In honor of his musical colleague, Midge Ure has led tributes to his Ultravox bandmate and ‘Vienna’ co-writer, Chris Cross, who passed away at the age of 71.
Born Chris Allen, the new wave group’s bass player died March 25 and Ure confirmed the news overnight, admitting that Chris was “the glue that held the band together”.
In a touching social media tribute, the now 70-year-old former Ultravox frontman wrote:
“We worked together, we played together, made music and directed videos together.” “We were instant friends as well as Ultravox comrades. Even after years apart we managed to pick up where we left off like the years in between never existed. You were the glue that held the band together.” “You were the logic in the madness and the madness in our lives. It was great to know and grow with you. You are loved and missed old friend.”
Originally called Tiger Lily, Chris joined the and in 1974, and Ultravox released Brilliant, their final full length in 2012.
Peaking at #2 in the United Kingdom, Midge and Chris co-wrote ‘Vienna,’ Ultravox’s biggest hit, with Ure telling Classic Pop magazine last year “That ghost will never be laid to rest. It’s the novelty factor. That’s why people are still talking about ‘Vienna’ today. If it had got to number one, no one would be bothered.”
Ultravox’s LP of the same name also missed the top spot when it failed to overtake Kate Bush’s classic record ‘Hounds of Love’, though Midge never felt bad about it because he was a fan of the singer’s work, joking “I bought ‘Hounds of Love’ so I probably shot myself in the foot there.”
Midge and Kate went on to work together, recording the track ‘Sister and Brother’ for his 1988 solo album ‘Answers to Nothing’.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: GraceKelly