What's wrong with Vienna?

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trans-chigley express
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What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby trans-chigley express » 23 Jan 2009, 11:08

The Ultravox song, not the city.

I've always liked it but it seems to be universally hated. Joe Dolce's crappy one hit wonder always gets a bit of praise for "at least keeping Vienna from the reaching no.1". Why shouldn't I pick it for my BCB cup list? :D

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 23 Jan 2009, 11:13

Everything with a melody that was once derided is now praised. This process, and the song itself you're referring to, bores the shit out of me.

When there's nothing interesting in the present that's worth talking about, we look to the past. It's like looking through you're rubbish for scraps of food when you end up skint and starving.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Insouciant Western People » 23 Jan 2009, 11:20

I quite like it, but then I was playing The Best of Midge Ure and Ultravox the otehr night and rather enjoying a fair few tunes on there. Dancing With Tears in my Eyes is a belter too.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Goat Boy » 23 Jan 2009, 11:22

It's not as good as Young Savage.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Limpin' Jez McKenzie » 23 Jan 2009, 11:27

Writing about "Don't cry for me, Argentina", Tim Rice commented that the song had become so familiar, almost cheesy, that it was difficult to recall how unusual the song sounded at the time of release - for example DCFMA includes some humming. This is true of Vienna - at the time it sounded unusual, but now we think ho hum. Dozens of songs with which we have become very familiar suffer this effect.

I think it is an okay song, but I don't own any Ultravox records so don't hear it very much. I do recall that when it was released it was the trendiest thing around.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby The Prof » 23 Jan 2009, 11:31

Vic Reeves ruined it. Or showed it up for being silly depending on which way you look at it.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Moleskin » 23 Jan 2009, 11:37

I liked it, although was rather sorry it was released as a single. And it is sort of a pale shadow of 'Just For A Moment'.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Nikki Gradual » 23 Jan 2009, 12:49

I thought it was mindblowing when it was released, but was bored shitless of hearing it within a few weeks. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that. Then, without me hearing it in probably a decade or more, it popped on the iPod in the car the other day and I loved it. Nothing wrong with the song at all: a great, and in its day highly innovative, pop record. Sure it's pretentious as fuck, and it's hard not to conjure images of that video when you hear it, but what wasn't in 1980? Just you wait, in another 15 years it will be as revered as Concrete & Clay is now.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby trans-chigley express » 23 Jan 2009, 13:33

'that guy's kinda a dick' wrote:Everything with a melody that was once derided is now praised. This process, and the song itself you're referring to, bores the shit out of me.


My humblest apologies for boring you.

My reason for bringing it up was because the lastest Word magazine had a bit about how crap Shappup Your Face was but inevitably mentioned the bit about keeping Vienna from no.1 as if Vienna was an even worse song. I don't think I've actually heard Vienna since the 80s but I remember finding it quite striking at the time.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 23 Jan 2009, 13:39

Lord Belborough wrote:
'that guy's kinda a dick' wrote:Everything with a melody that was once derided is now praised. This process, and the song itself you're referring to, bores the shit out of me.


My humblest apologies for boring you.

My reason for bringing it up was because the lastest Word magazine had a bit about how crap Shappup Your Face was but inevitably mentioned the bit about keeping Vienna from no.1 as if Vienna was an even worse song. I don't think I've actually heard Vienna since the 80s but I remember finding it quite striking at the time.


Your thread certainly doesn't bore me - I'm interested to see what people say.

It's just this reassessment thing that you get so much of these days. People saying Chas and Dave in fact wrote great songs, that kind of thing.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Deebank » 23 Jan 2009, 13:43

IT MEANS NOTHING TO ME!









But Dancing With tears In My Eyes is the wrost song ever clearly. Just trying to remember the lyrical premise is enough to make me shudder.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby king feeb » 23 Jan 2009, 13:47

"Vienna" is a nice enough song with a beautiful melody. But compared to Roxy Music's "Song For Europe", which probably inspired it, it seems overblown and melodramatic.

There were a few real crackers on that album though. The dynamic "Sleepwalk" and the doom-laden "All Stood Still" are both worth having in your collection. I don't think the Ure-era Ultravox ever matched those two tracks again.

As for "Shaddup You Face", it should never be commended for anything, since it's an unfunny ethnic joke set to even crappier music. A record for morons.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby trans-chigley express » 23 Jan 2009, 13:48

'that guy's kinda a dick' wrote: People saying Chas and Dave in fact wrote great songs, that kind of thing.

Are you saying Rabbit is not great? :x

Ultravox may not be very hip but they don't exactly equate with Chas 'n' Dave. I'm no fan but they're no worse than say Human League or Tears For Fears.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 23 Jan 2009, 13:53

Lord Belborough wrote:
'that guy's kinda a dick' wrote: People saying Chas and Dave in fact wrote great songs, that kind of thing.

Are you saying Rabbit is not great? :x

Ultravox may not be very hip but they don't exactly equate with Chas 'n' Dave. I'm no fan but they're no worse than say Human League or Tears For Fears.


I got hold of some early stuff - 'Rockwrok' (?) Quite good.

I dunno - I'd have to listen to 'Vienna' again. I never liked it much.

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby king feeb » 23 Jan 2009, 13:56

The John Foxx Ultravox albums are really good, especially the first one (Brian Eno's first production credit other than his own music, too).
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby The Obliging Fairy » 23 Jan 2009, 14:38

It would be better if it had different words, since the melody and arrangement are pretty interesting and exciting in places. It's just hard when you have to troll through all of that standing about in Eastern European cities in the snow looking at statues kind of imagery. Takes some of the profundity away for me. Mind you John Foxx is full of that kind of thing and I really like his stuff so you can't have your underpass and eat it I suppose.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Moleskin » 23 Jan 2009, 14:57

the obliging fairy wrote:It would be better if it had different words, since the melody and arrangement are pretty interesting and exciting in places. It's just hard when you have to troll through all of that standing about in Eastern European cities in the snow looking at statues kind of imagery. Takes some of the profundity away for me. Mind you John Foxx is full of that kind of thing and I really like his stuff so you can't have your underpass and eat it I suppose.


I think that John Foxx was a lot better lyricist than Midge Ure, though.
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 23 Jan 2009, 15:02

This means SOMETHING to me:

Image

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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Deebank » 23 Jan 2009, 15:12

I met Warren Cann - He was a bit of a cock. He was playing rhythm guitar - very basically and badly - for Hugh Lloyd Langton for reasons that were never made clear.

Typically he had a massive rack of guitar FX to process his one badly played barre chord.

I might check him out on Wikipedia...

When he left Canada for England in the 1970s, established himself in London, where formed his first band along Huw Lloyd-Langton, future Hawkwind member, on guitar and Rob Rawlins, later in Overnight Angels, on bass.


One of his post-Ultravox bands was Huw Lloyd-Langton Group, with the Hawkwind member.


See :)
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Re: What's wrong with Vienna?

Postby Oscar » 23 Jan 2009, 15:14

It's a fantastic monument to the 80's but it's severely over-exposed. I suppose it also represents the time when Ultravox! were transformed from underground innovators to overground gloss. Can't say I particularly liked anything else by the Midge Ure Ultravox model though. Did they do anything else of any worth?


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