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| The Duran Duran Timeline | ||
| << 1980 | 1981 | 1982 >> |
|
Duran Duran begins their rise to fame, as they promote and tour in the UK, Europe and North America to support their first album, Duran Duran, and the singles "Planet Earth", "Careless Memories", "Girls on Film" and "My Own Way". | ||
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan 4 | class="concert-{{{headliner}}}" style="text-align:left; padding: 10px; border-spacing: 5px; line-height:150%; border:1px solid gray;" | Sweet: Lyceum Auditorium, London, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Jan 16 | The band records an appearance on the Richard Skinner sessions on BBC; they perform “Sound of Thunder”, “Is There Anyone Out There”, “Friends of Mine”, and “Careless Memories” (broadcast at a later date) |
| Jan 31 | NME runs a one page feature on Duran Duran written by Chris Salewicz. (page 13. JUST FINE AND DANDY) |
| ? | Duran Duran - With Compliments EP released in The Netherlands and Portugal. |
| ? | Duran Duran begin using hairdressers Wilson, Wilson and Wilson in Wolverhampton; Andy starts dating Tracey Wilson |
| ? | BBC airs a three-minute Duran Duran Profile |
| Feb 2 | Duran Duran's first single, “Planet Earth” (backed with “Late Bar”) released in UK |
| Feb ? | “Planet Earth” single (backed with “To the Shore”) released in US |
| Feb ? | Duran Duran do first photo session with photographer Andy Earl |
| Feb 21 | “Planet Earth” peaks at #12 in UK |
| Feb 24 | Duran Duran's first scheduled television appearance is cancelled because of Prince Charles and Lady Diana's engagement announcement |
| Feb 27 | Noel Edmonds' Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (BBC I) airs a performance of "Friends of Mine" and "Girls on Film" |
| FIRST UK TOUR The first headlining tour of the UK, in support of the Duran Duran album | |
| Feb 27 | Duran Duran: Aston University, Birmingham, England bootlegged on Aston University |
| Mar 2 | Duran Duran: Brady's Club, Liverpool, England cancelled |
| Mar 3 | Duran Duran: Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester, England |
| Mar 4 | Duran Duran: Sundown Club, London, England (with Biddie & Eve, B Movie & a DJ). "The last time I saw that flash was when Ken East of EMI took me to a club on Charing Cross Road underneath the old Astoria to see the first London gig of Duran Duran as their first single was about to enter the charts. So it was a career-breaking moment. The group were on that exciting tightrope and it showed. The drummer was real, and was as opposite to the group as Charlie Watts was to the Stones and it worked. They were hungry young pups with a view for the kill." - Andrew Loog Oldham (who discovered and managed the Rolling Stones) bootlegged on Sundown |
| Mar 5 | Top of the Pops airs Duran Duran's lip-synch performance of “Planet Earth” |
| Mar 5 | Duran Duran: Rock City, Nottingham, England (with B Movie). |
| Mar 6 | Duran Duran: Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales (with DJ Paul Burnett). |
| Mar 7 | Duran Duran: Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester, England |
| Mar 8 | Duran Duran: Top Rank, Sheffield, England (with DJ Peter Powell). |
| Mar 10 | Duran Duran play three songs live on the Midlands music show Look Hear ("Planet Earth", "Careless Memories" and "Girls on Film".) bootlegged on Live At The BBC 1981, 80s BBC: TV Rarities and Look and Hear |
| Mar 10 | Duran Duran hold an end of tour party at the Rum Runner in Birmingham (see Collectibles for flyer). |
| Mar 19 | Top of the Pops airs Duran Duran's lip-synch performance of "Planet Earth"; bootlegged on Live At The BBC 1981 |
| ? | On strength of the video, “Planet Earth” reaches #8 in Australia |
| Apr 13 | Duran Duran perform "Planet Earth" on Cheggers Plays Pop; bootlegged on Live At The BBC 1981 and 80s BBC: TV Rarities. |
| Apr 20 | “Careless Memories” single (backed with “Khanada”) released in UK; the 12" single includes a cover of David Bowie's “Fame”
On The Saturday Show in 1983, John mentions that CM was released as the 2nd single at EMI's insistence; against the band's wishes. |
| ? | Duran Duran appear on the Richard Skinner sessions on BBC just after the release of “Careless Memories”, performing a 4-song set |
| ? | Duran Duran perform lip-synch of “Careless Memories” on BBC's Top of the Pops |
| ? | Duran Duran perform “Planet Earth” on Noel Edmonds's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop Saturday TV show |
| May | “My Own Way” written |
