Duran Duran

Duran Duran are an English New Wave band that formed in Birmingham, England in 1978.

Originally dubbed as a 'new romantic' band, ie; Spandau Ballet or ABC, they went thru a couple of line-up changes before landing Andy Taylor on guitar and Simon Le Bon on lead vocals. With this particular line-up they released a couple of demo tapes and were ultimately signed by EMI.

Their first album, 'Duran Duran',  was released in 1981. The first single from the album was  'Planet Earth' and in their home country charted the song at #12. The second single released, 'Careless Memories', also charted in the UK, but it wasn't until their 3rd single that they would garner international attention. The track 'Girls on Film' wasn't a controversial song in itself, but the accompanying video raised all kinds of controversy. The video included topless women, mud wrestling, pillow fighting and other sexual fetishes. It was banned by the BBC and had to be highly edited for play on MTV. This was the first real exposure to the U.S. for the band. But, as they say, any exposure is good exposure, right? Especially in the music business.

In regards to their subsequent videos, Duran Duran was not only a mainstay on MTV, but were said to be 'pioneers' in the industry.  They were among the first bands to have their videos shot by professional directors with 35 mm film movie cameras, which gave their videos a much more polished look. Not to mention that all 5 members of the band were extremely photogenic leading to them being labelled as 'the prettiest boys in rock' by People magazine. They were also called 'The Fab Five' by the British media, a comparison obviously to the Beatles (The 'Fab Four').

Duran Duran ruled the airwaves (and MTV) for several years in the U.S. as well as globally. In 1985 they even wrote the theme song to the latest James Bond movie 'A View To A Kill'. The song, of the same name, went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains as the only Bond theme to go to #1. All-in-all Duran Duran charted 21 singles in the U.S. and 32 in the UK. At last count, the band has now sold over 100 million albums world wide.

Duran Duran has had little chart success since the 80s, but has never veered from their original sound, they continued to record all thru the 90s and still record and perform today. They released 4 albums in the 90s and 4 so far in the 2000's. They are scheduled to release their latest album 'All You Need Is Now' on March 22, 2010 here in the U.S. Critics are saying this newest album is their best since 'Rio' in 1982.

Duran Duran is definitely one of my all-time favorite bands from the 80s. I would have to say my favorite songs are 'Rio', 'New Moon on Monday' and 'Ordinary World' in no particular order.

Below are some of their 45 sleeves and the video to their brand new song 'All You Need Is Now'

Girls on Film (1981)

                                       Rio (1982)

A View To A Kill (1985)

          New Moon On Monday (1984)

80's artists with new releases

If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the 80's artists are coming out of retirement and re-claiming the music industry! There seems to be a recent movement with alot, and I mean alot, of 80's artists getting back together and/or simply coming out with new material. Some acts that haven't released an album in 20+ years have recently, or are slated to, release an album within the next few months.


Here's a list of recently released or soon to be released albums from 80's artists:

1. Devo - Something For Everbody (June 2010)
2. Nelson - Lightning Strikes Twice (Feb 2011)
3. Stryper - The Covering (Feb 2011)
4. John Waite - Rough And Tumble (Feb 2011)
5. R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now (March 2011)
6. Whitesnake - Forever More (March 2011)
7. Roxette - Charm School (Feb 2011)
8. Duran Duran - All You Need Is Now (March 2011)
9. Christopher Cross - Doctor Faith (May 2011)
10. The Cars - Move Like This (May 2011)
11. Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams (May 2011)
12. John Oates - Mississippi Mile (April 2011)
13. Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What (April 2011)
14. Giant - Promise Land (Jan 2011)

*Notable mention to Mr. Big who also has a new album coming out. They were formed in the late 80s but didn't have a hit until 1991.

Other 2011 releases in the works but to be announced:

1. Aerosmith
2. Journey
3. Beastie Boys
4. U2
5. Culture Club (yes, i'm serious)
6. Human League
7. Janet Jackson
8. Madonna
9. Blondie

In addition, the B-52's, Asia, Cyndi Lauper, Dokken, U2, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Guns-n-Roses, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne and Ratt have also released new albums in the last couple of years. Wow!

One Hit Wednesday

Scritti Politti was a British band formed in 1977.
Initially a post-punk rock group, they found success as a mainstream pop group in the early to mid 80s. Especially in the UK where they charted 14 singles. In the U.S however, they could only amass a single Top 40 hit with "Perfect Way" in 1985. A Variation of the band is still together today.

'Perfect Way' on YouTube


Scarlett and Black were a pop duo from the UK who released one self-titled album in 1987. The album yeilded but one U.S. hit with "You Don't Know" which climbed to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.


'You Don't Know' on YouTube

Devo was formed in 1973 in Akron, Ohio. Their style shifted over time dabbling in punk, art rock, post-punk & new wave. They developed a very large cult following & influenced many styles over the years. This band is worth a trip to their wikipedia page to see their historical mark left on the world of music. In 1980 they had their lone Top 40 hit with "Whip It". They released their first studio album in 20 years in 2010, called 'Something For Everyone'. Check out samples on Amazon.

'Whip It' on YouTube



Greg Guidry was primarily a songwriter throughout the 70s and early 80s for such artists as Climax Blues Band, Robbie Dupree, Exile, and others. In '82 he released his first album entitled 'Over The Line' which produced a #17 song, 'Goin' Down', in Feb. of the same year. He continued writing for others and didn't release a second album until 2000. He passed away on July 28, 2003 in a car fire.

