalis Records[3] as the third single and the title track from their fourth studio album of the same name. Featuring Midge Ure on lead vocals, the new wave ballad[1] is regarded as a staple of the synth-pop genre that was popularised in the early 1980s and remains both the band's signature song and their most commercially successful release.

The song was also performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Wembley Stadium, and is often performed live by Ure in solo performances.

Background

[edit]

Written in January 1980,[4] "Vienna" has a dramatic grand piano in the verses and chorus, and a viola solo in the middle of the song. Other sounds include a solid synth bass line played on a MiniMoog, an Elka string synthesiser and a Roland CR-78 drum machine. The drum machine pattern created by Warren Cann was the basis of the song.[5] Cann and the classically trained Billy Currie together wanted to create something that might sound like it had been written by a late-19th-century romantic composer, so they started creating the basic chords and sounds of the song, and the romantic viola solo was influenced by German composer Max Reger.[4]

The lyrics, which describe a brief love affair in the city of Vienna, were quickly written by Midge Ure. According to Currie, Ure was hesitant about the overly classical romantic feel of the orchestration, and said: "This means nothing to me", to which the producer Conny Plank replied: "Well, sing that then." Ure said that he had in his mind only the line "The feeling is gone, this means nothing to me – oh Vienna!" when he went into studio.[4] Then he wrote the vocal part while bass player Chris Cross started playing some bass lines with his synthesizer.

In interviews at the time it was said that the song took its inspiration from the 1949 film The Third Man, which is based around the Austrian capital, but Midge Ure later admitted he made that up when asked what the song was about.[5] Ure is said to have been influenced by the Walker Brothers' 1978 single "The Electrician".[6] According to Ure's autobiography, the title came about by a mishearing of the Fleetwood Mac song "Rhiannon".[7]

Ure said of the track: "We wanted to take the song and make it incredibly pompous in the middle, leaving it very sparse before and after, but finishing with a typically over-the top classical ending."[8]

The band's record company Chrysalis Records was reluctant to release the song as a single, as they thought it was too slow and too long to be successful, but relented after the band persisted.

Release and chart performance

[edit]

The single spent four consecutive weeks at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart,[9] kept off the top spot by John Lennon's "Woman" for a week[10] and then by Joe Dolce's "Shaddap You Face" for a further three weeks.[11][12][13] It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in February 1981, denoting sales of over 500,000 copies in the UK,[3] and eventually became the UK's sixth best-selling single of 1981.[14] The single topped the charts in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.[4]

It was voted Britain's favourite single ever to peak at No. 2 on the charts in a 2012 poll by BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company (OCC), and was also awarded an honorary No. 1 by the OCC.[15]

In 2017, Ure was offered the chance to meet Dolce, but Ure declined, saying: "I've had 40 years of people talking about Joe 'Bloody' Dolce and I don't want to spend what I've got left talking about when I met him."[16]

Music video

[edit]
The grave of Carl Schweighofer in 2009

The music video, directed by Russell Mulcahy,[17] is particularly evocative of The Third Man. It was Ultravox's second video, after "Passing Strangers" (also with Mulcahy), and cost £6000–£7000, footed by the band after Chrysalis refused to fund it.[18]

The gravestone that is shown in the video and on the single cover is part of the grave of the Austrian piano manufacturer Carl Schweighofer, and is located in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. The city's cathedral and Michaelerplatz square also feature.[19]

B-sides

[edit]

The B-side to the single is "Passionate Reply". It was recorded in August 1980 at Criteria Studios in Miami, on their American tour.[18] Cann said to Jonas Wårstad about the track: "The B-side of the 7", 'Passionate Reply' was a promising song, perhaps it needed some 'living with' before we would've considered it finished. As it was, we thought it made a good B-side."[20]

The 12-inch single includes "Herr X", a version of the Kraftwerk-esque album track "Mr. X" sung entirely in German by Warren Cann with the aid of native German producer Conny Plank. Both tracks were included on the remastered CD version of the Vienna album as bonus tracks.

Reissue

[edit]
"Vienna"
CD single #1
Single by Ultravox
from the album If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox
B-side
Released25 January 1993 (1993-01-25)
RecordedFebruary 1980
StudioRAK, London
Length4:37
LabelChrysalis
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Ultravox singles chronology
"Vienna 92"
(1992) 		"Vienna"
(1993) 		"I Am Alive"
(1993)

In 1993 "Vienna" was re-released by Chrysalis, to promote the Midge Ure/Ultravox greatest hits compilation If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox. This reissue peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.[21] Like the compilation album, the single also included songs by Midge Ure (as B-sides).

Track listings

[edit]

All songs written and composed by Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie and Midge Ure, except where noted.

