Editing Duran Duran (section)

===1981–1982: Self-titled debut, ''Rio'' and Second British Invasion===
The band's debut album, ''[[Duran Duran (1981 album)|Duran Duran]]'', was released on the EMI label in June 1981. The first single, "[[Planet Earth (Duran Duran song)|Planet Earth]]", had reached the United Kingdom's top 20 at number 12 in February.{{sfn|Malins|2013|loc=chap. 4}}{{sfn|Davis|2021|pp=109–112}} A follow-up, "[[Careless Memories]]", released in April, stalled at number 37.{{sfn|Davis|2021|pp=104, 111}} The third single, "[[Girls on Film]]", was released in July and went to number 5 in the UK.{{sfn|Malins|2013|loc=chap. 4}} The video, featuring topless women [[mud wrestling]], [[pillow fight]]ing and stylised depictions of other [[sexual fetish]]es, was made with directing duo [[Godley & Creme]] in August.{{sfn|Shuker|2001|p=170}} The video was filmed just two weeks after MTV was launched in the United States.{{sfn|Malins|2005|pp=77–79}} The band expected the "[[Girls on Film]]" video to be played in the newer nightclubs that had video screens or on [[pay TV]] channels like the [[Playboy Channel]]. [[Kevin Godley]] explained the thinking behind it:

{{blockquote|We were very explicitly told by Duran Duran's management to make a very sensational and erotic piece that would be for clubs, where it would get shown uncensored just to make people take notice and talk about it.{{sfn|Shuker|2001|p=170}}}}

The video was heavily edited for MTV. The album peaked in the UK top twenty at number three. Later in 1981 the band embarked on their first United States club tour followed by more dates in Germany and the UK. This second tour of Britain coincided with a wave of riots sparked by unemployment and racial tension, including those of [[1981 Moss Side riot|Moss Side]] and [[1981 Toxteth riots|Toxteth]]. The band played Birmingham the day after the [[1981 Handsworth riots|Handsworth riots]]. The band also began writing and demoing songs for a new album. In November 1981, they released a new single, the [[disco music|disco]]-influenced "[[My Own Way (song)|My Own Way]]", that reached number 14 in the UK, followed in early 1982 by the recording of their second album at [[AIR Studios]] in London.{{sfn|Davis|2021|pp=117–121}}

In May 1982, Duran Duran released their second album, ''[[Rio (Duran Duran album)|Rio]]'', which entered the UK Albums Chart at number four and peaked at number two the following week.<ref name="oc"/> The band scored three UK top 10 hits on the singles chart from the album with "[[Hungry Like the Wolf]]" at number five in June, "[[Save a Prayer]]" at number two in September and the title song "[[Rio (song)|Rio]]" at number nine in December,<ref name="oc" /> while the earlier top 20 hit "[[My Own Way (song)|My Own Way]]" was included in a re-recorded version on the album.

With the album Duran Duran also began to achieve worldwide recognition. A headlining tour of Australia, Japan and the US was followed by a stint supporting [[Blondie (band)|Blondie]] during that band's final American tour. [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] declared Duran Duran her favourite band, and the band were dubbed "the Fab Five" by the British press, comparing them to [[the Beatles]] whose nickname was the Fab Four.{{sfn|Malins|2005|p=118}}<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 March 1984|title=The Charlotte News, 29 March 1984|pages=41|work=The Charlotte News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67020066/the-charlotte-news-29-march-1984/|access-date=6 January 2021|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107124359/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67020066/the-charlotte-news-29-march-1984/|url-status=live}}</ref>

At first, the ''Rio'' album did not do well in the United States. EMI in the UK had promoted Duran Duran as a New Romantic band, but the New Romantic movement was barely known in the US, and EMI's American subsidiary [[Capitol Records]] was at a loss about how to sell them. After ''[[Carnival (Duran Duran EP)|Carnival]]'' (an [[Extended play|EP]] of ''Rio''{{'s}} dance remixes) became popular with DJs in the fall, the band arranged to have most of the album remixed by [[David Kershenbaum]]. In June 1982, Duran Duran appeared for the first time on American television, performing "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Rio" on ''[[Dancin' on Air]]'', the forerunner to the national hit show ''[[Dance Party USA]]''.

Now promoted as a dance album, ''Rio'' was re-released in the US in November and began to climb the American charts six months after its European success. MTV placed "Hungry Like the Wolf" and several other Duran Duran videos into heavy rotation, pushing the single and album into the US top twenty in early 1983. The ballad "Save a Prayer" also did well.{{sfn|Denisoff|1986|pp=364–365}} "The band was a natural for music television," noted ''[[Rolling Stone]]''. "They may be the first rock group to ride in on a video wave."{{sfn|Denisoff|1986|p=365}} The album ultimately peaked at number six in the US and remained on the charts there for 129 weeks. In 2003, ''Rio'' was listed at number 65 in the ''[[NME]]''{{'s}} list of the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202225144/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nmes_100_best_albums.htm|url-status=usurped|title=Rocklist.net...NME Writers Lists...|archive-date=2 February 2015|website=Rocklistmusic.co.uk|access-date=13 October 2019}}</ref>

Duran Duran were among the earliest bands to work on their own [[remix]]es. Before the days of digital synthesizer and easy [[sampling (music)|audio sampling]], they created multi-layered arrangements of their singles, sometimes recording entirely different extended performances of the songs in the studio. These "night versions" were generally available only on [[gramophone record|vinyl]] as [[A-side and B-side|b-sides]] to 45 rpm singles or on 12-inch club singles until the release of the compilation ''[[Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran]]'' in 1998.<ref>{{cite web |title=Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran – Duran Duran |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r342815|pure_url=yes}} |publisher=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Larkin |first=Colin |title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]] |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8 |edition=5th concise |author-link=Colin Larkin (writer)}}</ref>