Punk Reviews

Years after they were pop star deities, Duran Duran is returning to the touring circuit and bringing their amazing hits to fans all across the country. The British New Wavers were undoubtedly one of the most popular bands of the ’80s, and a persistent fascination with that decade and its culture has yielded new fans with each passing year.

Duran Duran was formed way back in 1978-long before the dawn of New Wave, which was of course a genre that spilt from the punk and post-punk music of the ’70s. The band members were friends from school who had grown up with colorful British rock icons like David Bowie and Roxy Music in their sights. The vamping, make-up laden rock heroes inspired them in their own quest for pop dominance.

The band was named after a character from the science-fiction film Barbarella, and went through extensive line-up changes in its first couple years. By 1980, the band was making inroads in the growing New Romantic scene, and earned their first record contract with EMI. They issued a single, “Planet Earth,” which did well on the charts, but it was their look rather than their sound that would drive the band’s popularity. They began releasing music videos, which were always colorful and stylish, and often had sexual content that only helped them win over fans (“Girls on Film,” which was banned from the BBC, is one such example). The media pounced on the band, turning them into icons overnight, and dubbing them the faces (and sound) of New Wave.

The band’s self-titled 1981 release did well, but its follow-up, 1982’s Rio, is considered a ’80s classic. There’s good reason for that, considering the number of hits that are packed into the album, with “Hungry Like the Wolf” being the undisputed favorite song on the album.
The band was huge in Europe, but would they make an impact on America? MTV would ensure that they would. The first music video channel of its kind in America, MTV helped promote the band through their videos, paving the way for New Wave’s rise in the states as well. The haircuts, the make-up, the preening-you have Duran Duran to thank for much of it. Likewise, Duran Duran and similar bands helped make MTV a hit.

With the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the band had their first American smash. But the constant touring and wild living was starting to take a toll. They took a break, the band splitting and individual members working in side projects like the Power Station and Arcadia. But by 1986, some band members weren’t feeling a connection to the band anymore, and started to break away.

Everything started to dissolve. Notorious, Duran Duran’s 1986 record, went double-platinum but was critically panned; 1988’s Big Thing slipped in the charts and was panned. By 1990, it was clear the band wasn’t in touch with the musical scene anymore.

But there’s still an eager market of listeners who love the band’s early work. They’ve recouped from their long sojourn, and Duran Duran tickets are back on sale.