Visions in Blue

"Visions in Blue"
Single by Ultravox
from the album Quartet
B-side	"Break Your Back" "Reap the Wild Wind" (Live)
Released	11 March 1983
Recorded	1982
Studio	AIR (Salem, Montserrat)
Length	4:13 (single edit) 4:38 (album version)
Label	Chrysalis
Songwriter(s)	Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, Midge Ure
Producer(s)	George Martin
Ultravox singles chronology
"Hymn" (1982) "Visions in Blue" (1983) "We Came to Dance" (1983)

"Visions in Blue" is Ultravox's third single from the Quartet album, recorded in AIR Studios in Montserrat and released on Chrysalis Records on 11 March 1983. The single peaked at #15 in the UK charts on 26 March.[1][2][3] 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.[3]

The track also appears in live form on the CD version of Ultravox's 1983 in-concert album, Monument. The 12" version of "Visions in Blue" also contains an edited version of the same Monument performance of "Reap the Wild Wind".[3]

Critical reception

David Hepworth of Smash Hits reviewed the song negatively, saying it "sounded awfully dirge-like."[4]

Track listing

7" version

1. "Visions in Blue" [single edit] – 4:13
2. "Break Your Back" – 3:31

12" version

1. "Visions in Blue" - 4:38
2. "Reap the Wild Wind (live 6 Dec 82 at Hammersmith Odeon) " – 3:53
3. "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

1. Betts, Graham (2006). Complete UK Hit Singles 1952-2006, HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-720077-3
2. "The Official Charts Company - Ultravox - Visions in Blue". Official Charts. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
3. "Ultravox discography, Vladimir Kruglov". Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
4. Hepworth, David (17–30 March 1983). "Singles: Ultravox – "Visions in Blue" review" (PDF). Smash Hits. Vol. 5, no. 6. Peterborough: EMAP National Publications, Ltd. p. 29. ISSN 0260-3004. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2022 – via World Radio History.