Clare Grogan / Midge Ure
Guildhall, Portsmouth
09 November 2017
Finally seen my teenage fantasy in Clare Grogan, only about 30+ years late!
She was great fun, very chatty and also a good performance live
Next up was The Christians who were not really on my radar but were not actually that bad.
Headlining was Midge Ure who put in an amazing performance covering his Ultravox, Visage and Solo work and even some Top Of The Pops thrown in.
A great night all round
Famous Births and Deaths on this day in history
Births
1923 – Nicholas Parsons
Christopher Nicholas Parsons, CBE is an English radio and television presenter and actor. His long career in television, radio and theatre has made him a household name and he has been described as “the ultimate quiz show host” because of his “geniality, clarity of diction and the speed with which he rattled through questions”.
Best known today for his long-standing position as host of the comedy radio game show Just a Minute, Parsons is also famous as the long-term host of Sale of the Century, a show whose audience peaked at over 21 million viewers (a record for an ITV game show).
Age 94
1953 – Midge Ure
James “Midge” Ure, OBE is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his given name.
Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and ’80s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, Rich Kids and Visage, and most notably as frontman of Ultravox. In 1984 Ure co-wrote and produced the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”, which has sold 3.7 million copies in the UK. The song is the second highest selling single in UK chart history. Ure co-organised Band Aid, Live Aid and Live 8 with Bob Geldof. Ure acts as trustee for the charity, and serves as ambassador for Save the Children.
Ure is known for being the producer and writer of several synthpop/new wave hit singles of the 1980s, including “Fade To Grey” (1980) by Visage and the Ultravox signature songs “Vienna” (1980) and “Dancing with Tears in My Eyes” (1984), for which he was also on lead vocals. In 1985 Ure’s solo debut album The Gift, which reached number two in the UK Albums Chart, included the UK number one single “If I Was”. Ure has had four other UK top-30 solo hit singles: “No Regrets”, “That Certain Smile”, “Call of the Wild” and “Cold, Cold Heart”.
Age 64
1959 – Vince Hilaire
Vincent Mark Hilaire is a retired professional footballer who played in the Football League for Crystal Palace, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Leeds United, Stoke City and Exeter City. He was one of the first established black players in English football.
Hilaire played 174 times for Portsmouth scoring 27 goals between 1984 – 1988
Age 58
1963 – Jim Glennie
James Patrick Glennie is the bassist for and namesake of English rock band, James. Glennie is the band’s longest-serving member, having been there from the first line-up through to the present.
Age 54
1970 – Dean Kiely
Dean Laurence Kiely is a former goalkeeper and currently the goalkeeping coach at Preston North End. He won eleven caps for the Republic of Ireland as a player. Kiely has previously worked as the goalkeeping coach at West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City.
Kiely played 17 times for Portsmouth in 2006
Age 47
1988 – Rose McIver
Frances Rose McIver is a New Zealand actress. Her mainstream feature film debut came in 2009’s The Lovely Bones; other works include the films Predicament and Blinder; as well as guest appearances in New Zealand-based shows Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Legend of the Seeker. McIver was a series regular on Power Rangers RPM, and she has recurring roles in both Showtime’s Masters of Sex and on ABC’s Once Upon a Time.
Since March 2015, she has starred as the lead in The CW’s iZombie as medical examiner Olivia “Liv” Moore.
Age 29
1989 – Aimee Teegarden
Aimee Richelle Teegarden is an American actress, model, and producer. She starred as Julie Taylor in the NBC drama Friday Night Lights (2006–2011). In 2014, she starred as Emery Whitehill in The CW’s short-lived science fiction romantic drama Star-Crossed.
Age 28
1992 – Gabrielle Aplin
Gabrielle Ann Aplin is an English singer-songwriter. Aplin came to public attention after she gained a large online following by posting acoustic covers of songs on her YouTube channel.
In February 2012, Aplin signed a recording deal with Parlophone and began recording her début album. She gained mainstream attention the following November, when she was selected to record the soundtrack for a John Lewis television commercial with a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “The Power of Love”, which charted at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in December 2012. Her début album English Rain, was released in May 2013 to positive reviews. It debuted and peaked at number two on the UK album chart and led to several more singles: “Please Don’t Say You Love Me”, “Panic Cord”, “Home” and “Salvation”. English Rain has since been certified Gold in the UK, selling over 100,000 copies.
Aplin’s second album, Light Up the Dark, featuring the singles “Light Up the Dark” and “Sweet Nothing”, was released on 18 September 2015.
Age 25
On This Day . Rose McIver . Aimee Teegarden . Gabrielle Aplin