New Moon on Monday

"New Moon on Monday" is the tenth single by Duran Duran, and the second from their 1983 album Seven and the Ragged Tiger. It reached the Top 10 on both the British and American music charts.

About the song
Donald A. Guarisco of All Music Guide said the song was:

...one of their catchiest and most likable efforts. The playful lyrics have a nonsensical bent typical of Duran Duran but evoke a romantic feel as the song's narrator attempts to court a shy potential lover ("Every minute I keep finding/Clues that you leave behind/Save me from these reminders"). Where the title fits into this scenario isn't clear, but "I light my torch and wave it for the New Moon on Monday" makes for a pretty fun chorus nonetheless. The music holds these unusual lyrics together by wedding effervescent verse melodies that bounce high and low to a triumphant-sounding chorus with a rousing feel. Duran Duran's recording builds itself on a slickly grooving John Taylor bass line and adds plenty of chiming guitar flourishes and tinkling keyboards on top. The song's contagious joy is capped by an exuberant Simon LeBon vocal that moves from crooning on the verse to full-throated belting on the chorus.

Music video
The music video for "New Moon on Monday" was filmed by director Brian Grant during the icy first week of January 1984, in the village of Noyers in France. It has a loosely sketched storyline in which the band appear as underground rebels, organizing a revolt against an oppressive militaristic regime.

Several versions of this video exist. The longest is a 17-minute "movie version" which includes an extended introduction before the song starts (including a scene of dialogue between Simon Le Bon and the story's femme fatale), and is set to an extended remix of the song. A shorter version, with a spoken French-dialogue intro, was originally submitted to MTV, who then later requested an even shorter version without the prologue. Yet another version was produced for the Dancing on the Valentine video collection, introducing blue-lit scenes of band members in front of a full-moon backdrop. All but one of the versions were included as easter eggs on the 2004 DVD compilation Greatest.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes
"New Moon on Monday" was backed with a remix of the instrumental "Tiger Tiger" done by Ian Little. The original version of the instrumental was found on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger album. The release was rounded out by an extended version of the title track.

Chart positions
On January 14, 1984, the song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, and on February 4 it reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart.On March 9th peaked at #4 in the New Zealand Top 40.

7": EMI DURAN 1 (UK)

 * 1) "New Moon On Monday [Album Version]"  – 4:16
 * 2) "Tiger Tiger [Ian Little Remix]"  – 3:28

12": EMI 12 DURAN 1 (UK)

 * 1) "New Moon On Monday [Dance Mix]"  – 6:03
 * 2) "New Moon On Monday [Album Version]"  – 4:16
 * 3) "Tiger Tiger [Ian Little Remix]"  – 3:28

CD: Part of "Singles Box Set 1981-1985" boxset

 * 1) "New Moon On Monday [Album Version]"  – 4:16
 * 2) "Tiger Tiger [Ian Little Remix]"  – 3:28
 * 3) "New Moon On Monday [Dance Mix]"  – 6:03

Other appearances
Aside from the single, "New Moon On Monday" appears on:

Albums:
 * Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
 * Greatest (1998)
 * Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (1998, US only)
 * Strange Behaviour (1999)
 * VH1: The Big 80's Pop (2001)
 * Singles Box Set 1981-1985 (2003)

Videos:
 * Dancing on the Valentine (1984)

Personnel
Duran Duran are:
 * Simon Le Bon - vocals
 * Nick Rhodes - keyboards
 * John Taylor - bass guitar
 * Roger Taylor - drums
 * Andy Taylor - guitar

Other:
 * Alex Sadkin - producer
 * Ian Little - producer
 * Andy Hamilton - saxophone
 * Michelle Cobbs - backing vocals
 * B.J. Nelson - backing vocals
 * Raphael Dejesus - percussion
 * Mark Kennedy - percussion