Duran Duran (1981)

Personnel:

Simon Le Bon: vocals

Nick Rhodes: keyboards, synthesisers

Andy Taylor: guitars

John Taylor: bass

Roger Taylor: drums

Recorded at Red Bus Studios, Utopia Studios and Chipping Norton Recording Studios from December 1980 to January 1981

Produced by Colin Thurston

Engineer: Colin Thurston

Record label: EMI/Harvest/Capitol

Release date: June 1981

Highest chart places: UK: 3, US: 10

Running time: 39:42

Current edition: 2024 Warner Music CD/LP

The band's eponymous debut album introduced Duran Duran to the world as New Romantics, which - like most labels - was mainly convenient for marketing purposes. They had cut their teeth as a live act at Barbarella's, a nightclub that was part of the New Romantic scene in Birmingham and was coined after the film from which the band had also found a name. However, the assorted musical artists categorised as New Romantics, aside from sharing a love of glam rock and a penchant for ruffles and other similar fashion statements, were often quite musically different. In fact, the scene didn't even have a name until around the time that Duran Duran had emerged, seemingly fully formed, in the autumn of 1980.

Duran Duran mixed glam rock and disco, while bands like Spandau Ballet were heavily influenced by blue-eyed soul music. Other associated acts, such as Visage - whose original members included New Romantic tastemakers Steve Strange, Midge Ure and Rusty Egan, a DJ at The Blitz, the seminal London club - were inspired by pioneering German electronic band Kraftwerk. Ultravox (of which Ure was also a member) didn't even embrace New Romantic fashions. Japan, who were clearly influential on the scene, were often lumped into it but had no direct connection to it. Former punks Adam and the Ants, as well as Culture Club - likely the poppiest of the bunch - also scored chart success under the New Romantic banner. In modern music, the movement's name has had staying power, even inspiring the title of a song by pop mega-star Taylor Swift.

At the peak of New Romanticism, a bit of a friendly competition developed between the two biggest bands identified as part of the scene: Duran Duran, proud Brummies and the house band at the Rum Runner, and Spandau Ballet, a house band at The Blitz. This rivalry, fuelled in part by the press, pitted two five-piece groups of attractive, well-dressed men against one another. In the autumn of 1980, Duran Duran had only finished writing their first batch of songs. Yet, Spandau Ballet one-upped them by releasing their debut single, 'To Cut A Long Story Short', which hit the top five on the UK charts. Duran Duran's 'Planet Earth' followed in February 1981 but only reached number 12. Later, the two bands faced off on the BBC's Pop Quiz. (Duran Duran won the 1984 showdown.) As Spandau Ballet bassist Martin Kemp told NME in 2020:

I was always proud of the fact that Spandau and Duran Duran were like Oasis and Blur or The Beatles and The Rolling Stones - where you pick two bands of a generation and you're either on one side or the other ... We were ridiculously competitive. Whatever they did, we tried to beat - and vice versa. To the point that it wasn't just about what number we were at in the charts; it was about how much money we'd spent on our recently completely overpriced videos and which location we went to film them. Even to the point where we were once at a party and the competition pathetically turned into who could stay up the latest. Whenever we met the boys, it was only friendly - and still is.

Duran Duran, armed with Le Bon's book of lyrics and aided by the songwriting chops of Andy Taylor, whose experience touring with cover bands proved valuable, had written all the songs for their debut album by the time they entered the studio. After signing with EMI, the band enlisted producer Colin Thurston to record Duran Duran in London and Oxfordshire. Thurston had impressive credentials, having served as a co-engineer and co- producer for Bowie and fellow glam rock hero Iggy Pop, as well as producing Reproduction, the first album by synth pop act The Human League. He proved to be the perfect producer for Duran Duran, helming their first album and their follow-up effort, Rio.

