Altrok Radio - Blog: Ultravox At Live Aid: "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"

Friday, June 19, 2009

Ultravox At Live Aid: "Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"

Ultravox, in their New Wave incarnation (their John Foxx period straddled the divide between Glam and New Wave) were inevitably, almost as a compulsory part of the genre they were in, a bit pretentious. I, being a fan, appreciated all that pretense.

But there's something about a hot, sunny day that knocks down the pretense a bit, and if you've got nothing besides pretense, it's gonna show. This clip from just such a hot, sunny day proves Ultravox had more - a lot more - than pretense going for them.

I still remember the observation from folks that were curious about Live Aid and tuned in for the grandeur of it, without necessarily knowing or caring about the bands that were playing, citing Midge Ure for showing some incredible vocal chops onstage that day. They made a few fans that day, though not enough to crack the US charts in any significant way.

Still, it's a glorious performance I stumbled across today as I continued a methodical (though necessarily occasional) digitizing of my Betamax tapes...and no, this isn't my upload; mine's a lot noisier and a lot less stereo. I figured you deserved better.

0 Comments:

Please Look At Our Advertisers (Or The Website Gets It)

Congratulations, you've found the hidden text.

Welcome to Altrok.com, also available at AltrokRadio.com and AltrockRadio.com. Here's where the remaining listeners of several fine radio stations have retreated, regrouped, and built a replacement strong enough to stand on its own. It builds on the independent legacy of New Jersey's FM106.3, New York's WPIX and WLIR, Oklahoma's 105.3 The Spy, the pre-buyout mindset of KROQ, WBCN and WHFS and of every other alternative station that was destroyed at a moment's notice - not because they weren't making money, but because there was bigger money to be found elsewhere.

We've stood by as truly independent alternative rock radio died. Sure, something called "alternative" took its place, but we know for sure that anything that "tests well" with soccer moms just ain't alternative. (Even if some of us happen to be soccer moms.) So we've taken matters into our own hands.

This really is independent alternative rock radio, visible here at Altrok.com and audible at our web radio station. It has the classic music that fired our passions back in the day - or that we maybe only heard about from our elders - but it's mostly made of the new music that does precisely the same for us now. We're paying attention to scenes all over the world, watching the energy build, and waiting to see what it creates. Wherever it happens, we'll make sure you can hear about it here. We've been slowly building all this since 2001, and now that you've noticed us, we're glad you're here.

Of course, it's only here because you want it to be here, and it can only stay if you help it along - especially by checking out our advertisers (they support us) and by listening (the more that listen, the more visible we are.) Please use the "feedback" link above to let us know whether it works for you, and what you want it to be as the future unfolds. (And if you need help hearing it, let us know that, too.)