ULTRAVOX Remembering Eden - 30th Anniversary Tour Book
Memories Still Aglow
The Remembering Eden - 30th Anniversary Tour Book is a celebratory project to commemorate the return of ULTRAVOX to the live stage in 2009. Compiled by Jus Forrest and Helen Waterman, this beautiful visual documentary is a journey presented in the form of a story from the start of the classic Warren Cann / Chris Cross / Billy Currie / Midge Ure line-up right through to 2010 with the Return To Eden 2 tour.
Featuring a foreword by The Blitz Club's DJ and VISAGE drummer Rusty Egan who was of course the catalyst for Midge Ure joining ULTRAVOX, there are also fascinating insights provided by former tour manager Laurie Small and Alan Wild, the band's original lighting designer whose credits have also included GARY NUMAN and SIMPLE MINDS. Singer ZAINE GRIFF, who recorded a Bowie-esque cover of Passionate Reply
The main content focuses on an extensive photo library and fan recollections covering all of Return To Eden 2 plus highlights from Return To Eden 1 in 2009. There are also previously unpublished shots from renowned concert photographer Gary Lornie who began his career at the legendary Liverpool club Eric's and whose work has appeared in the CD artwork of JOHN FOXX, A CERTAIN RATIO and THE WILD SWANS. The visual aspect of the book has been carefully crafted, thereby providing a thoughtful continuity with the ULTRAVOX brand and its original Peter Saville concepts. Importantly, the publication also includes detailed band biographies illustrated with digital artwork from Australian designer Toni Hearn based on the photographic work of the late Trevor Key. Reciting the story in an informed and articulate manner, the Remembering Eden - 30th Anniversary Tour Book is an essential artefact for all connoisseurs of ULTRAVOX. It superbly captures the drama of the band's return without compromising their pioneering stature as a heritage Synth Britannia act.
The Electricity Club chatted to Jus Forrest about her passion for ULTRAVOX which led to the book's genesis and all the hard work that went into its realisation.
How did the idea for putting together the book come about?
The idea for the tour book first came about after returning from the German leg of the RTE2 tour this year. At the time, I felt sad it was all over - I'd had such a great time. I expect it was a way of keeping the experience alive, something to get on with and help cope with the come down of it all! I thought it would be nice to pull other fan's experiences together so everyone could share them and look back on the whole experience of the ULTRAVOX reunion. It was also intended to be an appreciation and thank you to ULTRAVOX. We'd already decided we would donate any profits to a charity and further down the line it seemed that the Mick Karn Appeal would be appropriate.
When did you first discover ULTRAVOX?
ULTRAVOX were the first band I ever saw live. Vienna
So what was your reaction when you heard the classic line-up was to reunite for the Return To Eden tour?
There was no real big reaction from me as such at that time. I'd not heard them for years, but I saw the tour advertised in Classic Rock magazine and was quite curious. Just as I really got into ULTRAVOX, they seemed to disappear off into the sunset. I recall being really sad because I never actually knew what happened to them or why. As I grew up, I'm ashamed to say - I forgot about them! I'm very open-minded when it comes to music, so of course when I found out about the tour, I considered catching a gig. That's about as much thought as I gave it.
One day in April I woke up with the song The Thin Wall
As for the gig, I couldn't believe it! I was blown away! I later saw the show at the London Roundhouse and an additional gig in Duisburg, Germany. It all came back to me - I could see their real musical genius now I'd grown up, things I never noticed or understood before - there was definitely something very special there. I knew then it wasn't just a childhood thing; everything was real - this was one fantastic band. I had totally re-discovered them.
What were the first things you did in terms of pooling resources together to realise such an ambitious project?
I posted the idea into a thread on the ULTRAVOX forum to see what people thought. Most agreed it was a good idea but yes, a VERY ambitious one! In the grand scheme of things, there wasn't really that much time to pull a book together, given we wanted to tie it in with the 30th Anniversary of Vienna
A Facebook group was set up and people began to upload their photos to that group as well as emailing content over. My co-author Helen got in touch - she was really keen to be involved on a large scale and basically help compile this thing. She immediately set about drawing up a project plan (which is the plan we worked to throughout), contacting people for content and even doing interviews as well as pulling together lots of content from her own personal archives - old press cuttings and the like.