'Goin' Down' on YouTube

Taco (Taco Ockerse) is an Indonesian-born Dutch singer, actor & entertainer. His 1983 song 'Puttin' on the Ritz', with accompanying video, was a tribute to Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire, Al Jolsen and others, whom Taco admired greatly. The song was a big hit worldwide and is his only appeareance in the Top 40 reaching #4. Taco has appeared in many movies and still acts and performs today. Mostly in his home country of Germany.

'Puttin' on the Ritz' on YouTube

One Hit Wednesday

Gary Numan (Gary Anthony James Webb) was considered a pioneer in the synthpop and electronic era. Numan used synthesizers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased, metallic tone. He faired well on the UK charts over his career, but somehow only charted "Cars" in the U.S. In June of 1980, the song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Gary Numan - Cars on YouTube

Moving Pictures was formed in Sydney, Australia in 1978. This was their only hit in America and actually is one of those rare songs to chart twice. Initially it peaked at #29 in Feb of '83 and re-entered the charts and peaked at #46 in '89.

Moving Pictures - What About Me on YouTube





Timbuk 3 was formed in 1984 in Madison, Wisconsin. Although they recorded several album between '84 and '95, when the band split up, they only charted one single on the Billboard Hot 100. 'The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades' hit #19 in 1986.

Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright on YouTube




Living In A Box were a Brittish Pop band from Sheffield, England. Although they charted 2 songs in the Billboard Hot 100, only "Living In A Box" reached the Top 40 peaking at #17 in 1987.

Living In A Box - Living In A Box on YouTube





Love And Rockets was formed in 1985 from a group of musicians who all had been in a previous band called 'Bauhaus'. As 'Love And Rockets' they scored a #3 hit with "So Alive" in 1989 as the band moved away from their post-punk, psychedelic sound and more towards an AOR sound. This track, however, charted on several U.S. charts, including the Billboard Dance Charts.

Love And Rockets - So Alive on YouTube

On This Day In 80s History

1983 - The Rolling Stones concert film "Let's Spend the Night Together" opened in New York.
1984 - Robin Williams, Adam Ant and Paula Poundstone were guests on "Saturday Night Live."
1986 - The single "Superbowl Shuffle" by the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew was certified gold by the RIAA
1986 - Boy George guest-stared on an episode of "The A-Team"

The Number 1's on this date in the 80s:

	1989	Straight Up	Paula Abdul
	1988	Could've Been	Tiffany
	1987	Livin' on a Prayer	Bon Jovi
	1986	How Will I Know	Whitney Houston
	1985	Careless Whisper	Wham! featuring George Michael
	1984	Karma Chameleon	Culture Club
	1983	Africa	Toto
	1982	Centerfold	J. Geils Band
	1981	Celebration	Kool & the Gang
	1980	Do That to Me One More Time	The Captain & Tennille

Music in the 80s: easy as ABC

      ...well, not exactly.

The band ABC was an English New Wave band formed around 1980 and hailed from Sheffield England. Their first full length album, The Lexicon of Love, released in '82 yielded 2 american top 40 hits with 'The Look of Love' & 'Poison Arrow' (#18 & #25 respectively). Their second album, 'Beauty Stab' from '83 pretty much flopped despite high expectations. It wasn't until '85, with the release of 'How to be a...Zillionaire', that they again found the Billboard charts with 'Be Near Me'. The song reached #9 and was their highest charting song to date.

After several lineup changes and a brief hiatus with lead singer Martin Fry being treated for Hodgkin's disease, the band released 'Alphabet City' in '87 which provided them with their highest charting single ever in 'When Smokey Sings'. The song was a tribute to Smokey Robinson and reached #5 late summer of '87. This was the bands final 'New Wave' album and final chart appearances. In '89 they released an album called 'Up' which was an experimentation with 'house music'.

Martin Fry still performs today using the bands name, but almost exclusively or with guest artists.

                  

One Hit Wednesday

Something I thought might be fun is posting some of the many one hit wonders that came out of the 80s. Based on the Billoard definition of a one hit wonder, whereas an artist registers only one song in the Top 40 portion of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, spanning their entire career. I figure I could do 4 or 5 every Wednesday and we can call it 'One Hit Wednesday'. Sounds good to me so here we go!

Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (Frida) was a member of  Abba.
In 1983 she released the single "I Know There's Something Going On" as the lead single from her debut solo album 'Something's Going On'. The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #13 the week of March 26, 1983. The track topped the charts in 4 countries and was a top 10 hit in several others. It was the only single Frida ever charted. Phil Collins produced the record, played drums and sang backup vocals on the track.

Watch on YouTube

Karla Bonoff was primarily known as a songwriter rather than a performer, but occassionaly released her own material. In '82 she released her only single to ever hit the Top 40. It was called 'Personally' and reached #19 in August of '82. The track was from her album entitled 'Wild Heart of the Young'.

Watch On YouTube

 


Cock Robin was an American band formed in California in '82.
Largely ignored by their home country, Cock Robin found huge success in other countries and had several hits. Stateside though, "When Your Heart Is Weak" was the band's only chart single, where it reached #35 in August of '85.

Watch on YouTube






Double was a duo formed in Switzerland in 1983. The track "The Captain of Her Heart" was an international hit charting in the top 20 in 11 different countries. Unfortuanately, it was their only charted single in the U.S. It reached #16 in September of '86.

Watch on YouTube







Wa Wa Nee was an Australian pop band formed in 1985.
They had 4 singles chart in the Australian top 20 from their debut album also called "Wa Wa Nee". However, only one of those tracks, "Sugar Free", charted in the U.S. The song peaked at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of November 14, 1987.

Watch on YouTube