20. (Reach Up for the) Sunrise (2004)
The first Duran Duran single in 19 years to feature all five members of their classic early 80s lineup updated their sound with a house beat courtesy of producer Jason Nevins. It’s hard not to be swayed by its ebullient optimism: like the reunion itself, it was fun while it lasted.
19. Someone Else Not Me (2000)
Pop Trash wasn’t among Duran Duran’s classic albums, but this single was great. The lyrics offer weary, and very Roxy Music-esque, after-the-party melancholy. More surprising was the hint of summer of love-era Beatles in its DNA: perhaps its commercial failure was down to the fact that it didn’t really sound like Duran Duran.
18. Skin Trade (1986)
A change in sound that their audience clearly weren’t ready for – there’s a distinct R&B tone to proceedings and a dose of Prince in Le Bon’s falsetto vocals – Skin Trade sounds more impressive now than it did on release. It’s hard not to admire the boldness of the sonic shift; the sleazy ambience works. There’s an echo-laden Larry Levan 12in remix too.
17. Pressure Off (2015)
The resurgent Nile Rodgers did not merely coproduce – along with Mark Ronson and Kanye collaborator Mr Hudson – but played Get Lucky-ish guitar. And with Janelle Monáe on vocals, too, Pressure Off goes all-out for contemporary relevance. The bid failed commercially, but the track yields artistic dividends: a frothy, funky blast.
16. The Reflex (1984)
Not the greatest Duran Duran song, but one of their greatest-sounding singles. Rodgers throws everything at it, including percussive thunder, steel drums, and the stammering “n-n-n-n-nineteen”-style sampled vocal, which was then the dernier cri in cutting-edge pop technology, but now automatically dates a track to somewhere between 1984 and 1986.
15. Future Past (2021)
In the 21st century, Duran Duran have benefited from the attentions of a younger generation of collaborators: from Mark Ronson and Erol Alkan to Tove Lo. Here, it’s Graham Coxon assisting with the songwriting, with winning results: moody, epic, with a lyrical mention of the most un-Duran-ish locale of Brownsea Island in Dorset.
14. Is There Something I Should Know? (1983)
A song Andy Taylor claimed took “10 minutes to write”: what it lacks in depth it makes up in brash pop immediacy. And, if nothing else, the line “You’re about as easy as a nuclear war” perfectly reflects an era when it felt as if the topic of imminent mutually assured destruction was crowbarred into everything.
13. Night Boat (1981)
Most of Duran Duran’s eponymous debut stuck to the post-punk disco blueprint of its singles, but Night Boat is the exception. It’s not exactly understated, but it’s certainly darker, more atmospheric and – with its lengthy instrumental intro – less pop. Winningly, it was written by Le Bon while waiting for a night bus.
12. The Wild Boys (1984)
Originally written for a prospective film version of William Burroughs’s book of the same name – scheduled to be directed by Duran Duran video-maker Russell Mulcahy – The Wild Boys ended up plonked in the middle of live album Arena. Rhythmically influenced by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, bolstered by a £1m video, it made considerably more sense as a single.
11. Come Undone (1993)
A chugging breakbeat – somewhere between baggy and trip-hop – underpins a song similar in downcast mood to its predecessor, Duran Duran’s 90s comeback single Ordinary World. It’s tempting to suggest that, had Ordinary World not existed, Come Undone would have restored them to the charts anyway – it’s certainly good enough.
10. The Chauffeur (1982)
The rest of the Rio album is in glorious Technicolor, but The Chauffeur feels as if it’s shot in noir-ish monochrome. The spirit of Japan, a key inspiration for Duran Duran, hangs over its brooding mood. This being Duran Duran, it still packs a big pop melody, but its moodiness marks it out as their best deep cut.
9. Notorious (1986)
The Notorious album wasn’t quite the triumphant comeback fans were expecting: it says something about how big Duran Duran were that selling 1m copies constituted a crushing disappointment. That notwithstanding, the funky title track still sounds pretty impressive, with its Rodgers production boosting some very prickly and defensive lyrics.
8. Rio (1982)
Overshadowed by its video, but its the video was a statement in itself: a journey away from the post-punk Blitz Kids into more orthodox aspirational glamour. That seems to be the point of the monster-chorused Rio too: the lyrics don’t seem to mean much, beyond mentioning a jet-set locale. And John Taylor’s bass line is amazing.
7. Planet Earth (1981)
Released a few weeks after Spandau Ballet’s debut single, Planet Earth cannily positioned Duran Duran at the heart of the new pop zeitgeist: the lyrics mentioned the phrase “New Romantic”. Still, dropping buzzwords doesn’t guarantee a hit, but a killer tune and a hip Roxy Music-in-space sound did.
6. New Moon on Monday (1984)
The subtlest, most Bowie-esque (someone had definitely been listening to his version of China Girl) and, frankly, best single from Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the album on which Duran Duran’s excesses started to affect their quality control. New Moon on Monday seems to have been oddly forgotten, overshadowed by its brasher contemporaries.
5. A View to a Kill (1985)
A collaboration with John Barry that came about after John Taylor drunkenly approached Bond producer Cubby Broccoli and offered him “a fiver” to let Duran Duran write a theme tune. It’s by far the most memorable 80s Bond theme – and the only one ever to reach No 1 in the US.
4. Save a Prayer (1982)
Expensive videos undoubtedly had a part to play in Rio’s success, but that shouldn’t detract from how well written the songs were. Save a Prayer’s pop melodies are so finely turned that it’s easy to miss that it appears to be about a male sex worker falling in love with a client.
3. Hungry Like the Wolf (1982)
The appealingly cocky sound of a band intent on conquering America, certain they know how to do it. Hungry Like the Wolf has been polished until virtually every sound on it feels like a hook: the synth arpeggio, the guitar riff, the verses that sound like choruses, the spoken-word asides.
2. Ordinary World (1992)
The song that Le Bon said “saved the life of the band” was an old-fashioned arena-sized power ballad with a fabulous melody, and just enough ethereal synth to remind you who was behind it. The fact that it was made when Duran Duran were down on their luck somehow amplified its world-weary mood.
1. Girls on Film (1981)
Incredibly, the premier teen-pop magazine of the 80s initially didn’t think Duran Duran were likely to become pop idols, because, as Smash Hits editor David Hepworth put it, “they came from Birmingham, and they looked a bit desperate”. This song that made it apparent that they would, while also singlehandedly setting Duran Duran apart from the mass of New Romantic bands that engulfed the UK charts in 1981. It remains the most exciting thing they ever made, its choppy distorted guitar as close as they got to achieving their original “Chic-meets-the-Sex-Pistols” blueprint. Its chorus is a six-note call sign; its lyrics are unable to decide whether they think the fashion world is an exploitative nightmare or a glamorous world to aspire to.
Danse Macabre De Luxe is released 11 October, and in single-CD and vinyl boxset editions on 25 October. Duran Duran play Madison Square Garden, New York, on 31 October
Source: theguardian.com
