Originally recorded in 2017. Edited and re-released for 2025.
Welcome back to New Wave Beat. I'm your host, Jason D'Orazio. I want to go over Duran Duran. But first, let me start by giving a little background on them. After its members being in a couple of short-lived bands, Duran Duran formed in 1978, comprised of vocalist Steve Duffy, bassist John Taylor, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes. Duran Duran named themselves after the villain in the 1968 cult sci-fi film Barbarella. Duran Duran owe a large part of their visuals and fashion to David Bowie, who wore eye-catching outfits to say the least.
Sonically, Roxy Music was a large influence, as they had a prominent keyboard section. Also, the disco and R&B stylings of Chic would be heard in various degrees in Duran Duran's albums. Indeed, it's no coincidence that Nile Rodgers of Chic and Duran Duran would work together on and off throughout their careers. Of course, I also need to mention synth and dance pioneers Kraftwerk, whose moody instrumentals are sometimes echoed in some of Nick Rhodes' synths on Duran Duran songs. Finally, there’s the pop-leanings of Blondie. As far as similar bands are concerned, A-ha and Alphaville comes to mind, although they had their first albums when Duran Duran were already mega stars. Spandau Ballet are also in Duran Duran's new romantic style, though I find Duran Duran to be a little more energetic. Later in their career, Duran Duran would also incorporate some elements of Britpop, adult contemporary, and even a little bit of hip-hop.
When I was a young child in the '80s, I heard some Duran Duran on the radio and found it pretty catchy, along with other new wave tunes. However, it was not until I started college in 1997 that I had a new wave renaissance, finding the music better than most of what the '90s had to offer. Around that time, I really got into Duran Duran, buying their entire catalog in my freshman and sophomore years of college. First up was their greatest hits album Decade, and finishing with lesser known albums like Liberty. I've seen them regularly on tour from 1999 to the present day. I will be talking about their releases in the coming weeks. You will get a taste of the atmosphere musically and specific to Duran Duran around the time of each album, along with a review of the tracks and some personal notes relevant to these songs. Enjoy.
After some lead guitarist and vocalist changes, Duran Duran released their eponymous debut album in 1981. This classic incarnation of Duran Duran includes singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, lead guitarist Andy Taylor, bass guitarist John Taylor, no relation, and drummer Roger Taylor, also no relation. 1981 was a time where punk had already given in to more melodic new wave and post-punk. Synthesizers were playing more of a role in music, having a usually cold, eerie quality adapted from Kraftwerk. Gary Numan and early Human League were examples of this cold style, starting out at the turn of the '80s. Fashion in the music industry became more eclectic, taking cues from pirates, military, and much more. In their debut, Duran Duran wore these synthesizers, grafting them onto dance beats. The result was an innovative and infectious set of nine songs, along with four associated videos.
The lead single Planet Earth is a great start for the band as it incorporates disco and dance grooves and foreshadows an optimism and energy found in their other early works. In fact, in Planet Earth, the band even references the new romantic movement that they were helping spearhead. For instance, "Like some new romantic looking for the TV sound." There are many interpretations of what Planet Earth is about, whether it be apocalypse, space travel, or the aforementioned new romantic movement itself. The accompanying video has the band playing and dancing atop a tall crystal-like platform. Interestingly enough, Simon jumps off the platform at the end of the video, seemingly into a bottomless abyss. This began a long series of music videos for the band. While low-budget compared to their later videos, it showed that Duran Duran can captivate with imagery as well as with their music. When touring in support of the 2015 album Paper Gods, Duran Duran segued the song into a cover of Bowie's Space Oddity to poignant effect.
Careless Memories was the second single off the eponymous album. It rocks the hardest of the nine songs, as it allows Andy Taylor to flex his guitar muscles. That is not to discount the catchy beginning synth. The angry repeating of the song title shows Duran Duran's indirect punk roots. The lyrics, appropriate to the angry, frenetic melody, represent the anger and nihilistic phases of being abandoned. For example, the line, "On the table, signs of love lies scattered." The video has a similar narrative, interspersed with the band playing. Flowers that wilt throughout the course of the video represent a love gone wrong. Le Bon appears to be having a lot of fun with this video as he pantomimes shooting a gun and blowing its smoke not one, but three times. This video was edited upon its re-release in 1983, with some of the supposed cornier bits removed. But I say watch the original.
