Showing posts with label Duran Duran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duran Duran. Show all posts

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Is there something I should know - Duran Duran

'Is there something I should know?' was recorded in December 1982 in London. It was released as a non-album single, although in the USA the track was added to the 1983 reissue of the band's debut album 'Duran Duran'.

In the UK, the single became the band's first number one hit. It reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in August 1983. In the Dutch Top 40, the single reached number 14, their first hit in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 1806
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 9, 1993
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Is there something I should know?' / 'Faith in this colour'

Sunday 23 August 2009

Hungry like the wolf - Duran Duran

Duran Duran worte and recorded 'Hungry like the wolf' on a Saturday in the spring of 1982 at the basement studios of EMI's London headquarters. Rhodes started the song's demo in the morning with a sequencer; the song was built throughout the day as each band member arrived, and by the evening it was essentially complete. The laugh at the beginning of the song and the screams during the song's fade-out were performed by Nick Rhodes’ girlfriend at the time.

The single was another top 10 hit for the band, peaking at number 5 in the UK singles chart. It also reached number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

My collection: 7" single no. 3246
Found: London, October 20, 2000
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Hungry like the wolf' / 'Careless memories (live)'

Friday 21 August 2009

Rio - Duran Duran

The song 'Rio' was inspired when Duran Duran toured Brazil and decided to write a song about their experiences there; however, the song references the Rio Grande which forms the border between Texas and Mexico. Nick Rhodes created the unusual sound at the beginning of the song by throwing several small metal rods onto the strings of a grand piano in the studio. The recorded sound was then reversed to create the intro. The laughter on the track was that of Rhodes' girlfriend at the time.

'Rio' was Duran Duran's fourth top 10 hit in the UK, peaking at number 9. The single performed even better in Canada, reaching number 3.

My collection: 7" single no. 1002
Found: HMV, London, October 16, 1989
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Rio' / 'The chauffeur (Blue silver)'

Tuesday 18 August 2009

My own way - Duran Duran

I thought I knew everything about Duran Duran's discography, until I found this single. I'd never heard of the track, the sleeve looked unlike any other Duran Duran sleeve at the time and so I assumed it was an early single, from before they were famous.

In fact, it was the fourth single by the band, a new track not on any album to capitalise on the success of 'Girls on film', their previous hit single. 'My own way' has often been cited by the band as their least favourite and is rarely played live. The single reached number 14 in the UK singles chart and number 10 in Australia.

My collection: 7" single no. 2467
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 16, 1995
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'My own way' / 'Like an angel'

Saturday 15 August 2009

Girls on film - Duran Duran

Duran Duran are best remembered for their glossy Eighties videos, recorded in exotic places. But the music video for 'Girls on film' did not take the band halfway around the world: they simply used a studio somewhere in the UK. They created a video that was the dream of any teenage boy, with scantily clad women wrestling one another.

'Girls on film' was originally co-written by Andy Wickett, one of Duran Duran's previous singers before Simon Le Bon. When Wickett left the band, Duran Duran bought the song from him for £600 and made him sign a waiver removing his rights to the song. The single reached number 5 in the UK singles chart and also went top 20 in Australia, Sweden and Ireland.

My collection: 7" single no. 2749
Found: London, October 28, 1996
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Girls on film' / 'Faster than light'

Thursday 13 August 2009

Careless memories - Duran Duran

'Careless memories' was the second single by Duran Duran, released in April 1981. The choice to release this song as a single was made by the record company. They must have been unpleasantly surprised when it stalled at number 37 in the UK singles chart, after the debut single 'Planet earth' had been a top 20 hit. Subsequent singles were chosen by the band - and became big hits.

This perhaps one of the least recognised Duran Duran tracks, and I admit I didn't know the track when I bought the single. Still, as I was collecting Duran Duran, I had to have this one as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 2639
Found: April 13, 1996
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'Careless memories' / 'Khanada'

Friday 7 August 2009

Meet el presidente - Duran duran

I've had the cd-single of Duran Duran's 'Meet el presidente' for two decades now. It was released in a gatefold sleeve, which I imagined was exclusive to the cd-single format. But I was wrong: in the UK, the 7" single was also released in a gatefold sleeve, with the same band photo inside as the one in the cd-single sleeve. I didn't have the 7" single yet, so I was happy to snap this one up.

The single charted in the UK, peaking at number 24, whereas in the Netherlands the single made number 31. Still, 'Meet el presidente' was the least successful single from the band's 1986 album 'Notorious'.

My collection: 7" single no. 3944
Found: Record Exchange, London, August 5, 2009
Cost: 30p
Tracks: 'Meet el presidente' / 'Vertigo (Do the demolition)'

Thursday 25 December 2008

Do they know it's Christmas? - Band Aid

The song that embodied the Christmas spirit in the Eighties was Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. The project initiated by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof started when the two met up and worked out this song Bob had written in a rather rudimentary way. They phoned up the musician friends they knew and before you knew it you had a media spectacle of unprecedented size.

I bought the single as soon as it came out, although, strangely, I didn't like the song that much. There were just so many of my eighties idols participated that I felt I couldn't pass up on this historic single. Two decades later, it's somehow reassuring (or troubling) that everything has stayed the same in Africa: it's still a continent of war, hunger and drought.

My collection: 7" single no. 249
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Do they know it's Christmas?' / 'Feed the world'
Download: 12" single 'Do they know it's Christmas?', including both tracks (password: burningtheground-djpault.blogspot.com )

Monday 1 December 2008

Union of the snake - Duran duran

Limited editions are a phenomenon in the UK. Especially in the eighties, there were gatefold sleeves, double singles, box sets and strangely coloured vinyl singles aplenty. In the Netherlands, these phenomena didn't happen as often. So whenever it did, it was immediately a collector's item. If I liked the artist, I simply had to have it.

However, I found out about Duran Duran's limited edition single 'Union of the snake' too late. So when I did, it had already left the shops. I finally found it two years later during a flea market in my highschool. The unsuspecting fellow student from which I bought this didn't know quite what he parted with: he only asked a mere two guilders for it. What a steal! I was very satisfied. Little did I know that later in life these items would change hands for astronomical amounts at times...

My collection: 7" single no. 358
Found: School fair, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Union of the snake' / 'Secret oktober' plus free flexi disc with medley of tracks from the albums 'Duran Duran' and 'Rio'
Download: here
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