In touch with the ground I'm on the hunt I'm after you Smell like I sound, I'm lost in a crowd And I'm hungry like the wolf

Pick of the Week

“Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran (1982)

My sister once shared an elevator with Duran Duran - that is as close as I ever got to this ‘Second British Invasion’ band of ‘80’s fame. With their slick designer clothes, professional production videos and pretty-boy looks, they were Princess Diana’s favorite band at one point.

The first real attention they got in 1981 was with their third single, “Girls on Film”. Directing duo, Godley and Creme told the management to do something erotic that would get people’s attention and that would be played on the new big screens that were starting to appear in night clubs. The video showed girls mud wrestling, fighting a sumo wrestler, and other suggestive images. The song went to number 3 in the U.K. and the voice of Simon Le Bon was starting to be well known in the U.K. Unfortunately some of the stops on their second tour coincided with riots; tension over unemployment and racial unrest.

The core band in 1981 was Simon Le Bon (vocals), Nick Rhodes (keyboards), John Taylor (bass), Andy Taylor (guitar) and Rodger Taylor (drums). (None of the Taylors were related and there is no relation to the drummer of the band Queen.)

By May of 1982 they release their second and most well know album “Rio” with songs “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Save a Prayer”, “My Own Way” and title track “Rio”. They toured Australia, Japan and then opened for Blondie on the American tour.

The ‘Rio’ album did not do so well in the U.S. at first. The band was labeled as being ‘new romantic’, and it just did not work. They were more than Spandau Ballet or Adam and the Ants weren’t they? The British press had already dubbed them the ‘Fab Five’ comparing them to the Beatles. What was wrong?

At wits end as to how to sell Duran Duran in the U.S. Capital records hired famed producer David Kershenbaum to remix the songs more in the style of the popular EP dance track ‘Carnival” that was gaining popularity with DJs in the U.S. That was ticket. Appearing on a U.S. dance show performing “Hungry Like a Wolf” and “Rio”, the rerelease in November of 1982 finally kick-started the U.S. market.

A Goddess on a mountain top was burning like a silver flame The summit of beauty and love and Venus was her name

Songs Everybody Should Know

“Venus” by Bananarama (1986)

Girl groups lost popularity for a while after the 50’s where they proliferated the music scene. In the sixties Diana Ross and the Supremes stood their ground as did staples like the Marvellettes and the Vandellas. In the seventies girl groups waned – but they were missed in the time of male-dominated rock.

Finally in the eighties the Go-Go’s, Bangles and the U.K.’s Bananarama took flight.

Songs Everyone Should Know

 Are you a Girly-girl?

I put the Go-Go’s and the Bangles head- to-head so you can tell me who you like better. I have tried to make it fair by having them both be live performances of their first big hit singles. The Go-Go’s were slightly earlier than the Bangles but you tell me what you think......

Checking the used record bins the other day I found a mint-condish “Andrew’s Sisters Greatest Hits”. Being a huge girl-group fan (and only having this in digital form), I bought it for $1. You may say “That is so way lame dude!” but hey there is historical significance to this!

The genre if you will, of girl groups seemed to start back in war time with the Andrews Sisters. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” was a big hit for them, but they had many others. The first few listens I admit I thought this sounded dated, but it kind of grows on you. There are some pretty good songs, like “Rum and Coca-Cola”, “Bei  Mir Bist du Schon” (means: ‘To me you are beautiful’ in German). Clearly I have to be in the mood or have some older people over for dinner.........huh.........did I say that.......gawd look who’s talking!

The boom came for girl-groups in the late 1950’sm early ‘60’s, and very little in the ‘70’s with bands such as:

The Crystals – Da Do Ron Ron, Then He Kissed Me

The Shirrelles -  Baby It’s You, Mama Said

The Ronettes – Be My Baby

The Marvellees – Please Mr. Postman

The Dixie Cups – Chapel of Love, Iko Iko

The Shangrilas – Leader of the Pack

The Supremes – Stop! In the Name of Love, Baby Love, Love Child, Reflections, Where Did Our Love Go

In the ‘80’s:

Bananarama  - Venus, I Heard a Rumor,Cruel Summer

The Go-Go’s – We Got the Beat, Our Lips are Sealed.

The Bangles – Walk Like an Epyption, Manic Monday, Eternal Flame, In My Room

The torch had been passed and more recently: The Spice Girls, Dixie Chicks,  Salt ‘N Pepa,

B*Witched, Destiny’s Child, Atomic Kitten, and on we go.

Certianly the two circa- 1980’s favourites were the Go-Go’s and the Bangles:

The energy and enthusiasm of these groups is contagious.

If you start digging, you will find that there are many, many more. Other Girl Groups I like and are worth check out include: Shonen Knife, and The Donnas.

Older stuff worth checking out in the hey-day of the genre include - The Angels, The Paris Sisters, The Murmades, The Exciters, The McGuire Sisters, Ruby and the Romantics, and Rosie and the Originals. Also excellent is Shelly Fabres (although technically not a girl-group). *Caution* Younger people will consider these lame for sure! I mean they don’t even play this stuff as muzak in elevators anymore!)

(There is an excellent series called “Early Girls” that is 5 volumes in total -  a bit pricy but quite comprehensive)

So what's it going to be:“Bangles” or “Go-Go’s?

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life (Prince, 1984)

Fun Fact of the Week

Besides being a bizillionaire, Prince is a very prolific song writer. Some of his shared successful efforts include – Manic Monday by The Bangles, Stand Back by Stevie Nicks, Pray by M.C. Hammer, Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor, When you Were Mine by Cyndi Lauper, and A Love Bizarre by Sheila E.