Best remembered today as the band which offered Midge Ure his first taste of his future superstardom, Slik -- or Salvation, as they were then known -- were formed in Glasgow in 1970 by brothers Jim (guitar) and Kevin McGinlay (vocals). Originally a heavy metal act cut in the mould of Deep Purple, the band moved towards a more nightclub-friendly Top 40 direction in 1972, following a split which left the McGinlays alone. Recruiting guitarist/vocalist James Ure, drummer Kenny Hyslop, and guitarist Billy McIsaac, Salvation spent much of the next two years playing the Scottish disco circuit -- the closest they came to a big break was when they opened for the Sweet at Glasgow Apollo in November, 1973. Kevin McGinlay departed in April, 1974. He had been growing increasingly unhappy with the band's burgeoning commercial ambitions; according to Slik legend, his final words to his bandmates were, "if you carry on like this, you'll end up recording Martin-Coulter songs," Just weeks later, Bill Martin and Phil Coulter did indeed contact Salvation, just as the band changed its name to Slik, and the members adopted pseudonyms to further the sense of band unity -- vocalist Ure became Midge, drummer Kenny Hyslop became Oil Slik, bassist Jim McGinlay became Jim Slik, and guitarist Billy McIsaac became Lord Slik. Slik signed to Polydor in late 1974 and, the following January, released their debut single, "The Boogiest Band in Town." Simultaneously, the song became their contribution to the soundtrack of the movie Never Too Young to Rock. Neither the record nor the film took off, so Martin-Coulter purchased Slik's contract back from Polydor and arranged for Slik to link instead with Bell, a label better acquainted with the teenaged British market. They also set about reinventing the group. When Slik re-emerged in December, 1975, the suits had been replaced by 1950s-style baseball outfits, the pseudonyms had been abandoned and the group was performing a song which Martin-Coulter had already recorded (as an album track) with Kenny, the somber "Forever and Ever." At the same time, the duo inaugurated a publicity campaign which blasted Slik into every teenaged consciousness in the land. A string of high-profile TV appearances were arranged before the single was even in the stores, the pop press was courted with Rollers-esque ferocity, while the mainstream media was deluged with reports of the growing chaos which attended the band's every live performance. With a cunning which bordered on genius, Slik's concert schedule had been tailored towards some of the smallest clubs on the circuit, in the knowledge that, as their profile rose, so would the demand to see them. Soon, every show seemed to be the scene of a teeny bop riot, at which point the group was plucked out of the discos and finally thrust into venues which suited their new status, the Glasgow Apollo and London's New Victoria Theater. The campaign paid off. Within weeks of the single's release, readers of The Sun newspaper had voted Slik the best new band of the year; "Forever and Ever" was top of the U.K. chart and author George Tremlett was already preparing the first book-length biography of Slik. Even the band's most cynical detractors were forced to admit, Slik looked likely to be around for a long time to come. Unfortunately, it was not to be. In April 1976, Bell released the band's next single, the dirge-like "Requiem." Just weeks later, however, on May 20, Ure was seriously injured in a car accident. Slik's forthcoming U.K. tour was canceled and the loss of television exposure saw "Requiem" grind to a halt at a lowly number 24. The band's eponymous debut album, a three-way split between well-chosen covers, the band's own material and some of their mentors' best work ever, spent just one week at the lower end of the British chart, while plans for an American tour that fall were shelved even as Arista unveiled their debut album. By the time Ure was able to work again, every last drop of momentum was lost. Slik played just one further concert, supporting Hello in Berlin, then returned to their hometown.Attempting to regain at least some kind of footing, the band changed their name to PVC2 and cut a single for the local Zoom label. The subterfuge fooled no one, however, and by late 1977, the band had shattered. Ure later turned up in ex-Sex Pistols Glen Matlock's Rich Kids, before establishing himself as frontman for Ultravox, then as a successful solo artist. His erstwhile bandmates, meanwhile, became the Zones and later recorded an album, Under Pressure, for Arista Following his 1977 bassist Glen Matlock founded the Rich Kids, a more experimental pop/rock outfit rounded out by guitarist Steve New, drummer Rusty Egan and vocalist Midge Ure,. Distancing themselves from the punk community, the Rich Kids recorded only one LP, 1978's Ghosts of Princes in Towers, before tension between Matlock and Ure resulted in the group's dissolution within