duran duran Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Duran Duran “Violence of Summer”

sfilzen — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:42:11 +0000

Duran Duran “Violence of Summer (Love’s Taking Over)” 1990, 12″single. Today, June 8th, is Nick Rhodes’ birthday (b. 1962). Funky “Violence of Summer” was the lead single off of their 1990 LP Liberty: it went to #20 in the UK and to #64 in the US. Honestly (and regretfully) I wasn’t paying much attention to D2 in ’90 so I’m woefully unaware of this single and that LP. This was the time period where both Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor had left the band and Warren Cuccurullo was on guitar and Sterling Campbell was filling in on drums. There were several variants of the single released: this one is the US 12″ with four versions of “Violence” plus “Throb,” a previously unreleased track which is an instrumental remix of “My Antarctica” (also on Liberty). The four remixes are pretty similar: lots of throbbing dance beats, Simon vocal samples, sci-fi(ish) voiceovers, etc. which make it difficult to pinpoint a favorite. The Story Mix is kinda cool as it starts out with Simon doing a beat-poet-like thing which is kinda awesome and hilarious. The Power Mix is super ass-shaking and segues seamlessly into the Dub Mix. I’d say my least favorite (though it’s still good!) is the Rock Mix with the train horns but the beat is crazy infectious and hypnotic which almost balances out the horn blast. The radio single/album track isn’t on the 12″ but it is here:

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Duran Duran “Perfect Day”

sfilzen — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:08:39 +0000

Duran Duran “Perfect Day” 1995. Limited edition “Scratch ‘n’ Sniff” 7″ single. Today, April 26th, is Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor’s birthday (b. 1960). “Perfect Day” is a cover of the Lou Reed classic (1972); Roger Taylor was on an extended break from Duran Duran in the late 80’s/early to mid 90’s but briefly reconnected with Simon, Nick and John in 1994 while in Paris to record a couple of tracks for Thank You plus he appears in the video for “Perfect Day” (shot in 1995). “Perfect Day” went to #28 in the UK and Lou Reed has stated that Duran Duran’s version is “potentially the best rerecording of any of his songs.” The b-side is another Reed cover: Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale (alternative mix)” (VU’s from 1967). The difference in Nico vs Simon’s voice could not be more radical but both versions are fabulous.

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Andy Taylor “Thunder”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 18:14:59 +0000

Andy Taylor “Thunder” 1987. Today, February 16th, is Andy Taylor’s 65th birthday (b. 1961). Thunder is the former, then not, then former again Duran Duran guitarist’s debut solo LP and it is basically nothing like Duran Duran – hard rock with metal shreds (Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones helps Andy out on guitar but I’m not entirely sure which of the two is responsible for those solos). Always-Duranie’s like myself were always aware that Andy really just wanted to rock but was restrained by the new wave/synthpop (in the 80’s at least) of Duran Duran’s sound. He totally lets loose of all that pent up energy on Thunder. It’s got big 80’s hair metal oozing everywhere, including the ubiquitous cheesy metal ballad (“Life Goes On“). While now out of print, the record did pretty OK upon its release in ’87, going to #46 in the US and to #61 in the UK (though I imagine at least two-thirds of the purchases were by rapid Duranies who were mightily disappointed – not necessarily expecting Duran but at least a Power Station vibe, which they did not get on Thunder). As much as I love Andy, I do not really care for Thunder (but will absolutely keep in our collection). The title track is formulaic 80’s hard rock: “Thunder” is fine but sounds like about 10 other songs released between ’86-’88, same with tracks like “Night Train” with their kinda forced anthemic vibe that could be by Whitesnake, Bon Jovi or any other harder edged 80’s rock band. The singles released, which include “I Might Lie” (US Rock chart #17)” the aforementioned “Life Goes On” (which only charted in Italy), and “Don’t Let Me Die Young.” That last one went to #36 on the rock chart and Steve Jones shares songwriting credits with Taylor. There is a lot of shredding on it and the video has the requisite 80’s ripped jeans and big big big hair.

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Arcadia “The Promise”

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:24:31 +0000

Arcadia “The Promise” 1986. Today is Simon LeBon’s birthday (b. 1958)! “The Promise” was the third single from the Duran side project Arcadia’s 1985 album So Red the Rose. It went to #37 in the UK – I don’t think it charted in the US (though I loved it, and the entire record which I bought pretty much on its release date, November 18th 1985). “The Promise” features guitar work from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and uncredited, but obvious, backing vocals by Sting. From wiki: “Sometime during the band’s stay in Paris to record So Red the Rose, they went to see a Sting concert there, and decided it would be interesting to have him come over and sing on the album, mainly because they liked the combination of Sting’s and lead singer Simon Le Bon’s voices on the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” single by Band Aid, and wanted to see what would result from putting them together again. Sting was very amicable about the whole idea, and it turned out to be one of the band’s favourite moments on the record.” The b-side to the single is the gothic instrumental “Rose Arcana.”

