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Duran Duran personified New Wave for much of the
mainstream audience. And for good reason, too.
Duran Duran's
reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their
fashion-model looks and glamourous sense of style. Without music videos,
it is likely that the band's pop-funk -- described by the group as the Sex
Pistols meets Chic -- would never have made the group international pop
stars. While Duran Duran did have sharper pop sensibilities than their New
Romantic contemporaries like Spandau Ballet and Ultravox, none of their
peers exploited MTV and music video like the Birmingham-based quintet.
Each video the group made was distinctive, incorporatin a number of
cinematic styles to showcase the band as either part of the jet-setting
elite ("Rio") or as worldly adventurers ("Hungry Like the Wolf").
While early videos like "Girls on Film" and "The Chaffeur" sparked
controversy in England over their sexual content, their best-known clips
were often based on hit contemporary movies. "Hungry Like the Wolf"
uncannily recalled Raiders of the Lost Ark, while "Union of the Snake" and
"The Wild Boys" brought to mind The Road Warrior.
The clever
videos helped make Duran Duran's rise to popularity remarkably swift.
Between 1982 and 1984, they rocketed from underground British post-punk
sensations to teen idols. But their fall from grace was equally fast. By
the late '80s, the group's lineup had fragmented, and the remaining
members had trouble landing hist singles. Nevertheless, the group pulled
off a surprising, if short-lived, comeback in the early '90s as a
sophisticated soft-rock trio.
Inspired by David Bowie and Roxy
Music, as well as post-punk and disco, schoolmates Nick Rhodes (keyboards)
and John Taylor (guitar) formed Duran Duran in 1978 with their friends
Simon Colley (bass, clarinet) and Stephen Duffy (vocals). Taking their
name from a character in Roger Vadim's psychedelic sci-fi film Barbarella,
the group began playin gigs in the Birmingham club Barbarella, supported
by a drum machine. Within a year, Duffy and Colley both left the group --
Duffy would later form the Lilac Time -- and were replaced by former TV
Eye vocalist Andy Wickett and drummer Roger Taylor. After recording a
demo, John Taylor switched to bass and guitarist John Curtis joined the
band, only to leave within a matter of months.
The group placed an
ad in Melody Maker, which drew the attention of Andy Taylor, who became
their guitarist, but Duran Duran were still having trouble finding a
vocalist. Following Wickett's departure in 1979, a pair of singers passed
through the group before Simon LeBon, a former member of the punk band Dog
Days and a drama student at Birmingham University, joined in early 1980.
By the end of 1980, Duran Duran had become popular within the
burgeoning New Romantic circuit in England and had secured a record
contract with EMI. "Planet Earth," the band's first single, quickly rose
to number 12 upon its spring 1981 release. Immediately, Duran Duran became
the leaders of the New Romantic movement, becoming media sensation in the
British music and mainstream press. The group's popualrity increased
through their cutting-edge music videos, especially the bizarre, racy clip
for "Girls On Film." Although the BBC banned the Godley &
Creme-directed video, the single became the group's first Top 10 hit,
setting the stage for the fall release of their eponymous debut album.
Duran Duran reached number three upon its release and stayed in
the charts for 118 weeks. The band quickly followed the album with Rio in
the spring of 1982. Rio entered the charts at number two, and its singles
-- "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer" -- became Top 10 hits. By
the November release of the US-only remix EP Carnival, the band were
superstars in Europe, but only just beginning to make headway in America.
Their exposure in the US was helped greatly by the emergence of MTV, who
put the group's stylish videos into heavy rotation. MTV's constant playing
of the videos paid off, and "Hungry Like the Wolf" became a Top 10 hit
early in 1983. Rio followed the single into the Top 10, eventually selling
over two million copies.
Duran Duran-mania was in full-swing
across America, with "Is There Something I Should Know" reaching the Top
10 -- it became the group's first English number one that summer -- and
the group's first album climbing its way to number 10. Duran Duran
capitalized on their popularity by releasing Seven and the Ragged Tiger in
time for 1983's holiday season. The record hit number one in the UK and
number eight in the US, spawning the hit singles "Union of the Snake" and
"The Reflex," their first number one US hit and their second British
chart-topper. The band took an extended break after completing their
year-and-a-half long international tour in the spring of 1984. In
November, they released the non-LP single "Wild Boys," which reached
number two in the UK and the US, where it was added to the live album
Arena.
By 1985, Duran Duran fever was beginning to cool off, and
after the band completed the the title track for the James Bond film A
View to A Kill, the group went on hiatus. Andy and John Taylor formed the
supergroup the Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer and former Chic
drummer Tony Thompson in January, releasing their eponymous debut album in
the spring; it spawned the Top 10 singles "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It
On (Bang a Gong)." The remaining members of Duran Duran -- Nick Rhodes,
Simon LeBon and Roger Taylor -- responded with their own side project,
Arcadia, which released an album called So Red the Rose in the fall of
1985; the album launched the Top 10 hit "Election Day." Early in 1986,
Roger Taylor announced he was taking a year-long sabbatical from the
group. He never returned.
Several months later, Andy taylor also
left, reducing Duran Duran to a trio. Late in 1986, the band released
Notorious, their first album in nearly three years. While it was
relatively successful, going platinum in the US and generating a Top 10
hit with the title track, it was noticeably less popular than their
earlier records. For the remainder of the decade, Duran Duran's popularity
continually declined, with 1988's Big Thing producing "I Don't Want Your
Love," their last Top 10 single for five years.
The greatest hits
album Decade was released late in 1989, followed several months later by
Liberty, the first Duran Duran album to fail to go gold. By that point,
former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo had become a permanent
member of the group. In 1993, the band returned from a prolonged hiatus
with Duran Duran, a mature, layered record of lite funk and soulful adult
contemporary pop that became a surprise hit. "Ordinary World" and "Come
Undone" became Top 10 hits in America, with the former reaching the Top 10
in the UK as well; the album itself climbed into the Top 10 in both
continents and went platinum in America.
Not only did the record
restore their commercial status, but it earned them some of their best
reviews of their career. The group followed the album with one of their
poorest-received efforts, the all-covers Thank You, that managed to go
gold in America despite its negative reviews. While Duran Duran was
recording the followup to Thank You in 1996, John Taylor left the band to
pursue a solo career.
Warren Cuccurullo has since left Duran Duran to re-form his old group Missing Persons and Duran
Duran has returned to it's original line-up with the return of John, Andy and Roger Taylor.
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