Duran Duran were undeniable pin-up idols. Teenage girls plastered their walls with pictures of each member of the band for sure, but, the music of Duran Duran was NOT Tiger Beat/ bubble gum fare. Duran Duran actually wrote amazing songs, with heady lyrics that gave their music substance, and artistic credibility.. In each Duran Duran creation, there is some clever turn of phrase, or engrossing subtext that set them apart from other bands in the 80s and 90s, but not just from other bands of those decades, they could write catchy hooks and melodies with the best in the history of the Rock Era. We celebrate their genius here.
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#5- “Save A Prayer” (the album version from Rio). This ballad written by Simon LeBon about an intense one-night stand really resonates with the early Duran Duran adopters. It was a #2 single in the UK, and Top 10 in many parts of Europe, but was unreleased in its first run in the U.S.. Even though it wasn’t a radio single in America, the video became very popular on MTV, and that put more fuel on the fire for Duran Duran’s breakout in the U.S. in 1982. Riding the band’s popularity, EMI/Capitol Records released “Save A Prayer” in the U.S. in 1985, and the song went to #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. I could hardly contain my reaction.
#4- “Rio”. Didn’t get much attention outside of airplay in Australia, but after Duran Duran had their breakout hit in the U.S., radio programmers discovered some older Duran Duran material and there was renewed interest in “Rio”. The reissue of the single in 1983 propelled it to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Rio” is another sexy composition from Duran Duran telling us about a girl named “Rio” that is a “bird of paradise” with a “cherry ice cream smile, and dances “just like a river twisting through a dusty land". The songwriting brilliantly creates vivid imagery in the theater of your mind. “Rio" is simply a very alluring visceral experience set to hook centric music.
#3- “Hungry Like the Wolf”- The primal New Wave classic inspired by the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ fairy tale, was the breakout radio smash for Duran Duran, and the video for the song ranks as one of the most played ever on MTV. The video also won the first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1984, and was a certified Gold single rising to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Canada, #5 in the U.K., and #1 on the U.S. Rock chart.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” is full of cool, thought-provoking lyrics, but my favorites are:
“I smell like a sound” / “Mouth is alive with juices like wine”/ “Straddle the line in discord and rhyme”
“Smell like a sound?” Really? Don’t think about that brain twister too long, or your head may explode..
#2- From the album Seven and the Ragged Tiger- “The Reflex”. A massive success that topped the pop charts in the U.S., the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In its original form, the band thought “The Reflex” would only an album cut, but famed producer Nile Rodgers turned it into infectious jam- with heavy percussion effects, and big dance groove.
More superb songwriting from Duran Duran, especially the chorus line:
“The reflex is a lonely child, who’s waiting by the park”
“The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark”
“And watching over lucky clover, isn’t that bizarre?”
Yes, wonderfully bizarre.. Every 80s kids knew the lyrics to this and sang it to the top of our lungs. In fact that bad Chris Kattan movie Corky Romano movie captured that part perfectly:
#1- “Ordinary World”- The music industry referred to “Ordinary World" as a “comeback” for Duran Duran, because several of their single releases in ’89 and ’90 did not hit the Top 40, and many critics wrote Duran Duran off as a trendy New Wave band, whose popularity had faded away with the decade, but boy were they wrong. Duran Duran returned to glory with a vengeance, releasing their apex composition.”Ordinary World” featuring one of the finest pop arrangements I’ve ever heard. A range of emotions hit you during the 5:39 album version of this masterpiece from their self-titled album in 1993- again sometimes referred to as ’The Wedding Album. There is a part of the song that makes you want to cry, another that makes you become very introspective, and the end of the song that gives you triumphant joy.
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