The Gift (Midge Ure album)

The Gift is the first solo album by Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, released in 1985. It was released while Ultravox were taking a break; the band would go on to release U-Vox before splitting. The album reached #2 in the UK Albums Chart partly due to the large attention drawn to it by the single "If I Was" which reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1985. "That Certain Smile" was released as the second single in November 1985, and "Wastelands" was released as the third single in January 1986.

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The Gift
Studio album by
Midge Ure
ReleasedOctober 1985
Recorded1985 in Music Fest Studio, London
GenreSynthpop, electronic, new wave
LabelChrysalis
ProducerMidge Ure
Midge Ure chronology
The Gift
(1985)		 Answers to Nothing
(1988)

Background

Daniel Mitchell and Ure wrote "Wastelands" together for the band Modern Man. They started a songwriting partnership that has produced 5 songs on "The Gift", including a reworking of "Wastelands", which was originally from the Midge Ure-produced Modern Man album Concrete Scheme released 1980.

"The Gift" features 3 instrumental tracks, which was recorded on the Caribbean island of Montserrat using a Casio CZ-101. Ure said in 1985:[1]

"I like instrumental music. I find it very easy to listen to and it allows you to use your imagination in a way that most pop music doesn't. It's refreshing."

Ure said in 1989:

"When I did 'The Gift', Ultravox was very much still in existence and I was simplifying what the band did. I wanted to do something easier than Ultravox music, and I wanted to indulge myself and my passion for instrumental music, which Ultravox didn't do a lot of. So I did that, and it was quite successful; I was quite pleased with it."[2]

On "Edo" Ure plays on a Koto, he bought in Japan first time Ultravox toured there.

The song "The Gift" was dedicated to the 19th-century Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Track listing
  1. "If I Was" (Midge Ure, Daniel Mitchell) - 5:22
  2. "When the Winds Blow" (Ure, Mitchell) – 4:07
  3. "Living in the Past" (Ian Anderson) - 4:35
  4. "That Certain Smile" (Ure, Mitchell) - 4:08
  5. "The Gift" (Ure) - 5:00
  6. "Antilles" (Instrumental) (Ure) - 4:08
  7. "Wastelands" (Ure, Mitchell) - 4:40
  8. "Edo" (Instrumental) (Ure) - 3:24
  9. "The Chieftain" (Instrumental) (Ure) - 4:45
  10. "She Cried" (Ure, Mitchell) - 4:12
  11. "The Gift (Reprise)" (Ure) - 1:45

Bonus tracks for 1996 UK re-release:

  1. "Mood Music" - 3:30
  2. "Piano" (Ure) - 2:28
  3. "The Man Who Sold the World" (David Bowie) - 5:37
  4. "The Gift (Instrumental)" (Ure) - 5:11

Bonus disk for 2010 Remastered Definitive Edition:

  1. "No Regrets"
  2. "Mood Music"
  3. "If I Was" [Extended Mix]
  4. "Piano"
  5. "The Man Who Sold the World"
  6. "That Certain Smile" [Extended Mix]
  7. "The Gift" [Instrumental]
  8. "Fade to Grey" (Recorded live at Rehearsals 27 Sep 1985. Feat. Mick Ronson on guitar)
  9. "Wastelands" [Extended Mix]
  10. "When the Winds Blow" (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 23 Dec 1985)
  11. "After a Fashion" (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 23 Dec 1985)
  12. "The Chieftain / The Dancer" (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 23 Dec 1985)
  13. "Call of the Wild" [Extended Mix]
  14. "That Certain Smile" (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 23 Dec 1985)
  15. "The Gift" (Recorded live at Wembley Arena, 23 Dec 1985)

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 29
United Kingdom (Official Charts Company) 2

References
  1. Sound on Sound Magazine November 1985
  2. Cashbox Magazine 11 February 1989, interview by Karen Woods.
  3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 318. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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