Rio (Duran Duran album)

Rio
Studio album by Duran Duran
Released	10 May 1982 (1982-05-10) 7 September 2009 (2009-09-07) (Special Edition)
Recorded	January–February 1982
Studio	AIR Studios, London ("My Own Way" recorded October 1981 at Townhouse Studios, London)
Genre	New wave synthpop dance-rock[1]
Length	42:38
Label	EMI Capitol
Producer	Colin Thurston
Duran Duran chronology
Duran Duran (1981) Rio (1982) Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) Alternative cover Alternate Rio cover used on 2001 limited edition remaster
Singles from Rio
"My Own Way" Released: 16 November 1981 "Hungry Like the Wolf" Released: 4 May 1982 "Save a Prayer" Released: 9 August 1982 "Rio" Released: 1 November 1982

Rio is the second studio album by the English new wave/synthpop band Duran Duran, originally released worldwide on 10 May 1982.^[2] It reached #2 in the UK and #1 in Australia.

The album was re-released in the United States in November 1982. It earned a Gold disc on 1 March 1983, and went Platinum on 26 April 1983, eventually reaching Double Platinum status. It peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 album chart in the US on 12 March 1983, and remained on the chart for 129 weeks.

Recording and release dates

The first song to be recorded for Rio was "My Own Way", written and recorded in October 1981, and released as a single in November 1981. The rest of the album was recorded in the early months of 1982 at Air Studios in London, with producer and engineer Colin Thurston. "My Own Way" was re-recorded for the album and the newer version is significantly different from the 1981 single version.

The second single, "Hungry Like the Wolf", was released in the UK on 4 May 1982. It peaked at #5 in the charts on 26 June 1982.

The Rio album was first released worldwide on 10 May 1982, peaking at #2 in the UK in its second week of release. The image on the album's distinctive purple cover was painted by artist Patrick Nagel. The cover itself was designed by Malcolm Garrett.

John Taylor takes credit for the title. "[It] was something I had thrown into the mix," he recalled in 2012. He was particularly fascinated with the idea of Brazil, and "Rio, to me, was shorthand for the truly foreign, the exotic, a cornucopia of earthly delights, a party that would never stop."^[3]

The band had their own plans and ambitions for promotion. They reunited with director Russell Mulcahy (who had directed the music video for their first single, "Planet Earth"), and planned the release of a full length video album—eleven videos for the best songs off of the Duran Duran and Rio albums. The band travelled to Sri Lanka and Antigua between tour dates to film the memorable videos for the singles "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer", as well as the lesser-known "Lonely in Your Nightmare" and "Nightboat" — the latter video being a creepy zombiefest set on a deserted island.

While filming the videos, guitarist Andy Taylor contracted a tropical virus and was hospitalised on his return to England.^[4] This forced the delay of the band's European tour, and the record company decided to hold the release of the third single until the band was ready to promote it again.

"Save a Prayer" was finally released on 9 August 1982, and peaked at #2 on the UK charts in mid September 1982. On 1 November 1982, the "Rio" single was released worldwide. It peaked at #9 in the UK in December 1982.

North American release

Duran Duran on stage

The North American version was first released on Capitol's Harvest Records label and had the same songs and mixes as the UK version, but did not perform well on the US Billboard chart.

Meanwhile, the band had worked with producer David Kershenbaum to create some new dance mixes for their twelve-inch club singles. In September, EMI collected the remixes and released them on an EP called Carnival. It included the songs "Rio", "Hold Back The Rain", "My Own Way", "Hungry Like The Wolf", and "New Religion", and was released in North America, Spain, the Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan.

