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Duran Duran
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Duran Duran are an English pop band from Birmingham. The childhood friends Nick Rhodes and John Taylor started the group in 1978 and named it after a character in the science-fiction film Barbarella. After many changes, the settled line-up was in place in 1980: singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor. The band was the house band of the Rum Runner club, whose owners became their managers.
Music and breakthrough
The debut album Duran Duran was released in 1981, with Planet Earth as the first hit and then Girls on Film. The sound combined synthesizers with a danceable bass, rock guitar and Le Bon's singing. Duran Duran belonged to the New Romantics, the British scene of flamboyant clothing and make-up. Rio (1982) included Hungry Like the Wolf, Save a Prayer and Rio, with videos that the director Russell Mulcahy shot as short films in exotic locations. Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) yielded The Reflex, and in 1985 came the Bond theme A View to a Kill.
Influence
Duran Duran was one of the first bands to see the music video as an important medium. When MTV began in the United States in 1981, the group benefited fully and became a pioneer of the new British invasion of America. Around 1984 the frenzy around the band was compared with that around The Beatles. After line-up changes the group scored again in 1993 with Ordinary World. In 2022 Duran Duran were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Listening
Planet Earth · Duran Duran, 1981Apple Music ↗
Discography
Studio albums
- 1981Duran Duran
- 1982Rio
- 1983Seven and the Ragged Tiger
- 1986Notorious
- 1988Big Thing
- 1990Liberty
- 1993Duran Duran
- 1995Thank You
- 1997Medazzaland
- 2000Pop Trash
- 2004Astronaut
- 2007Red Carpet Massacre
- 2010All You Need Is Now
- 2015Paper Gods
- 2021Future Past
- 2023Danse Macabre
- ?Return Return
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 7: The 1980sNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- New Romantic Genre
Duran Duran made expensive videos and stood at the start of the Second British Invasion via MTV.