Duran Duran “Duran Goes Dutch” 1987. Recorded live at the Ahoy in Rotterdam on May 7th, 1987 while on The Strange Behavior tour. Promotional only, 5 song EP. The promo live EP was re-issued in 1988 as a bonus CD with the Japanese Big Thing limited edition album. I’m f**king sad and miserable today (reading this and not sure why? Check the post date) and literally nothing will make it better. I could consume a couple dozen cookies and curl up in the fetal position, but I have shit to do (and don’t want to feel sick) so I thought I’d go to the warm comfort of vintage Duran. However….

This is the era of D2 when both Andy and Roger had left the band, so we have Warren Cuccurullo on guitar and Steve Ferrone on drums, along with Simon, John and Nick. I definitely miss Roger’s thundering sound and Andy’s more straightforward rock-n-roll attitude. There are three songs from Notorious (released November ’86), “Notorious,” “Vertigo” and “American Science.” Also included are two older tracks: a pretty wacky version of “New Religion” with a shrieky sax solo that I find a bit jarring, plus Simon goes full-on rap (it’s kinda funny). And then there’s one of the oddest versions of “Hungry Like the Wolf” I’ve ever heard. It starts out with a hair metal mini guitar solo, a full horn section and Simon changed the structure of the vocals completely. I’m so flummoxed by his singing I can’t even find the words to describe it. These videos aren’t from the Rotterdam show but both pretty close to what’s on the EP (from a concert in Rio on The Strange Behavior tour):