a year of their formation. Ure and Egan later reunited in Visage, and Ure ultimately found success with Ultravox, while Matlock largely vanished from sight until publishing his autobiography I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol in the late 1980s. In 1996, he rejoined the Sex Pistols for their "Filthy Lucre" and is pursuing solo projects. Rejecting the abrasive guitars of their punk-era contemporaries in favor of lushly romantic synthesizers, Ultravox emerged as one of the primary influences on the British electro-pop movement of the early '80s. Formed in London in 1974, the group -- originally dubbed Ultravox! -- was led by John Foxx with an initial line-up consisting of bassist Chris Cross, keyboardist/violinist Billy Currie, guitarist Steve Shears and drummer Warren Cann, however being brought up with punk gave them little respect from audiences, but in 1977 Island Records signed the quintet anyway, with Brian Eno agreeing to produce their self-titled debut LP. After scoring a minor UK hit with the single "My Sex," Ultravox returned later that year with Ha! Ha! Ha!; sales were minimal, however, and Shears soon exited, replaced by guitarist Robin Simon. A third LP, 1978's Systems of Romance, was recorded in Germany with renowned producer Conrad Plank, but it too failed commercially; Island soon dropped the band, at which time both Foxx and Simon quit. At that point the remaining members of Ultravox tapped singer/guitarist Midge Ure, upon signing to Chrysalis, the new line-up recorded Vienna, scoring a surprise smash hit with the single "Sleepwalk," which reached the number two spot on the UK pop charts in 1981 and pushed the LP into the Top Five. After 1981's Rage in Eden, Ultravox teamed with legendary producer George Martin for 1983's Quartet; their most successful LP in the otherwise impenetrable American market, it launched the minor hit "Reap the Wild Wind." Upon completing 1984's Lament, Ure -- who had co-written the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas" -- left Ultravox to forge a solo career, topping the UK charts a year later with the solo smash "If I Was; " the remaining members, adding Big Country's Mark Brzezicki, resurfaced with U-Vox in 1986 before going their separate ways. Currie and Simon reformed the band as U-Vox in 1993, adding vocalist Marcus O'Higgins; three years later, they released the lackluster Ingenuity One of the key members of the new wave band Ultravox, guitarist/vocalist Midge Ure began his professional music career with Salvation, a Glasgow-based group that became the bubblegum band Slik in 1974. Upset in the change of direction, Ure left the band to join the Rich Kids, a punk-pop group led by former Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock. The Rich Kids only released one album, 1978's Ghosts of Princes in Towers, before breaking up later that same year. Ure spent a brief time with the Misfits (not the American hardcore band) before forming Visage with drummer Rusty Egan and vocalist Steve Strange; he left the group to replace Gary Moore in Thin Lizzy, who left in the middle of an American tour. After the tour was finished, he fulfilled an agreement to join Ultravox. Once he joined the band in 1980, Ure helped make Ultravox a mainstream success; during this time he also worked as a producer, making records with Steve Harley and Modern Man. In 1982, Ure released a solo single, a cover of the Walker Brothers' hit "No Regrets; " it climbed into the U.K. Top Ten. Ure and Bob Geldof formed Band Aid, a special project to aid famine relief efforts in Ethiopia, in 1984. The two wrote the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and assembled an all-star band of British musicians to record the single; it sold millions of copies over the 1984 holiday season and prompted Geldof to organize the benefit concert Live Aid in 1985. In 1985, Ultravox was put on hiatus and Ure began to pursue a full-time solo career. Recorded entirely by Ure, his 1985 solo debut The Gift launched the number one single "If I Was," as well as the minor hits "That Certain Smile" and "Call of the Wild." The following year, he recorded the final Ultravox album; in 1987, the band broke up and he began recording his second solo album. The resulting record, 1988's Answers to Nothing, was less successful than The Gift in the U.K., yet it charted in the U.S., which is something Ure's previous album failed to do. Three years later, Ure released his third album, Pure; while it didn't do any business in America, the album featured the Top 20 British hit "Cold, Cold Heart." He attempted a comeback in 1996 with Breathe, which went ignored by both the American and British markets. After being released in his native UK in 1998 Answers to Nothing followed in mid-2000 as well as soundtrack effort for the critically acclaimed 1998 drama-comedy starring Jon Cryer, Went To Coney Island
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