Duran Duran

Were you a fan of the 80’s band Duran Duran? I know some of their songs, but I wasn’t a huge fan. I was into jazz music mainly during that time but I do remember liking some pop groups. There was Wham, Lionel Richie, Rick Springfield, Whitney Houston, Howard Jones, and Debarge. That’s who I was listening to when I didn’t have my jazz going. I didn’t dislike Duran at all, but they were just another group to me.

Duran Duran was formed in England in 1978 by John Taylor and Nick Rhodes. The two boys were doing odd jobs at a club called Rum Runner when they began rehearsing their music. On a side note – I’m in a running club called the Rum Runners. We like to run AND drink rum. Anyway, back to the boys. John and Nick started at the club by working the door and deejaying, but then ended up being the resident band. Many musicians were part of the group before it settled down to the five main guys. In addition to John and Nick, there was also Simon Le Bon, Andy Taylor, and Roger Taylor.

All of the members of the band were quite beautiful and photogenic.  Bop, Teen Beat, Tiger Beat, Smash Hits, and all the other teen magazines always featured the boys in the early 80’s.  The group regretted being pinup boys, but it did help with their publicity so there’s that. Quit whining.

The Beginning and The End

Their self-titled debut album made it to number 3 in the UK. Their second album, Rio, was released in 1982 and did even better. The singles released from Rio were My Own Way, Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer, and Rio. Their second album made it all the way to number 6 in the US. The boys were everywhere by this time.

The band released their third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, in late 1983 and then took a break. The boys still wanted to do music but they seemed to have different ideas. The band basically split into two new groups. John and Andy formed the Power Station with some other guys and focused more on hard rock. Simon and Nick formed Arcadia which was closely related to the Duran Duran sound. Roger Taylor was part of both groups.

Speaking of Roger, he retired in 1986 after five years of an exhausting schedule. Andy Taylor also left. The band did find replacements and another album “Notorious” was released in late 1986. John Taylor left the following year which meant only two original members were left.

Trivia

• Diana, Princess of Wales announced that her favorite band was Duran Duran. Soon after, the boys were dubbed the Fab Five (a comparison to the Beatles Fab Four).
• Named after Durand Durand, a character in the 1968 movie Barbarella.
• He ain’t heavy and he ain’t my brother. None of the Taylor’s in the group (John, Andy, and Roger) are related.
• Simon Le Bon started out as an actor. He did commercials and theater before his music career. I guess the acting chops helped with all the videos the band made.
• Justin Timberlake is a big fan.
• Duran Duran appeared on American television for the first time in June 1982.
• The group had albums place in the top five in the UK in four different decades. In the US, they placed in the top 10 in three different decades.
• At the height of their popularity, Milton Bradley released a Duran Duran board game called Arena.  Cute.

Discography

All in all, Duran Duran released 14 studio albums. That’s pretty impressive (and they might not be done yet). The group has also released a bunch of live albums, box sets, compilation albums, etc. Out of all of this has come 39 singles. Some of those singles include:

• Hungry Like the Wolf
• Is There Something I Should Know?
• Union of the Snake
• New Moon on Monday
• The Reflex
• The Wild Boys
• Save a Prayer
• A View to a Kill
• Notorious
• I Don’t Want Your Love
• Ordinary World
• Come Undone

Closing

I have never owned a Duran Duran album, cassette, or CD. After writing this blog, I may just go out and get me a greatest hits album. Listen to some Duran Duran today and be sure to check out my Duran Duran collection in my eBay store.