Duran Duran (1981 album)

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Duran Duran
Studio album by Duran Duran
Released	June 15, 1981 April 25, 1983
Recorded	October-December 1980 at Red Bus Studios, Abbey Road Studio, Utopia Studio and Chipping Norton Studio
Genre	Rock-New Wave
Length	39:42
Label	EMI/Capitol
Producer	Colin Thurston
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Insiders' Guides link
Duran Duran chronology
Duran Duran (1981) Rio (1982)
Alternate cover
1983 Reissue Cover

Duran Duran is the first album by the British band Duran Duran. It was originally released worldwide in 1981, and reissued to greater success in 1983.

The album reached #3 on the United Kingdom charts on 27 June 1981, and remained in the chart for 118 weeks, although the initial release was largely ignored in America. The 1983 reissue reached at #10 on the US charts, and remained on that chart for 87 weeks (although it was overshadowed by the ongoing American success of the Rio album from 1982). Duran Duran was certified platinum (a shipment of one million units) by the RIAA on 4 June 1985.

Contents 1 Original release - 1981 1.1 Singles 2 US re-issue - 1983 2.1 Singles 3 Track listing 3.1 1981 release 3.2 1981 rare US first release 3.3 1983 US re-release 3.4 1995 CD re-release 3.5 2003 CD remastered 4 Singles 5 Personnel 6 Notes 7 References

[edit] Original release - 1981

Demos for the album were written and recorded at AIR Studios in late 1980, while one of Duran Duran's influences, the band Japan, was recording Gentlemen Take Polaroids just down the hall.

The album was formally recorded in December of 1980 at various recording studios in London (as well as Chipping Norton Studios) with record producer Colin Thurston, shortly after Duran Duran signed their record deal with EMI. In interviews, the band has recalled the struggle to continue recording after hearing of the 8 December death of John Lennon.

Relatively primitive music videos for "Planet Earth" and "Careless Memories" were also filmed in December.

The US versions of this release opted to include the "Night Version" of "Planet Earth" instead of the original. "To The Shore" was dropped from the US tracklisting to accommodate the-now increased length of "Planet Earth".

[edit] Singles

The first single of the band's career was "Planet Earth" (released on 2 February 1981) and it reached #12 on the UK charts on 21 February.

The band followed up with the release of "Careless Memories" on 20 April 1981, but it only reached UK #37 (on 9 May).

The third single was to become the most successful from this album. "Girls on Film", released 13 July, went to #5 in the UK on 25 July, before the notorious video was even filmed. That video (featuring topless women mud wrestling and other not-very-stylised depictions of sexual fetishes), was made with directors Godley & Creme, and was filmed in August just two weeks after MTV was launched in the United States, before anyone knew what an impact the music channel would have on the industry. The raunchy video created an uproar (it was consequently banned by the BBC and a heavily edited "day version" was aired on MTV), and the band enjoyed and capitalized on all the fuss.^[1]

[edit] US re-issue - 1983

Duran Duran was re-released in the USA on 25 April 1983, after the wild success of their second album Rio in America gave the band another chance to market their first album there. The album had two changes to the track listing: For this version of the album Capitol Records replaced the "Night Version" of "Planet Earth" with the original single version. Most notably, the then current Duran Duran single, "Is There Something I Should Know?" was added to the album's track listing.

The album also featured updated cover art designed by Malcolm Garrett, using the newer "double D" band logo featured on the "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" album and "Is There Something I Should Know?" single. The cover photo showed the evolution in the band's image since 1981, leaving behind the unified style they had once affected, along with the scarves, sashes and poufy hair of the New Romantic look. In contrast to the earlier artwork, the new image positioned each band member equally close to the camera, and demonstrated the variety of looks within the band, from tanned adventurers to rouged androgynes. This reflected the band's teen-focused marketing which promoted the image and personality of individual band members, recognizing that "everyone is someone's favourite".^[2]

[edit] Singles

"Is There Something I Should Know?", recorded with producer Ian Little at the end of 1982, was released in the UK as a stand-alone single on 19 March 1983. The song debuted in the #1 position on the UK charts on 26 March -- Duran Duran were one of the very few acts since Elvis Presley and The Beatles to debut at the top, before the revamping of the chart system in the late 1980s made it a much easier goal to achieve. This was the band's first number one record.

The "Is There Something I Should Know?" single also had great success in America, where it was released in late May: it reached #4 on the Billboard charts on 6 August, and sold more than a million copies.

The video was directed by future movie director Russell Mulcahy, and was one of the most popular videos of the year on MTV.

Although the singles from the 1981 release were not reissued in the U.S. in 1983, the videos for "Planet Earth" and "Girls on Film" were placed into the rotation on MTV alongside "Is There Something I Should Know?" and the videos from Rio, exposing many Americans to these songs for the first time.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Duran Duran.