| ? | The Australian compilation album 1981...Rocks On released, featuring "Planet Earth". |
| May | Duran Duran appear on their first magazine cover: Smash Hits UK |
| Duran Duran begin a love/hate relationship with teen magazines (Smash Hits. Star Hits, 16, Bop, Tiger Beat, etc.) which fuel their fame but damage their credibility | |
| Warren Cuccurullo appears in the film Lunch Wagon. | |
| May | Nite Romantics EP released in Japan, containing night versions of “Planet Earth” and “Girls on Film” plus “Fame” and “Khanada” |
| May 9 | “Careless Memories” peaks at #37 in UK |
| May 21 | Top of the Pops airs Duran Duran's lip-synch performance of “Careless Memories” |
| Jun 15 | Duran Duran album released worldwide; first pressing does not include “To the Shore” |
| Jun 19 | Duran Duran record an appearance on the Peter Powell show on BBC; they perform "Night Boat”, “Girls on Film”, “Is There Anyone Out There”, and “Like An Angel” (broadcast later on August 11 and released on Duran Duran (2CD/DVD)) |
| Jun 27 | A full page B&W ad appears in NME for the first album/tour (page 9) |
| Jun 27 | Duran Duran album peaks at #3 in UK; remains in the charts for 118 weeks |
| The FASTER THAN LIGHT Tour | |
| Jun 29 | Duran Duran: Brighton Dome, Brighton, England |
| Jun 30 | Duran Duran: Gaumont, Southampton, England |
| Jul 1 | Duran Duran: Rock City, Nottingham, England switched from De Montfort Hall, Leicester |
| Jul | "...there was a major riot in Brixton in South London in April 1981. Between July 3 and 11 that year, there were similar uprisings in Southall, Toxteth, Moss Side and Handsworth. There were smaller riots in many cities including Leeds, Leicester, Southampton, Halifax, Bedford, Gloucester, Coventry, Bristol, Edinburgh and dozens of other places." |
| Jul 3 | Duran Duran: Apollo, Manchester, England |
| Jul 4 | Duran Duran: City Hall, Newcastle, England |
| Jul 5 | 'Duran Duran: Tiffany's, Glasgow, Scotland |
| Jul 6 | Duran Duran: Odeon, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Jul 7 | Duran Duran appear on the British TV show Old Grey Whistle Test. bootlegged on EMI Demos, Old Grey Whistle Test, Off The Record |
| Jul 8 | Duran Duran: Royal Concert Theatre, Liverpool, England |
| Jul 9 | Duran Duran: Hammersmith Odeon, London, England (with Our Daughter's Wedding & Animal Magnet) set list includes a cover of the Isley Brothers song "Tell Me It's Just A Rumor Baby" (sometimes labelled "Just Got A Groove On"); bootlegged, on Decadent Durantics, Khanada and London, England - July 9, 1981 |
| Jul 10 | Duran Duran: New Theatre, Oxford, England |
| Jul 9/10 | The original dates announced were New Theatre Oxford on the 9th & Rainbow Theatre London on the 10th. |
| Jul 10 | Riots erupt in Birmingham suburb of Handsworth; hundreds of people attack police and property, looting and smashing, even setting off fire bombs |
| Jul 11 | Afternoon signing session at HMV, New Street, Birmingham. |
| Jul 11 | Duran Duran: Birmingham Odeon, Birmingham, England |
| Jul 13 | “Girls on Film” single (backed with “Faster Than Light”) released worldwide |
| ? | BBC Swap Shop shows promo for “Friends of Mine” and “Girls on Film” |
| ? | Duran Duran perform lip-synch of “Girls on Film” on BBC's Top of the Pops |
| Jul 25 | “Girls on Film” peaks at #5 in UK |
| Jul 25 | Duran Duran is featured in a NME article by Paul Morley (pages 16 & 17) |
| Jul 30 | Top of the Pops airs Duran Duran's lip-synch performance of “Girls on Film” |
| Aug 1 | MTV launched in US |
| Aug | The promo compilation album Musical Times featuring "Girls on Film" is released in Germany. |
| ? | The Fingers Off! compilation album, featuring Duran Duran, is given away with Levi jeans in the UK. |
| Aug 13 | “Girls on Film” video filmed at Shepperton Studios with directors Godley & Creme (formerly of 10cc) |
| Aug 13 | Top of the Pops airs Duran Duran's lip-synch performance of “Girls on Film” |
| Aug 27 | "Last Chance on the Stairway" written |
| EUROPEAN PROMO PERFORMANCES | |
| Sep ? | Band visits Barcelona, Spain |
| Sep ? | Band visits Portugal |
| Sep 7 | Duran Duran: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium |
| Sep 8 | Duran Duran: Captain Video Club, Paris, France EMI spends £9,000 on publicity and another £2,000 ferrying Duran fans from the Rum Runner to Paris to ensure there's a crowd! Broadcast on French radio; some songs appear on various concert bootlegs, including Live At Capitain Video Paris |
| Sep 9 | Duran Duran: Ontmoetingscentrum, Harelbeke, Belgium ⓢ |
| Sep ? | Duran Duran perform “Girls on Film” at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin for Rock / Pop Germany |
