"Visions in Blue" is

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 ...

's third single from the ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

'' album, recorded in AIR Studios in Montserrat and released on

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 ...

on 11 March 1983. The single peaked at #15 in the UK charts on 26 March.Betts, Graham (2006). ''Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2006'', HarperCollins. A video was produced, but was banned by the BBC and MTV due to brief nudity; an edited version was later provided for broadcast on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...

''. The track also appears in live form on the CD version of Ultravox's 1983 in-concert album, ''

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

''. The 12" version of "Visions in Blue" also contains an edited version of the same ''Monument'' performance of "

Reap the Wild Wind ''Reap the Wild Wind'' is a 1942 American adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, and Paulette Goddard, with a supporting cast featuring Raymond Massey, Robert Preston (actor), Robert Pres ...

Critical reception

David Hepworth David Hepworth (born 27 July 1950) is a British music journalist, writer, television presenter, and publishing industry analyst. He was instrumental in the foundation of a number of popular magazines in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Along with the j ...

of ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' reviewed the song negatively, saying it "sounded awfully dirge-like."

Track listing

7" version

# "Visions in Blue"

ingle edit Ingle may refer to: People * Ingle (surname), includes a list of people with the name * Ingle Martin (born 1982), American former football quarterback Places in the United States * Ingle, California, a community * Ingle, Florida, an unincorporate ...

– 4:13 # "Break Your Back" – 3:31

12" version

# "Visions in Blue" - 4:38 # "

(live 6 Dec 82 at

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

) " – 3:53 # "Break Your Back" – 3:31

Covers

The track has been covered by UK ebm/synthpop act Stok:holm and appears on their 2013 album City Lights.

References

1983 singles Ultravox songs Songs written by Midge Ure Songs written by Chris Cross Songs written by Billy Currie Songs written by Warren Cann Song recordings produced by George Martin 1982 songs Chrysalis Records singles {{1980s-single-stub