Vienna (Ultravox song)



"Vienna" is a new wave/art rock song by British band Ultravox. It was released as the third single from the band's fourth studio album of the same name. The single was released on Chrysalis Records on 9 January 1981, and is notable for spending four consecutive weeks at number two in the UK Singles Chart without ever getting to number-one. "Vienna" was kept off the UK number-one slot by John Lennon's "Woman" for a week, and then by Joe Dolce's novelty hit, "Shaddap You Face", for a further three weeks,  although "Vienna" did sell more copies than either of these records and ranked as the fifth best-selling UK single for 1981. The single was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry in February 1981, for UK sales exceeding 500,000 copies. Nevertheless, the single peaked at number one on the Top 40 charts in many European areas including the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland.

It also won "Single of the Year" at the 1981 Brit Awards. To date, it remains Ultravox's signature song, being their most commercially successful release and is often played live by Midge Ure in solo performances.

It was voted Britain's favourite single to ever peak at number two in the charts in a 2012 poll run by BBC Radio 2 and the Official Charts Company. It was awarded an honorary number one by the OCC.

Ure said of the track: "We wanted to take the song and make it incredibly pompous in the middle, leaving it very sparse before and after, but finishing with a typically over-the top classical ending."

Background
"Vienna" features a dramatic grand piano in the verses and chorus, and the viola solo in the middle of the song. Other sounds include a solid synth bass line played on a MiniMoog, an Elka string synthesiser and a Roland CR-78 drum machine The song is regarded as a staple of the synthpop genre that was popularised in the early 1980s. The song takes its inspiration from the 1948 film The Third Man, which is based around the Austrian capital Vienna. Midge Ure is said to have been influenced by The Walker Brothers' 1978 single "The Electrician".

The song was also performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Wembley Stadium.

Music video
The music video, directed by Russell Mulcahy, is particularly evocative of The Third Man. It was Ultravox's second video, after "Passing Strangers" (also with Mulcahy), and cost £6000–£7000, footed by the band after Chrysalis refused to fund it.

""It may come as a surprise to know that approximately half of it was shot on locations in central London, mainly at Covent Garden and also in the old Kilburn Gaumont Theatre in North London (now a Bingo hall). The embassy party scene was in some house we’d rented in town. Can’t remember where, but I do remember that it took the crew a long time to set up the lights to prepare for filming. So long that we all got impatient with waiting and dipped into the many cases of wine we’d laid on for refreshment after the shoot. By the time the crew was ready to film, we were all well partying for real."

"The other half was in Vienna. We did it on the cheap. There was just us and Nick, our trusty camera man. We took an early morning flight to Vienna, ran round like loonies in and out of taxis as we filmed, and soon discovered that, due to it being the winter off-season, many of the splendid places we’d been counting upon filming were either shut for redecorating or covered with webs of scaffolding. “What do you mean it’s ‘closed for repairs’?!” We finished up in the cemetery for the shots with the statue which had been used for the single’s cover (a gentleman who made pianos for the rich and famous of his time, I believe), did the sunset shot, and then dashed back to London to start editing.""

- Warren Cann

The gravestone that is shown in the video and on the single cover is part of the grave of Carl Schweighofer and is located on the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna. Schweighofer was a famous Austrian piano manufacturer.

B-sides
The B-side to the single is "Passionate Reply", a light, poppy synthpop song similar to many tracks on the Vienna album. The 12" single also features "Herr X", a version of the Kraftwerk-esque album track "Mr. X" sung entirely in German by Warren Cann with the aid of native German producer Conny Plank. Both tracks were included on the remastered CD version of the Vienna album as bonus tracks.

Reissue
In 1993 "Vienna" was re-released by Chrysalis, to promote the Midge Ure/Ultravox greatest hits compilation If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox. This reissue peaked at number 13 in the UK Singles Chart. Like the compilation album, the single also included songs by Midge Ure (as B-sides).

Track listings
All songs written and composed by Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie and Midge Ure, except where noted.

1981

 * 7" vinyl
 * UK, Australia: Chrysalis / CHS 2481
 * Germany, Netherlands: Chrysalis / 102 905


 * 12" vinyl
 * UK, France: Chrysalis / CHS 12 2481
 * Germany: Chrysalis / 600 352-213
 * Netherlands: Chrysalis / 12.2481

1993

 * CD
 * UK: Chrysalis / CDCHS 3936
 * UK: Chrysalis / CDCHSS 3936 ("Limited edition collectors pack CD1 of a 2CD set", with space for the second CD)


 * UK: Chrysalis / CDCHS 3937

Vienna 92
In April 1992, a re-recorded version of "Vienna", by a new Ultravox line-up, was released as a single in Germany. This line-up consisted of original Ultravox member Billy Currie on keyboards, violin and percussion, and Tony Fenelle on vocals, guitar and percussion. The backing vocals on B-side "Systems of Love" were performed by Alison Limerick and Jackie Williams. The single did not chart. On the album Revelation, it was not included.

Track listings

 * 12" vinyl
 * Germany: ZYX / 6767-12


 * CD
 * Germany: ZYX / 6767-8

Cover versions
The song has been covered by various artists since its release:
 * Kirlian Camera (Todesengel. The Fall of Life, 1991)
 * Vic Reeves (NME compilation Ruby Trax, 1992) (this comedic version features different lyrics in the verses)
 * Celestial Season (Solar Lovers, 1995)
 * Dump (I Can Hear Music, 1995)
 * King's Singers (Spirit Voices, 1997)
 * Gregorian (Masters of Chant, 2000)
 * Russell Watson (The Voice, 2000)
 * Rax1 (1987)
 * Clawfinger (A Whole Lot of Nothing, 2001)
 * Infernal (From Paris to Berlin, 2005)
 * FranKo (2011)
 * Fraser Aitken (Night of Nine Joints, 2014)

Reference in popular culture
It was jokingly suggested on "A Song for Europe", an episode of TV sitcom Father Ted, that "Vienna" was written and performed by a priest called Father Benny Cake who changed his name so that nobody would know he was a priest, presumably referring to Ure even though the song was incorrectly stated as having got to number one in the UK. However the song did reach number one in Ireland where Father Ted was set.

In the première episode of Ashes to Ashes, 21st century Detective Inspector Alex Drake awakens aboard a floating brothel in 1981 whilst "Vienna" plays, it is then heard on Edward Markham's Walkman.

The song is also heard on Professor Grisenko's Walkman in the Doctor Who episode, "Cold War", set in 1983.

"Vienna" can also be heard as background music during the twelfth episode of the third season of The Americans.