"Vienna"
Single by Ultravox
from the album Vienna
B-side	"Passionate Reply" "Herr X" (12" single only)
Released	15 January 1981 (1981-01-15)
Format	7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded	RAK Studios, London, February 1980
Genre	New Romantic, Synthpop
Length	4:37 (single edit) 4:53 (album and 12" version)
Label	Chrysalis
Writer(s)	Midge Ure, Chris Cross, Warren Cann, Billy Currie
Producer	Conny Plank, Ultravox
Ultravox singles chronology
"Passing Strangers" (1980) "Vienna" (1981) "Slow Motion" (reissue) (1981)

"Vienna" is a song by the British new wave band Ultravox. It was the third single and the title track from the band's fourth album.

The single was released on Chrysalis Records on 15 January 1981, and is notable for setting a record for the highest number of weeks at #2 in the UK Singles Chart without ever getting to #1^[1], spending 4 consecutive weeks at #2. "Vienna" was kept off the UK #1 slot by John Lennon's "Woman" for a week, and then most famously by Joe Dolce's novelty hit, "Shaddap You Face", for a further 3 weeks^[2], although "Vienna" did sell more copies than either of these records and ranked as the 5th best selling UK single for 1981. It continued to hold this record until 1991, when it was usurped by Right Said Fred's release "I'm Too Sexy", which spent six consecutive weeks at #2 without ever getting to #1.

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 performed live by Ure on solo performances.

Contents 1 Background 2 Music video 3 B-sides 4 Reissue 5 Track listings 5.1 1981 5.2 1993 6 Chart performance 7 Vienna 92 7.1 Track listings 8 Cover versions 9 Media references 10 References

[edit] Background

"Vienna" is a ballad filled with piano and violin compositions. The song is regarded as a staple of the synthpop genre that became popularised in the early 1980s. The song takes inspiration from the 1948 film The Third Man, which is based around the Austrian capital Vienna.

[edit] Music video

The music video, directed by Russell Mulcahy,^[3] 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 (sadly, 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, Explaining the location details to Jonas Wårstad^[4]

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.

[edit] 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. Like the compilation album, the singles have songs by Ultravox and by Midge Ure.

[edit] Reissue

"Vienna"
CD single #1
Single by Ultravox
from the album If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox
B-side	"Wastelands", "The Voice", "One Small Day", "Hymn", "Answers to Nothing", "Call of the Wild"
Released	January 1993 (1993-01)
Format	7" vinyl, cassette, CD
Recorded	RAK Studios, London, February 1980
Genre	Synthpop
Length	4:37
Label	Chrysalis
Writer(s)	Midge Ure, Chris Cross, Warren Cann, Billy Currie
Producer	Conny Plank, Ultravox
Ultravox singles chronology
"Vienna 92" (1992) "Vienna" (Reissue) (1993) "I Am Alive" (1993)

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 #13 in the UK Singles Chart^[5].

[edit] Track listings

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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1981)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[1]	2
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	11
Austrian Singles Chart[6]	8
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Dutch GfK chart[7]	1
Dutch Top 40[8]	1
German Singles Chart	14
Irish Singles Chart[9]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
South African Singles Chart	8
Swedish Singles Chart[10]	7
Chart (1993)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[5]	13
Irish Singles Chart[9]	20

[edit] Vienna 92

"Vienna 92"
Single by Ultravox
B-side	"Systems of Love"
Released	April 1992
Format	12" vinyl, CD
Recorded	Berwick Street Studios, London
Genre	New Romantic, Electronic
Length	4:35 (The classic mix) 7:31 (Goodnight Vienna remix)
Label	ZYX
Writer(s)	Midge Ure, Chris Cross, Warren Cann, Billy Currie
Producer	Ultravox, Rod Gammons
Ultravox singles chronology
"All in One Day" (1987) "Vienna 92" (1992) "Vienna" (Reissue) (1993)

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.

[edit] Track listings

12" vinyl

• Germany: ZYX / 6767-12

CD

• Germany: ZYX / 6767-8

[edit] 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)
• Celestial Season (Solar Lovers, 1995)
• Gregorian (Masters of Chant, 2000)
• Russell Watson (The Voice, 2000)
• Clawfinger (A Whole Lot of Nothing, 2001)
• Infernal (From Paris to Berlin, 2005)

[edit] Media references

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.^[11]

In 2008, "Vienna" was used in the BBC trailer for Ashes to Ashes. It appeared in the first episode when Alex Drake initially arrived in 1981, and again in the sixth episode. It is a running theme.

During a fictitious flashback scene on the Kath & Kim episode "The Hidden Truth", Sharon mentions her plans to attend a 'Blitz Night' and sings a few notes from "Vienna".

[edit] References

v • d • e Ultravox Midge Ure • Billy Currie • Chris Cross • Warren Cann John Foxx • Stevie Shears • Robin Simon • Mark Brzezicki • Tony Fenelle • Sam Blue Studio albums Ultravox! • Ha!-Ha!-Ha! • Systems of Romance • Vienna • Rage in Eden • Quartet • Lament • U-Vox • Revelation • Ingenuity Live albums Live In Concert 1981 • Monument • Future Picture Compilations Three into One • The Collection • Slow Motion • Rare, Vol. 1 • Rare, Vol. 2 • The Voice: The Best of Ultravox • Dancing with Tears in My Eyes • Extended Ultravox • The Island Years • The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox • Finest Singles Dangerous Rhythm • Young Savage • Quirks • ROckWrok • Frozen Ones • Slow Motion • Quiet Men • Sleepwalk • Passing Strangers • Vienna • All Stood Still • New Europeans • The Thin Wall • The Voice • Reap the Wild Wind • Hymn • Visions in Blue • We Came to Dance • One Small Day • Dancing with Tears in My Eyes • Lament • Heart of the Country • Love's Great Adventure • Same Old Story • All Fall Down • All in One Day • Vienna 92 • I Am Alive • There Goes a Beautiful World Related Discography • Tiger Lily • Brian Eno • Steve Lillywhite • Conny Plank • Visage