Album of the Week - Vol. 16

Thank You DURAN DURAN (1995)
Week: Sat 6th to Fri 12th February 
Format: CD/iPod
Producer(s): Duran Duran and John Jones
Track listing:
1. White Lines *
2. I Wanna Take You Higher *
3. Perfect Day *

4. Watching the Detectives *
5. Lay Lady Lay
6. 911 Is a Joke
7. Success

8. The Crystal Ship

9. Ball of Confusion

10. Thank You

11. Drive By *

12. I Wanna Take You Higher Again
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 54:26

This month marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Duran Duran's debut single, Planet Earth. As I was only five years old when that came out, it's hard for me to remember a world without them. Being one of many bands to arrive on the New Romantic music scene, they felt it pertinent to include "Like some new romantic looking for the TV sound..." in the song's lyrics. It certainly locked the turn into its era, if nothing else.

Formed by bassist John Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes in Birmingham in 1978, Duran Duran would eventually include drummer Roger Taylor (no relation to John), lead singer Simon Le Bon and guitarist Andy Taylor (no relation to John or Roger). This 'classic' line-up would be behind the band's biggest hit singles and chart success. Andy and Roger left the group before work started on 1986's Notorious album. 

Essentially moving forward as a trio, and whoever they wanted to work with, Taylor (John), Rhodes and Le Bon continued to release albums. This line-up's biggest hit was 1993's self-titled record, which would become known as The Wedding Album. Ordinary World and Come Undone are arguably their best known singles from their nineties period. 

Which brings us to this album, Thank You, a record consisting of cover versions of artist the band admire. Duran Duran in 1995 was made up of the core of Le Bon, Rhodes, Taylor (John) and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo; who had previously played with Missing Persons and most notably, Frank Zappa. The group's old drummer Roger Taylor (no relation to John, and not the guy from Queen either) returned to perform on two of the album's tracks, Perfect Day and Watching the Detectives. He also played on a recording of Jeepster by T. Rex, but it never surfaced. 

Now, while this isn't a brilliant record, I don't think it deserves the derision heaped upon it. When I heard their version of White Lines, I wasn't familiar with the original, but I dug it in a foul way. Upon hearing Melle Mel's White Lines (Don't Do It), I was a little disappointed. The crunchy guitar is one of my favourite parts of the song, and the original barely has any. It's very synth-y by comparison. I do love the fact that Duran Duran got Melle Mel (AKA Grandmaster Melle Mel AKA Melvin Glover) to share the rapping section though. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five contribute backing vocals on the track as well. Oh, and that's the excellent Steve Ferrone on the drums; future permanent Heartbreaker and AWB alumni. I think it's a killer version, and better than the original. So there. One of my favourite songs to come out of 1995 and I still love it now. 

A big highlight of the album for me comes from drummer Tony Thompson, session musician and former member of Chic. His monster sound kicks off the band's go at Sly & The Family Stone's classic I Wanna Take You Higher. Now, it's not a song you're ever going to better, but they give it a damn good try. Thompson had played with John Taylor in Power Station, whose self-titled debut album was released in 1985, while Duran Duran went on hiatus allowing members to pursue side projects. Taylor (John) and Thompson were joined by Andy Taylor (yes, from Duran Duran!) and Robert Palmer (yes, THAT Robert Palmer) and enjoyed a minor hit with Some Like It Hot. Interestingly, it reached No.4 on the Aussie singles charts. Meanwhile, Le Bon, Rhodes and Taylor (Roger) formed the band Arcadia, and released their debut So Red the Rose the same year as Power Station and had hits such as Election Day and The Promise (which featured Sting). Thompson passed away in November 2003, sadly.

But I digress!

Back to I Wanna Take You Higher, which, in my opinion, is a mighty fine cover.  The late Kenyan/English singer/songwriter Lamya contributes some great vocals amongst the Furious Five infused 'boom-shaka-laka's, and the vibe of the original is lovingly recreated. Harmonica is provided by Lee Oskar as well (yes, THAT Lee Oskar). There is a bit of a naff vocal exchange towards the end of the track, but once it ends Thompson starts hitting the ride cymbal and all is forgiven. The following track on the album is a great rendition of Lou Reed's Perfect Day. Again, my first time hearing the song was this version. I would later become familiar with Reed's original thanks to the movie Trainspotting and its ensuing soundtrack. A little slick, production-wise maybe, but I think they do a good job of this as well. The band's cover of Watching the Detectives is also very enjoyable (to me) and I like the way they changed the verses to be sung in a lower register, with the chorus then sung higher. I knew Costello's original, but I thought they changed the feel of it nicely.

Duran Duran's version of Dylan's Lay Lady Lay is quite serviceable as well, featuring Abe Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney's band) on the drums. Now the wheels start to fall off a bit at this point. Their acoustic/funk take on Public Enemy's 911 Is a Joke seems to lose the anger of the original, in favour of the stoner rock/slacker feel. Iggy Pop's Success is an interesting choice to cover, particularly when his other songs Lust For Life and The Passenger exist. Despite Zappa powerhouse drummer Terry Bozzio whacking the skins, and former Mothers Flo & Eddie contributing backing vocals, it never really takes off.  Another weird choice is The Doors' The Crystal Ship, which again begs the question...why this one?

The Temptations' Ball of Confusion doesn't really work either, despite the band injecting RATM's Killing in the Name riff into it. Their take on Led Zeppelin's Thank You doesn't quite land either. For whatever reason, the band decide to end the album with an unnecessary reprise of I Wanna Take You Higher, which is another baffling decision. 

That leaves us with the only original song here, Drive By, which is a strange choice to include on a covers album. I'm not sure why it was released on this record, but I'm glad it was. It's an unusual track beginning with a droning cello and some ethereal new-age type sounds. Le Bon starts delivering a speak-sing kinda monologue about a courier being stuck in traffic under the LA sun. He ends the passage by announcing "this is the story of his dream", and Lamya sings "sing blue silver", a phrase that was lost on me when I first heard this song. The band kick in and the mood lifts as a haunting ocarina line plays. It's a bizarre one, but I really like the track. 

Anyway, fast forward to 2015, and I hear the Duran Duran album Rio for the first time. The last track on the record is The Chauffeur which features the lyric "sing blue silver" AND the exact same ocarina line that was used in Drive By! What?!? Does that mean that Drive By is some kind of sequel, or a bit of a tip of the hat to themselves? While not providing any real answer to the question of its inclusion on Thank You, it did make its appearance even stranger. He he he...

While I don't think this album is a masterpiece or worthy of four or five star reviews, it's certainly not as woeful as some think. Maybe that's because I wasn't familiar with some of the original versions of the songs they covered, but I feel that it's a solid effort from a band wanting to play tunes by artists they admire. It's also the first Duran Duran album I ever bought, so there's some sentimentality attached to it for me too, I guess. Just don't write it off without listening to it first!