Meet El Presidente

"Meet El Presidente" is the 16th single from Duran Duran, and the third single from the Notorious album.

About the song
According to a studio report in Star Hits magazine, one of the early drafts of this song was called "One of the Faithful". A demo version using that name can be found on several bootlegs.

The album version of the song is considerably different from the version used on the single and remixes and on the video. The album version has a slightly slower tempo, while the other versions use stronger basslines, a horn section, increased percussion (most notable during the lyric "Hell has no fury like a young girl's ego"), and female backing vocals (including a recurring "Ooh ooh" hook). In these ways, the non-album version is somewhat more similar to songs recorded for the subsequent "Big Thing" album than it is to other songs on "Notorious". It's unclear if the two versions of the song are different recordings or if they are remixes of a single recording, though comparing the vocals seems to indicate that they are from the same master take.

Duran Duran played this song live, among others, on the final episode of British music show The Tube.

Music video
"Meet El Presidente" was the third video directed for Duran Duran by Peter Kagan and Paula Greif. It was a basic concert video, featuring the band in their stagewear from the Strange Behaviour tour which supported the release of the Notorious album. It was also filmed in black and white Super-8.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes
"Meet El Presidente" was backed by album track "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)". This was the second single from Notorious to have an album track as b-side.

It was also the first single that Duran Duran released as a CD single, on which they included the "Meet El Beat" remix.

Chart positions

 * #24 UK Singles Chart (25 April, 1987)
 * #70 Billboard Hot 100 (2 May, 1987)
 * #40 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
 * #10 Italian charts

Personnel
Duran Duran are:
 * Simon Le Bon - Vocals
 * John Taylor - Bass
 * Nick Rhodes - Keyboards

With:
 * Warren Cuccurullo - Guitars
 * Andy Taylor - Guitars
 * Nile Rodgers - Guitars
 * The Borneo Horns - Horns
 * Curtis King - Background Vocals
 * Brenda White-King - Background Vocals
 * Tessa Niles - Background Vocals
 * Cindy Mizelle - Background Vocals

Production:
 * Nile Rodgers - Producer
 * Duran Duran - Producer
 * Daniel Abraham - Remixer, Engineer and Mixer
 * Larry Levan - Remixer