Happy 35th Anniversary to Duran Duran’s fourth studio album Notorious, originally released November 21, 1986.
On July 13, 1985, Duran Duran took to the stage at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia in front of an audience of 90,000; answering the noble hail of charity—specifically for Live Aid—the British outfit launched into a blitz of their smash charters. A competent, if fractured performance ensued, denoting that all was not well within the ranks of Duran Duran. A manic four years of blockbuster albums and sell-out concert dates had taken its toll.
Several months prior to receiving their Live Aid invitation, and under the politesse of pursuing separate projects, Duran Duran decided to embark on a brief respite. The quintet split into two camps during this period. Taylors Andy (guitar) and John (bass) formed the rock-funk clique The Power Station with Robert Palmer and Chic players Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards. Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards/synthesizers) and Roger Taylor (drums) went the esoteric pop route with Arcadia.
Their respective records The Power Station and So Red the Rose made critical and commercial waves in 1985, but Duran Duran remained the priority. Emerging between these two disparate long players that spring was “A View to a Kill,” the John Barry assisted single and theme to the James Bond flick of the same name. By the time Duran Duran were thrilling the Live Aid crowd in July, “A View to a Kill” had impacted at radio and retail with a bang; shortly after that pivotal gig, only three men were left standing.
Workshopping for Notorious, as their fourth outing was to be called, moved on without Roger Taylor, who bowed out of the industry altogether. Andy Taylor initially joined with his bandmates until tensions arose due to his solo ambitions—he soon departed the fold leaving semi-finished vestiges of his touch on the final product. A formal reunion for this line-up of Duran Duran wouldn’t occur until the summer of 2003 ahead of their eleventh album Astronaut (2004).
In the meantime, Le Bon, Rhodes and Taylor soldiered on through the writing-recording process for Notorious. But there weren’t only fluctuating interpersonal dynamics to contend with—changing public tastes also loomed. At the midpoint of the 1980s, the New Romantic movement that birthed Duran Duran had receded and in its void other trends competed for the attention of consumers.
This left the trio (and many of their contemporaries) to either adapt or die. More than happy to dive headfirst into the creative unknown, Duran Duran opted to make a clean break from where they’d left off with Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983).
Their third set was an admirably daring collection, but the group tripped ever so slightly over its own ambition with it. However, that appetite to go for the sonically adventurous wouldn’t leave them.
Exploring out from under the weight of the Duran Duran moniker with their side projects wasn’t only a freeing exercise, it was a necessary learning experience in navigating commercial and artistic spaces. As a result, Duran Duran knew they could straddle experimentation and convention with Notorious. Proof of this mindset manifested in their election of Nile Rodgers to co-produce the LP with them.
Rodgers, along with Bernard Edwards, was one of the founders of the disco troupe Chic. Although that outfit officially hit the pause button on their operations in 1983, Rodgers had begun moonlighting as a songsmith for others as early as 1981. Prior to revising Duran Duran’s already killer tune “The Reflex” in 1984, the conclusive single from Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Rodgers stewarded efforts for Deborah Harry (of Blondie), David Bowie and Madonna.
Taken with his approach on the single edit for “The Reflex,” Duran Duran commissioned him again for “Wild Boys,” the lone studio track on their otherwise live offering Arena (1984). Between those two previous excursions and with Rodgers’ former colleagues having tasked alongside John Taylor in The Power Station, a considerable amount of history connected Chic and Duran Duran. It made for an ideal working environment for both parties who jumped at the chance to plot an entire album together.
Unlike the sinewy new wave and synth-pop representative of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Duran Duran enacted an urbane blend of R&B and art-rock on Notorious that was progressive, but airplay ready. The sizzling funk of the title cut (and lead-off single) evinced the effectiveness of this new vibe. A marriage of technology and live instrumentation contributes to vibrant sounds active on Notorious such as the arena stomper “Vertigo (Do the Demolition)” or the psychedelic downtempo “We Need You.” That latter song sat opposite “Skin Trade”—one of the three tracks sent out as singles from Notorious—as its flipside.
The employment of The Borneo Horns (Steve Elhorn, Stan Harrison, Lenny Pickett) injects extra flavor into pieces like the spicy pop-soul jams “So Misled” and “Meet El Presidente.” With Rhodes and Taylor in expert form, they easily extrapolate on the handsome swing of their earlier releases to gift this fresh material a partial air of familiarity—but Duran Duran had some assistance this time around.