The Godley & Creme-produced video for Girls On Film was originally banned from TV because of nudity and sexual suggestion, though an edited version was later released. The song and video are about a model, or perhaps pornography, shoot. It's a little fuzzy which, what with lyrics like, "Lipstick cherry all over the lens as she's falling." The video features sumo wrestlers, mud wrestling, and ice on nipples. The melody itself reminds me of Roxy Music's Love Is The Drug, what with their disco leanings and rhythm sections. Flashbulb sounds start off the song, so someone playing Beat Shazam could mistake J. Geils Band's Freeze Frame for it, and then suffer the wrath of Jamie Foxx. The drumming and guitar are both intense in the right spots, so I really enjoy this song. The fervor over the video, along with it just being a great song, helped the single climb to number five in the UK charts.
I would also like to speak about the album tracks. While Careless Memories is about anger regarding a lost love, Anyone Out There is sort of a prelude that captures the surprise, head-scratching, and sadness phase of someone who just got ghosted. This is the only song that didn't really resonate with me, as I felt the melody meandered and did not advance as well as the other cuts in this album. Duran Duran the album was re-released in 1983 in the US, with the song Is There Something I Should Know replacing To The Shore, so I'd not heard To The Shore as much as the others. This song features a high-pitched cold synth, and the lyrics are a bit dark, creating an awesome moody song. The exact topic of the song eludes me, so please chime in if you have an interpretation of it.
The second side to the album is slower and darker, but grew on me with repeated listens. Nightboat in particular is arty and eerie in a good way, what with Nick's ominous synths and LeBon's haunting vocals. A music video was made for Nightboat when Duran Duran shot to fame during the Rio era. While not as slick as other Rio-era videos, it is an entertaining watch. There's a bit of dialogue during the long intro, along with zombies and a seemingly possessed Simon LeBon. Sound of Thunder has a disco-tinged intro that hooks you in instantly and there's a great guitar hook before the choruses. The vigorous drumming of Roger Taylor is the highlight of the bridge, so overall a solid team effort. Lyrically, LeBon sings about being out of control. Friends Of Mine continues the mood of Nightboat, adding a bit of a menacing tone. For example, commanding the listener to close the door and being sick of your alibis. As I see it, the focus of the song is either about having toxic friends or criminal Georgie Davis being released from prison due to a lot of public pressure from his friends and admirers. The album closes with a mostly instrumental Tel Aviv, which appropriately incorporates a bit of Middle Eastern motif, punctuated by LeBon's wails. In their early touring, they would open with this number to set the mood for the concert. I would say Planet Earth is the highlight of the album, with Anyone Out There being my least favorite.
Duran Duran was starting to get big in the UK, with all three singles hitting the top 40 there. Though not quite stars yet in the United States, with no charting singles. In the UK, they were playing larger and larger venues. Upon the first album's release, they had never toured in North America before. They did have several tour dates in the US in support of their eponymous album, including at the Eastside Club in Philadelphia, which was in the basement of a flop house. By the way, Depeche Mode and several other new wave acts played at the Eastside Club around the same time. How I would have loved to be there at the turn of the '80s to see Duran Duran and other bands before they struck it real big. Though I couldn't 'cause I was a mere infant at the time. They also played at The Roxy, which has a capacity of 500. Not quite the 20,000 of Madison Square Garden, but hey, you got to start somewhere. In addition to United States and United Kingdom, Duran Duran also visited a few countries in continental Europe. John Taylor has a blow-by-blow account of their rise to fame in the early '80s in his book, In The Pleasure Groove, if you're interested. A nearly complete concert list spanning Duran Duran's career is available on their official website, which is pretty neat. The self-titled album and accompanying videos are thus a great glimpse into Duran Duran before the full-blown Duranmania, if you will.
Bye!
Thanks for listening today to New Wave Beat. And until next time, this is Jason D'Orazio.
