Notorious (album)

Notorious is an album by Duran Duran.

Released in November 1986, it peaked at #16 in the UK and #12 in the US.

Andy Troubles

1986 was a tough time for Duran Duran. Not only had they come off a side-project enforced sabbatical, they had also lost two members – drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor.

While all members of the band had found renewed success outside the confines of Duran Duran, for Andy, the taste of rocking out proved too much to be constrained to the musical direction Duran Duran were heading.

Under duress, he played on several tracks on the album, but his departure was marked by legal actions and heavy disputes until he finally handed in his cards. Indeed, it is rumoured that Andy even went so far as to try and stop the band from continuing with using the Duran Duran name, which was later found to be owned by co-founding member Nick Rhodes.

During this time, Andy began jamming with members of Los Angeles pop band Missing Persons who were in the midst of breaking up. Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, noting that Duran guitarist Taylor was using members of his old band, offered his services as guitarist to Duran.

Sessions

The remaining three original band members Rhodes, LeBon and John Taylor continued working on the new album and took advantage of new session guitarist Warren Cuccurullo as well as Steve Ferrone on drums and producer Nile Rodgers also providing guitar work. Incidentally, with material from three guitarists, the band find it difficult to tell what guitarist ended up playing on what finished track.

The addition of Rodgers on production detail led to a much funkier album which is with no doubt one of their best achievements as far as the compositions and the sound are concerned. Indeed, the band look at the album as their attempt at "white funk". The gap between previous efforts and the new one, however, was hard to handle for the greater part of the fan base since the album left the well-worth path of their well-known and successful euro-dance-pop of earlier days.

Side-project influences

Some would argue that with three years between the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Notorious, it would be foolish not to try and progress the sound, given that the band now had the added experience garnered from the art-pop Arcadia project and rock'n'roll Power Station collective.

For a large part of 1986, Arcadia was still very much on the radar for LeBon and Rhodes as the final single from So Red The Rose, "The Flame" is released in July. The video features a cameo by John Taylor coming out of a closet with a contract to sign. Fans have debated whether this was a thinly veiled dig at the situation with Andy Taylor at the time.

The final Arcadia release, "Say The Word", from the Playing For Keeps Soundtrack is released in late September, a mere month before the release of the "Notorious" single.

In light of everything the band had experienced since the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, one might say that the development of Notorious' sound was an obvious direction, especially due to the fact that the band's last two hit singles "The Wild Boys" and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" were much "heavier" in style but were nevertheless worldwide smash hits. "The Wild Boys", especially was produced by Nile Rodgers, who was helming the Notorious album.

Cheeky aside

In years to come, the band would regard Notorious as their Alfred Hitchcock-inspired album. This is due to having a number of tracks titled after Hitchcock movies. After the album itself and lead single, the was also "Vertigo" and Rope, the original title for "Hold Me".

New era

During this period, the band act as their own management, having finished with the services of the Berrow brothers. Arrangements for the forthcoming Strange Behaviour tour, which kicks off in March 1987, are well documented in the documentary Three To Get Ready.

Singles

The album's first single "Notorious" did quite well in the US peaking at #2 and on their homeground reaching #7. Followup singles "Skin Trade" and "Meet el Presidente" did not do too well in either market.

"Skin Trade" was noticeable for Simon singing in an also Prince-like falsetto as well as featuring The Borneo Horns quite heavily, culminating in a very un-Duran Duran sound. John Taylor has since been quoted as saying that his disallusion with the charts began when "Skin Trade"'s peaked at #22. "Meet el Presidente", released to coincide with the tour in April 1987 reached the lofty heights of #24 in the charts.

All in all, this new funkier sound was not the Duran Duran the public wanted to hear, not to mention the critics which were anything other than friendly to the band from the beginning.

Track listing

1. "Notorious" (4:18)
2. "American Science" (4:43)
3. "Skin Trade" (5:57)
4. "A Matter Of Feeling" (5:56)
5. "Hold Me" (4:31)
6. "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)" (4:44)
7. "So Mislead" (4:04)
8. "Meet El Presidente" (4:19)
9. "Winter Marches On" (3:25)
10. "Proposition" (4:57)

Singles

1. "Notorious" (Oct 1986)
2. "Skin Trade" (Feb 1987)
3. "Meet El Presidente" (Apr 1987)

The singles from Notorious marked a lot of firsts for the band.

• Notorious was the first single to be released with a second, remix 12" single. In this instance, the remix single was lead by a remix by The Latin Rascals.

• Skin Trade had it's sleeve banned, as it featured an airbrushed naked female buttock. In the UK, the single was released in a plain pinky red sleeve with the Notorious-era Duran wording along the top. In certain markets, like Canada and France, the bare buttock sleeve was used.

• "Meet el Presidente" marked a major milestone for the band in that it was their first CD single (CD TOUR 1). It featured all the tracks from the 12".

• To commemorate the band's 1987 tour, several promo-only remixes were commissioned for Skin Trade, including the Parisian Mix and the S.O.S. Dub. These were initially released on a US-only promo 12" single with mixes of "Meet El Presidente" on the flip-side.

• To drum up further interest in the album, a collection of otherwise unavailable remixes was released on a double promo 12" pack called Master Mixes in the US and Hong Kong. Rumour has it the remixes were commissioned for a possible fourth single (either "Vertigo " or "American Science"), but this release was shelved as the singles weren't doing so well in the charts.

Personnel

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon – Vocals
• John Taylor – Bass
• Nick Rhodes – Keyboards

With:

• Warren Cuccurullo – Guitars
• Andy Taylor – Guitars
• Nile Rodgers – Guitars
• The Borneo Horns – Horns
• Curtis King – Background Vocals
• Brenda White-King – Background Vocals
• Tessa Niles – Background Vocals
• Cindy Mizelle – Background Vocals

Production:

• Nile Rodgers – Producer
• Duran Duran – Producer
• Daniel Abraham – Engineer and Mixer