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Duran Duran “Girls on Film”

sfilzen — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 21:57:07 +0000

Duran Duran “Girls on Film” 1981. 12″ single. Today, October 27th, is Simon Le Bon’s birthday (1958) so I’m spinning their glorious new wave synthpop hit (#5 UK, the notoriously scandalous video too famous to count on any chart; it was banned on the BBC and heavily edited for MTV) in honor of my first boyfriend’s day (he is, I believe, unaware of that fact – the boyfriend part). Side A has “Girls on Film (Night Version)” which is a bit longer, extra echoey effects, amazing. Side B has the single version of “Girls on Film” plus another dramatically new romantic track with a killer bass line from John Taylor, “Faster Than Light” on which Simon’s voice goes into an unbelievable range (but he nails it, of course).

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Duran Duran “Duran Duran”

sfilzen — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 16:36:19 +0000

Duran Duran “Duran Duran” released on this date, June 15th, 1981. I’ve written about Duran Duran’s debut album before, but its new wave, new romantic awesomeness is always worth another listen. Duran Duran reached #3 on the UK charts, remaining in the top 100 for 117 weeks. Its initial release did not do so well in the US but was subsequently re-released (with a different cover and the addition of the single “Is There Something I Should Know”) on April 25th, 1983 after the phenomenal success of Rio. Duran Duran then made it to #10 on the US Billboard charts. This original US pressing has the “Night Version” rather than the single version of “Planet Earth.” “To the Shore,” which appears on the UK pressing, was not included in order to accommodate the increased length of the Night Version (6:20 vs. 4:03).

I’ve been reading I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution and, not surprisingly, Duran Duran has a heavy presence in the book, especially for their breakthrough – and controversial – video for “Girls on Film;” MTV played the heavily edited and censored version but my Duranie friends managed to get Betamax copies of the original so we got to see what the scandal was all about. “Girls on Film” was the third single released from Duran Duran and their breakthrough hit, reaching #5 on the UK charts.

The post Duran Duran “Duran Duran” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Duran Duran “Girls on Film (Night Version)”

sfilzen — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 20:44:43 +0000

Duran Duran “Girls on Film (Night Version)” b/w “Girls on Film” and “Faster Than Light” 1981. Today, February 16th, is Duran guitarist Andy Taylor’s birthday (b. 1961). My friend Carrie over at @tinglealley collects awkward photos of Duran Duran. A few months ago I came across this one (I think the picture may have been taken by Andy Warhol) and, after suppressing my hysterical laughter, sent it along to her. (In her collection, Andy seems to be particularly gifted at awkward.)

“Girls on Film” is probably one of the best known Duran Duran singles; it hit #5 in the UK in July of ‘81 and while never hitting the US charts officially, became one of the most famous videos on MTV after the American reissue of Duran Duran in 1983 in an edited format of course; the original had been banned already in the UK by the BBC. The unedited version was easy enough to find, though – I saw it on my friend Allyson’s betamax tape at some point in ‘84 or so.

“Girls on Film (Night Version)” appears on the A-side of this 12″ single and is a different arrangement of the single version on side B. “Faster Than Light” is heavy on the synths with groovy bass lines, a few rockin’ power chords and it also showcases Simon Le Bon’s amazingly high vocal range.

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