In the 1980s every home in Glasgow had a copy of a Blue Nile album - either Walk Across the Rooftops, or Hats. Or so it seemed. Paul Buchanan (vocals, guitar), Robert Bell (bass), Paul Joseph Moore (keyboards), achieved a level of worship amongst their followers that it was almost religious.

Formed in 1981, The Blue Nile formed their own label, Peppermint Records, through which they and released their first single, “I Love This Life”. Though picked-up by RSO, it disappeared after that company was taken-over by Polygram. Undeterred, the trio kept writing and working on new material. When an engineer at the hi-fi firm Linn Electronics heard their music, he offered to finance the band to record a track - intended to showcase the quality of Linn’s hi-fi systems. The result so pleased Linn that an album Walk Across the Rooftops was recorded and released in 1984. It was a local hit, and cult everywhere else, but attracted allegiance from Rickie Lee Jones, Robbie Roberston and Annie Lennox.

It took 5 years for the follow-up Hats, but was well worth the wait, as it show-cased a 5-star album of adult love songs, which undoubtedly led to a population increase. Since then, it’s been slow and far between, with Peace at Last in 1996, and High in 2004.

In 1990, the film-maker Bernard Rudden made this documentary Flags and Fences, which followed The Blue Nile on their tour of America. It’s long been thought “lost”, but writer, adventurer and all-round-gentleman, Trevor Ward, located and forwarded this copy, which captures Blue Nile as they seemed on the cusp of world success.
 

 
With thanks to Trevor Ward