Duran Duran “Burning the Ground” 1989. I don’t remember that many people’s birthdays, but Simon LeBon’s is permanently embedded in my brain — today, October 27th is Simon’s 68th birthday (b. 1958). This is the 12″ single of their stand-alone single released to promote Duran Duran’s comp LP Decade (also released in 1989). “Burning the Ground” is itself a compilation/mashup of their biggest hit singles up to that point; the song was not included on Decade however. It actually charted (well, I’m not surprised as it is a dance floor banger), going to #31 in the UK and making the US Dance/Club chart at #23. It did even better in Italy for some reason, hitting #2 over there. Side A of the 12″ has the aforementioned “Burning the Ground” plus a couple versions of “Decadence” – the regular version and the Extended Mix. That song is also a mashup of their old hits but is even more sampled (heavy on “Save a Prayer,” “The Reflex” and “Notorious”) and instrumental than “Burning the Ground.”