The shock of being the subject of This Is Your Life prompted singer-songwriter Midge Ure to embark on his first major UK tour for over ten years.

Speaking after his television appearance on This Morning, the Scotsman said: "I didn't think of doing a UK tour until they got me onto This Is Your life earlier this year.

"I think when you see your whole life packed into 30 minutes of television it looks quite interesting."

The album The Very Best Of Midge Ure & Ultravox was released on recently.

"The record company saw it (This Is Your Life) and thought they'd put together a retrospective album of Ultravox songs.

"They could have gone off and done it without me but they approached me."

" I've been touring extensively throughout the world but not the UK. The UK has been producing great rock music for the last 50 years but its music buying market is very small in comparison to the rest of the world."

Midge came to the public eye as a teenager with Scottish boy band Slik. Their hit Forever And Ever took the number one spot from Abba's Mamma Mia in 1976.

Midge joined ex-Sex Pistol Glen Matlock in Rich Kids and was later invited to join Ultravox members Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie in 1979 after the band's original lead singer John Fox left.

Midge Ure and Ultravox, became the main influence on the British Electro-pop movement and many bands including Moby.

"I was at the Q awards recently and I met Travis and they were treating me like some sort of god because I was talking to them.

"I think Ultravox were a more creative experimental band not a commercial band."

Ultravox's best known song, Vienna, was famously kept off the top spot by novelty act John Dolce and his excruciating ditty Shatttup Your Face.

"There's a lot of records that go out to number one and they do well because of their novelty factor.

I Got High' ( a recent number one by Afroman) is a novelty record, a bit of a joke record."

During his 25 year musical career, Midge directed many rock concerts but his role in Band Aid's single, Do They Know It's Christmas, reaped dividends for Africa's hungry.

"Band Aid was never a career thing. It was detrimental to the career because it kept me away from the band for such a long time. It broke up the band.

"The highlight of my career is when I joined Ultravox even though it was such a dismal time for them.

"The band had done three albums and were not in good shape.

"My lowest point was when my album Breathe came out.

"I spent two years writing and recording it to find that people weren't taking any

notice.

"As a result all the doors that were normally open to me such as television, had closed."

From September 1997 until Christmas 1998, Breathe was featured as the soundtrack to Swatch's advertising campaign and became a big hit with the public lead to the re-release of Breathe, the single and album.

Reflecting on his flop single No Answers he said: "I just came back from Ethiopia having gone with the first lot of aid that Band Aid sent out.

"I was in a very serious and sombre mood and the song had quite a lot of issues and looking back I realise it was just too serious."

But he hasn't totally dropped out of the frame when it comes to celebrity charity functions.

Last month he directed musicians including teen stars Charlotte Church, S Club 7 and Damage in Showtime @ The Stadium to raise money for good causes.

"My thought was that a lot of the boy and girl bands had come up through a stage school and were used to singing show tunes.

"My theory was right. They were very good.

"In the future I've got to go to America to do some promotion but I've never planned anything because the telephone might ring with someone offering something and that phone call could be better than your best laid plans.

"Perhaps I'll record a song with Fran from Travis."

Midge will perform at Fairfield on November 13 at 8pm. Tickets cost £14.

To book call 020 8688 9291.