Duran Duran

Duran Duran
Duran Duran in Toronto, 2005
General information
origin	Birmingham , England
Genre (s)	Rock , new wave
founding	1978
Website	www.duranduran.com
Founding members
Vocals , drums , bass (until 1978)	Stephen Duffy (until 1979)
Guitar , (until 1980) , bass (1980–1997; since 2001)	John Taylor (until 1997; since 2001)
Keyboard	Nick Rhodes
Current occupation
singing	Simon Le Bon (since 1980)
Bass (1980–1997; since 2001) , guitar (until 1980)	John Taylor (until 1997; since 2001)
Drums	Roger Taylor (1979–1985; since 2001)
Keyboard	Nick Rhodes
former members
bass	Simon Colley (1978–1980)
singing	Jeff Thomas (1979-1980)
singing	Andy Wickett (1979-1980)
singing	Alan Curtis (1979-1980)
guitar	Andy Taylor (1980–1986; 2001–2006)
Guitar, bass (1997-2001)	Warren Cuccurullo (1986-2001)
Drums	Sterling Campbell (1989-1991)

Duran Duran is a British musical group formed in Birmingham in 1978 and named after a character from the science fiction film Barbarella (the villain Durand Durand). You are one of the pioneers of the New Romantics, which emerged in the early 1980s, and have sold more than 100 million records.

history

1978–1979: Foundation and first appearances

The first line-up consisted of Nick Rhodes ( keyboard ), John Taylor ( guitar ) and Stephen Duffy ( vocals , electric bass , drums ), Simon Colley (electric bass) join the band, and lasted only briefly, having left as early as 1979 Duffy (who later co-wrote and produced Robbie Williams, among others ) and Colley joined the band. They were replaced by Roger Taylor (drums) and Andy Taylor (guitar), who are not related to each other or to John Taylor.

The practice room and first stage was the Rum Runner nightclub in Birmingham. The club's owners, brothers Michael and Paul Berrow, became the managers of Duran Duran. They stayed that way until 1986.

1980: Le Bon joins the company and a record deal

The vocals with Duran Duran were successively taken over by Andy Wickett (vocals), Alan Curtis (guitar) and Jeff Thomas (vocals) until Simon Le Bon (vocals) joined the group in April 1980 and replaced Jeff Thomas. Duran Duran first appeared in the line-up of Le Bon, Rhodes, A. Taylor, J. Taylor and R. Taylor in June 1980 at the Edinburgh Music Festival .

The band then toured England from September to December 1980 with the then popular British singer Hazel O'Connor . Michael Berrow sold his house to finance the tour. In order to save money anyway, the band members stayed overnight during the tour in an old VW bus that belonged to Roger Taylor and which also had to accommodate the drums. Michael and Paul Berrow paid them ten pounds a week each. In November 1980, Duran Duran signed a record deal with EMI . The recordings for the debut album Duran Duran began in the winter of 1980/81.

• 

  Simon Le Bon (2004)

• 

  Nick Rhodes (2005)

• 

  John Taylor (2008)

• 

  Roger Taylor (2011)

1981: First chart successes

In February 1981, the first single, Planet Earth , was released, which reached number 12 in the UK charts . The second single, Careless Memories , was not a commercial success as it only came to number 37. In June 1981 the debut album was released, which was able to place successfully in the charts .

The video for the third single Girls on Film was removed from the program by the BBC because the program directors considered too much bare skin, too much bare bosom, too much pubic hair and too many lesbian kisses to be harmful to minors. The clip for Girls on Film was also the first video that was only censored on MTV (at that time only available in the USA ) and was only allowed to be shown after 11 p.m.

1982–1985: World tours and world successes

In April 1982 they went on their first world tour. A month later, the second album called Rio was released , which was very successful in Great Britain and the USA and gave the band top positions in the charts in the USA with singles such as Hungry Like the Wolf . Another tour followed in 1983, with which they filled 51 stadiums. They played in America, Australia, Europe and Japan.

In July 1983 Duran Duran (together with Dire Straits ) played a concert in London's Dominion Theater in honor of Princess Diana and her husband Prince Charles . It almost came to a catastrophe. The IRA planned an attack on the royal couple, which likely would also have killed the group. The attack was thwarted by an undercover agent.

The third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, followed in November 1983 . By then they had ten singles as hits, including titles like Save a Prayer , Is There Something I Should Know? , Union of the Snake and The Reflex . A live recorded cover version of the Steve Harley hit (Make Me Smile) Come Up and See Me , played by Duran Duran as an encore, can be heard on the B-side of The Reflex .