[edit] 1981 release

1. "Girls on Film" – 3:30
2. "Planet Earth" – 3:59
3. "Anyone Out There" – 4:02
4. "To The Shore" – 3:49
5. "Careless Memories" – 3:53
6. "Night Boat" – 5:25
7. "Sound of Thunder" – 4:06
8. "Friends of Mine" – 5:42
9. "Tel Aviv" – 5:16

[edit] 1981 rare US first release

1. "Planet Earth [Night Version]" – 6:20
2. "Girls on Film" – 3:30
3. "Is There Anyone Out There" – 4:02
4. "Careless Memories" – 3:53
5. "(Waiting For The) Night Boat" – 5:25
6. "Sound of Thunder" – 4:06
7. "Friends of Mine" – 5:42
8. "Tel Aviv" – 5:16

• Drops "To The Shore" and adds the Night Version of "Planet Earth". Earlier alternate titles for "Anyone Out There" and "Night Boat" are also used.
• On the Harvest label, catalogue number ST-12158.

[edit] 1983 US re-release

1. "Girls On Film" – 3:30
2. "Planet Earth" – 3:59
3. "Anyone Out There" – 4:02
4. "Careless Memories" – 3:53
5. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:07
6. "Night Boat" – 5:25
7. "Sound Of Thunder" – 4:06
8. "Friends Of Mine" – 5:42
9. "Tel Aviv" – 5:16

[edit] 1995 CD re-release

1. "Girls On Film" – 3:30
2. "Planet Earth" – 3:59
3. "Is There Anyone Out There" – 4:02
4. "Careless Memories" – 3:53
5. "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:07
6. "Night Boat" – 5:25
7. "Sound Of Thunder" – 4:06
8. "Friends Of Mine" – 5:42
9. "Tel Aviv" – 5:16
10. "To the Shore" – 3:49

[edit] 2003 CD remastered

1. "Girls On Film" – 3:36
2. "Planet Earth" – 4:03
3. "Anyone Out There" – 4:05
4. "To The Shore" – 3:50
5. "Careless Memories" – 3:55
6. "Night Boat" – 5:25
7. "Sound Of Thunder" – 4:07
8. "Friends Of Mine" – 5:45
9. "Tel Aviv" – 5:17

• The 2003 remastered CD release restores the original tracklisting of the album, dropping "Is There Something I Should Know?" from the tracklisting altogether and featuring "To The Shore" in its original place as intended by the band.

[edit] Singles

1. "Planet Earth"
2. "Careless Memories"
3. "Girls on Film"
4. "Is There Something I Should Know?" (1983 reissue)

[edit] Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - vocals
• Nick Rhodes - keyboards
• John Taylor - bass guitar
• Roger Taylor - drums
• Andy Taylor - guitar

Also credited:

• Colin Thurston - producer and engineer
• Ian Little - producer of "Is There Something I Should Know"

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Shuker (2001), p. 170.
2. ^ De Graaf & Garret (1982), p. 15.

[edit] References

• De Graaf, Kaspar; Garret, Malcolm (1982). Duran Duran: Their Story. UK: Cherry Lane Books, 14. ISBN 0862761719.
• Malins, Steve (2006). Notorious: The Unauthorised Biography. André Deutsch/Carlton Publishing, UK. ISBN 0233001379.
• Shuker, Roy (2001). Understanding Popular Music. Routledge. ISBN 041523509X.

v • d • e Duran Duran Simon Le Bon • Nick Rhodes • John Taylor • Roger Taylor Former members Andy Taylor • Warren Cuccurullo • Sterling Campbell Albums Duran Duran • Rio • Seven and the Ragged Tiger • Arena • Notorious • Big Thing • Liberty • Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) • Thank You • Medazzaland • Pop Trash • Astronaut • Red Carpet Massacre Compilations, EPs and remixes Carnival • Master Mixes • Decade: Greatest Hits • Greatest • Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran • Strange Behaviour • Singles Box Set 1981-1985 • Singles Box Set 1986-1995 • The Essential Collection Singles Planet Earth • Careless Memories • Girls on Film • My Own Way • Hungry Like the Wolf • Save a Prayer • Rio • Is There Something I Should Know? • Union of the Snake • New Moon on Monday • The Reflex • The Wild Boys • A View to a Kill • Notorious • Skin Trade • Meet El Presidente • I Don't Want Your Love • All She Wants Is • Do You Believe In Shame? • Burning the Ground • Violence of Summer • Serious • Ordinary World • Come Undone • Too Much Information • Perfect Day • White Lines • Out Of My Mind • Electric Barbarella • Someone Else Not Me • (Reach Up for the) Sunrise • What Happens Tomorrow • Nice • Falling Down Videos Duran Duran Video 45 • Duran Duran • Dancing On The Valentine • Sing Blue Silver • Arena (An Absurd Notion) • The Making of Arena • Three To Get Ready • Working for the Skin Trade • 6ix by 3hree • Decade: Greatest Hits • Extraordinary World • Greatest • Live From London Related bands Arcadia • Power Station • Neurotic Outsiders • The Devils Other TV Mania • Tours