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Simon LeBon Interview 1982

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:14:09 +0000

Simon LeBon Interview 1982. Today, October 27th, is Simon LeBon’s birthday (b. 1958). This 7″ limited edition picture disc on Talkies (an unofficial UK record label based in the UK) was released in August of 1982 as part of 3 part series (I have 2 of the 3). It’s an 18 minute interview with Simon (I don’t know who the interviewer is) that touches on Simon’s origin story with the band (his girlfriend at the time was working at the Rum Runner club and told him about a band that was looking for a singer – the rest is, obviously, history). At the time of the interview Duran Duran had yet to have a #1 single and Simon sounded nonplussed by that, saying basically it gave the band a goal (which of course they met). Simon also chats about being categorized as a New Romantic band (and trashes the media a bit for pigeon holing them), the band’s songwriting process (democratic and egalitarian) and if traveling to Sri Lanka to film three videos for Rio was “justifiable” (yep, totally was). It sounds like this interview was from a radio show or similar; while there is no music on the disc, the interviewer does introduce several tracks including “Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “The Chauffeur” during the course of interview, making it seem like the conversation was interrupted to play to song. I can’t find any visual or audio link online so here’s a different link, Simon and Nick on MTV from their Secon Annual New Year’s Eve Ball, 1982 in New York City.

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Duran Duran “Meet El Presidente”

sfilzen — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:52:21 +0000

Duran Duran “Meet El Presidente” 1987. Last week I fulfilled yet another big life wish, spinning a 3 hour set of Duran Duran (plus side projects) vinyl records at Wiggle Room. I had intended to spin this song but it didn’t make the cut as I started to run out of time. “Meet El Presidente” was the third, and final, single from the Nile Rodgers produced Notorious; it hit #24 in the UK but just went to #70 in the US. If I’m being honest, I don’t really even remember it from ’87 (though my daily listens had skewed heavily punk by that point). The single version is a different mix than the album’s with a more pronounced Latin groove (think Miami Sound Machine). And because I don’t remember hearing the single back in the day, the LP version is a bit more familiar. Both are smooth, funky and highly danceable. The b-side, “Vertigo (Do the Demolition),” has a more slow-burn funk with a big 80’s production sound that, apropos its title, has a bit of an industrial flare.

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Duran Duran “Thanks Again”

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:55:41 +0000

Duran Duran “Thanks Again” 2025, bootleg double LP. Today, June 20th, is John Taylor’s 65th birthday (b. 1960). Thanks Again is a collection of alternative takes/live versions of cover songs that originally appeared on their 1995 LP Thank You. I’m sure a bunch of this stuff has been available on other releases or bootlegs; a possibly different version of Thanks Again was released on CD in 2023 that collected recording sessions from 1992-1995 (I don’t have that CD so cannot confirm). I do have a CD of Thank You and I think that some of the alternative versions on Thanks Again are even better than what appears on that album. “White Lines (Version 2)” has the same ass-shakey-funky beat with a different vocal sound from Simon that I quite like. Their take on Zeppelin’s “Thank You” is pretty epic. The acoustic version of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” is lovely. Some aren’t as good: Both the regular and acoustic covers of The Doors’ “Crystal Ship” are pretty muddy and “Success” (written by Bowie, originally performed by Iggy Pop) is messy. I’m totally weirded out by their cover of Public Enemy’s “911 is a Joke” – it’s a cover viewed through the lens of The Rolling Stones in their Sticky Fingers era, complete with harmonica and twangy blues guitar. There are some Duran originals on Thanks Again, though alternative takes from the originals: two versions of “Electric Barbarella” – acoustic and “plastic kiss acoustic mix.” This album is also the only place I have “Dreamboy” which was written by Simon LeBon that is on the 1998 soundtrack for Love Kills starring Mario Van Peebles and Lesley Ann Warren (I haven’t seen that movie), as well as “Plastic Girl,” an unreleased song recorded during demo sessions for the album Medazzaland between 1995and 1997. I’m happy to have this in my rather impressive Duran collection but it’s really only for nerds like me with the uneven sound quality and questionable release background.

