T Caplan
In 1984, I woke up every morning to a poster of Duran Duran on my bedroom wall. I remember listening to “New Moon on Monday”, “Wild Boys” and “Union of the Snake” on Hot Hits, my favorite radio station and the constant replay of “The Reflex” VCR recorded off MTV’s Friday Night Video Fights to watch the wave pour out over the audience. As a young tween, I loved Duran Duran, but I didn't know why.
Duran Duran are a band that only makes sense in retrospect. It was the early Eighties. Music was changing, rapidly. Bands used to be shaggy English dudes who grew up on blues music, and now they were English dudes with slick keyboards and well-coiffed blonde hair. In the Sixties, a keyboard was either used to make big groaning church organ dirges or twitter jazz passages. Now they were coming out up front, big and bold and here to be in your face. The pop girlies loved it, which of course meant that the hulking rock dudes were totally against it. One of the key tenets of rockism, after all, was that anyone on the cover of Tiger Beat was deeply unserious.
The tween and teen pop set, of course, was on to something. Duran Duran really wanted to be New Romantics originally. Like Spandau Ballet, A Flock Of Seagulls, and Depeche Mode, they loved mid-70s glam acts like Bowie and T. Rex. Unlike their contemporaries, they veered much more toward big, pop-friendly gestures, the kind that made sure people got on the dancefloor when their singles came on. They wrote songs that were easy to sing to, easy to move to, and paired them with videos that were the cutting edge of early MTV. If you're of a certain age, the videos for "Girls On Film", "Rio", and "Hungry Like The Wolf" are just as iconic as the songs.
Nobody gets to the top just on big pop gestures and memorable visuals, though, or else 100 gecs would be the biggest band on Earth. Duran Duran were good looking, stylish, and they fit right into the developing style of the decade. Looking back, however, it's clear that they had a deceptively complicated songwriting style. The marriage of synths and guitars is a long one and has taken multiple forms over the years, but it's easy enough to point to 1982's Rio as one of its highlights. Rob Mitchum, writing in Pitchfork's Best Albums of the 80s list, said that it might as well be like giving the nod to *NSYNC, but Duran Duran were truthfully more than just teen magazine bait. It was buried, but there were edges to their songs, moments of desperation, exuberance, and darkness. The best pop is like that, of course. You can't write if you can't relate.
If your music exploration these days is limited to rediscovering hidden gems of youth on Yacht Rock, fear no more. We have identified 12 songs and artists that will hook you in with big synths and bigger melodies reminiscent of the sounds that propelled Duran Duran to fame, but will keep you coming back with interesting writing and music.
Charli xcx – “Apple” We just lived through Brat Summer and what better way to celebrate the duality of pop music than with an honest examination of the folly of being the It Girl set to music that will get you moving immediately.
Chappell Roan – “Naked In Manhattan” As sweaty and danceable as a song about coming out to yourself should be.
Allie X – “You Slept On Me” A vicious swipe of a banger, as bitter about being ignored as it is insistent that you stay up all night dancing to it.
Roosevelt – “Strangers” Underneath all of Duran Duran’s hits are an ultra-tight and shockingly funky rhythm section, and that’s pretty much what’s going on here as well.
Jungle – “Keep Moving” Seriously, though, the band anchored itself to the beat of soul, R&B, and disco and hammered earworm melodies to them, as Jungle does here on their 2021 single.
Holiday Sidewinder – “Escape & Retreat” Yacht gone glam, shot through with razor-sharp hair metal guitars, sleek disco production, and art-rock concept framing. As surreptitiously Eighties as it gets.
Jessie Ware - “Free Yourself” A pounding disco beat, a classic Eighties-esque melody, and Jessie Ware’s dancefloor-ready vocals make this one to slot in right after “Girls On Film.”
Mitski - “Love Me More” Indie darling turned TikTok star Mitski gets categorized with the alt folks a lot, but tracks like “Love Me More” have much more in common with the subversive pop stylings of Duran Duran than with, say, Phoebe Bridgers.
Japanese Breakfast - “Be Sweet” Yes, indie star and bestselling author Michelle Zauner is overt about how much influence she draws from 1980s Japanese city pop, but I challenge you to listen to this and tell me Duran Duran weren’t doing the same thing in their day.
Caroline Polachek - “Butterfly Net” Duran Duran weren’t just about high-energy pop bangers, of course. “Ordinary World”, from 1992’s self-titled “Wedding Album”, is perhaps the most thrilling ballad to not come directly out of the 1980s. Caroline Polachek, who also knows her way around high-energy pop bangers, has shown a flair for slowing things down from time to time as well, as on this cut from the back half of 2023’s Desire, I Want To Turn Into You shows exceptionally well.
Laura Mvula - “Got Me” Speaking of those pop bangers: most of them were driven by big-time Eighties drums, and that’s something Laura Mvula has in great quantities. Listen to those big gated drums and get transported back to a time when big drums and big hair ruled the world.
Chromatics - “Cherry” Slick, cool, and seemingly formed whole out of the urban night, “Cherry” is a stoned midnight dancefloor come to life. That sort-of-edgy, cool urbanity was what set Duran Duran apart from their poppier contemporaries, and it serves Chromatics just as well here.
Check out this playlist on Spotify here:
Music has always been a deep source of inspiration for T, and they are often the go-to person for creating playlists that capture every mood and moment. Whether curating soundtracks for gatherings or sharing personal favorites, they’ve become the trusted DJ among friends and family. It’s a role they enjoy, always searching for the perfect track to match the vibe.
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