HELLO GOODBYE
Midge Ure and Thin Lizzy
It began with 24 hours’ notice. And ended when the day job with Ultravox called.
Stand by Ure man: Thin Lizzy (from left) Midge, Brian Downey, Phil Lynott and Scott Gorham in the vortex of the whirlwind, 1979.
HELLO JULY 18, 1979
I already knew Philip [Lynott, Thin Lizzy frontman]. I saw Thin Lizzy playing at the Picasso club in Glasgow [in 1971], and I met him again when they played Glasgow Uni, wandering the streets – my mum made him egg and chips. When I moved to London to join the Rich Kids, we bumped into each other again.
I’d just put together Visage, and I’d just joined Ultravox. I was in Martin Rushent’s studio [in Reading] when I got a phone call, quite late. It was Phil’s management saying, “Phil is going to call you in 10 minutes.” I had no idea what it was about. And he comes on and says, “Gary [Moore] is out of the band, we’ve got another three weeks of this US tour opening up for Journey, playing sports megadomes. Can you come out tomorrow and finish the tour?”