Elton John — Passengers

JUL 01 1984 · 12:00

Elton John — Passengers (1984) Director: Simon Milne Era: Mid-1980s MTV Pop Era (1984) - Peak of glossy location-shot British pop videos, coinciding with the post-'I'm Still Standing' phase of Elton John's commercial comeback on the Breaking Hearts album cycle. High curatorial value as a well-documented 1984 promo by a confirmed director (Simon Milne), featuring verified on-location filming in St. Tropez and representing a culturally layered artifact: a world music-inflected pop hit with anti-apartheid lyrical undertones presented through the glossy, sun-drenched visual language of mid-1980s British MTV pop. Complements the broader Elton John Breaking Hearts video cycle and Simon Milne's directorial body of work from this period. Context: Released in August 1984 as the second single from Breaking Hearts, 'Passengers' arrived at a pivotal moment of Elton John's commercial revival following the success of Too Low for Zero (1983). The song's musical DNA draws on a 1963 South African Zulu folk tune by Phineas Mkhize, giving Mkhize a rare co-writing credit and embedding a world music sensibility into a mainstream UK pop hit. Bernie Taupin's lyrics carry a suggested anti-apartheid subtext, resonating against the backdrop of global anti-apartheid activism in the mid-1980s. The video, shot in the glamorous setting of St. Tropez, visually contrasts the song's darker lyrical themes with sun-soaked Mediterranean leisure and choreographed dancing, echoing the location-based European aesthetic of the era's high-end pop promos. The song reached No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart and the top ten in Australia, though it was not released as a single in the US. Director notes: Confirmed directed by Simon Milne per IMDb (tt8493520), IMVDb, and Wikipedia. Filmed on location in St. Tropez, France, continuing the South of France visual template Elton John used in this period. The video features Elton John performing without his trademark glasses, consistent with his mid-1980s image repositioning. The African-influenced choreography in the video mirrors the song's South African folk melody source ('Isonto Lezayone' by Phineas Mkhize, 1963). The fast editing pace (3.3s ASL, 62 cuts) and warm saturation reflect Milne's energetic, location-driven directing style. A charity auction of a blazer worn by Elton John in this video confirmed the St. Tropez shoot via Julien's Auctions.