With the song The Wild Boys , which at that time only appeared on the live album Arena , the band reached its peak in the fall of 1984. In addition to the songs, they also dedicated themselves to the emerging video technology and brought out elaborate video clips for the singles , which brought the band an extremely high TV presence, for example on MTV, and numerous awards. At the end of 1984 Duran Duran took part in Bob Geldof's Band Aid project and the single Do They Know It's Christmas? . In addition, Duran Duran contributed with A View to a Kill in the spring of 1985, the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name .

1985–1986: time off and side projects

At the end of 1984 John Taylor and Andy Taylor founded the side project The Power Station with Robert Palmer as singer and Tony Thompson as drummer. Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor founded the side project Arcadia in mid-1985 .

1986–1989: New members

Guitarist from 1986 to 2001: Warren Cuccurullo

After the departure of Roger and Andy Taylor in June 1986, the remaining Duran-Duran members Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor teamed up with Warren Cuccurullo (guitar) and Steve Ferrone (drums) to record the LP Notorious , which Andy Taylor recorded still accompanied. From February 1987 Duran Duran went on a world tour again. In the fall of 1988, the album Big Thing followed , from which three singles were decoupled, but which had only moderate chart success. In the fall of 1989, the first hit compilation Decade was published, which landed in the top ten at least on the domestic market.

1990–2000: Renewed line-up and style change

The record Liberty , released in the summer of 1990, was recorded with the new drummer Sterling Campbell , but it was only moderately successful. The next album took almost three years. With The Wedding Album (as it was named because of the wedding photos on the cover in the media, to distinguish it from the also untitled debut album), the group in the spring of 1993 celebrated a commercial comeback, mainly the single Ordinary World is due .

The album Thank You from spring 1995 consisted of cover versions with songs by Bob Dylan , Led Zeppelin , The Doors and Iggy Pop, among others . Medazzaland , published in autumn 1997, was not published in Europe and was only available as an import. Another heat compilation was presented as Greatest in the fall of 1998 , containing nineteen of their hits. Somewhat more successful than Medazzaland was the album Pop Trash , released in early summer 2000 , which entered the charts at number 80 in Germany.

2003–2006: Reunification of the successful cast

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary in 2003, the original line-up was reunited. In October 2004 Astronaut was released , a new studio album by the band, from which the singles (Reach Up for the) Sunrise and What Happens Tomorrow were released. A subsequent world tour spanned the entire year 2005. The album Astronaut sold more than two million copies worldwide. Since their reunion, the band has played in front of over four million fans.

On October 25, 2006, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor announced that Andy Taylor had left the band for a second time after 1986 due to disputes; further cooperation with him had become impossible. Andy Taylor was replaced by guitarist Dom Brown.

2007–2009: Memorial concert for Diana and Red Carpet Massacre

Duran Duran at the Exit Festival , 2012

At the beginning of July 2007 Duran Duran took part in both the Memorial Concert for Princess Diana and Live Earth (concert series against climate change ).

The next album, entitled Red Carpet Massacre , was released in Germany and Austria on November 19, 2007. The album was co-produced in part by Justin Timberlake and Timbaland . Timberlake also co-wrote three songs. The album was received differently by fans and the press as it was a complete reorientation of the band. The only single on the album is entitled Falling Down . The subsequent world tour dragged on over the years 2008 and 2009. In retrospect, the band was remorseful: Roger Taylor, for example, said that Sony Music had literally forced the band to create an album with modern pop elements that the band unfortunately got involved with.

In the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, Duran Duran and over 60 other musicians took part in a new recording of the Midnight Oil song Beds Are Burning with new lyrics. This worldwide music petition highlighted the threat posed by global warming and called on politicians to act.

2010: All you need is now with Mark Ronson

On April 30, 2010, the band's bassist, John Taylor, announced that the new album would be recorded with producer and musician Mark Ronson . The 13th album All You Need Is Now , which was also co-designed by Nick Hodgson ( Kaiser Chiefs ), was released on December 21, 2010 on iTunes . The single of the same name was released on December 8th. In addition, an expanded new edition of Rio was released in the late summer of 2009 , which was followed in spring 2010 by the extended versions of the albums Duran Duran and Seven and the Ragged Tiger .

