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Total ratings: 2061
Length: 4:35
Plays (last 30 days): 3
Freezing breath on a window pane
Lying and waiting
A man in the dark in a picture frame
So mystic and soulful
A voice reaching out in a piercing cry
It stays with you until
The feeling has gone, only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
The music is weaving
Haunting notes, pizzicato strings
The rhythm is calling
Alone in the night as the daylight brings
A cool, empty silence
The warmth of your hand and a cold grey sky
It fades to the distance
The image has gone, only you and I
It means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
This means nothing to me
This means nothing to me
Oh, Vienna
Live Aid version - one of the best vocal performances ever?
I agree. However three years later I saw Midge Ure solo literally in a warehouse in Santa Clara, CA, and he performed this song. We were 100-125 people crammed into a space, a weeknight, how I got a ticket I have no idea. Anyway, lights scrambling like some acid trip gone bad as he belted this out - I was completely clear headed and I can say it was sensational.
This song takes me right back to college. Gen X really did have some great stuff, didn't we?
Gen X and Boomers alike.
(being a late 50's child, this band was huge in our crowd)
This version is too polished, the original mellotron version from the eighties is the one i like.
Live Aid version - one of the best vocal performances ever?
This song takes me right back to college. Gen X really did have some great stuff, didn't we?
A 1980 release would put it in very early Gen x territory for listeners. ( 1 yr. old to 15 yrs. old). More the late Boomer era. (which goes to '64, so teenage and twenty-something listeners, which I think would be the main audience)
skip!
![laughing](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/smiley-laughing.gif)
Quovademus wrote:
Nostalgic - When we were young.... How old is this song?
springof63 wrote:
Released in the UK 15th Jan 1981.
I never really liked this song much - it got played to death (and beyond!) on the common room jukebox at Southampton college when i was there. Looked it up on Wiki cause i wasn't sure if it was from 1980 or 1981.
Then i really had to laugh - Ultravox Vienna spent 4 weeks at Nr2 on the UK chart, and was never Nr1 - held off the top spot for 1 week by John Lennon's 'Woman' (fair enough), and then laughingly held off for a further THREE WEEKS by Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face'
How Appropriate!!
It means nothing to me either, except that now whenever i hear Vienna from now on, instead of thinking "oh why are they playing this?" i'm always gonna be smiling instead. Thanx Bill & RP!!
Re-posted from 2015...
oh, Shaddup You Face
![bounce](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_bounce.gif)
Ah Clearasil....I was in my mid-teens when I discovered "fashion" as opposed to just music and Girls as opposed to the English teacher. Out of nowhere came acne, accompanied by a constant bad temper towards my parents and a new incredible superpower…. I knew everything that was worth knowing!
While I was trying to make sense of “fashion” and girls on zero funding the soundtrack suddenly got stuck on Ultravox´s Vienna. Joy Division worked for just about every other moment.I could be seen stalking on The Tube, London´s underground, sorting out my thinly populated sideburns and eye liner while adjusting the collar on my too small vintage naval uniform. The Acne? Thanks to Clearasil I could convert those luminescent green infectious lumps into "natural" pink mini muffins. A win then!
A perfect summing up of teenager-ness. Oh the joy of realising you knew everything , then the terror of realising you didn't.
![roflol](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_roflol.gif)
Joy Division!!!!!
![bounce](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_bounce.gif)
(for an explanation of that, see my post about when 'Vienna' was released, from about seven years ago. I haven't got time to go & find it. Soz.
"Oh Clearasil....." In my teens I fell into the need for a fashionable non-fashionable look. This was driven by a newly discovered itch, ....GIRLS. My English teacher, and only female in my world at the time, was suddenly no longer enough.
The solution was a combination of my favourite music, penguin classic (second hand of course) and clothing from thrift and charity shops.
Simultaneously and out nowhere arrived another itch, Acne, which was accompanied by a constant bad temper towards my parents and a new incredible superpower…. I knew everything that was worth knowing!
I could be seen stalking on The Tube, London´s underground, sorting out my thinly populated sideburns and eye liner while adjusting the collar on my too small vintage naval uniform. The Acne? Thanks to Clearasil I could convert those luminescent green infectious lumps into "natural" pink mini muffins. A win then!
And you know you had to be there if you know what the hell I just said...
Incredible.
![{#Lol} {#Lol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
Incredible.
What's not to like?
![{#War} {#War}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_war.gif)
He most certainly does. I heard him often with the band Salvation. They played in Clouds Disco, directly above Glasgow's legendary Apollo Theater.
My first proper guitar was a Hofner Verithin, I got it second hand for thirty pounds, it got destroyed in a car crash so I went back to the same music shop and got another - same price. The new one was stolen a year or so later, so back to the same shop - 120 pounds. Why? Midge Ure of Salvation was now playing one so everyone wanted one. I bout a Burns Vista Sonic which I still have. It's around 55 years old now and at present, is being given a wash and brush up, it'll be ready for my next day off.
![{#Bananajam} {#Bananajam}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/bananajam.gif)
he certainly does - saw him play guitar with Thin Lizzy, pre-Ultravox. And if he can hold his own with that bunch...
