"Sleepwalk" is a song by

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which wa ...

, released on 16 June 1980 as the first single from their fourth album ''

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

'', and their first with

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

as frontman. It was Ultravox's first UK top 30 chart hit, reaching number 29 in August 1980.

Background

"Sleepwalk" was the first song the band recorded with Midge Ure February 1980 at RAK Studios, London. Rather than offering a demo tape of several songs to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

the reformed band opted to do a "finished" version of "Sleepwalk" with producer

Conny Plank Konrad "Conny" Plank (3 May 1940 – 5 December 1987) was a German record producer and musician. He is known for his innovative work as a sound engineer and producer in Germany's krautrock and kosmische music scene in the 1970s. Plank was involv ...

, a recording that clinched the band's record deal with Chrysalis Records. The original version was later remixed May 1980 at Conny's Studio in Cologne for inclusion on the band's album ''

''. There is no difference between the album version and the single version. The lyrics to the song were written by

Warren Cann Warren Reginald Cann (born 20 May 1950) is a Canadian drummer and songwriter. He was a founding member of the British new wave band Ultravox. Early life Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada the son of two British immigrants, he began to ...

. It was released as a single in June 1980.Warren Cann interview by Jonas Wårstad
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Release

As well as the standard black vinyl, the 7 Inch was released as a limited clear vinyl. The 12" release does not contain an extended version of the song, or a third/additional song, in fact it is simply a double A-sided promo single, with only "Sleepwalk" on each side. The single's B-side, "Waiting" is a more solemn, bass-laden affair in comparison to the faster

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

work of the A-side. It was recorded and mixed March 1980 at Matrix Studios, London. It now appears on the CD re-issue of ''

'' as a bonus track, as well as various other Ultravox compilations.

Track listing

# "Sleepwalk" – 3:10 # "Waiting" – 3:51

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleepwalk (Song) 1980 songs 1980 singles Ultravox songs Songs written by Midge Ure Songs written by Billy Currie Songs written by Warren Cann Songs written by Chris Cross Chrysalis Records singles