Midge UreJames ‘Midge’ Ure, OBE is a guitarist, singer, keyboard player and songwriter from north of the border. He enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, The Rich Kids, Visage and most notably as the frontman of Ultravox.
Midge co-wrote and produced the charity single “Do They Know It's Christmas?” and 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. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his real name. Ascot is indeed honoured to have a such a legend performing on the hallowed Old Paddock turf, belting out his 1980 track “Vienna” (famously beaten to the top spot by Joe Dolce's novelty hit “Shaddap You Face” – but the less said about that the better!)
Bananarama Bananarama were formed in 1982 by teenagers Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward, Sara then met Siobhan Fahey at the London College of Fashion while studying journalism. Sara and Keren lived above the rehearsal room of former Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook. They ended up recording a demo “Aie a Mwana” with Paul. It was signed by Demon Records and was given its first radio play by John Peel.
The song was a club hit and a favourite of Terry Hall from The Specials. He promptly called them up and asked if they would collaborate on his latest project the Fun Boy 3. Their first hit together was “Ain't What You Do”. In 1987 they entered the GUINESS BOOK of WORLD RECORDS as the most successful girl band in the world (the most Top 40 hits) and still hold the title to this day with 30 Top 40 hits, 11 albums and over 40 million records sold. Having taken the title from the Supremes they decided to pay tribute to them by recording “Nathan Jones”.
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Last, but by no means least, the line up of '80s legends is completed by China Crisis - a British rock band formed in 1979 in Kirby, Merseyside with a core consisting of vocalist/keyboardist Garry Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon. Thier music was a similar style to that of the New Wave, but had strong similarities to the post-punk movement of the '80s. They became successful between 1982 and 1987 with six albums and ten hit singles including 'Christian', 'Wishful Thinking' and 'Black Man Ray'.
Ah, Claire! For a forty-something male such as I, Claire Grogan stirs welcome adolescent memories! It was Claire’s acting skills in a Billy Forsyth film ‘Gregory Girl’ which helped bring attention to her band, Altered Images, who went on to secure a slot as the support band to the ‘Siouxsie and the Banshees’ after sending them a demo tape. Thereafter. the group burst onto the scene with their debut single ‘Happy Birthday’ and were subsequently voted Best New Group by NME. The group had continued success with ‘I Could Be Happy’, ‘See Those Eyes’ and ‘Don’t Talk To Me About Love’.
Odyssey takes the tally of bands for the Shergar Cup 80s concert to seven. The New York based group grew out of the trio Lillian, Louise and Carmen Lopez. Tony Reynolds - a singer from the Philippines - joined the group and Odyssey was formed.
Toyah Wilcox is an award-winning rock legend whose musical career exploded into the charts in 1981 with ‘It’s a Mystery’, followed by chart topping hits ‘Thunder in the Mountains’ and ‘I Want to be Free’. She has had 13 top 40 singles, recorded 20 albums and travelled the world entertaining her fans.
Jimmy Somerville is renowned for his unusually high pitched voice in the group Bronski Beat which had a number of hits in the British charts, including its most famous ‘Small Town Boy’. In 1985, Jimmy left Bronski Beat to form The Communards, which had two successful albums and stayed in the charts with a cover version of the famous soul classic ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’.
Ascot has announced that Adrian Edmondson and the Bad Shepherds will play live on the Saturday of the Beer Festival. The Bad Shepherds will be entertaining racegoers by playing punk songs on folk instruments. The band believes the songs by The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Stranglers, The Jam, Sham 69, The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Specials, Talking Heads, Squeeze and others bands of a similar genre are better than people remember.
Adrian Edmondson of the Bad Shepherds stated, ‘The Bad Shepherds are all in training for our appearance at Ascot Racecourse - I am good for two furlongs as long as the ground is not too firm. Unfortunately, Troy Donockley is not much good over jumps but Andy Dinan goes quite quickly if you dangle free beer tokens in front of his face…’
John Blake, Head of Sales and Marketing at the Berkshire track, added: ‘The Ascot Beer Festival continues to go from strength to strength. Since its inception, we have gone from selling 6,500 pints in 2007 to a massive 23,000 pints in 2010. The introduction of a live act such as Adrian Edmonson and the Bad Shepherds on the Saturday heralds in a new era for the Ascot Beer Festival and establishes it as one of the must-attend Beer Festivals in the UK’.
Tickets start from just £12 on the Friday and £17 on the Saturday. To book call 0870 727 1234 or visit ascot.co.uk. Gates and bars open at 11am with the first race at 2pm. A voucher system will be in operation for all Beer Festival ales, perries and ciders. A half pint is priced at £1.50 and a pint £3.00. A limited edition commemorative oversized pint glass is available for £4 as well as Ascot Tercentenery Ale brewed by Fuller’s to commemorate Ascot’s 300th year. 
Kid Creole and the Coconuts, formed in 1980 after Dr Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band split up. August Darnell - the bassist from the band - adopted the name Kid Creole and formed his group along with a glamorous trio of female backing vocalists known as the Coconuts. This peculiar name was inspired by Cab Calloway and Hollywood films of the 1930s and 40s. For over 30 years the band have been entertaining thousands of crowds around the world, recording 23 albums which included hits like ‘Lifeboat Party’, ‘Gina Gina’, ‘I’m A Wonderful Thing’ and ‘Me No Pop I’.
Jason has not only wowed his audience as a pop singer, but he has also performed the lead in many West End shows such as ‘Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ and most recently ‘Priscilla Queen Of The Desert’. After re-launching his career in I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2006, Jason went on to produce his ‘Greatest Hits’ album and in 2010 released his 5th album ‘Soundtrack of the 80s’.