Ableragtacker wrote:
![{#War} {#War}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_war.gif)
I've rated this 9 for long enough - it's a 10.
![{#Clap} {#Clap}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_clap.gif)
..yes, good comment ....do know whatyamean...and were you referring to Kraftwerk?
Not just Kraftwerk, there were lots of new synth stuff coming from DE around the 70s. Tangerine Dream and Klaus Shultz inspired a generation. the casio reference was the Da Da Da tune by Trio.
oh, that's cold....
springof63 wrote:
![{#Roflol} {#Roflol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_roflol.gif)
..yes, good comment ....do know whatyamean...and were you referring to Kraftwerk?
I think by "a few Germans" stunix may have been referring mainly to Kraftwerk. Ultravox was obviously more influenced by them than they were by the other bands stunix mentioned. This album was produced by Conrad Plank, who produced several Kraftwerk albums as well as those of many other artists.
![{#Bananapiano} {#Bananapiano}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/bananapiano.gif)
Reap the Wild Wind was one of my favorite songs from the 80s.
![Vienna Album Cover](https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0001/750/MI0001750262.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
![{#Roflol} {#Roflol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_roflol.gif)
Released in the UK 15th Jan 1981.
I never really liked this song much - it got played to death (and beyond!) on the common room jukebox at Southampton college when i was there. Looked it up on Wiki cause i wasn't sure if it was from 1980 or 1981.
Then i really had to laugh - Ultravox Vienna spent 4 weeks at Nr2 on the UK chart, and was never Nr1 - held off the top spot for 1 week by John Lennon's 'Woman' (fair enough), and then laughingly held off for a further THREE WEEKS by Joe Dolce's 'Shaddap You Face'
![{#Lol} {#Lol}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
How Appropriate!!
It means nothing to me either, except that now whenever i hear Vienna from now on, instead of thinking "oh why are they playing this?" i'm always gonna be smiling instead. Thanx Bill & RP!!
Oh, i got it, finally - its where George Clooney's wedding is(was) - Right?
i mean as being the answer to the "oh why are they playing this?" question
Doh! er no, that turned out to be Venice, not Vienna - shows how much attention i was paying to that story i guess!
Turgid pretentious 80s nonsense.
'This means nothing to me' says it all
Unlike the classic and internationally famous 80s French electronic bands such as ... Hmmm.. oh!
Great to hear this much under-valued classic.
..yes, good comment ....do know whatyamean...and were you referring to Kraftwerk?
![{#Hearteyes} {#Hearteyes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_hearteyes.gif)
![{#Sunny} {#Sunny}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/sunny.gif)
![{#Daisy} {#Daisy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/daisy.gif)
It doesn't sound remotely like anything Erasure ever did and by the time Erasure were popular, Ultravox had hung their synths.... aside from that a great post. Well done!
Let's hear some Yello!
Ha. Ultravox doesn't do me much good. I crashed my car listening to Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. Just made it out, too. Joe Dolce kept them off the top spot in the UK. Love the band, though.
Turgid pretentious 80s nonsense.
'This means nothing to me' says it all
I had to look up Turgid: "Tediously pompous or bombastic." Yep
Turgid pretentious 80s nonsense.
'This means nothing to me' says it all
Don't Google it. Bit of trivia.
Yes! A bit of Magazine would be appreciated
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
+1
I love this song but it could sound dated if dropped into the wrong set.
![{#Notworthy} {#Notworthy}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_notworthy.gif)
Never liked it - now I even "hate" it!
PS
Nothing against VIENNA (the city) - a lovely place!
Yes! A bit of Magazine would be appreciated
Yeah, I like this one. 9 from me, too.
![{#Beat} {#Beat}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_beat.gif)
Still love it
weird, i love weed too!
![](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_lol.gif)
![{#Wink} {#Wink}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_wink.gif)
it's like it's all connected
peace
weird, i love weed too!
it's like it's all connected
peace
The first, if'n you were wondering was Geno by Dexys.
How chuffed was I to get to a gig by Geno Washington and The The Ram Jam Band? Very.
Sorry, rambling a bit there. Happy days.
Hey - I bought both of those singles too! (But my first single was Living Thing by ELO!)
The first, if'n you were wondering was Geno by Dexys.
How chuffed was I to get to a gig by Geno Washington and The The Ram Jam Band? Very.
Sorry, rambling a bit there. Happy days.
Edit 6 months later: I still feel the same way, only I'd go with "twee" now.
Isn't it just!
Now, if only you would play Visage's "Fade To Grey"
Second that. Those two go hand in hand for me as well. Probably an age thing
![{#Rolleyes} {#Rolleyes}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/icon_rolleyes.gif)
oh, well played sir.
*golf clap*
Boy, this gets me in the mood!
Isn't it just!
Now, if only you would play Visage's "Fade To Grey"
very good thanks for making me laugh - only english of a certain age would get it
Exactamundo
![{#Whistle} {#Whistle}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_whistle.gif)
how's the weather there ?
![{#Meditate} {#Meditate}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/meditate.gif)
![{#Angel} {#Angel}](https://img.radioparadise.com/emoji/eusa_angel.gif)
i always thought this was Billy Joel