Down a drummer and guitarist, several decorated session players were brought in to aid the troika in muscling up their music; along with the aforementioned Borneo Horns other notables included Steve Ferrone (drums), Jimmy Maelen (percussion) and Warren Cuccurullo (guitar). Affiliated with Missing Persons prior to onboarding with Duran Duran, Cuccurullo became a studio-concert musician fixture for them over the next three years ahead of his permanent recruitment in 1990; he endured as a core member/lead guitarist up through to Pop Trash (2000).
Attached to these ravishing arrangements are equally absorbing song scripts where Duran Duran survey the world around them to fuel their allegorical, modern fables. Entries like “Hold Me” and “Proposition” may appear abstract on their surface, but closer listening uncovers that they’re probing examinations of the human condition and the social fabric of our times, then and now.
But the essential component to any Duran Duran affair is Le Bon’s voice. Across the expanse of the record, the versatility of his instrument is enthralling. Particularly, Le Bon casts a heady spell with “A Matter of Feeling” and “Winter Marches On,” ballads that showcase the distinctive color and grain of his tone. However, he brings the house down on “Skin Trade” and “American Science.” These two slinky grooves are some of the finest on Notorious, although the clubby blush of “Skin Trade” playfully contrasts to the after-hours cool of “American Science.” Tempos aside, Le Bon is pure sex on both, and his performances here are truly superlative within the larger Duran Duran canon.
When taken as an entire body of work, it’s readily apparent that Le Bon, Rhodes and Taylor had somehow managed to link the full-bodied rock & roll of The Power Station to the pop eclecticism of Arcadia on Notorious, but with an ingeniously modern R&B/funk twist.
“Notorious” was unleashed in late October 1986 as the inaugural single from the album via EMI Records internationally and the Capitol label stateside. Additionally, its companion visual aid, courtesy of directors Peter Kagan and Paula Greif, introduced the world to a strikingly dapper Duran Duran. Supermodel Christy Turlington features in the clip and on the actual album jacket which was photographed by John Swannell as the triune filmed the music video. All of this was done to make a declarative statement from the outset and helped “Notorious” make its intended splash on the charts. The question was could this upward momentum be sustained for the length of a complete promotional cycle?
Behind the scenes, Duran Duran braced for what they knew would be a semi-challenging stump for their record but were taken aback by some of the polarization it engendered, especially on the critical front. Notorious made good on the promise of that first single: Duran Duran refused to be captive to their immediate past; that made for strong opinions which veered from glorious applause to rancorous derision amongst critics and fans alike.
Notorious marked a partial sales softening for Duran Duran but sold steadily enough to earn gold and platinum certifications in the United Kingdom and United States. What was troubling was that the two post-“Notorious” singles, “Skin Trade” and “Meet El Presidente,” were not gaining traction in the first few months of 1987.
In advance of its market unveiling, Duran Duran actioned a savory radio edit and extended version of “Meet El Presidente” that dialed up the Latin undercurrent of the LP iteration; the results yielded them one of their most explosive floorfillers—but it made no major headway outside of the discothèques. It was memorably performed (alongside “Skin Trade”) on Soul Train in the spring of that year, a singular moment logged in the Three to Get Ready film; the documentary traced the lifespan of Notorious up through to its partnering Strange Behavior Tour. That concert series demonstrated Duran Duran’s continued dominance as a live entity and saw them embark on gigs across North America, continental Europe and Japan to acclaim.
Never occupying one space for too long, Duran Duran kept evolving and left everyone else to catch up. Long after its reveal, the influence of and affection for Notorious has grown. Excusing the alternative driven Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash, elements of funk and R&B have manifested on every other Duran Duran record—to varying degrees—since Notorious. And no one can deny how its singles have held up as turntable favorites for the dance and hip-hop communities. The title track gained further immortality when sampled for the late Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace’s posthumous single “Notorious B.I.G.” in 2000.
Today, Notorious is a seminal catalog gem that solidified the reputation of this band as ultimate pop modernists always willing to challenge themselves at every turn—that is legacy, that is power, that is Duran Duran.
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