It reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart, and received a silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The song was released in May 1982 as the band’s fifth single in the United Kingdom. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Colin Thurston for the group’s second studio album Rio (1982). Last but not least, the story of how they got hired for that song is a hoot.“Hungry Like the Wolf” is a song by the British New Wave band Duran Duran.
(I remembered the movie as being pretty awful other than Walken and Jones, but when I rewatched it a few years ago, it was less terrible than I remembered it other than the third-rate Charlie's Angel as the girl. But I do think there was a big change after Rio, in part because of the way they hit so big and so hard and the effects it must have had on them personally and musically.Īlso, there's something kind of perfect about the knowing self-mockery of A View To a Kill as a song. It burned me out on them in a big way and it took me about 10 years to get back into them. I got to hear Rio hit, and hit big, twice. Oh my god that Lupin III version synchronized to the Reel Big Fish cover is amazing.įor Gen-X'ers, there is a gap, between 19.ĭuran Duran were the soundtrack of my high school years because I spent 1982-1984 in the UK, returning to the US in August 1984 for my senior year in high school. Posted by sourwookie at 11:40 PM on Decem I would love to hear a mix of this sans Nick's Jupiter track as it really seems like the song could be carried well enough by guitar and drums (which oddly doesn't touch a cymbal until the chorus). Different, huh?Īlso, so many detractors I know knock them for being just a "synth" band. Now play it again and imagine in your head a perfectly intonated version of the same vocal part. If you want to test this, listen to Andy's guitar part but mentally play back the mp3 of the vocal you've carried in your head for decades along with it. But he's kinda "off" in just the right way. Were he dead on with his pitch it would sound about as square as a Barney episode.
So why does it sound so damn moody when the harmonic progression is on par with "Old MacDonald"?īecause Le Bon is playing fast and loose with his intonation. The whole damn song is major, even the part where you would expect a ii (D min) is actually a II. In fact the chorus is just a I-V-IV in C.
The chorus does one of those moves you think will be to a relative minor-but it's deceptive: The C chord at the top of the chorus is major. So the song's in E, the verse being E (I) to D (VII) and back. The reason why we had classic rock stations to begin with.ġThis is my lesson to you, when a woman hands you a tape with the Lords of Acid and KMFDM on it, she expects things of you. After then? View to a Kill: a self-aware mockery of what they were. before then? Amazing new synthesis between musician and machine. 1Ģ) A bootleg Led Zep concert tape my new and hateful roommate didn't want me to copy, where John Bonham literally made his drums talk in coherent phrases a month before he died.ģ) The "Best Of" Duran Duran, which included "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Sing Blue Silver" but not "Rio" or "The Reflex" or "Union of the Snake"Ĥ) Commercial mix tape that had XTC, Squeze, Flock of Seagulls and TMBG. Into the auto-reverese personal tape deck went.ġ) A mix tape a beautiful girl made for me. in college, and instead of using it to buy art supplies (I was a photography student), I bought a bright yellow Panasonic waterproof walkman-alike and a Fuji single-speed beach cruiser I put Wald wire panniers upon at the first opportunity. In 1992, literally a thousand miles from home, I cashed out a fistful of savings bonds as a newly independent 18 y.o.
In between 19 for most of America is where Classic Rock, as defined by everything awesome about the late '60s and early '70s, got really reals for real, and everyone listened to it, because hair-metal and Debbi Gibson were both terrible. 1987 being the year when the '90s began, and 1984 being the year the '80s ended. For Gen-X'ers, there is a gap, between 19.