DURAN DURAN

Formed in Birmingham, England in 1978, Duran Duran were the most successful New Wave band of the '80s and the leading band in the "Second British Invasion" of the U. S. at that time. Duran Duran charted over a dozen Billboard Hot 100 singles and it is estimated that they have sold at least 100 million records. This dominance of the '80s music scene was fueled in large part by the band's visual image, which they cultivated with fashion designers and set decorators. Also, their often controversial videos, which sometimes included partial nudity and sensuality, were groundbreaking style-wise, as the band was also one of the first to employ professional directors and cinematographers using 35 mm film movie cameras, giving their videos a much more cinematic look. The primary and most famous lineup of Duran Duran consisted of Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor and Simon Le Bon, also known as the "Fab Five."

The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981 in the UK and was big hit there, staying on the chart for two years.  In the U.S., however, the album's initial release fizzled. In May of 1982, they released their second album, Rio, which was another big hit in the UK, and finally broke the band in the U.S. Although the single "Hungry Like the Wolf", was Duran Duran's fifth single released in the U.S., it was their first successful song here.  After the huge success of "Hungry Like The Wolf" (it was Top 3 song in the U.S.), the band released the title track to their album, "Rio", in the states. It was already a hit around the outside of America. "Rio" also charted high on the Billboard chart. Taking advantage of their two hot singles in the Spring of '83, the band released the stand-alone single "Is There Something I Should Know?" and again, another hit record resulted. 

Later that year, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, was released, and it included several more worldwide hit records, such as "Union of the Snake", "New Moon on Monday", and the "The Reflex", which, after it was significantly remixed by super producer and musician, Nile Rodgers,  became Duran Duran's first number one hit in the U.S. The band's next project was the long-form video Arena, which was part concert film and part Barbarella-inspired concept video, which was recorded during their 1984 Sing Blue Silver North American Tour. The accompanying Arena album also contained two more hit singles for the group: a new studio track, "The Wild Boys"(which went to Number 2 in both the U.S. and the U. K.), and a live version of a previous song that did well in countries other than ours: "Save A Prayer", (which went to #16 on Billboard's chart).

Taking a break from Duran Duran for a while, John and Andy Taylor wanted to produce and play on some hard rock and funk records, so they call up some buddies in the form of Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson, and supergroup Power Station was born. Power Station released one self-titled album, which produced two Top 10 singles (“Some Like it Hot” and a cover of T-Rex’s “Get It On (Bang A Gong).”  Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes, also had a “splinter group” called Arcadia, which was closer to the Duran Duran sound, but much less successful than either Duran Duran or Power Station. Arcadia did score a Top Ten hit in the U.S., the U.K., and several other countries with the single, "Election Day." Roger Taylor was involved in both groups, as the drummer for Arcadia, but also played a bit on the Power Station LP. Also in 1985, the band recorded the title song to the 007 film, A View to a Kill and the single remains the to the only James Bond movie theme song to hit #1 in the U.S., and became the highest charting Bond theme on the UK chart when it hit #2 there.

The non-stop work schedule which produced three studio albums, one live album, several tours and videos, in five years finally took its toll when two of the “Fab Five” finally needed a real break: drummer Roger Taylor succumbed to exhaustion and retired to the English countryside, and guitarist Andy Taylor just wanted to do something different. These changes and tension within the group plague them all through the recording of 1986’s "Notorious."  Although the title track went to #2 in the U.S. and album sales were strong, the band was losing some of their fans to a more mature kind of pop music; one more influenced by R&B.

The album’s other two singles, "Skin Trade" and "Meet El Presidente", hit the charts, but were nowhere near as successful as the band’s earlier work.  Duran Duran’s last two hit singles of the ‘80s, "I Don't Want Your Love" (#4 in the US) and " All She Wants Is" (#4 in the US), were from the 1988 album, Big Thing, an LP which a quality collection of tunes that were influenced by hip hop, rave, and house music. The band closed out the 1980s with the LP Decade: Greatest Hits, which also sold very well.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. - Hebrews 10:23