Midge Ure says successful musicians who say they no longer get starstruck meeting their heroes might as well “give it all up”.
The former Ultravox and Visage star – who co-organised the charity concerts Live Aid, Band Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof and co-wrote and produced the charity single ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ with the Boomtown Rats star – will never get over meeting and working with the likes of David Bowie and Eric Clapton.
He told The Big Issue: “I’m imagining going back and popping out of the Tardis to meet my 16-year-old self and saying, one day kid, you’ll meet David Bowie. See that Cream live at the Albert Hall album you’ve got under your arm? One day you’re gonna stand on stage playing guitar with Eric Clapton and he’ll know your name. You’ll meet your heroes and you won’t be disappointed. The magic of those moments never goes away. And despite all the platitudes and the platinum records and the awards and all that stuff, you’re still that 16-year-old kid with a gleam in your eye and a dream in your heart. And when you stand on stage or you meet somebody who was a hero, you still pinch yourself. If that moment dies, you might as well give it all up and go and do something else completely.”
Midge recently confessed that fame went to his head and turned him into an “absolute d***”.
The songwriter – who admits alcohol turned him into someone even he wouldn’t want to hang out with – mistreated his crew at the height of his success and didn’t appreciate their efforts.
Speaking on the ‘How To Be 60’ podcast, Midge, 69, said: “I couldn’t see it at the time of course, but I was notorious with my crew.
“If they got it wrong, I’d pull them in and say, ‘What happened?’
“That should have happened, those lights were still on, that should have gone off’.
“That must have been horrendous for them.
“Those guys worked so hard, and I couldn’t see it.”
He added: “I must have been an absolute d***.
“But then success starts to wane, and you find your humility again.
“You find who you were and revert to that person and you gain an understanding of how to do it, and stamping your foot with a jackboot on sometimes isn’t the way.”