Duran Duran: Rio

Duran Duran: Rio

1982

Capitol Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Rio  2. My Own Way  3. Lonely In Your Nightmare  4. Hungry Like the Wolf  5. Hold Back the Rain  6. New Religion  7. Last Chance on the Stairway  8. Save a Prayer  9. The Chauffeur



Oh man, this is one of those albums that looms large over my childhood...I can tell you that these guys were huge back in '82-'83...I clearly remember Friday nights at my house, my Parents would be out grocery shopping and me and my siblings would be left at home, cranking the radio to 11....And I clearly remember during that era that "Hungry Like the Wolf" was in constant radio rotation, and paired with "Rock the Casbah" it was probably the first time that a pop hook really and truly wormed its way under deep under my skin..

I was obsessed with "Hungry Like the Wolf," glued to my boombox 24/7 hoping for a sighting, so I could capture it on a Chrome High Bias, Type II cassette...

1982-ish Tape: 1. Eddy Grant: Electric Avenue  2. The Clash: Rock the Casbah  3. Duran Duran: Hungry Like the Wolf  4. April Wine: Sign of the Gypsy Queen  5.  A Flock of Seagulls: I Ran (So Far Away) 6. Steve Miller Band: Abracadabra  7.  Rick Springfield: Love Is Alright Tonite 8. Kiss: I Love it Loud 9. Aerosmith: Jailbait  10. Loverboy: Working for the Weekend 11. Michael Jackson: Billie Jean  12. Elmo & Patsy: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

I think that's a fairly accurate approximation of what that 1982-ish cassette would have contained...So yea, this was an album that always takes me back...Capitol Records was trying to hedge its bets by remixing the album for US audiences, therefore the vinyl copy and the CD copy I own are completely different  from each other...The vinyl contains dance mixes and "night versions" (which is Duran-speak for extended remix) although the cover doesn't indicate it...I've noticed that recently whenever I hear "Hungry Like the Wolf" on the radio it's always the "Night Version" with the really long intro for some reason, which is odd because back in the 80's it was always the original mix...

I can only recall "Hungry," "Rio" and "Save a Prayer" being played on radio, but when you get right down to it, just about any of these tracks would sound perfectly at home on 80's airwaves...For example, "Hold Back the Rain" is every bit the pop song "Rio" is...However, the hands-down best track on the album is the closer, "The Chauffeur" which is easily my all-time favorite Duran Duran track...Maybe one of my favorite songs from the 80's period... A sparse, creepy, synth-spider of a song that features the single greatest moment in the band's discography when Simon belts out, "SIIIINNNNNNNNNNNG BLUE SILVAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Ahhgh, it's so effin' cool...The band even named a film after the line...

Second coolest part? When the drums finally kick in...Yea, we should just cut this short so we can listen to this song...I think we can all agree we've heard "Rio" by Duran Duran...

Anyway, here's "The Chauffeur" by Duran Duran...Enjoy....