Duran Duran

by

Duran Duran

Edit

Duran Duran is the eponymous first album by the British band Duran Duran. It was originally released worldwide in 1981, and reissued to greater success in 1983.

The album reached #3 on the United Kingdom charts on 27 June 1981, and remained in the chart for 118 weeks, although the initial release was largely ignored in America. The 1983 reissue reached at #10 on the US charts, and remained on that chart for 87 weeks (although it was overshadowed by the ongoing American success of the Rio album from 1982). Duran Duran was certified platinum (a shipment of one million units) by the RIAA on 4 June 1985.

The lead single from the album "Planet Earth", gave the band their first UK chart hit in the spring of 1981 (reaching number 12), but the follow up "Careless Memories" only barely reached the top 40, stalling at number 37. The third single "Girls on Film" proved to be the most successful however, reaching number 5 - its Godley & Creme directed video (which wasn't actually completed until after the song entered the charts) attracted considerable controversy due its raunchy & suggestive content (being banned by the BBC) but also won the band a Grammy Award in 1984.

Several different versions of the album have been released - as mentioned, the first US Capitol Records version features the 12" "Night" version of "Planet Earth" rather than the original UK one, whist the band's fourth single "Is There Something I Should Know" was included on the 1983 reissue (the track "To The Shore being omitted from both due to space constraints). The missing track was however reinstated when the album as remastered & reissued again in 1995.

A further remastered 2-disc CD + DVD deluxe edition of the album was released in 2010, with the original tracks supplemented by a collection of b-sides, demos, extended mixes & video footage.