Created by Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (bass) in Birmingham, England in 1978, it later add took in Roger Taylor (drums), Andy Taylor (guitar), and Simon Le Bon (lead vocals). The band has sold more than 100 million records over their more than 40 years of existence, making them one of the best-selling groups in history.
Their songs are often vivid, hook-laden pieces dance pop that have fared well on the radio, but what many remember best about Duran Duran is their iconic music videos. Though many of the videos were tongue-in-cheek, the band has never quite escaped the glamorous and decadent 'jet set' image that their early videos projected. Their flashy outfits and strident, art rock influenced music showed an immense debt to 70s English glam artists such as David Bowie and Roxy Music, yet the band grasped a sense of their own identity and became one of the keystones of the new romantic movement.
Their first singer and one of their original founding members was Stephen Duffy, and their original bassist was Simon Colley. Several drummers and guitarists were subsequently tried, as well as a handful of vocalists, after Duffy left Duran Duran early in 1979. The band felt that they had something special with vocalist Simon Le Bon, and the group smashed into the pop scene shortly afterwards when "Planet Earth", their debut single, was released on 2 February 1981.
"Planet Earth" became an immediate hit in the band's native U.K., reaching #12 on the U.K. Singles Chart on 21 February, and it did even better in Australia, hitting #8 there. Being Duran Duran's first Top 10 hit anywhere in the world, the song showed the group's interest in international stardom. The band's eponymous debut album came out promptly afterwards in June 1981. 'Duran Duran' hit #3 on the album charts and remained in the U.K. Top 100 for 117 weeks, achieving platinum status by December 1982. The initial United States release failed to generate much interest at first, but the group was a British sensation due to their strident mix of pop rock and electronic music.
Music videos for hit singles "Planet Earth" and "Careless Memories" were filmed in December 1980. As they also experienced considerable success with "Girls on Film", which hit #5 on the UK Singles Chart and #11 on the Australian Singles Chart, the group firmly grasped the opportunity to make a name for themselves in musical television. As their fame grew, some fans worried that Duran Duran could have peaked too early. They headed into AIR Studios in London in early 1982 anxious to somehow top themselves.
Band member John Taylor came up with the new album's title, 'Rio', as a product of his fascination with the flaunting sexuality and diverse atmosphere of Brazil. He later said, "Rio, to me, was shorthand for the truly foreign, the exotic, a cornucopia of earthly delights, a party that would never stop." The band had their own plans and ambitions for promotion and reunited with director Russell Mulcahy (who was behind the video for "Planet Earth") to plan out the release of a full length 'video album'— eleven videos in total. Totally dedicated to on-site filming, guitarist Andy Taylor even contracted a tropical virus and ended up hospitalized, thankfully getting better relatively quickly.
'Rio' was, simply, a commercial juggernaut. The band's second studio album, originally released worldwide on 10 May 1982, reached #2 in the UK and #1 in Australia. Massively popular in the U.S., it earned a gold disc on 1 March 1983 and went platinum on 26 April 1983, eventually reaching double-platinum status. As songs such as "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Rio" received considerable airplay, critical acclaim also grew for the release. With MTV heavily playing the band's music videos, the album is still held as one of the best new wave albums ever. In April 2013, 'Rio' was even voted #3 in BBC Radio 2's 'Top 100 Favourite Albums of all time' list.
In 1985, Duran Duran performed "A View To A Kill" for the the James Bond film of the same name. The song appeared in the movie's title sequence and was also a best-selling single in its own right. In 1987, "Out Of My Mind" was featured at the end credits of the drama film 'The Saint' as well.
Like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran was among the earliest bands to work on their own remixes. From the very beginning, the band had a keen sense of style, and worked with stylist Perry Haines and fashion designers such as Kahn & Bell and Antony Price to build a sharp and elegant image, soon growing beyond the ruffles and sashes of the pirate-flavoured New Romantic look.
Although the group never disbanded, it went through several line-up changes over the years - American guitarist Warren Cuccurullo (formerly of Missing Persons) was also a member of the band from 1989 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell was a member from 1989 to 1991. John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor all returned in 2001 and created a stir among music media and the band's fans. Duran Duran released the first album from the reunited line-up, Astronaut, in 2004, which was in turn followed up by many sold out shows in England, most notably Wembley Arena, where a live DVD of the tour was filmed in 2004/2005.
In October of 2006, it was announced on Duran Duran's website that Andy Taylor had left the band. The band's latest album, 'Red Carpet Massacre' was released in November 2007. They performed the album live in New York City on Broadway at the Barrymore Theater, for what was originally scheduled as an unprecedented 10-night run. A stage hand union strike shortened the run by a few nights, but Duran Duran were able to re-schedule the shows elsewhere. They went on to tour the world, ending their successful run in December of 2008.
2008 also saw the release of a new DVD that documents the making of their now-classic "Rio" album (called "Classic Albums: Rio (Collector's Edition)"), and a book called "Would Someone Please Explain?"- a compilation of questions from the "Ask Katy" area of their popular website.
