GROUNDBREAKING BRITISH POP MAESTRO TO RELEASE COMPILATION OF HIS GREATEST SOLO SONGS
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A new Midge Ure compilation, Chapters: The Best Of Midge Ure, is due on 13 November 2026 via Chrysalis. It includes a brand-new studio recording of “Fade to Grey” (the first time Ure has cut his own full studio version of the Visage song), plus a new recording of “Yellow Pearl,” fresh stereo mixes of his hits, and a disc of 2026 remixes that features a Chris Payne mix of “Fade to Grey.” A limited SDE Blu-ray edition with Atmos and 5.1 mixes is also available for pre-order (the window closes 1 October 2026). This sits alongside last year’s acoustic Cole Stacey collaboration and Ure’s regular live performances of the track.
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Midge Ure co-wrote, produced, and sang backing vocals on Visage’s 1980 original “Fade to Grey,” then later issued his own studio and live versions of the track he helped create. The song began as an instrumental and became a New Romantic/synth-pop landmark after Ure added lyrics and a distinctive bilingual twist. Billy Currie and Chris Payne (both then playing with Gary Numan) developed the piece—originally called “Toot City”—during soundchecks on Numan’s 1979 tour, with drummer Cedric Sharpley also contributing. Ure heard it while filling in for Gary Moore on Thin Lizzy’s US tour. When Visage needed one more song for their debut album, he asked Currie for the instrumental, wrote the English lyrics and top-line melody at his house in Chiswick, and turned it into a finished track. A last-minute idea from Ure added spoken French verses (a direct translation of the English ones) performed by Brigitte Arendt, Rusty Egan’s girlfriend at the time, a student from Luxembourg. Steve Strange sang the English lead. Ure produced the recording. Released on 14 November 1980 as Visage’s second single (and first on a major label), it reached No. 8 in the UK and No. 1 in West Germany and Switzerland. The Godley & Creme video became one of the era’s most influential clips.
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BELOW: THE CLASSIC GODLEY & CREME PROMO FOR VISAGE, 1980.
