Editing Duran Duran (section)

===1986–1989: Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor trio===
[[File:Duran Duran 1986.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Duran Duran as a trio, in 1986]]
After releasing three studio albums and one live album in five years, each accompanied by heavy media promotion and lengthy concert tours, the band lost two of its core members to fatigue and tension in 1986. After Live Aid and Arcadia, Roger Taylor left the band and retired to the English countryside, suffering from exhaustion.{{sfn|Malins|2005|p=181}}

Andy Taylor led the remaining members to believe he would return to work on a new Duran Duran album, even as he was signing a solo recording contract in Los Angeles with [[MCA Records]], eventually releasing a solo album in 1986 called ''[[Thunder (Andy Taylor album)|Thunder]]''. The band resorted to legal measures to get him into the studio but after numerous delays they let him go at last. He played on only a few songs on the next album, including "A Matter of Feeling", whilst the disagreements were being settled.{{sfn|Malins|2005|pp=187–190}}

Without a guitarist or a drummer, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor had producer (and former Chic guitarist) [[Nile Rodgers]] play a few tracks on guitar, and hired [[Steve Ferrone]] to play drums while they searched for replacements. In September 1986, [[Warren Cuccurullo]] (formerly of [[Missing Persons (band)|Missing Persons]] and [[Frank Zappa]]'s band) was hired as a session guitarist.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|date=7 August 1987|title=Forth Worth Stare-Telegram, 07 Aug 1987|pages=112|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67030198/forth-worth-stare-telegram-07-aug-1987/|access-date=7 January 2021|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107193902/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67030198/forth-worth-stare-telegram-07-aug-1987/|url-status=live}}</ref> With Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor, he recorded the rest of the ''[[Notorious (Duran Duran album)|Notorious]]'' album, which was released in October 1986. The black-and-white documentary film ''Three to Get Ready'' chronicled the recording of the album, legal tensions, and preparations for the tour.

Although the song "[[Notorious (Duran Duran song)|Notorious]]" was a US and UK top ten hit, the album was a relative failure globally, reaching number 16 in the UK and spending one week in the top 50 album chart. The band found they had lost much of the momentum and hysteria they had left behind in 1985. In the three years between the release of ''Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' and ''Notorious'', many of their teenage fans had grown up and the music was funkier, more mature, and less "pop", given the added experience of their work on Arcadia and Power Station and with other musicians. "[[Skin Trade (song)|Skin Trade]]" and "[[Meet El Presidente]]", the two subsequent singles, made the charts but fared poorly compared to the band's earlier successes. Finally in late 1987, [[Sterling Campbell]] was hired as a session drummer.

Subsequently, Duran Duran struggled to escape the [[teen idol]] image and gain respect among critics with more complex music. The new serious image was not accepted at first and their popularity began to wane. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' said, "In their search for musical maturity, the surviving Durans have lost a good deal of their identity."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last = Coleman |first = Mark |title = Review of ''Notorious'' |magazine = [[Rolling Stone]] |publisher = Wenner Publishing |date = 29 January 1987 |url = https://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/179366/review/5946832 |access-date = 14 May 2007 |archive-date = 20 May 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090520165931/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/179366/review/5946832 |url-status = dead }}</ref> In contrast the ''New York Times'' said, "Duran Duran's newfound disillusionment may mark a step toward maturity...they managed to catch a trend on the upswing, perhaps "Notorious" suggests that for late 1980s grit and pessimism is coming into style."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/arts/a-smaller-duran-duran-finds-disillusionment.html|title=A Smaller Duran Duran Finds Disillusionment|last=Pareles|first=Jon|date=7 December 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=8 January 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=8 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108145508/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/arts/a-smaller-duran-duran-finds-disillusionment.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Another factor was the band's dismissal of early managers, the Berrow brothers. There was no announcement of the reasons for the decision, but disagreements over money, and the brothers' involvement in Le Bon's yachting adventures (they were co-owners of ''[[Drum (yacht)|Drum]]'') were thought to have played a part.{{sfn|Malins|2005|p=174}} Whatever the reason, Duran Duran switched managers frequently and undertook periods of self-management in the later stages of their career. In addition, EMI fired its president and went through a major corporate restructuring that summer and seemed to have lost interest in promoting the band.{{sfn|Malins|2005|p=186}} According to Rhodes the band needed to break up in order to come back together stronger.<ref name="auto"/>

The next album ''[[Big Thing (Duran Duran album)|Big Thing]]'' (1988) yielded the singles "[[I Don't Want Your Love]]" (number four in the US), and "[[All She Wants Is]]" (the last top ten hit in the UK until 1993). The record was experimental, mixing influences from [[house music]] and [[rave]]s with Duran's atmospheric [[synth-pop]] and the creative guitar work of Cuccurullo (now a full band member), as well as more mature lyrics.