| ? | Simon is interviewed on Vapor radio, Portugal |
| Sep 11 | Simon, Nick & Andy do an interview with WHFS radio (Bethesda, MD) |
| Sep 12 | Duran Duran: Paradiso Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands (with Ton Lebbink) bootlegged on Amsterdam 1981 and Room 7609 |
| Sep 15 | Band flies to America |
| FIRST NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR Eighteen dates [still missing one or two]. EMI arranges a press conference along the way [anyone know where or when? - according to Bob Leafe this was at Capitol Records in NYC - https://tinyurl.com/y98wrqur]; set lists include a cover of David Bowie's "Fame" | |
| Sep 16 | Duran Duran: Spit, Long Island, NY, USA Sponsored by WLIR radio (Garden City, NY) |
| Sep 17 | Duran Duran: The Channel, Boston, MA, USA |
| Sep 17-2X | The band staying at the St Moritz hotel overlooking Central Park. |
| Sep 18 | After some discussions, there is a very high confidence that they did not play here in 1981. |
| Sep 18 | Duran Duran: The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
This date & venue are stated in a NY Times review from the 22nd of September 1981 (ref: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/22/arts/rock-british-duran-duran.html) This is also confirmed in an interview with Stephan Saban (interviewing John & Nick) on the 19th, which notes that the venue was over capacity. |
| Sep 18-19 | After the show at the Ritz, the band go to Studio 54; before Nick, John & Roger decide to drive around in a "huge silver Caddy', buying Egg McMuffins at 6am. |
| Sep 19 | Duran Duran: The Ritz, New York, NY, USA
This date & venue are stated in a NY Times review from the 22nd of September 1981 (ref: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/22/arts/rock-british-duran-duran.html) This is also confirmed in an interview with Stephan Saban (interviewing John & Nick) on the 19th. Excerpts from the article read "Duran Duran will play one more gig at the Ritz tonight, & then tour across the States to Los Angeles & back to New York... ...Tomorrow, John & Nick will probably visit places I've never been to, like the Empire State building." which raises questions as to why there's no mention of either the Peppermint Lounge or Poughkeepsie. Did these other 2 gigs happen??? |
| Sep ? | Duran Duran: The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA played to about eleven people |
| Sep 21 | Duran Duran visit the MTV studios (when MTV was only sixteen people in three rooms) in New York, and discuss the possibilities of video |
| Sep 22 | Duran Duran: Bayou Theater, Washington, DC, USA bootlegged on Live Era: 1981-2000 and released by the Fan Club on Live At The Bayou Club |
| Sep 23 | Duran Duran: Eastside Club, Philadelphia, PA, USA |
| ? | Duran Duran: [venue?], Pittsburgh, PA, USA bootlegged [may be Philadelphia show, misidentified as Pittsburgh?] |
| Sep 25 | Duran Duran: Le Club Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Sep 26 | Duran Duran: El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Sep 27 | Duran Duran: Saint Andrews, Detroit, MI, USA |
| Sep 27 | class="concert-{{{headliner}}}" style="text-align:left; padding: 10px; border-spacing: 5px; line-height:150%; border:1px solid gray;" | Duran Duran: Nitro, 14060 Telegraph Road, Redford, MI, USA ?. A flyer posted in Collectibles has this venue and date |
| Sep 29 | Duran Duran: Duffy's, Minneapolis, MN, USA
This date & venue are given in a review of the show by the The Minneapolis Star on the 30th of September - which states it was both an evening show & the first show in the area. |
| Sep 29 | Given the above, this show info looks to be wrong. |
| Sep 30 | Duran Duran: Parkwest, Chicago, IL, USA |
| Oct 2 | Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA bootlegged on Live At Roxy, Los Angeles, 2nd October 1981 and The Roxy |
| Oct 3 | Duran Duran hold an autograph party at Vinyl Fetish record store in Hollywood |
| Oct 3 | class="concert-{{{headliner}}}" style="text-align:left; padding: 10px; border-spacing: 5px; line-height:150%; border:1px solid gray;" | The Go-Gos: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA (with Duran Duran) |
| Oct 3 | Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA Late night performance that began at 11.30pm, with tickets costing $7.50 (see Concert Ticket Stubs) |
| Oct 2 or 3 | Duran Duran are kicked out of the Hyatt Hotel in Hollywood after "Andy went on to the top of the hotel, got buckets of water and poured them over people eating in the open restaurant…" |
