''Sing Blue Silver'' is a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

's 1983–1984 world tour directed by Michael Collins. A sixty-minute edited version of the documentary was aired on MTV (and later other music channels) under the title ''Blue Silver''. ''Sing Blue Silver'' was originally released on

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually Sound recording and reproduction, sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog signal, analog or Digital signal (signal processing), digital signal. V ...

(in

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

Betamax Betamax (also known as Beta, and stylized as the Greek letter Beta, β in its logo) is a discontinued consumer analog Videotape, video cassette recording format developed by Sony. It was one of the main competitors in the videotape format war ag ...

formats) and on

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

, near the end of 1984. It was re-issued on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in April 2004. A 1984 book of the same name featured still photography by official tour photographer Denis O'Regan. The title comes from a verse from the song " The Chauffeur", released in 1982. It was certified gold by the RIAA (''Billboard'' magazine week ending February 23, 1985).

Synopsis

Filmed at the height of their fame, ''Sing Blue Silver'' follows the band around Canada and the United States for three months from 30 January to 17 April 1984 as they toured in support of their '' Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' album around North America. Primarily, ''Sing Blue Silver'' is about the job of making music, so live musical performances feature quite heavily throughout the video. The documentary features many other standout moments, including a

Francesco Scavullo Francesco Scavullo (January 16, 1921 – January 6, 2004) was an American fashion photography, fashion photographer best known for his work on the covers of ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' for over three decades, and his celebrity portr ...

photo shoot in New York, meeting a couple of L.A. Raiders players backstage, and a

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

-style press conference tinged with a bit of comedy. It also captures the band in more candid moments, from backstage antics to trying to stay entertained on the journey between cities. The film also documented the band's

teen idol A teen idol is a celebrity with a large teenage fan base. Teen idols are generally young but are not necessarily teenagers themselves. An idol's popularity may be limited to teens, or may extend to all age groups. By region Asia Ea ...

status, showing hordes of hysterical young—mainly female—fans attempting to cope with seeing their heroes in a live arena. Live footage from this tour was later used for the '' Arena (An Absurd Notion)'' long-form video and the '' As the Lights Go Down'' concert video. The video for " The Reflex" was shot at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

on 5 March 1984. Michael Collins left the tour after the first few weeks.

Track listing

DVD

# Intro # Press Conference # Load In/Backstage # " Is There Something I Should Know?" # Meeting the L.A. Raiders # On the Road Again/"

Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is ...

" # John on Touring # Simon & Nick on Image & Recording # In New York # Francesco Scavullo: Photo Shoot # Back on the Road # " Girls on Film" # Coca-Cola Press Conference # Visit to the F.B.I. # Discussing Filming/"The Seventh Stranger" # In New Orleans # " Save a Prayer" # Oakland, California # Soundcheck/Backstage # " Hungry Like the Wolf" # " Careless Memories" # The End of the Tour # Credits

Personnel

Duran Duran * Simon Le Bon – lead vocals * Andy Taylor – guitar * John Taylor – bass * Roger Taylor – drums *

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates; 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. He has also been the only constant member of the group since their 1978 ...

– keyboards and synthesizers

References

External links

*
Denis O'Regan – official Sing Blue Silver tour photographer and author of Sing Blue Silver official book

AllMovie review
{{Duran Duran Duran Duran video albums Documentary films about pop music and musicians 1984 films British musical films 1980s British films