1981

[edit]

7-inch vinyl

  • UK, Australia: Chrysalis / CHS 2481
  • Germany, Netherlands: Chrysalis / 102 905
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Vienna" (Single edit)4:37
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Passionate Reply"4:17

12-inch vinyl

  • UK, France: Chrysalis / CHS 12 2481
  • Germany: Chrysalis / 600 352-213
  • Netherlands: Chrysalis / 12.2481
Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Vienna"4:53
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Passionate Reply"4:17
2."Herr X"5:49

1993

[edit]

CD

  • UK: Chrysalis / CDCHS 3936
  • UK: Chrysalis / CDCHSS 3936 ("Limited edition collectors pack CD1 of a 2CD set", with space for the second CD)
No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Vienna" Ultravox4:37
2."Answers to Nothing"UreMidge Ure3:40
3."The Voice" Ultravox4:24
4."Wastelands"
  • Ure
  • Daniel Mitchell
Midge Ure4:22

UK: Chrysalis / CDCHS 3937

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Vienna" Ultravox4:37
2."Call of the Wild"UreMidge Ure4:18
3."One Small Day" Ultravox4:27
4."Hymn" Ultravox4:24

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for "Vienna"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[3] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

"Vienna 92"

[edit]
"Vienna 92"
Single by Ultravox
B-side"Systems of Love"
Released24 March 1992
RecordedBerwick Street (London)
Genre
Length
  • 4:35 (The classic mix)
  • 7:31 (Goodnight Vienna remix)
LabelZYX
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Ultravox
  • Rod Gammons
Ultravox singles chronology
"All in One Day"
(1987) 		"Vienna 92"
(1992) 		"Vienna"
(1993)

In March 1992, a re-recorded version of "Vienna", by a new Ultravox line-up, was released as a single in Germany. This line-up consisted of original Ultravox member Billy Currie on keyboards, violin and percussion, and Tony Fenelle on vocals, guitar and percussion. The backing vocals on B-side "Systems of Love" were performed by Alison Limerick and Jackie Williams. The single did not chart. It was not included in the album Revelation.

Track listings

[edit]

12-inch vinyl

Germany: ZYX / 6767-12

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vienna 92" (Goodnight Vienna remix)
7:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vienna 92" (The classic mix)
  • Cann
  • Cross
  • Currie
  • Ure
4:35
2."Systems of Love"
  • Currie
  • Rod Gammons
  • Tony Fenelle
4:31

CD

Germany: ZYX / 6767-8

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Vienna 92" (The classic mix)
  • Cann
  • Cross
  • Currie
  • Ure
4:35
2."Vienna 92" (Goodnight Vienna remix)
  • Cann
  • Cross
  • Currie
  • Ure
7:31
3."Systems of Love"
  • Currie
  • Gammons
  • Fenelle
4:31

Cover versions

[edit]

Vic Reeves

[edit]

In 1992, comedian Vic Reeves (Jim Moir) appeared on the album Ruby Trax – The NME's Roaring Forty, singing a version of the song with different lyrics in the verses. The compilation was released by NME, a magazine that had been publishing single charts since 1952, with all records covered having reached the number-one slot in their own charts during 40 years of publication.[39][40][41] As "Vienna" by Ultravox reached number one on the NME charts on 21 February 1981 (staying at the top for one week) it was eligible for inclusion within the concept of the project, where it would not have been allowed if NME had been following the British Market Research Bureau/Gallup chart (now branded as the Official Chart).

References

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  1. ^ a b LLC, SPIN Media (2 August 1998). "SPIN". SPIN Media LLC – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Dalton, Stephen (17 February 2020). "Midge Ure: Forum, Bath". The Times. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "British single certifications – Ultravox – Vienna". British Phonographic Industry. 1 February 1981. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Sullivan, Caroline (18 July 2017). "How we made Ultravox's Vienna". The Guardian.
  5. ^ a b Webb, Robert (22 August 2008). "Story of the Song: 'Vienna', Ultravox (1981)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022.
  6. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Nite Flights – The Walker Brothers". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  7. ^ "2020 ➤ Yes, Midge Ure has Fleetwood Mac to thank for his landmark hit Vienna". ➢➢ Shapers of the 80s ➣➣. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  8. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Vienna – Ultravox". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Ultravox: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75". Official Charts Company. 8–14 February 1981. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75". Official Charts Company. 15–21 February 1981. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75". Official Charts Company. 22–28 February 1981. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75". Official Charts Company. 1–7 March 1981. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  14. ^ a b Copsey, Rob (5 March 2021). "The Official Top 50 best-selling songs of 1981". Official Charts Company.
  15. ^ Barnes, Anthony (31 December 2012). "Ultravox hit 'Vienna' named nation's favourite number two single". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022.
  16. ^ Fulton, Rick (13 February 2019). "Why Ultravox singer snubbed meeting Joe Dolce after iconic 80s chart battle". Daily Record. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  17. ^ Garcia, Alex S. "Ultravox - Vienna (version 1: concept)". Music Video Database. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
  18. ^ a b "ultravox-interview". 31 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Vienna by Ultravox: video locations". www.visitingvienna.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  20. ^ "ultravox-interview". 31 July 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  22. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 317. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  23. ^ "Ultravox – Vienna" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Ultravox – Vienna" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  25. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Vienna". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 15, 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Ultravox – Vienna" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  28. ^ "Ultravox – Vienna". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  29. ^ "SA Charts 1965–1989 (As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion) – Acts U". The South African Rock Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  30. ^ "Ultravox – Vienna". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  31. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Ultravox – Vienna" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  32. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 8. 20 February 1993. p. 23. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  33. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. No. 393. 4 January 1982 – via Imgur.
  34. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1981 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  35. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  36. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  37. ^ "Top Selling Singles of 1981". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  38. ^ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts – 1981" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  39. ^ "Who We Are - History of the Official Charts - the Fifties". Official Charts.
  40. ^ "Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  41. ^ "Who We Are - History of the Official Charts - The Eighties". Official Charts.
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