Journalist and author of the 33 \u2153 book Duran Duran\u2019s Rio, Annie Zaleski, joins DJ Louie for a deep-dive into \u201880s British pop-rock band and seminal music video-pioneers, Duran Duran. First, Louie and Annie parse the various music scenes-- glam rock, new wave, \u201cThe New Romantics\u201d-- from which Duran Duran emerged before discussing the band\u2019s formation in Birmingham in the late \u201870s and early \u201880s, their deal with storied label EMI, and what factors lead their 1981 self-titled debut, a prescient blend of rock and dance music, to become a smash overseas but fail to impact here in America. They then move on to the band\u2019s second record, 1982\u2019s blockbuster Rio, their groundbreaking and trendsetting videos for singles like \u201cRio\u201d and \u201cHungry Like the Wolf\u201d, the latter of which won the inaugural Best Music Video prize at the 1984 VMAs, how the group cleverly broke onto American radio thanks to their then-novel use of dance remixes, and how their massive success with teenage girls led them to be dismissed as fluff by the rockist critical establishment. Louie and Annie then lay out Duran Duran\u2019s continued success with albums like 1983\u2019s Seven and the Ragged Tiger and 1986\u2019s Nile Rodgers-produced Notorious, why the band quickly fell out of favor with mainstream audiences during the late \u201880s and early \u201890s, how they made one of the most unlikely comebacks in pop history with 1993\u2019s Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) featuring two of their definitive hits, \u201cOrdinary World\u201d and \u201cCome Undone\u201d, and what their recent induction into the Rock \u2018n Roll Hall of Fame means for their legacy. Finally, Louie and Annie rank Duran Duran in the official Pop Pantheon.
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