Flags & Fences: A Rare Glimpse Behind the Veil of the Blue Nile

Little footage exists of Scottish band The Blue Nile from the peak of their artistic career, and they weren’t known to have done many tours for their two seminal releases from the 1980s: A Walk Across The Rooftops and Hats. This mystique is part of The Blue Nile’s allure.

This 30-minute documentary peeks behind the mask to follow the band on their 1990 tour of the US just after they released Hats in 1989. Moving through live concert footage, scenes of American cities they were gigging and interviews with the members at local radio stations, we get a rare glimpse into the mild mannered and surprisingly sarcastic personalities behind the enigmatic trio.

One favorite quote comes from producer and bassist Andy Bell recounting a time he told frontman Paul Buchanan, “People would have to have a good excuse not to call all of our songs ‘I Love You’ … and I still believe that.”

Watch the full documentary here:

For the best Blue Nile deep dive as told by Paul Buchanan himself, we highly recommend listening to “In Search Of The Blue Nile”, an expertly produced one-hour radio special that aired on Dublin’s Radio 1 RTE back in 2016.

Revisit our notes on A Walk Across Rooftops: https://insheepsclothinghifi.com/album/the-blue-nile-a-walk-across-the-rooftops/