Discography

→ Main article : Duran Duran / discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1981	Duran Duran	-	-	-	UK3 platinum (118 weeks)UK	US10 platinum (87 weeks)US	First published: June 15, 1981 in the USA only entered the charts in 1983 due to an extended version. Sales: + 1,300,000
1982	Rio	-	-	-	UK2 platinum (110 weeks)UK	US6th × 2 Double platinum (129 weeks)US	First published: May 10, 1982 Sales: + 2,545,000
1983	Seven and the Ragged Tiger	DE17 (40 weeks) DE	AT11 (12 weeks) AT	CH16 (9 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (47 weeks)UK	US8th × 2 Double platinum (64 weeks)US	First published: November 21, 1983 Sales: + 2,100,000
1986	Notorious	DE22 (10 weeks) DE	AT20 (10 weeks) AT	CH19 (4 weeks) CH	UK16 gold (16 weeks)UK	US12 platinum (34 weeks)US	First published: November 18, 1986 Sales: + 1,100,000
1988	Big thing	DE31 (7 weeks) DE	-	CH19 (2 weeks) CH	UK15th silver (5 weeks)UK	US24 gold (26 weeks)US	First published: October 18, 1988 Sales: + 560,000
1990	Liberty	-	-	CH36 (2 weeks) CH	UK8th silver (4 weeks)UK	US46 (10 weeks) US	First published: August 20, 1990 Sales: + 60,000
1993	Duran Duran (The Wedding Album)	DE22 (21 weeks) DE	AT12 (9 weeks) AT	CH23 (10 weeks) CH	UK4th gold (23 weeks)UK	US7th platinum (47 weeks)US	First published: February 15, 1993 Sales: + 1,100,000
1995	Thank you	DE50 (7 weeks) DE	AT25 (3 weeks) AT	CH44 (2 weeks) CH	UK12 (3 weeks) UK	US19th gold (10 weeks)US	First published: March 23, 1995 Sales: + 500,000
1997	Medazzaland	-	-	-	-	US58 (3 weeks) US	First published: October 14, 1997
2000	Pop trash	DE80 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK53 (1 week) UK	US135 (1 week) US	First published: June 10, 2000
2004	astronaut	DE23 (3 weeks) DE	AT27 (2 weeks) AT	CH21 (4 weeks) CH	UK3 gold (5 weeks)UK	US17 (8 weeks) US	First published: October 11, 2004 Sales: + 100,000
2007	Red Carpet Massacre	DE85 (1 week) DE	-	CH39 (2 weeks) CH	UK44 (3 weeks) UK	US36 (3 weeks) US	First published: November 13, 2007
2010	All You Need Is Now	DE39 (2 weeks) DE	AT62 (1 week) AT	CH28 (2 weeks) CH	UK11 (4 weeks) UK	US29 (4 weeks) US	First published: December 21, 2010
2015	Paper Gods	DE24 (1 week) DE	AT24 (2 weeks) AT	CH15 (2 weeks) CH	UK5 (4 weeks) UK	US10 (7 weeks) US	First published: September 11, 2015

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Awards

• BRIT Awards
  • 1985: in the category "Best British Video" ( The Wild Boys )
  • 2004: in the category "Outstanding Contribution to Music"

• Grammys
  • 1984: in the category "Best Music Video, Short Form" (Girls on Film / Hungry Like the Wolf)
  • 1984: in the category "Best Music Video, Long Form"

• Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • 1993: "Recording"

• Ivor Novello Award
  • 1994: in the category "Best Song Musically & Lyrically"
  • 2005: in the category "Outstanding Contribution to Music"

• MTV Video Music Awards
  • 2003 : in the category "Lifetime Achievement Award"

• Q Award
  • 2003: in the category "Q Lifetime Achievement Award"

literature

• Brian M. Peters: Androgyny, Masculinities and the Re-gendered Aesthetics of the New Wave: Duran Duran and the Second British Invasion . In: Queer Studies in Media & Popular Culture 1: 3, 2016, pp. 297–313.
• John Taylor: Dangerously Good Grooves - Love, Death & Duran Duran . Hannibal Verlag, Höfen 2013, ISBN 978-3-85445-408-3 (Original edition: In The Pleasure Groove: Love, Death And Duran Duran )

swell

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ msn.com: Princess Diana († 36): She was supposed to be killed in 1983 ( memento of the original from September 30, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on August 7, 2015 
3. ↑ duranduran.com
4. ^ The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | Boys On Film: Duran Duran Interviewed . In: The Quietus . ( thequietus.com [accessed December 2, 2018]).
5. ↑ Angelique Chrisafis: Lily Allen and Duran Duran launch celebrity climate campaign track. In: The Guardian , October 1, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
6. ↑ The album is nearing completion and a title has been decided * The 13th Duran Duran studio album title is ALL YOU NEED IS NOW * could be subject to change… ..!
7. ^ Duran Duran Discography
8. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
9. ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

Commons : Duran Duran  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website (English)
• Duran Duran at laut.de
• Duran Duran on MusicBrainz (English)