Following the success of the Kershenbaum remixes, Capitol changed its marketing strategy, selling Duran Duran in the US no longer as a New Romantic band (a British phenomenon) but instead as a dance band. Frustrated with their lack of success in the US, the band capitalized on the moment and pressed Capitol to allow them to issue a remixed and remastered version of the Rio album in North America. The company agreed, and brought Kershenbaum back to remix more songs from the album.^[5]

Remixed "Night Versions" of "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Hold Back the Rain" were later released on CD on the Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran compilation in 1998, and "My Own Way" was released in the 2003 Singles Box Set 1981-1985. On 3 December 1982, the Kershenbaum album remix was used for the "Hungry Like the Wolf" single. This was released in the US some six months after its initial UK release. The single included both the album version and the Carnival remix. It peaked at #3 in the US on 26 March 1983.

Part of the continued success of the album was due to the very popular videos, in heavy rotation on MTV. The video album Duran Duran was released (on VHS, Betamax, and laserdisc) to coincide with the North American re-issue of the "Rio" single on 11 March 1983, four months after its original release. This single included the Kershenbaum 7-inch remix of "Rio" and peaked at #14 in US on 14 May 1983.

Versions on CD

Until 2009, all official versions of the Rio album released on CD had been made from the original UK master tapes, and did not include any of the Kershenbaum remixes. This includes the release, in 2001, of a 20-year anniversary reissue, completely remastered from the original. The Kershenbaum remixes were included as part of a 2-CD set released in 2009.

The packaging on a limited edition version of this release (EMI; 529 9240/Capitol; 72435-25919-0-9) included an alternate version of the famous Nagel cover painting, submitted by the artist along with the first when he completed the commission (this image was first used for the Japanese 7-inch single of "My Own Way").

On 7 April 2009, Duran Duran's official website announced that Rio would be reissued as a 2 CD Special Edition on 7 September 2009 (2009-09-07) in the UK and 6 October 2009 (2009-10-06) in the US. This edition includes the album's original UK vinyl release tracks but adds substantially more to make this a definitive edition (including several tracks that have never been released in CD form as well as previously released material from Singles Box Set 1981–1985). This issue reached #185 in the UK Albums Chart.

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Duran Duran.

UK/US Original LP: EMI 3411

1. "Rio" – 5:33
2. "My Own Way" – 4:51
3. "Lonely In Your Nightmare" – 3:50
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf" – 3:41
5. "Hold Back the Rain" – 3:59
6. "New Religion" – 5:31
7. "Last Chance on the Stairway" – 4:21
8. "Save a Prayer" – 5:33
9. "The Chauffeur" – 5:13

US Kershenbaum version 1: Harvest ST-12211

1. "Rio" [US album remix] – 5:24
2. "My Own Way" [Carnival remix] – 4:31
3. "Lonely In Your Nightmare" [US album remix] – 4:52
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf" [US album remix] – 4:11
5. "Hold Back the Rain" [US album remix] – 6:32
6. "New Religion" – 5:31
7. "Last Chance on the Stairway" – 4:18
8. "Save a Prayer" – 5:33
9. "The Chauffeur" – 5:12

• Tracks 1-5 remixed by David Kershenbaum. Mixes not listed as such on the album.

US Kershenbaum version 2: Capitol ST-12211

1. "Rio" [US album remix] – 5:24
2. "My Own Way" [Carnival remix] – 4:31
3. "Lonely In Your Nightmare" [US album remix] – 4:52
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf" [Night Version] – 5:14
5. "Hold Back the Rain" [US album remix] – 6:32
6. "New Religion" – 5:31
7. "Last Chance on the Stairway" – 4:18
8. "Save a Prayer" – 5:33
9. "The Chauffeur" – 5:12

• Same as the first Kershenbaum remix album, except "Hungry Like the Wolf" has been replaced with the "Night Version" of the song. Mixes not listed as such on the album.

CD album version: EMI (CDP 7 46003 2)

1. "Rio" – 5:33
2. "My Own Way" – 4:51
3. "Lonely In Your Nightmare" – 3:50
4. "Hungry Like the Wolf" – 3:41
5. "Hold Back the Rain" [CD version] – 3:47
6. "New Religion" – 5:31
7. "Last Chance on the Stairway" – 4:18
8. "Save a Prayer" [Single edit] – 5:25
9. "The Chauffeur" – 5:12

• Same as the UK/US initial vinyl release, except for the "new" mix of "Hold Back The Rain" and the shortened mix of "Save A Prayer". Again, mixes not labelled as such on the disc.

