The Nice's album, despite not selling well, did have a recognizable album cover where the band were without clothes and wrapped in cellophane. Gered Mankowitz is responsible for that picture and many others. He is one of the most prolific and prominent rock photographers today. Although it might be one of his less recognizable pieces, Mankowitz also took the cover photo for Duran Duran's breakout single "Girls on Film".
Nick Rhodes and John Taylor formed Duran Duran in 1978 in Birmingham. Starting work for the Rum Runner night club, they eventually became the house band while they were also busting tables and doing dishes. The group went through several lineup changes (foregoing two vocalists, a bassist, and a drum machine) before coming together: Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass), Andy Taylor (guitar), Roger Taylor (drums), and Simon Le Bon (vocals). Despite the same last names, none of the Taylors are related. By the turn of the decade, Duran Duran began receiving press as one of the leading New Romantic bands (a branch of late '70s New Wave). The band's connection with Rum Runner proved to be a good one as the owners became Duran Duran's original management and booked the group's first demo recordings. While touring in the late eighties, their marketability was noticed by several record companies resulting in a bidding war. Duran Duran would sign with EMI in patriotic reverence to The Beatles's original label (despite getting an unfair deal).
Their debut album Duran Duran came out in June of 1981 and was produced by Colin Thurston, a man largely credited with developing the classic "eighties sound". The album was accompanied by three singles "Planet Earth", "Careless Memories", and "Girls on Film". Of the three, "Girls on Film" hit highest on the UK charts at #5. It also gained a certain notoriety for its music video that portrayed sexual fetishes and was intended only to be played on pay TV channels. A heavily edited version brought the band to prominence in the United States as it breached the rotation of music videos on the burgeoning MTV.
Duran Duran quickly became the "prettiest boys in rock" around the time when exposure was at an all time high. MTV had recently gotten off the ground and Duran Duran were one of the first bands to take advantage of the new outlet to American audiences. All five members had photogenic features and worked with stylists to develop their own unique look. Musically, they also remixed their own songs, creating "night versions" in the studio that were more instrumental and dance friendly. In a quickly changing musical landscape and industry, Duran Duran were one of the first bands to exemplify the change and reap a surreal global popularity that would only keep growing.
Here is the discography surrounding Duran Duran's debut album:
Planet Earth (1981 single)
Careless Memories (1981 single)
Duran Duran
Girls on Film (1981 single)
Nite Romantics (1981 Japanese Remix EP)
Live at Club Paradise (1981 live bootleg)
"Girls on Film" by Duran Duran
"Tel Aviv" by Duran Duran
If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.
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