12/30/2023 0 Comments Duran duran greatest hits![]() That’s saying a lot because in 1984 artists such as Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Huey Lewis completely dominated the music charts. ![]() While it contained some of the successful elements of earlier Duran Duran songs, like a strong dance beat, driving bass, and synths galore, “ The Wild Boys” was decidedly more aggressive and percussive than their earlier singles.ĭespite its new sound, it did well on the charts, though in 1984, Duran Duran was going to have a hit with anything they put out. The band’s 1984 album Arena was sort of a live best-of compilation, but it did feature this one studio track, which was released as a single. Add in some stellar backing vocals from a few unknown studio musicians and a lot of percussion toys, along with the requisite 1980s sax solo (not even Duran Duran was exempt from the mandatory 1980s woodwind solo), and you’ve got an amazing track that grooves from start to finish. The opening guitar riff sets the tone, the synthesizer lines are infectious, and the driving beat holds it all down. While it’s unclear what exactly he’s singing about (and even his later proclamation that the song was about tantric sex didn’t do much to clear things up), does it really matter? In the early days of the band, Simon Le Bon was always a bit ambiguous with his lyrics, and this big single from 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger album is no exception. Here’s our pick for the top ten Duran Duran songs. While their best work was their earlier, more pop-oriented songs, there are still a handful of more recent tracks that are certainly worthwhile. The band put out lots of music in the early ‘80s - a studio album each in 1981, ‘82, and ‘83, plus a live album in ‘84 - and kept creating through the ‘90s and into the 2000s and 2010s. Le Bon was and still is brilliant as a lead vocalist, Rhodes was perpetually innovative on synths, Andy Taylor’s prowess on guitar was well respected (he was even tapped to play lead on Belinda Carlisle’s 1986 hit “Mad About You”), John Taylor was no slouch on bass and Roger? He kept the beat and kept his mouth shut, which is exactly what you want from a good drummer. The band’s level of musicianship was high, so it was a bit unfair that they got stuck with the ‘80s version of the boy band label. Even casual fans couldn’t get enough.īut really, we’re here to talk about the music, which was high New Romanticism: lots of synthesizers, dancey 4/4 beats, and driving basslines. And again, in their early ‘80s prime, the individual members - Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor (no relation among the three Taylors) - were handsome, stylish, and seemingly made for the camera. There was also the name, which just rolled off the tongue and was taken right from a character in Barbarella, the cult Jane Fonda sci-fi flick from the late ‘60s, which added to its cool cache. Other bands had better chops, but Duran Duran was the total package. Sure, they sounded good, but to millions of female fans all around the globe, they looked even better. If there was one band that benefited from the advent of MTV and music videos in general, it was Duran Duran.
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