If I Was

"If I Was"
Single by Midge Ure
from the album The Gift
B-side "Piano"
"The Man Who Sold the World"
Released 13 September 1985[1]
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl
Recorded July 1985
Genre Synthpop, new wave
Length 4:46 (single version)
5:20 (album version)
6:45 (extended mix)
Label Chrysalis
Writer(s) Danny Mitchell, Midge Ure
Producer(s) Midge Ure
Midge Ure singles chronology
"After a Fashion" (with Mick Karn)
(1983)
"If I Was"
(1985)
"That Certain Smile"
(1985)
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"If I Was" is a popular song written by Midge Ure and Danny Mitchell, released as a single off of his first solo album The Gift. It reached #1 on the UK singles chart for a single week in October 1985.[2] This was Ure's third number one, coming after his success with Slik in 1976 ("Forever and Ever")[3] and Band Aid in 1984 ("Do They Know It's Christmas?").[4]

In the sleeve notes for the 2001 compilation If I Was: The Very Best of Midge Ure & Ultravox Ure wrote:

"This song is pure Danny Mitchell. I found a demo of it on a cassette Danny had sent me for his band The Messengers. I grabbed it with both hands, messed around with it, sprinkled it with fairy dust and the rest is history."

Music video

The music video featured Ure's face patterns on a Pin Art pinscreen.

B-sides

The instrumental "Piano" was released on the B-side of the 7" and 12" singles. The 12" single featured a second track: a cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World", originally released on the film soundtrack of Party Party (1983).[5] Both songs were added as bonus tracks to the CD reissue of The Gift in 1996.[6]

Chart performance

Chart (1985/1986) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[7] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[8] 6
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[9] 9
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 2
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 12
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 16
Preceded by
"Dancing in the Street" by David Bowie and Mick Jagger[15]
UK number one single
5 October 1985[2]
Succeeded by
"The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush[16][17]
Preceded by
"Part-Time Lover" by Stevie Wonder[17]
Irish IRMA number-one single
6 October 1985

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.