Duran Duran: Rio (2 CD Special Edition)(EMI 50999 9 65633 2 8/Parlophone RP2-543662)

• Tracks 1-9: Original UK album release
• Tracks 10-14: David Kershenbaum album mixes, released November 1982

CD 2:

• Tracks 1-4: Demos recorded 28 August 1981
• Tracks 5-8: Non album singles and b-sides
• Tracks 9-13: Versions & Mixes
• Tracks 14-15: Digital only extras

This makes the remastered version available in iTunes, a 29 track-version.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]
Pitchfork Media	7.3/10[8]
PopMatters	8/10[9]
Q	[10]
Record Collector	[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[12]
The Village Voice	C−[13]

Chart positions

Legacy

In 2000, Rio was ranked #98 in Q magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums". In 2003, it was listed at #65 in the NME "100 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2004, CMJ ranked it as #1 in their "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1982". In 2008 it was ranked 24th best British album of all time in a joint HMV Q poll.^[14] It ranked #95 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s,^[15] and is included in the list 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die^[16] In April 2013 Rio was voted number 3 in BBC Radio 2's Top 100 Favourite Albums of all time.^[17]

Three decades later, John Taylor still held the album in high regard. "The writing on Rio is fantastic, all out. Essential Duran Duran," he recalled in his 2012 memoir, In the Pleasure Groove. He also had high praise for the band's musicianship. "Every one of us is performing ... at the absolute peak of our talents," he wrote. "There is no showboating. Every part is thoughtful, considered, part of a greater whole."^[18]

Videos

1. "My Own Way" (1981)
2. "Hungry Like the Wolf" (1982)
3. "Save a Prayer" (1982)
4. "Lonely in Your Nightmare" (1982)
5. "Rio" (1982)
6. "The Chauffeur" (1982)

Singles

1. "My Own Way" (November 1981) #14 UK
2. "Hungry Like the Wolf" (May 1982) #5 UK, #3 US
3. "Save a Prayer" (August 1982) #2 UK, #16 US
4. "Rio" (November 1982) #9 UK, #14 US

Covers and tributes

The Duran Duran Tribute Album, a 1997 collection of cover versions, included the following tracks from Rio:

• "Rio", by ska punk band Goldfinger
• "Rio", by punk band Nip Drivers
• "The Chauffeur", by The Deftones
• "Hungry Like the Wolf", by Reel Big Fish
• "Hungry Like the Wolf", by 13 Winters
• "Save a Prayer", by Eve's Plum
• "New Religion", by Jimmy Eat World
• "Save a Prayer", by Tony Hadley

Other covers include:

• "The Chauffeur", by Tre Lux
• German happy hardcore band Dune recorded "Save a Prayer" with the London Session Orchestra for their 1998 cover album Forever and Ever
• American electronic pop musical project Sleepthief covered "The Chauffeur", sung by Kirsty Hawkshaw, on its 2006 debut album The Dawnseeker.

Personnel

• Simon Le Bon – Lead vocals; vibes on "New Religion"; ocarina on "The Chauffeur", acoustic guitar on "Save a Prayer"
• Nick Rhodes – Keyboards; sound effects; synthesizer, marimba, backing vocals on "Last Chance on the Stairway"
• John Taylor – Bass guitar, background vocals
• Roger Taylor – Drums, other percussion
• Andy Taylor – Guitar, background vocals

Also credited:

• Colin Thurston – producer and engineer
• Renate – technician
• Andy Hamilton - Tenor saxophone on "Rio"
• Malcolm Garrett – sleeve design
• Patrick Nagel – illustration
• Andy Earl – photography

References