Duran Duran has a lot more to their musical résumé than “The Reflex” and “The Wild Boys.” Indeed, if those songs were wiped off the face of the earth, I would be perfectly okay with that. There is also a considerable breadth of style on these albums as well. They weren’t just a synth-pop band. There are experiments in art rock, house music, Latin music, atmospheric pop, and funk. One thing’s for sure, they were not afraid to fail. And on more than one occasion, that’s exactly what they did. But they came back wiser every time.
The following list – a two-disc set, no less – contains my favorite Duran Duran songs, or in some cases remixes, that you may not have heard before. They’re listed in chronological order, since that’s important in understanding how the band’s sound has evolved over the years. Purists will surely take me to town for my omissions – I was never a big fan of the early B-sides like “Late Bar” and “Faster than Light” – but I stand by my choices…at least for the next five minutes, at which point I will surely want to replace five songs with five others. Enjoy.
“Sound of Thunder” – Duran Duran
What better way to start a Deep Cuts piece on Duran Duran than with a song that opens with a flanged keyboard riff similar to “Planet Earth,” the song that started it all. “Sound of Thunder,” though, isn’t nearly as sunny as “Planet Earth.” It still has a badass groove, and John shows his chops as a bassist for the first time, but the song is one of the moodiest dance songs you’re likely to find. There was talk about what it meant that the words “Earth,” “Memories” and “Thunder” appeared in bold type in the album’s artwork. The answer: absolutely nothing.
“Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)” – The Singles Box 1986-1995
This originally appeared on the import 12” single for “The Reflex” (and made its CD debut on the soundtrack for the 1994 movie “Threesome”), but it was recorded in 1983 while the band was still touring in support of Rio. This Cockney Rebel #1 smash (with that band’s singer Steve Harley singing backing vocals here) gets an extreme makeover, turning the first verse and chorus into a torch song. At that point, the song positively explodes into dance rock heaven. Listening to Andy’s blistering solo, you can practically hear him saying to himself, “You know, I’d love to form a band where I could rock out all the time. I wonder if John would be interested…”
“Breath after Breath” – Duran Duran (a.k.a. The Wedding Album)
Stunning. Still one of my favorite Duran songs to date, this duet with Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento was a radical departure into Latin music for the band (unless you count Mark Berry’s remixes of “Meet El Presidente”), and it came, conveniently enough, at a time when there were no expectations of how Duran Duran should sound. They had finally outlasted the whole new wave/romantic thing, and that clearly liberated them. This was also the first real guest performance on a Duran track, and the band was smart enough to know not to upstage Nascimento and his sweet, sweet tenor.
To read the read of our choices for Duran Duran Deep Cuts, click here, and come back to ESDMusic to share your comments.
