No matter that Rio’s title track had also been released stateside, Hungry Like The Wolf slowly started to gain momentum as radio stations picked up on the buzz, with the track eventually berthing at No.3 in March 1983 during a staggering 23-week run. This was PG-13 erotica of the most dynamic kind, and the video’s bewitching blend of sharp editing and high-impact backdrops (also seen on the group’s follow-up Save A Prayer promo) was little short of revolutionary, with one MTV executive calling it “the greatest video” he had ever seen. The band had travelled to Sri Lanka to film the clip, described as a sexualised Indiana Jones epic and designed to mirror the song’s clear lyrical intent. In the US, its fate seemed less secure until MTV picked up on the stunning promo, which was directed by Russell Mulcahy. Released on, Hungry Like The Wolf peaked at No.5 in the UK, where Duran Duran had already secured a sizeable following. For Rio, the band mastered the art of international hit-writing, too. Duran Duran had already proved they could create innovative promo clips, such as the one they had made for Girls On Film, lifted for single release from their debut album. What unified such a strange blend of influences was the group’s instinctive grasp of visuals in the new video age, in which performance and presentation carried at least equal weighting to the music. With its credible rock-guitar anchor, urgent funk-disco hooks and of-the-moment screaming synth top notes, Hungry Like The Wolf served as the strongest possible re-introduction to the band that, notoriously, straddled the polarised genres of punk, rock and disco. Recording with the late Colin Thurston, who reprised his role as producer, had taken place the previous winter at London’s AIR Studios, with a set of fresh demos offering an innovative genesis for the project that would transform the group into global superstars. Listen to the best of Duran Duran here.Įasily one of the best Duran Duran songs, Hungry Like The Wolf is a punchy power-pop composition, written by the band, which evolved during lengthy sessions for their second album, May 1982’s Rio. However, the revolutionary video-music channel would change Duran Duran’s fortunes – and enable the so-called Second British Invasion of the charts, with a clutch of bands such as The Human League, Soft Cell, ABC and Spandau Ballet also set to benefit. Beyond a scattering of interest along the tastemaker East and West Coasts, the British five-piece had yet to break the Billboard Hot 100, and it would take a later reissue for their self-titled debut album to crack the Billboard 200’s Top 10. 'Hungry Like the Wolf' was the greatest video I’d ever seen.When the newly launched MTV picked up on Hungry Like The Wolf, Duran Duran were barely known in the US. I remember our director of talent and artist relations came running in and said, 'You have got to see this video that’s come in.' Duran Duran were getting zero radio airplay at the time, and MTV wanted to try to break new music. "Back then it was a fledgling industry: We’d get maybe 10 videos a week, and everyone would gather and sit through them all. "We had our weekly meeting to hear new music on Tuesdays," recalled Les Garland, who was MTV's senior executive VP. The video blew away MTV executives, who put the clip in heavy rotation. I’m thinking, '20 minutes to the hotel.' It was five hours on a dust track to the beach location."Ĥ. I stagger around the airport saying, 'Where’s the limo?' and this guy takes me to a flatbed truck. After 16 hours in my leather suit, I get off the plane into a wall of heat. I was wearing a leather outfit and went straight to the airport from the studio. "The other four went, and I stayed up all night at AIR Studios in London. While most of the band headed down to make the clip, Rhodes stayed behind to put the final touches on the Rio album: "I refused to go to Sri Lanka before Rio was finished," he told Blender. The iconic music video was filmed in Sri Lanka, to capture a specific exotic spirit for director Russell Mulchahy. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes had a rough time getting to the video shoot.
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