In a rare interview, with Home & Studio Recording in 1985, Thurston described hearing 'Girls On Film', the first song on the band's demo tapes: 'That was it. I didn't need to hear any more', he said. 'We went to Red Bus Studios, got the drum sound in 15 minutes, and in two weeks, we had the whole album done apart from the vocals.'

The album artwork features graphics by Malcolm Garrett of Assorted iMaGes - who also designed record sleeves for Buzzcocks, Simple Minds and others - which enhance a cover shot of the band photographed by Fin Costello. The members, dressed in the height of New Romantic fashion, pose: Le Bon, his face cast in shadow, leans on a vintage car, surrounded by Andy Taylor, bleach-blonde and sullen; Rhodes, hair dyed black and wearing a burgundy ascot; John Taylor, lurking in the back with his arms crossed; and Roger Taylor, with his hands in the pockets of his leather trousers.

What was truly remarkable about Duran Duran, in addition to the quality of the band's songwriting and playing, was the limited number of personnel involved in its making. Only the five band members and Thurston, who also engineered the album, are credited - no guest musicians. Duran Duran also used a similar approach when recording Rio, their seminal work.

'Girls On Film' (Duran Duran)

Released as a single in July 1981. Chart place: UK: 5

The sound of a clicking camera opens one of the band's most recognisable musical - and visual - moments. The band and their managers were keen to capitalise on the fast-growing art form of the music video, and the timing of their efforts was impeccable. The video for Duran Duran's third single was conceptualised with nightclubs in mind but ended up being released just as MTV launched in the US. In the clip, Duran Duran perform on a side stage as the real action takes place in a 'boxing ring', where topless women engage in pillow fights and other racy scenes, one even squaring off with a sumo wrestler. An uncensored version of the video, directed by Godley & Creme (of 10cc), proved to be popular in nightclubs with video screens, but only an edited version was permitted to air on MTV.

'Girls On Film' epitomised the disco-meets-post-punk aesthetic that the band had been aiming for. The song's catchy lyrics, slashing guitar riffs and strings played on a Crumar Performer (the sexy video didn't hurt either) catapulted the single to the UK top five - the band's highest chart place in their home country at the time - and a play on the song's title inspired many a newspaper headline writer over the years ('Boys On Film', etc.).

'Planet Earth' (Duran Duran)

Released as a single in February 1981. Chart place: UK: 12

Duran Duran's opening salvo of the New Romantic movement begins with the sound of Rhodes' Roland Jupiter-4 synth, processed by an MXR flanger, and really takes off with John Taylor's driving bassline. Strings - from the Crumar Performer and Jupiter-4 - line up behind the guitar for a tantalising combination. The song was released as the album's first single, with the 12" of the extended, remixed 'Night Version' bearing the message 'Duranies rock on' etched into the vinyl - what members of the band's growing fan base called themselves.

The single was accompanied by a video directed by Russell Mulcahy, soon to become a key collaborator of the band. The clip features the five members dressed in ruffled finery and two dancers who were friends of the band from the Rum Runner. The band members perform on what appears to be an icy ledge, which Le Bon jumps from into a seeming abyss at the clip's conclusion. To put the icing on the New Romantic cake, the song even includes a shout- out to the movement with the line 'like some New Romantic looking for the TV sound'. The track was very much of its moment yet featured music and lyrics - including the lines 'Look now, look all around. There's no sign of life' - that proved timeless, or perhaps futurist, a term associated with New Romanticism and its embrace of a futuristic aesthetic that was often bandied about by Rhodes. Duran Duran made their first of many appearances on the BBC's Top Of The Pops to perform 'Planet Earth', a song which remains a touchstone for the band in terms of both their history and their live shows.

'Anyone Out There' (Duran Duran)

Duran Duran begins with two upbeat smash singles and barely slows down for one of the album's quieter moments. Taylor's guitar riffs are the key to keeping 'Anyone Out There' out of ballad territory. The juxtaposition of his rock-inflected guitar with Rhodes' ethereal synths (with another appearance from the Crumar Performer), which together open this track, always threatened to pull...