They brought in one of their heroes, ex-Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, to co-produce. With Andy Taylor’s rock-god hard rock leanings aside, Duran Duran were left to pursue the more arty, sophisticated direction co-founders Rhodes and John Taylor had always envisioned. And, while certainly no lost classics, the albums hold up better than you probably remember, the sound of a band trying desperately to survive, and succeeding, albeit barely. Artistically, Notorious and Big Thing have for 20-plus years been all-but-dismissed by everyone outside Duran Duran’s core fanbase, a situation these long-delayed deluxe reissues are meant to remedy. Commercially, it was less successful than the first, but that was almost inevitable given the extent to which the band had worn out their “Fab Five” welcome. That left the trio of vocalist Simon LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and bassist John Taylor to embark on the second stage of Duran Duran’s career. Guitarist Andy Taylor had to be forced into the studio through legal means, but things went so badly he was soon let go.
The band emerged from the morass having lost drummer Roger Taylor, never a “Wild Boy”, to early retirement. By the end of 1985, Duran Duran had all but imploded.Ĭlearly, if Duran Duran was to continue, a rethink was badly needed. In came the supermodel arm candy, the ego-stroking side projects, the drugs, the general hedonism. With Seven and the Ragged Tiger in 1983, Duran Duran were starting to confuse those videos with real life. The rub was that the more screaming teenagers showed up at their shows, the more their critical acclaim and respect slipped. With the help of those groundbreaking, escapist videos and some good tunes, the band had by 1982 become a global juggernaut. Did MTV make Duran Duran or did Duran Duran make MTV? In 1986, that question was moot, because the two were inextricably linked.