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With the band seemingly over, Ultravox were then revitalised by Midge Ure, who joined the band as vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist.
He had already achieved minor success with semi-glam outfit Slik and Glen Matlock's The Rich Kids, and in 1979 he was temporarily playing with hard rock band Thin Lizzy.
Ure and Billy Currie had met whilst collaborating on Visage, a studio-based band fronted by New Romantic icon and nightclub impresario Steve Strange.
Encouraged by Visage drummer and mutual friend Rusty Egan, Currie asked Ure to join Ultravox.
Ure filled both John Foxx's and Robin Simon's posts for Ultravox's next album, Vienna, which heralded a major change of direction and would become their most successful to date, far surpassing any of the previous Ultravox ( or Foxx's ) albums.
As with Systems of Romance, it was produced in Germany by Conny Plank.
Ure knew of Ultravox's past, being a fan of Systems to the point where the new four-piece outfit ( Ultravox mk.
III, often called " the classic line-up ") played songs from that album on tours with Ure singing Foxx's lyrics.
Released on Chrysalis Records in June 1980, the Vienna album produced the band's first UK Top 40 hit with " Sleepwalk ", whilst the album itself peaked at No. 14.
A second single, " Passing Strangers ", failed to reach the Top 40, but the band achieved a substantial hit with the third single, the album's title track ( inspired by Carol Reed's 1949 film The Third Man ).
Accompanied by a highly distinctive video, the single became Ultravox's biggest ever hit, peaking at No. 2 in early 1981 ( famously kept off the top spot by Joe Dolce's novelty song " Shaddap You Face ").
On the strength of the single, the album then re-entered the chart and reached No. 3 in early 1981.
A fourth single from the album, " All Stood Still ", peaked at No. 8.

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