Whenever I got over faced with it all or felt it was impossible (and it did feel like that - we only had a few months to pull this together), Helen was there full of enthusiasm so I had to keep going really! Late September I started to put all our content together. The key to it all was being extremely organized with files and content. It was so easy to get swamped otherwise. The tedious task was going through all the photos including the ones the fans had uploaded to Facebook. Including all the emails I received and disks - I must have had around 3000 photos to go through - and then deciding what to use and how, and making sure they were referenced with the correct credits. It was difficult to plough through all the content and try to present it in some sort of order!
As the book began to take shape, problems started to occur. Suddenly it was twice the size and I had to merge and rework chapters, get authors to edit their contributions in order to cut it down again (we were on a strict budget). Potential issues came up with some of the artwork - which involved lots of running around. There were also copyright issues to look at, for example we wanted to rework some of Trevor Key's photos for artwork, and I had to track down his widow in order to get permission to do that. All these things had to happen quickly! I had to have backup artwork incase we couldn't use the original ideas. Large files had to be transferred between people. Proof reading had to be arranged. On top of that you've got promotion, organising the book launch etc. A lot of work, but everyone who's been involved has been on real tight deadlines and has therefore worked really, really hard, turning things around as quickly as possible.
The book was initially to focus on the two Return To Eden tours but evolved almost into a mini-biography of the band with insights from key figures such as tour manager Laurie Small and lighting designer Alan Wild. How did they become involved?
That's correct. The book would follow the whole of the RTE2 tour and highlights from RTE1. Initially we got some flack because people felt RTE1 was significant and should be detailed. We didn't have enough contributions to do that, but even if we did it, it would have just been too big a project cost wise. What we did think would be a nice touch however, was to make it into a mini ULTRAVOX book and try to include some exclusives that would be a nice addition to the tour material. Helen contacted Alan Wild and Zaine Griff. This idea grew and I decided to hunt down Laurie Small - only to find his office was up the road from where Helen worked so we fixed up an interview there. We included the biographies for completeness of the package if you like. I asked Rusty Egan to write the Foreword which he was only too happy to do and I ran into an ex crew member Roy Gwinn very recently and he too offered some material. I had so many ideas but had to keep them under control, otherwise it was just going to be too big!
Are any of the band involved and what do they think of the project?
No. I'm not sure what they'd think of it - I hope they don't hate it!!
The design of the book successfully manages to successfully combine live photos of the band and text with a clean Saville-esque aesthetic. How did you manage to achieve that balance and were there any design headaches can remember?
Thank you! I have been told it's quite Saville! The design was something I was worried about - I could see it in my minds eye but didn't really know how to make it look good as I'm not really a designer. Every time I sat down to work on it, design ideas would develop and come to me. I got to the stage where every night I'd have yet another idea! I eventually settled on segment headers that would follow the RTE2 tour - quite simplistic with photo thumbnails themed by colour. I discovered a keen designer on the ULTRAVOX forum - she'd done some amazing posters based on the ULTRAVOX vintage look so I got in touch with Toni Hearn and asked if she would work with us. Her digital artwork is built into the biography sections to enhance the cleaner sections of text - these being the ones that were based on the Trevor Key photos. Toni ended up enhancing and reworking the original designs especially for us. The time difference was a headache as she is in Australia!
There were further headaches in that a couple of segments didn't have any contributions - so I had to be creative in how to present it - everything still had to follow in a logical order in order for the tour to be completely documented and displayed visually. As we speak, I also had to cut out the solo album reviews we put together for Midge and Billy - there were just too many pages - I think they occupied nine pages each! If I were to do this again, I'd be very specific over word count etc. People don't like having to edit their work afterwards and I've had to ask people to do that because before I knew it, we were standing at 300 pages! That's my fault though as I never gave anyone a brief initially!
The end result is simply beautiful. Who do you think will appreciate the book?
