Ultravox (GB)

About

Also known as: Currie, Cross, Cann, Ure, Midge Ure and Ultravox, Ultravox!, Utravox

Few songs sum up the early 1980s quite like "Vienna", the glacial synth pop centrepiece that became Ultravox's signature hit in 1981 and reached number two in the UK. The London band had been kicking around since 1974 under the name Tiger Lily, cycling through punk and art rock influences before landing on the sleek, synth forward sound that made them famous. That transformation really clicked when Midge Ure stepped in as frontman, after he and keyboardist Billy Currie had been working together on the Visage project. Between 1980 and 1986, the band racked up seven top ten albums and seventeen top 40 singles in the UK, a run that still holds up as one of the more impressive streaks in British new wave. The classic lineup of Ure, Currie, Chris Cross and Warren Cann reunited in 2008 and released Brill!ant in 2012, which climbed to number 21 on the UK Albums Chart. Their catalogue has stayed in circulation too, with remastered versions of tracks like "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes" and "Reap the Wild Wind" keeping the back pages fresh for new listeners.