Blue is one of the three primary colours of pigments in painting and traditional colour theory, as well as in the RGB colour model. It lies between violet and green on the visible spectrum. The clear daytime sky and the deep sea appear blue because of an optical effect known as Rayleigh scattering. An optical effect called Tyndall effect explains blue eyes. Distant objects appear more blue because of another optical effect called aerial perspective. Blue has been an important colour in art and decoration since ancient times. The semi-precious stone lapis lazuli was used in ancient Egypt for jewellery and ornament and later, in the Renaissance to make the pigment ultramarine, the most expensive of all pigments. In the eighth century Chinese artists used cobalt blue to colour fine porcelain. Surveys in the US and Europe show that blue is the colour most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, confidence, distance, infinity, the imagination, cold, and occasionally with sadness. In the US and European public opinion polls it is the most popular colour, chosen by almost half of both men and women as their favourite colour. The same surveys also showed that blue was the colour most associated with the masculine, just ahead of black, and was also the colour most associated with intelligence, knowledge, calm and concentration.
“Blue Suede Shoes” is a rock-and-roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues,country and pop. Perkins’ original version of the song appeared on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks at the number two position. Elvis Presley recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” in 1956 and it appears as the opening track of his eponymous debut album Elvis Presley. Presley performed his version of the song three different times on national television.
“Blue Moon” is a popular music standard, written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934, and one of the best known football chants, used since the ’90s by Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra. In 1961, the Marcels released a doo-wop cover that began with the bass singer singing, “bomp-baba-bomp-ba-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp… vedanga-dang-dang-vadinga-dong-ding…”. The record sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The song went to number 1 in the U.S. Billboard and UK Singles Chart.
“Blue Velvet” is a song written and composed in 1950 by Bernie Wayne and Lee Morris. A top 20 hit for Tony Bennett in its original 1951 version, the song has since been re-recorded may times. Bobby Vinton’s version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1963 and remained at No. 1 for the subsequent two weeks. “Blue Velvet” also afforded Vinton a No. 1 hit on the U.S. Middle-Road Singles chart, where its No. 1 tenure was eight weeks.
“Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is a song written by Stephen Stills and performed by Crosby, Stillsand Nash. It appeared on the group’s debut album in 1969 and was released as a single, reaching number 21 on the Billboard singles chart. In Canada, it peaked at number 11. The song imitates the form of a classical music suite as an ordered set of musical pieces. The title “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” refers to Stephen Stills’ former girlfriend, singer/songwriter Judy Collins, and the lyrics to most of the suite’s sections consist of his thoughts about her and their imminent breakup.
“Blue Bayou” is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. It was originally sung and recorded by Orbison, who had an international hit with his version in 1963. It later became Linda Ronstadt’s signature song, with which she scored a Top 5 hit with her cover in 1977. The single was RIAA Gold (for sales of over 1 million US copies) in January 1978. It was the first of Ronstadt’s three Gold singles. Don Henley of the Eagles sang backup on the recording. “Blue Bayou” was later certified Platinum (for over 2 million copies sold in the United States). It was a worldwide smash.The song has since been recorded by many others.
“Mr. Blue Sky” is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band’s seventh studio album Out of the Blue (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the “Concerto for a Rainy Day” suite, on side three of the original double album. “Mr. Blue Sky” was the second single to be taken from Out of the Blue, peaking at number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and number 35 in the US Billboard. Due to its popularity and frequent use in multiple television shows and movies, it has sometimes been described as the band’s signature song.
“Blue Monday” is a song performed by New Order. It was released as a 12-inch single in March 1983 through Factory Records. It appeared on certain cassette and CD versions of the band’s second studio album, Power, Corruption and Lies (1983). The track was written and produced by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner, the members of New Order at the time. The original single was a commercial hit, making the top 10 in many countries. In the UK, although the song stalled at number 9, it spent a total of 38 weeks in the top 75.
“True Blue” is a song by Madonna. It is the title track from her third studio album True Blue (1986), and was released as the album’s third single in September 1986, by Sire Records. Written and produced by Madonna and Steve Bray, the song deals with Madonna’s feelings for her then-husband Sean Penn. A dance pop song, the main chorus is backed by an alternate one, incorporating a chord progression generally found in doo-wop music. Received by critics as a light-hearted and cute retro song, “True Blue” topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada and became another consecutive top-ten song in United States for Madonna, by reaching number three on the Billbaord.
“Blue (Da Ba Dee)” is a song by Italian music group Eiffel 65. It was first released in October 1998 in Italy by Bliss Corporation and became internationally successful the following year. It is the lead single of their debut album Europop. The song is the group’s most popular single, reaching number one in many countries’ music charts, such as Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as reaching number six on the Billboard in the United States in January 2000.