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Duran Duran “Danse Macabre De Luxe Zoetrope”

sfilzen — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 17:41:30 +0000

Duran Duran “Danse Macabre De Luxe Zoetrope” 2025, picture disc EP, limited edition Record Store Day release. Yesterday, June 8th, was Nick Rhodes’ birthday (b. 1962) so I’m taking this new acquisition to my extensive D2 collection for a spin. The seven-song EP is a collection of remixes (or re-remixes) of tracks from their 2023 Halloween-themed Danse Macabre LP, which itself had remixes (and covers) of some of their older songs, plus some “new” material, all of which appeared in the 2023 Danse box set edition. The cover songs include “Evil Woman” by ELO” and “Spooky” made popular by Classics IV in 1967 and sung on Duran’s version by The Brides of Dracula (Rachel O’Connor and Anna Ross). New(ish) D2 originals include the instrumentals “The Visitor” and “Mask of the Pink Death” (D2 original from ’23), “Dialogues Of The Dead,” and the instructional (and extra creepy) spoken word “Instructions for a Séance.” Best of the bunch is “New Moon (Dark Phase),” which is a particularly spooky rendition of “New Moon on Monday” (1983). It’s supposed to be an interactive picture disk experience, with instructions on the liner notes to “view under a strobe light set to 30Hz in a dark room.” I do not have a strobe light so tried it with a bright light and phone (other options listed)…I couldn’t get the lighting right, apparently, because you’re supposed to see this.

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Duran Duran “The Wedding Album”

sfilzen — Thu, 22 May 2025 18:19:50 +0000

Duran Duran “The Wedding Album” 1993. Today, May 22nd, is my and Joe’s anniversary – 26 years! And it’s World Goth Day..while Duran’s seventh studio LP (actually named Duran Duran but everyone knows it as The Wedding Album) is not at all gothy, the record is still perfect today. This is a reissue on gold vinyl – I think the vinyl release was pretty limited back in ’93. It went to #4 in the UK and to #7 in the US. I really wasn’t listening to much D2 in ’93 and certainly not any new material so I’m mostly familiar with this record in retrospect. But it does have what is now one of my favorite all-time Duran songs, “Ordinary World.” Live, it’s magic and I think they’ve performed it at every concert I’ve been to. It was the first single released from the LP and hit the top 10 virtually everywhere in the world. It’s a near perfect song: sad and sophisticated, glorious and anthemic. The second single released, “Come Undone,” is sexy as hell; it also was a hit going to #7 in the US and #13 in the UK. I’m actually not too familiar with a couple of the other singles they released from The Wedding Album: the rocker “Too Much Information” (#35 UK, #45 US), “Drowning Man” (only released as a single in the US) and “None of the Above” (Japan-only). However, the cover of Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” I clearly am familiar with – it was only released as a single in France. That track, and its video, do happen to be quite gothy.

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Duran Duran “Private Confessions”

sfilzen — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 18:23:09 +0000

Duran Duran “Private Confessions” 2025/1984. Limited edition bootleg on Mind Control Records. It’s Earth Day today so I needed to spin the best song for the holiday: “Planet Earth,” which appears on this unlicensed FM broadcast recording of Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden on March 21st, 1984. I’m fairly certain I have other versions of this same concert on vinyl somewhere in my collection; this release definitely hits the highlights, including many of their hits from Duran Duran, Rio and Seven and the Ragged Tiger. The sound quality is decent though it’s a bit heavy on the high end: I could really have used more of John’s beefy bass and Roger’s thundering drums, and Simon’s voice sounds forced at times. In fairness to Simon, he was competing with thousands and thousands of batshit crazy screaming teenage girls. “New Moon on Monday” is particularly wonderful, with a cute intro by Simon in which he dedicates the tune to the fellas in the audience who came to the concert “with the express purpose” to meet girls (lol good luck – all those girls are hoping to go home with a Duran!). “Save a Prayer” is lovely, as always, but Nick’s keyboards are way too low in the mix until the very end when they get a bit wonky. And of course “Planet Earth” is mostly fabulous with Simon asking the audience to prove they’re into it by dancing and screaming (I’m guessing he was obliged) and his super-high energy singing; but the ubiquitous 80’s sax is too high in the mix for my tastes though and the saxophonist totally fucked up a note or two. “Careless Memories” is as urgent as ever (their performance of this one is particularly excellent). The encore “The Chauffeur” is absolutely haunting.

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