FEATURE:
You're a Bird of Paradise
Duran Duran's Rio at Forty
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IT is amazing that an album…
IN THIS PHOTO: Duran Duran in NYC in 1982/PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Goldsmith
with Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf and Save a Prayer could ever be seen as forgettable or average! That is how some felt when Duran Duran’s second studio album, Rio, arrived on 10th May, 1982. Still their greatest album, it was recording at AIR in London between January and February 1982. I think a lot of the negative reviews were coming out of America. Rio peaked at number two in the U.K. on the second week of its release. I think Rio still sounds fresh today, and not like an album that can only exist in 1982. Produced by Colin Thurston, there is a freshness and sense of the timeless about it. Ahead of its fortieth anniversary, Rio has got some new attention in the form of a 33 ⅓ series book by Annie Zaleski. It came out last year, and it has introduced a phenomenal album to many who were not aware of it. PopMatters discussed the book around its release:
“It’s easy to dismiss Duran Duran. When they blew up in 1982 and 1983 with their second album, Rio, they were all over MTV in impeccable suits and perfectly coiffed hair. Their music was full of danceable beats streaked with fashionable keyboard riffs. They dominated teenybopper magazines. Girls screamed.
What those who failed to look beyond the superficialities didn’t realize was that Duran Duran — who went their separate ways after Live Aid 1985 — made sophisticated, meticulous, deeply felt music — and continued to do so for decades. Rio may have been their apex, but they were hardly a flash in the pan. What’s more, anyone who dives into Rio will be rewarded many times over with an album that may be an iconic statement of its times but also resonates to this day.
As part of Bloomsbury’s 33 ⅓ series, journalist and critic Annie Zaleski dissects Rio, places it in its proper cultural context, and makes a strong case for its present-day relevance. This is an album released nearly 40 years ago but it still merits repeated listens. Zaleski follows the band from their initial formation in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by way of a local Birmingham [England] club, the Rum Runner. Bassist John Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, both rabid fans of glam rock, were looking to form “a cross between Chic and the Sex Pistols.” Eventually, guitarist Andy Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor (none of the three Taylors are related), and vocalist Simon Le Bon were added, and the band was off and running.
Zaleski’s book often underscores the fact that Duran Duran — a band with a relatively fast trajectory — became successful largely due to hard work and talent. While often lumped in with the early ‘80s “New Romantics” such as Spandau Ballet and Human League, they set themselves apart through sheer tenacity and dedication. What’s more, the glitterati style they perfected on Rio (mainly through the iconic music videos) was hard-won. “While recording the album,” Zaleski explains, “the band members weren’t jaded jetsetters, but hopeful dreamers. The cosmopolitan and escapist vibe permeating the Rio LP is aspirational, rooted in sincerity and earnestness.”-
After the modest success of their self-titled 1981 debut album — which includes the singles “Planet Earth” and “Girls on Film” — Duran Duran was hard at work on the follow-up, using the band members’ disparate styles to their advantage. Rhodes’ adventurous, forward-thinking keyboards worked well against Andy Taylor’s more rock-leaning guitar work, and the combination of John Taylor’s fluid bass work and Roger Taylor’s danceable beats made them a unique rhythm section. Le Bon’s occasionally surreal lyrics were the cherry on top.
“We had an open-mindedness with each other musically about anything we created at that time,” Rhodes quotes. “Really, it was a free-for-all. You had to pass the board of everybody else. But if you wanted to try something out, everybody would just step aside and say, ‘Go for it. Let’s see what we get.’” This type of professionalism and easy creativity will likely come as a shock to anyone with the mistaken notion that Duran Duran were a band of models assembled by record company executives looking to profit off their good looks.
While Zaleski chronicles the making of the Rio album in great detail, the book’s longest chapter, “Duran Duran, Video Pioneers”, was inevitable. Musically, Duran Duran may have rock-solid bona fides, but their popularity was aided in part by MTV, which was officially launched between the release of the band’s first and second albums. Duran Duran hooked up with now-legendary music video director Russell Mulcahy and headed off to Sri Lanka in the Spring of 1982 (between the recording and release of Rio) to shoot videos for “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Save a Prayer”, and the album’s title track. These videos were crucial in helping sell the Rio album, established the band’s cosmopolitan “look”, and aided in the legitimization of music videos as an art form. The making of these music videos also helped bond friendships amongst the band proved their desire to work hard to attain artistic and commercial success”.
As I do with big album anniversaries, I want to bring a combination of features and reviews in. Undoubtedly one of the most prominent and popular albums of the 1980s, Rio is an album where the deep cuts are as excellent and worthwhile as the singles. Albuism revisited the classic on its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2017:
“On May 10th, 1982, Duran Duran released their second long player Rio. Their world―and ours―was irrevocably changed. The sensation that swept the world and propelled five English lads―Taylors John (bass guitar), Roger (drums), and Andy (guitar), along with Nick Rhodes (synthesizers, keyboards) and Simon Le Bon (vocals)―into the international public consciousness was just that, a sensation. Rio went on to become the definitive LP of the New Romantic period, the British born movement that combined post-punk salt, synth-pop style, a touch of latent disco swing and a flair for theatricality.
