Duran Duran “The Reflex” 1984. 12″ single, picture disc. Today, June 8th, is Nick Rhodes’ 60th birthday! (b. Nicholas James Bates, 1962) Nicknamed by the band “The Controller,” Rhodes changed his last name for aesthetic reasons (of course) and owns the name “Duran Duran,” thereby living up to both his chosen name and his alias.

The third single from Seven and the Ragged Tiger, “The Reflex” hit #1 virtually everywhere and was their first chart-topper in the US. This picture disk has two versions of the track, both remixed by Nile Rodgers: the “Dance Mix,” which is a couple of minutes longer than the single version with a lot of vocal tinkering and looping, and the “The Dance Mix-Edited” which is the same as the regular 7″ single. Both differ slightly from the album version. All are amazing.

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Arcadia released six singles from the LP, though not all of them globally. “Election Day” was the first single (and features Grace Jones on sing/speak vocals); it went to #6 in the US and #7 in the UK. “Goodbye is Forever” went to #33 in the US, it wasn’t released as a single in the UK however “The Promise” was released in the UK (#37) in a stripped-down format from the longer album version, but it was not released in the US (Sting does a cameo on vocals in “The Promise”).  “The Flame” was another UK-only single release (too bad, I love this song!) where it hit #58. “El Diablo” (another fave) was only released as a single in Spain while “Keep Me in the Dark” was a single in the Philippines.

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“I Don’t Want Your Love” was Duran Duran’s lead single from their fifth album, Big Thing. The track went to #14 in the UK and #4 in the US. It’s super-funky and super-danceable; it went to #1 on the Billboard dance chart. This 12″ single has the “I Don’t Want Your Love (Big Mix)” on Side A (basically more extended funk) and on Side B is the Album Version (synth/horns a bit more prominent) as well as the 7″ Mix (more John Taylor playing that fuckin’ bass) (but really the two versions aren’t much different).

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Arena (which went to #6 in the UK and #4 in the US) was “recorded around the world” when Duran Duran toured in ‘83 and ‘84 promoting Seven and the Ragged Tiger and includes songs from that album performed live like “The Seventh Stranger” and “Union of the Snake” but also many from Rio. Those are the always popular “Hungry Like the Wolf” which Simon introduces by asking the audience “Is anybody hungry??!!” as well as “New Religion” (which fabulously demonstrates the tension between Andy’s desire to play guitar in a hard rock-n-roll/metal band, Simon and Nick’s art-rock tendencies and John’s funky disco bass playing), “Save a Prayer” (I love it when Simon sings this live, adding in  “ch-ch-ch” after the word “fire”), and “The Chauffeur.” They also perform the stand-alone “Is There Something I Should Know?” which appears on the US reissue of their debut record Duran Duran, plus “Planet Earth” and “Careless Memories” from that LP. The only non-live track on Arena is “The Wild Boys” (produced by Nile Rodgers) which they released as a single just prior to Arena; it went to #2 in both the US and the UK and became infamous for having the most expensive video ever made up to that point. 

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The record sleeve insert for Disc Two has this amazing photo of the band – it also makes me laugh because my dear friend Carrie keeps a file on her computer titled “Awkward Photos of Duran Duran” that includes several that either highlight or try (in vain) to obscure the massive height difference between Simon and John vs Nick, Roger and Andy. This is one that highlights it, obviously. Plus OMG Nick’s hair!!!

The second record in this double LP set is a bonus 12″ single with the aforementioned “Planet Earth (Night Version)” plus the Extended Night Version of “Girls on Film” that has previously been unreleased,  another variant of “Planet Earth” – the Night Mix – and “Girls on Film (Night Mix)” – also previously unreleased.” Overkill? Nope, I cannot ever get enough of those songs.

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My DD2 obsession is long-lasting and never-ending (I recently renewed my Duran Duran fan club membership…aaaanndd I’m not that far away from 50 years old. Sigh). I’ve written about this a couple of times previously, but back at age 13 or 14 my Duranie pal and I went a little nuts and wrote an entire story based on the lyrics from Rio (and a few tracks from Seven and the Ragged Tiger). Dig through some of my older Duran posts for a read and a laugh.

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As the Lights Go Down is a live recording from the Oakland Coliseum’s 3-night concert series, April 12th, 13th and 15th, in 1984. The edited concerts were originally released as the video Arena (An Absurd Notion) in 1985 (aired on Cinemax and MTV), a loose story interwoven with concert footage from the Oakland performances; included, too, was the notoriously expensive video for the single “The Wild Boys” (also on the album Arena, 1985). The first official release of the music-only album came out in 2010 as a bonus disc as part of the reissue for Seven and the Ragged Tiger (there are bootleg copies floating around as well).

The three-sided album is gorgeous, a collection of some of Duran Duran’s best tracks from their first three albums: Duran Duran, Rio and Seven and the Ragged Tiger (weirdly “The Reflex,” one of their best-selling and most popular songs from that era is not on As the Lights Go Down). Side A starts off with the deep-cut instrumental “Tiger Tiger” and from there segues directly into one of the best live versions of “Is There Something I Should Know?” I’ve ever heard, with some extra bright keyboard work by Nick Rhodes. “Hungry Like the Wolf” comes next, complete with an amazing howl by Simon LeBon at the song’s end. Simon introduces the next track by saying “Hello! Good evening! Nice to see you here! This is a sexual fantasy of mine, it’s called “Union of the Snake” and Side A then concludes with the dark and rollicking “New Religion.” Side B begins with one of the most beautiful songs ever written, “Save a Prayer” and it’s just as mysteriously lush live as on the original Rio recording. “Rio,” the perennial Duran party song, is next (lots of extra by Nick on this one, too, and John Taylor’s bass is intricate, deep and funky; Andy Taylor gets down, whipping out the power chords and Simon whoops and hollers), followed by another Seven and the Ragged Tiger deep-cut, “The Seventh Stranger” which I’ve always loved. Side B ends with another beauty from Rio: “The Chauffeur” (it’s really a tie with “Save a Prayer” for most beautiful song ever).  Side 3 has three tracks from Duran Duran: “Planet Earth,” “Careless Memories” (Andy is in really fine guitar form and Roger’s drumming is relentless on both those songs), and encore with “Girls on Film” – Simon invites the audience to sing along on its chorus, resulting in a stadium full of teenage girls ecstatically shrieking “GIRLS ON FILM!” (Had I been there, I would have shrieked too) Side 4 is blank but etched with the album’s cover design.

I have soooooo much Duran Duran and so did I really need another album in my collection??? I absolutely did – As the Lights Go Down is pure perfection: 80′s pastel, big 80′s sound and production and my boys performing at the height of their popularity. This album makes me so happy ☺️

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