| Oct 4 | Simon, Nick, John & Roger do an interview with Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ radio (Los Angeles, CA) |
| Oct 5 | Duran Duran: I-Beam, San Francisco, CA, USA (with Quiet Room) |
| Oct 8 | Duran Duran: Pirate's Cove, Cleveland, OH, USA |
| Oct 9 | Duran Duran: Left Bank, Mount Vernon, NY, USA |
| Oct 10 | Duran Duran: Underground Club, The Savoy, New York, NY, USA about 2,500 in attendance, including Andy Warhol |
| Oct 10 | After the show, the band meet Andy Warhol backstage, and take him in the limo over to Studio 54 for a party "Duran Duran are good-looking kids like Maxwell Caulfield. And then afterwards they wanted to meet me so we went backstage and I told them how great they were. They all wore lots of make-up but they had their girlfriends with them from England, pretty girls, so I guess they're all straight, but it was hard to believe. We went to Studio 54 in their white limo and Steve Rubell was really nice to them. He took them to the booth and gave them drinks." -- The Andy Warhol Diaries |
| Oct ? | Band hangs out with Andy Warhol; parties at the Savoy |
| Oct 21 | Duran Duran spend a week at Townhouse Studios in London, recording the single and 12" mix of “My Own Way” |
| Oct 29 | Band flies to Germany |
| FIRST GERMAN TOUR Fourteen dates; need more information on this tour! | |
| Oct 30 | Duran Duran: Die Wartburg, Wiesbaden, Germany (with The Bootlegs) |
| Oct 31 | Duran Duran: Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany |
| Nov 1 | Duran Duran: Ballroom Blitz, Hannover, Germany |
| Nov 2 | Duran Duran: Kant Kino, Berlin, Germany |
| Nov 4 | Duran Duran: Jovel, Münster, Germany (with Our Daughter's Wedding) |
| Nov 6 | Duran Duran: Ritz, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Nov 9 | Duran Duran: Mandagsborsen, Stockholm, Sweden Swedish TV live broadcast; bootlegged; Simon interviewed during the show |
| Nov 12 | EMI holds a presentation to award the band with their Gold and Silver records for the sales of the Duran Duran album |
| Nov 16 | “My Own Way” single (backed with “Like An Angel”) released as a stand-alone single worldwide, except in US |
| Nov 23 | Rock Pop Germany air a lip-synch performance of “Girls on Film” filmed on the IFA in Berlin in September 1981 bootlegged on The Early Years: Part 2 |
| Nov 28 | “My Own Way” peaks at #14 in UK |
| The CARELESS MEMORIES TOUR | |
| Nov 29 | Duran Duran: Gaumont, Southampton, England |
| Nov 30 | Duran Duran: Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, England (with punk poet John Cooper Clarke) filmed for the TVS series Off The Record ; bootlegged on Chichester '81 |
| Dec 3 | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of "My Own Way" |
| Dec 3 | Duran Duran: Rum Runner, Birmingham, England |
| Dec 7 | Duran Duran: Kent University Sports Hall, Canterbury, England |
| Dec 8 | Duran Duran: University of East Anglia, Norwich, England |
| Dec 10 | Duran Duran: City Hall, Sheffield, England |
| Dec 11 | Duran Duran: Apollo, Manchester, England (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 12 | Duran Duran: De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England |
| Dec 13 | Duran Duran: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales band is involved in a car crash on the way to this gig |
| Dec 15 | Duran Duran: Arts Centre, Poole, England |
| Dec 16 | Duran Duran: Hammersmith Odeon, London, England (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 17 | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of 'My Own Way' |
| Dec 17 | Duran Duran: BBC College Concert, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England filmed and recorded by the BBC, issued on In Concert - 272 and BBC College Concert: 9-12-82 vinyl albums. The show was also released as a download on BBC In Concert: Hammersmith Odeon; "Careless Memories" recording later released as a b-side; bootlegged on Live At Odeon (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 19 | Duran Duran: Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 20 | Duran Duran: Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England |
| Dec 21 | Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 22 | Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Talk Talk) |
| Dec 23 | Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Talk Talk) |
| << 1980 | 1981 | 1982 >> |
1950s · 1960s · 1970s · 1978 · 1979
1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989
1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999
2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009
2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019