Duran Duran returned at the end of 2010 with their 13th album, the digital and self-released album All You Need Is Now which debuted at number one on the iTunes charts in many countries (including the USA). The physical version of the album will be released with bonus tracks in February 2011. The album was produced by Mark Ronson.
2015 saw the band return with the album Paper Gods, which was led by the single "Pressure Off" featuring Janelle Monae and Nile Rodgers. The album was the band's first top 10 chart success in the U.S. in over 20 years, and also reached number 5 in the U.K.
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Love Voodoo
Duran Duran Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You caught me in your web of youth,
But now I know the wicked truth,
It's much to late so what's the use in fighting?
You peel me like an onion skin,
And wonder at the state I'm in,
One day you'll turn up to begin,
And find there's nothing left but innuendo.. (innuendo)
Like amateurs in love's charade,
Much more than just a game you play,
The certain rules become a way of living.. (way of living)
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
The Queen of sensuality,
You shelter me from Liberty,
It's nothing short of Piracy,
That's not to say it doesn't please me sometimes.
Now this may come as no surprise,
But I'm content to compromise,
Until the day you realize,
That I have been manipulating you.. (no surprise, no surprise)
(Man-ipu-lat-ing)
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
(Yes, I'm tied up inside your loving
But it's voodoo to me
Every night how I try
How I try to resist you
But it's no good to me)
Night after night I try to prove
That I can resist you
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
Designed to Manipulate
The lyrics to Duran Duran's "Love Voodoo" depict a complicated relationship dynamic between two people. The singer reminisces about how they were once caught in the "web of youth" by their lover, but now they know the "wicked truth" and it's too late to fight. The lover seems to have a manipulative hold over the singer, stripping away their layers like an "onion skin" and leaving them with nothing but innuendos. The singer is aware of their own manipulation tactics and is content to compromise until their lover realizes that the tables have turned. The chorus highlights the singer's struggle with resisting the hold the lover has over them, being "tied up inside" their love voodoo. The lyrics suggest a complex give-and-take between two people, both molding each other to fit their own desires.
The imagery used in the song is evocative and powerful, painting a picture of an intense and manipulative relationship. The comparison of the love voodoo to piracy seems to suggest that the relationship is not entirely consensual or healthy. The use of the phrase "night after night" emphasizes the repetitive nature of the singer's attempts to resist, highlighting the power struggle at play. The overall theme of the song seems to be the danger of getting caught up in a manipulative relationship, where both parties are guilty of using each other's weaknesses to their advantage.
Line by Line Meaning
When I first met you on the roof,
When we first met, you drew me in with your youthful charm, just like a spider catching its prey in its web.
You caught me in your web of youth,
You entranced me with your youthful allure.
But now I know the wicked truth,
But now I see that you are not what I thought you were, and you have a dark side.
It's much too late so what's the use in fighting?
I know it's too late to change things, so why bother fighting when it will not change the outcome?
You peel me like an onion skin,
You strip away my layers one by one, exposing my vulnerabilities.
And wonder at the state I'm in,
You are amazed at the way that I react to your manipulation.
One day you'll turn up to begin,
One day you will show up to start another round of manipulation.
And find there's nothing left but innuendo.. (innuendo)
And you will discover that there is nothing left in our relationship but insinuation and indirect suggestion.
Beside you others fade away,
Compared to you, everyone else pales in comparison.
Like amateurs in love's charade,
They seem like beginners in the game of love, while you are the expert.
Much more than just a game you play,
Your manipulation is not just fun and games, but rather a complex strategy you use.
The certain rules become a way of living.. (way of living)
The rules you have established for our relationship have become your standard way of living and thinking.
Night after night I try to prove That I can resist you
Every single night, I attempt to show myself that I am not under your control.
Tied up inside your Love Voodoo
However, I feel trapped and helpless under your love spell.
Designed to Manipulate
I realize now that you have created this situation specifically to control and manipulate me.
The Queen of sensuality,
You hold the title of master of allure and temptation.
You shelter me from Liberty,
You prevent me from being free and making my own choices.
It's nothing short of Piracy,
This is nothing less than theft and taking control of something that belongs to me.
That's not to say it doesn't please me sometimes.
Even though I know what you are doing is wrong, I still feel pleasure from it at times.
Now this may come as no surprise,
I know that you have seen my efforts to resist you, and there are no secrets between us.
But I'm content to compromise,
However, I am willing to make compromises and give in for now.
Until the day you realize,
I am waiting for the day when you finally see the error of your ways.
That I have been manipulating you.. (no surprise, no surprise)
And you come to see that I have been playing my own manipulative game with you.
Night after night I try to prove That I can resist you Tied up inside your Love Voodoo Designed to Manipulate
Despite everything, I continue to try to resist you, but it is difficult when I am under your spell of manipulation and control.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN TAYLOR, NICK RHODES, SIMON LE BON, WARREN CUCCURULLO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind