By the time the single was released, interest in the Liberty album had already waned. Poor promotion, including a decision not to tour in support of the album, led the single to stall at #48 in the UK charts. This was the band's worst charting single up until that point (Eleven places lower than their second-ever single, "Careless Memories" in 1981).

The black and white video, set at a circus, was directed by the duo Big TV!, and features model Tess Daly. The video is a favourite among fans for the relaxed, natural attitude among the band members as they play their instruments, sometimes prompting each other into laughter. A multi-angle version of the video is available on the Greatest DVD in 2003, taking advantage of the multiple angle feature available on certain DVD players.

No remix of "Serious" was ever released; a minor edit of the album version was used on the single release. The single's primary b-side, "Yo Bad Azizi", is an experimental song built around a lyric from "Is There Something I Should Know?"; "Yo bad azizi as a nuclear war", a corruption of "You're about as easy as a nuclear war" due to the way vocalist Simon Le Bon sings the line. This was reportedly prompted by a fan's letter asking Le Bon what "yo bad azizi" meant.

The bonus b-side on the 12" and CD versions is "Water Babies", a remix of Liberty album track "All Along the Water". Due to pressing errors, some copies of the CD contain the original album version instead of "Water Babies".

For the USA single release, two fade cuts of other Liberty album tracks were also added as b-sides, as "Yo Bad Azizi" had already been released on the American "Violence of Summer" single.

Due to the commercial failure of the "Serious" single, plans for future singles were shelved. The third single in the USA was to have been the rocker "First Impression", while Europe were to have gotten the album's title track, "Liberty". EMI's decision to cancel both singles came just days before filming began on the music video for "First Impression".

...
Wikipedia