The track “Alien Boy” is about James Chasse, a Portland, Oregon man who suffered from mental illness and was a friend of Wipers frontman/guitarist Greg Sage (their conversations inspired much of the lyrical imagery on Is This Real?). Chasse (aka Jim Jim) was killed by two Portland police officers in 2006. Sage wrote in a 2007 website entry for Zeno Records about Chasse’s death at the hands of the Portland police: “The Sad Facts: Jim’s toxicology came back clean, no drugs – alcohol. All 17 of his ribs were broken. His lung was punctured. He suffered head trauma from being kicked while he was on the ground. He was not taken to a hospital, but to jail.  He died in the back of the squad car. Medical Examiner Reports: James Chasse was bludgeoned to death. Witnesses claim excessive force was used. It would seem that the police would have known that Jim Jim was disabled since he spent so much time on the streets. So far the PDX police claim that his death is Justified!” There was additional public outcry about the incident and after a few years and investigation, the officers were mostly exonerated but steps were taken for the police to change their training on dealing with their response to citizens with mental illness.

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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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