As a solo artist and as a member of Ultravox, Midge Ure gave voice to the first wave of British synth/pop. The Scottish-born singer/songwriter and guitarist’s career, however, had some surprising antecedents – for example, stints with Thin Lizzy and with the Rich Kids, a band with former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock. Ure’s career fortunes closely track those of the synth/pop side of the New Wave genre: a big peak in the mid-‘80s with The Gift (1985) and Answers to Nothing (1988), followed by cult status and some hardscrabble years as a high-profile activist, film composer and a minted UK celebrity.
Ure has recorded occasional comeback albums, and at least one of them, 2001’s Move Me, is quite a revelation. The disc makes a musical argument that Ure and company may have had a more direct influence upon Radiohead and the other darlings of the new Art Rock than is commonly acknowledged – which could just be another way of saying that Ure jumped on a nearby and aesthetically congenial bandwagon. In either case, it is a well-written, powerfully sung, high-drama effort and very worth checking out.
Midge Ure with special guests Right the Stars, Saturday, January 12, 9 p.m., $25, Bearsville Theater, 291 Tinker Street, Woodstock; (845) 679-4406, www.bearsvilletheater.com.
Join the family! 
