Duran Duran

Duran Duran is the debut album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released worldwide in 1981.

The album reached #3 on the United Kingdom charts and remained in the UK Top 100 for 117 weeks, achieving platinum status by December 1982. The initial release was largely ignored in the United States, but the album was reissued there in 1983 following the success of the band's second album, Rio. This time it reached #10 on the US Billboard 200, and remained on that chart for 87 weeks. Duran Duran was certified platinum (a shipment of one million units) by the RIAA in June 1985.

The band wrote and recorded demos for the album at AIR Studios in 1980, while one of their main influences, the band Japan, was recording the Gentlemen Take Polaroids album just down the hall.

The album was formally recorded in December 1980 at various recording studios in London (as well as Chipping Norton Studios) with record producer Colin Thurston, shortly after Duran Duran signed their record deal with EMI. In interviews, the band has recalled the struggle to continue recording after hearing of the murder of John Lennon on 8 December.

Music videos for "Planet Earth" and "Careless Memories" were also filmed in December.

The first pressing of 30,000 copies of the Japanese version (Toshiba/EMI EMS-91019) came with a colour poster. There is a notation on the OBI that mentions this. Later issues of the album have the notation on the OBI removed and contain only a lyric insert and a sheet with a bio in Japanese, some photos and some instructions on how to do the 'new romantic' dance like in the "Planet Earth" video.

The original American release included the "Night Version" of "Planet Earth" instead of the original, even if it is not listed as such. "To The Shore" was dropped from the US tracklisting to accommodate the-now increased length of "Planet Earth". Earlier alternate titles for "Anyone Out There" and "Night Boat" are used.

Duran Duran was re-released in the USA on 25 April 1983, after the success of their second album Rio in America gave the band another chance to market their first album there. The album had two changes to the original American track listing: Capitol Records replaced the "Night Version" of "Planet Earth" with the original single version. Most notably, the then-current Duran Duran single, "Is There Something I Should Know?" was added to the album's track listing and "To the Shore" was removed.

The album also featured updated cover art designed by Malcolm Garrett, using the newer "double D" band logo featured on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album and "Is There Something I Should Know?" single. The cover photo showed the evolution in the band's image since 1981. In contrast to the earlier artwork, the new image positioned each band member equally close to the camera, and demonstrated the variety of looks within the band, from tanned adventurers to rouged androgynes. This reflected the band's teen-focused marketing which promoted the image and personality of individual band members, recognizing that "everyone is someone's favourite".

A remastered version of the album was released on 29 March 2010. It featured three versions :

Special edition 2-CD set: original album with the following tracks :
The AIR Studios versions (recorded on 29 July 1980)
The Manchester Square Demos (recorded on 8 December 1980)
Radio 1 Peter Powell session (recorded 19 June 1981, transmitted 11 August 1981; mono)
Limited edition 3-Disc set: above edition including a DVD of BBC footage and first album era videos
180-Gram LP with bonus 12"
Digital download only live album "BBC In Concert". Recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon 17 December 1981, transmitted 13 April 1982.

Singles

The first single of the band's career was "Planet Earth" (released on 2 February 1981), which reached #12 on the UK charts.

The band followed up with the release of "Careless Memories" on 20 April 1981, but it only reached UK #37.