The platinum busting album launched four commercial singles between November 1981 and November 1982: “My Own Way” (UK #14), “Hungry Like the Wolf” (UK #5, US #3), “Save a Prayer” (UK #2, US #16) and the title track (UK #9, US #14). The corresponding music videos secured Duran Duran's legacy as visual auteurs. And, on top of monopolizing MTV and conquering the charts, there were the screaming teenage girls (and boys). Pop hysteria to be sure, but, there was more to Rio than just frenzied fans or the plentiful spread of accolades it earned.
The genius of Rio was that it was a logical step forward for a group that would show favor to modernity over nostalgia, always. But prior to the record's world dominance, it all began with Duran Duran (1981). Their eponymous debut record met success at home in Britain, whereas listeners in the United States dismissed it upon its initial launch there. Plucked from the mind of a band enthralled with the glam and art rock of Bowie and Roxy Music, they wrote (and played) with gusto. Production focus was lent to them from the departed Colin Thurston who had already tasked behind records for Magazine and The Human League.
But how to elevate themselves further from an already eclectic, competitive debut? Simple, they unleashed their collective creative imagination with no limitations. Duran Duran hunkered down to script and play on what was to become Rio. Thurston resumed production duties on the record as well.
Across its nine tracks, Rio is an upscale affair, lyrically and musically. Their rock musicianship sinew snaps and sneers on the acidic “My Own Way” and “Last Chance on the Stairway,” but conversely balances pop guile on the title track with its synaptic shattering synths, guitar and drumming patterns per Rhodes, Taylor and Taylor. This path between the refinement and nerve of pop and rock, Duran Duran repaved enthusiastically―Rhodes and Thurston's keen programming and production made this possible.
The songwriting, initially, painted opulent visions of Brazilian shores, European airshows, British dancefloors and endless New York City skylines where seductive trysts were infinite. Closer listening revealed stormier narratives underneath these pseudo-escapist songs. Nowhere was this more apparent than on the creeping gloom of “The Chauffeur” which closes the record.
But if the words compelled, it was in due part to their delivery via the unmistakable Simon Le Bon. Le Bon's range and color, equally human and alien, could transfix audiences. Not only did his singing establish him as an indisputable peer to his accomplished contemporaries Tony Hadley (of Spandau Ballet), (Boy) George O'Dowd (of Culture Club), and Martin Fry (of ABC), it made him one of the most vital vocalists in British music history.
Deeper album cuts mixed comfortably with the mammoth hits as heard on the chilly “Lonely in Your Nightmare” and the light proto-funk of “New Religion.” The latter had all three Taylors bringing buoyant rhythm to the Duran Duran sound. The song was a harbinger for the steamier funk Duran Duran served up with their groovy Notorious LP four years later”.
Shocking that it was slated by some critics back in May 1982, retrospective acclaim has settled that score. Maybe it took a few years to see the influence Rio would have and the popularity it would accrue. Singles like Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf are radio staples. Songs that will passed through the generations. I am not a massive Duran Duran fan, though I love Rio and how astonishing it is. Arriving a year after Duran Duran’s eponymous debut, this was a step up from the Birmingham band (Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor). To end, I want to quote a sample review. This is what AllMusic observed about the wonderful Rio:
“From its Nagel cover to the haircuts and overall design -- and first and foremost the music -- Rio is as representative of the '80s at its best as it gets. The original Duran Duran's high point, and just as likely the band's as a whole, its fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever. The quintet integrates its sound near-perfectly throughout, the John and Roger Taylor rhythm section providing both driving propulsion and subtle pacing. For the latter, consider the lush, semi-tropical sway of "Save a Prayer," or the closing paranoid creep of "The Chauffeur," a descendant of Roxy Music's equally affecting dark groover "The Bogus Man." Andy Taylor's muscular riffs provide fine rock crunch throughout, Rhodes' synth wash adds perfect sheen, and Le Bon tops it off with sometimes overly cryptic lyrics that still always sound just fine in context, courtesy of his strong delivery. Rio's two biggest smashes burst open the door in America for the New Romantic/synth rock crossover. "Hungry Like the Wolf" blended a tight, guitar-heavy groove with electronic production and a series of instant hooks, while the title track was even more anthemic, with a great sax break from guest Andy Hamilton adding to the soaring atmosphere. Lesser known cuts like "Lonely in Your Nightmare" and "Last Chance on the Stairway" still have pop thrills a-plenty, while "Hold Back the Rain" is the sleeper hit on Rio, an invigorating blast of feedback, keyboards and beat that doesn't let up. From start to finish, a great album that has outlasted its era”.
On 10th May, the world will celebrate forty years of Duran Duran’s Rio. An album that is overflowing with standout songs and incredible band performances. The group are wonderful together, and they each add these elements and layers that make Rio such a nuanced and stunning album. A New Wave classic with some of the biggest and more recognisable hits of the 1980s, Rio will only continue to grow in its importance. I love everything about the album, maybe except for the video for the title track. However, like everything else on the album…
I shall come around soon enough!