History Trivia / Ultravox

* ReferencedBy: The 1981 Music/YellowMagicOrchestra song "Cue" was written as a direct homage to Ultravox, specifically riffing on the "Music/{{Vienna}}" BSide "Passionate Reply".

* NamesTheSame: One of the early names of the band was The Damned, but they changed it when they found out [[Music/TheDamnedBand a certain Punk Rock band had already taken it]].

* NamesTheSame: One of the early names of the band was The Damned, but they changed it when they found out [[Music/TheDamned a certain Punk Rock band had already taken it]].

* ChannelHop: The band were signed onto Creator/IslandRecords throughout the John Foxx era, but switched to Creator/ChrysalisRecords during Midge Ure's tenure as frontman. The first 90's incarnation of the Billy Currie-led lineup were signed onto DSB records, and the second on Resurgance Records, with Intercord Records distributing their material in Germany. The band would return to Chrysalis for the Ure lineup's reunion and their final album, ''Brill!ant''.

* CreatorKiller: 1986's ''Music/UVox'' irreparably damaged the reputation of Ultravox as a band; while fans and critics who had followed them during the John Foxx era were already turned off by the artsier Midge Ure-fronted incarnation, the shift in sound on ''U-Vox'' to mainstream pop rock in the vein of Music/PhilCollins and Music/{{Starship}} was the straw that broke the camel's back. The album also directly led to the band's first breakup, with Midge Ure and Chris Cross becoming disillusioned by their loss of direction and leaving Ultravox, leading what was left of the band on life support until 1988. Even after Ultravox reformed in 1992 and 1994, with a brand new lineup each time, the public and press had already moved on from them, meeting 1993's ''Revelation'' and 1994's ''Ingenuity'' with apathetic indifference at best (the fact that the band were still trying to push pop rock didn't help). While the Ure lineup's eventual reunion in 2008 did rekindle interest in Ultravox, 2012's ''Brill!ant'' was polarizing among fans and critics, who had trouble deciding if the album brought the band back on their feet or simply continued the flaws of ''U-Vox''; Ultravox ended up calling it quits for good five years later. Nowadays, Ultravox is mainly thought of as a simple relic of the 80's, with their SignatureSong "Vienna" being the only recurring memory of their output in the public eye.

* JustForFun/OneOfUs:
** Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "[[{{Engrish}} Ultrabox]]" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', and would include both "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" and Ure's solo version of "Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld" in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.
** Music/GaryNuman is also a fan, particularly of the John Foxx era, having Billy Currie contribute violins to a couple of tracks on ''The Pleasure Principle''.

* OneOfUs:

* BigNameFan:
** Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "[[{{Engrish}} Ultrabox]]" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', and would include both "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" and Ure's solo version of "Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld" in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.
** Music/GaryNuman is also a fan, particularly of the John Foxx era, having Billy Currie contribute violins to a couple of tracks on ''The Pleasure Principle''.

* CreatorKiller: 1986's ''Music/{{UVox}}'' irreparably damaged the reputation of Ultravox as a band; while fans and critics who had followed them during the John Foxx era were already turned off by the artsier Midge Ure-fronted incarnation, the shift in sound on ''U-Vox'' to mainstream pop rock in the vein of Music/PhilCollins and Music/{{Starship}} was the straw that broke the camel's back. The album also directly led to the band's first breakup, with Midge Ure and Chris Cross becoming disillusioned by their loss of direction and leaving Ultravox, leading what was left of the band on life support until 1988. Even after Ultravox reformed in 1992 and 1994, with a brand new lineup each time, the public and press had already moved on from them, meeting 1993's ''Revelation'' and 1994's ''Ingenuity'' with apathetic indifference at best (the fact that the band were still trying to push pop rock didn't help). While the Ure lineup's eventual reunion in 2008 did rekindle interest in Ultravox, 2012's ''Brill!ant'' was polarizing among fans and critics, who had trouble deciding if the album brought the band back on their feet or simply continued the flaws of ''U-Vox''; Ultravox ended up calling it quits for good five years later. Nowadays, Ultravox is mainly thought of as a simple relic of the 80's, with their SignatureSong "Vienna" being the only recurring memory of their output in the public eye.

* DisownedAdaptation: Midge Ure, Chris Cross, and Warren Cann were openly scathing towards the two 90's iterations of Ultravox, describing ''Revelation'' as "just clean, catchy early 90's pop with a faceless new singers" and the era as a whole as Ultravox InNameOnly. This sentiment serves as a major factor in the 90's albums remaining out of print since the Ure lineup's reformation in 2008.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The band's 90's material is treated as this, having been ignored by Ultravox and their associates since the Midge Ure lineup's 2008 reunion. While rights issues may play a part in this (given that both ''Revelation'' and ''Ingenuity'' were released on completely different labels), the fact that the 90's albums were critical and commercial failures and featured radically different lineups with the sole exception of Billy Currie are also major factors in them being put by the wayside; classic-era alums Ure, Warren Caan, and Chris Cross even went so far as to call the era Ultravox InNameOnly.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The band's 90's material is treated as this, having been ignored by Ultravox and their associates since the Midge Ure lineup's 2008 reunion. While rights issues may play a part in this (given that both ''Revelation'' and ''Ingenuity'' were released on completely different labels), the fact that the 90's albums were critical and commercial failures and featured radically different lineups with the sole exception of Billy Currie are also major factors in them being put by the wayside.

** Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "[[{{Engrish}} Ultrabox]]" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', and including "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" and Ure's version of "Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld" in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.

** Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "Ultrabox" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''.

* ThePeteBest: Foxx, in a rare case of this happening with a band that had already been signed and released several albums (to modest success and critical acclaim, to be fair). After he left, the band had its first-ever hit singles with Midge Ure at the mike, and remained fixtures of the UK pop charts for several years. Foxx's solo career brought him some minor hits, and he withdrew from music for a time after 1985.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: John Foxx was approached early in the band's life as a potential vocalist for Music/{{The Clash}}, while a pre-Ultravox Midge Ure was one of the people Malcolm [=Mc=]laren considered as a vocalist for the Music/{{Sex Pistols}}.

Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "Ultrabox" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''.

* BigNameFan: Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos. Kojima would later give the band a ShoutOut via the "Ultrabox" boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''.

* BigNameFan: Creator/HideoKojima is a fan of Ultravox's Midge Ure-era output, at one point [[https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1048597452754903040 taking on a part-time job in the 1980's]] specifically to buy a videotape compilation of their music videos.

* NamesTheSame: One of the early names of the band was The Damned, but they changed it when they found out [[Music/TheDamned a certain Punk Rock band had already taken it]].