394 Hello Duran Duran - Planet Earth

Chart  entered : 21  February  1981

Chart  peak : 12

Number  of  hits : 32

Birmingham's  finest  have  swung  in  and  out  of  critical  favour  throughout  their  long  career   and  made  some  very  questionable  moves  but  by  never  entirely  taking  their  eye  off  the  ball  they've  survived  as  one  of  Britain's  most  effective  pop  bands.

Duran  Duran  were  formed  in  1978  by  Nick  Rhodes  and  Nigel  ( who  preferred  to  be  called  John ) Taylor  ,  two  employees  at  Birmingham's  Rum  Runner  nightclub  where  they  became  the  house  band. They  took  the  name  from  Milo  O  Shea's  character  in  the  film  Barbarella  in  reference  to  another  of  the  city's  nightclubs. The  others  in  the  line  up  were  singer  Steven  Duffy  and  bassist  Simon  Colley. John  played  guitar  and  Nick  the  keyboards. He  had  a  drum  machine for  percussion. Duffy  and  Colley  left  the  band  in  1979  as  drummer  Roger  Taylor  came  in.   A  few  temporary  members  passed  through  the  ranks   before  Geordie   guitarist  Andy  Taylor  and  former  child  actor  Simon  Le  Bon  joined  the  line  up  in  1980. John  switched  to  bass  to  accommodate  the  former. The  Rum  Runner's  owners,  the  Berrow  brothers  became  their  managers  finding  jobs  at  the  club for  the  new  recruits.

Mining  much  the  same  influences  ( Roxy  Music, Bowie, Kraftwerk )  and  adopting  similar  dress  styles  they  quickly  became  associated  with  the  New  Romantic  movement  after  some  gigs  in  London. A  session  for  Radio  One's  Peter  Powell   and  support  slot  on  Hazel  O' Connor's  tour  sparked  a  bidding  war  which  was  won  by  EMI.

"Planet  Earth"  was  the  debut  single  by  "Durren  Durren"  ( as  famously  mispronounced  by  Tony  Blackburn  when  it  first  entered  the  Top  40 ).  I've  written  about  it  before  so  let's  lift  that  :

Their debut single "Planet Earth" follows, a near-perfect pop song. Emerging from a synth chord very similar to "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" a Moroder synth pulse and nimble bass figure lead us to Andy Taylor's melodic guitar riff then Le Bon launches into his tale of alien encounters, the only overtly futurist song on the album with a rather unwise mention of "some New Romantic" in the first verse. The ba-ba-ba backing vocals remind us that the band took their name from a kitsch late 1960s film.