For our 42nd cool album, we’re listening to Duran Duran’s titular debut album from 1981. This album was one of the milestones of the New Romantic movement, which grew up out of New Wave. NOTE: we are listening to the “Harvest Release” of this album. It is the first U.S. release, and opens with the “Night Version” of Planet Earth.
We open this cool album with a couple of ground-breaking tracks. The first track, “Planet Earth” sets the scene for a whole new movement in music and style, the New Romantic movement. It’s a seriously cool jam, and the Night Version’s extended intro gets us warmed up really nicely. Track 2 is the worldwide hit “Girls on Film,” which, in addition to being a statement on the exploitation of women, the video was banned in the UK and restricted to late-night-only showings on the then-brand-new MTV in the U.S.
Renjeaux 