Thanks again! Anyone who wants to look back on a great tour and cherish the experience. I think that any hardcore fan will appreciate the book and hopefully understand about the love behind the book. There isn't that much around in terms of documents on ULTRAVOX. I think it's important to mark what has been a significant milestone - that it's documented in some way. We are not pros and we've had to stick to a very tight budget on this one, and we've also been short on time. So I am conscious that there is always something more that could have been done or something that could have been done better, but we have to work to the brief within a given timescale and budget.
I hope this effort offers a unique one-off item that when people open and browse through - they feel that warmth they got when they attended those gigs. Not everything is covered in detail, so the over critical may not get it - but its about documenting the journey - that's from the beginning, through to RTE1 and RTE2 and this shows that in both written and visual format, in a style I hope captures the ULTRAVOX feel. I believe this has also been a significant time in some people's lives - this book aims to give them something to hold onto and remember.
What has been your best memory from the tours?
I did not catch much of the RTE1 tour but enjoyed the Roundhouse. It was great to go to a standing gig! During RTE2, I saw all the UK, German and Finnish dates (except Liverpool and Munich). There is so much more to a show than just the actual performance. Every gig is different - the towns, the venues, the people. For me, all those factors contribute to the whole experience. Kāln Musical Dome looked such an amazing venue - all lit up in blue overlooking the Rhine. I couldn't wait to visit! And I loved the place when I got there.
Then there were the intimate venues at Hamburg and Hannover - those shows were amazing. Berlin was very grand and was one of the best sound wise. There was something uniquely special about Finland - I loved the place but again, there were some great people around - I had some fantastic experiences, and for me that has been one of my most memorable trips so far - even though it was a short trip. Trips aside, and looking purely at the performance - the best ever gig I felt was Sheffield O2. There was an amazing energy within the band that night that I'd not seen before. When you have seen so many gigs, it's difficult to pick one out, but also, you notice all the finer details too, the things that make something that little more special and Sheffield had that X-Factor. The guys never stopped smiling.
Why do you think ULTRAVOX have managed to maintain a reverence that has lasted for over 30 years?
I think their roots span deeper than what most people or 'passing trade' see on the surface. Talk to the average bloke in the street - someone who isn't strictly speaking a fan, and they will of course associate ULTRAVOX with the hit Vienna
There is something very untypical about them. Their song structures are sophisticated. Their clever combination of classical instrumentation makes everything so much more interesting. The great violin moments, the gentle emotional pianos, plus that amazing integration of electronic percussion into the music - it sounds as if they were not at all afraid to experiment. Actually, it's only now that I realise what a phenomenal drummer Warren is. As a band they were always so artistic, not just musically but visually - from great stage sets to iconic videos and when it's all combined it touches emotions and creates strong moods. The whole package of the musical and visual aspect produces something very dramatic and theatrical, and that has a lasting effect.
I was deeply touched by Billy's solo work - and was so glad to discover it! It is different to ULTRAVOX obviously, which I think is a good thing, but there is still a definite style there: he seems to be able to take this and present it in so many inspiring ways, and clearly has a great ear for melody, but coming back to ULTRAVOX - I think it's Billy's style - the violin solos, and also his expressive synth sounds/solos which set them apart as a band. Midge Ure has a very strong and distinctive vocal style too. Because of these components, they very much created their own sound and identity and this has clearly stood the test of time - there isn't really anyone else who sounds like them.
Now that I'm older, after rediscovering them, I became very intrigued by the classical elements, because I also like classical music, so it was amazing to see them as a band today, watching them combine all of this and re-present it all in the live environment - I can understand it all better now - I can't say I really noticed so much when I was eight - even though I still loved what I heard! I just think all of them are amazingly talented musicians. I think a combination of great musicianship, talent and artistry will always speak for itself.
The Remembering Eden - 30th Anniversary Tour Book joint launch party with the Blitz Club Records' website will be held on Saturday 15th January 2011 at the old Blitz Club site (Red Rooms), 4 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DG. There will be a DJ set from Rusty Egan featuring an ULTRAVOX/VISAGE theme. Tickets are Ģ5.
For further details on this event and how to order the Remembering Eden - 30th Anniversary Tour Book, please visit www.rememberingeden.co.uk
All profits from the book will go to the appeal of former JAPAN bassist Mick Karn www.mickkarn.net
Words by Chi Ming Lai
15th December 2010
