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)