Duran Duran

           With the advent of MTV and VH1, music videos became a major way for bands to promote their songs. And few bands were able to use these new promotional outlets with as much success as Duran Duran. These videos and the songs they promoted helped Duran Duran become one of the most successful bands of the “Second British Invasion”. However, the band often found success followed by failure: a career filled with several peaks and valleys.

Formation to 1993:

            Duran Duran was formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. After a couple of line-ups changes, they released their first album in 1981. The third single from the album, “Girl’s on Film” is what put Duran Duran on the map. The video, with topless mud wrestling women, was banned by the BBC and heavily edited for MTV. Duran Duran would relish in the publicity of the video and realized the power of using videos. Much of Duran Duran’s success in the coming years was due to the music videos they created (though none were as controversial as “Girls on Film”). In fact, many critics lambasted them for being a video group first and music group second. Maybe so, but their success is undeniable. In 1983, Duran Duran had five Top 20 singles in the U.S. from three different albums. Despite the success, the band members chose to pursue solo projects in 1985: Power Station and Arcadia. That year, Duran Duran also recorded the theme to A View to a Kill, the only James Bond theme song to go #1 in the U.S. Although Duran Duran came back together in 1986, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor would leave the group before the year was out. Warren Cuccurullo was brought in to fill in on guitar. The subsequent album, Notorious, was only moderately successful, despite the title track reaching #2 in the U.S. Their next two albums were also far cries from their success in the first half of the decade.

1993 to today:

            1993 saw the release of Duran Duran II (also known as The Wedding Album) and it was more commercially successful than people had anticipated lead by the hit singles “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone”. However, the success was short-lived. Their next two studio albums were commercial flops. Of historical note, however, their single “Electric Barbarella” was the first single ever to be sold online as a download. John Taylor (bass) left the group in 1997 and the group decided to continue as a three-piece band. Pop Trash was released in 2000 and was also poorly received. That year, though, John Taylor talked to Duran Duran about reforming with all the original members. Cuccurullo was subsequently fired and the original group reunited. The next three years were mostly spent touring. Astronaut was released in 2004 and was easily their best selling/highest charting album since Duran Duran II. The reunion was relatively short-lived, however, as Andy Taylor left the group again in 2006. Red Carpet Massacre was released at the end of 2007 and has been one of Duran Duran’s poorest charting albums ever, staying in the Billboard 200 only three weeks.

Discography:

Duran Duran (1981)
Rio (1982)
Carnival (1982)
Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
Arena (1984)
Notorious (1986)
Big Thing (1988)
Decade: Greatest Hits (1989)
Liberty (1990)
Duran Duran 2 (The Wedding Album) (1993)
Thank You (1995)
Medazzaland (1997)
Greatest (1998)
Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (1998)
Pop Trash (2000)
The Singles 81-85 (2003)
The Singles 1986-1995 (2004)
Astronaut (2004)
Greatest [Deluxe Edition] (CD & DVD) (2005)
Live from London (2005)
Red Carpet Massacre (2007)