Duran Duran “Carnival” EP. 1982. 45 rpm. It took me 5 days to get to Duran Duran and this definitely won’t be the only vinyl DD2 posting.  I’m pressed for time today (kid still off of school for a snow cold day), so it was either an EP or 12″ single.

This particular record is a more recent addition to the collection, but I had it once before in 1984/85 (9th grade). I have no idea what I did with that copy nor if it was the Spanish, US/Canada or Japanese release.  (I do remember that I traded a really cool vintage bracelet to a classmate in order to get her copy.) The US version included “Hungry Like the Wolf” (night version), “Girls on Film” (night version), “Hold Back the Rain” (carnival remix), and “My Own Way” (carnival mix).  My current copy is the Netherlands release including “Rio” (night version) and “Planet Earth” (night version) rather than “Hold Back the Rain” and “My Own Way.”

Carnival predates the major re-release of Duran Duran’s Rio LP in the US. The EP’s remixes of Rio singles, aimed at the club scene, were to generate buzz and more sales for the band’s music because the first release of Rio in North America earlier in ‘82 failed to chart well.  The strategy worked and Capitol Records released a remixed Rio for the American market later in 1982, to the enduring delight of Duranies everywhere.