Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) Typically, when talking about musicians, I refer to them by their full name the first time, then use their last name for the rest of the video. That's my preferred style guide on these sorts of things, but since three of the band members have the last name Taylor (despite, as far as I can tell, not being related?) I've chosen to refer to them by their first names instead to avoid confusion. 2) The very first bar of the bass part does have an extra note before where I started playing it. I chose to not mention that because it complicates the example without actually affecting my point, but I wanted to acknowledge it somewhere. 3) The synth stem also had the backing vocals, so I had to cut those out with Izotope, which is why parts of the chorus synth line sound a bit muted. That's where those vocals came in, and it couldn't fully reconstruct what the synth would sound like without them. 4) Technically I should've called the chorus D chord a _non-functional_ secondary dominant because it doesn't resolve, but I am falling asleep merely typing this clarification so imagine how bored I'd be having to say those words out loud.
I only say this cuz you made a comment about it.. But the sequenced synth part does in fact repeat notes. It hits the same note twice in a row three times.
I found it interesting that the guitar riff seems to have the same rhythm as Get it On by T-Rex, which Andy Taylor later covered with Niles Rodgers and Robert Palmer in the Power Station. New Romantics did love 70s glam rock though so makes sense that the influence would be referenced in their music
If I had a nickel for every time a mid-late 20th Century British rock band had a drummer named Roger Taylor, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
A double up of Mick Jones as well. I have a friend that used to be A&R for Atlantic that told me a story about bringing Foreigner's Mick to a meet and greet at a record store in the early 80's only to find out that no one had promoted it and after a fan approached Mick and asked him who the celebrity that was going to be there was and receiving the reply "Mick Jones! I love The Clash!". He decided he'd had enough and left.
Actually you'd have 3. Because as it turns out, Roger Taylor is also the name of the drummer in that band who's songs include Photograph, Rockstar, and How You Remind Me. And if I'm wrong about that....I will have to ask you to hand...over the...um, coin I gave you. I'm so sorry everyone. I had to. And yes, I do regret it. You're all good people. You deserve better.
The initial stabs, capturing the anxiety of the hunt, evoking snapping twigs in the forest to the ever vigilant wolf, is maybe your most generous interpretive stretch yet and I love it!
@@revacohen Since rhyme is stable and coalescing, riding the line between discord and rhyme means something that is doing a balancing act between feeling safe and unsafe, like a hookup with someone you met on the subway. You want the excitement, the discord, but you want it to make sense, the rhyme.
A good reminder of how subjective music is: you say, as a 90's kid, that in rock circles the 70's were the Golden Age, the 90's were the "big revival," and in the 80's we lost our way. In the rock circles I know, where people were there for the all three decades, it was the 90's when the music died and everything started to go down hill precipitously after the first big flowering of Grunge. Grunge was the hand grenade thrown into the musical party that had lasted a decade. The 80's were for some of us the last full, great flowering of both rock and pop, and an amazing decade for many genes of popular music in the broad sense, really: pop, dance, rock, alternative/indie/college rock, hair metal, metal "proper," hardcore, crossover, goth, hip-hop, jazz, etc. Either way, glad to see you give the 80's, and Duran Duran in particular, some loving analysis. A very talented, iconic band of that era.
Thank you for defending 80's music. Everyone writes the era off for the shallowness of many mainstream acts. Artists like Paul Simon, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, XTC, Peter Gabriel and numerous others created some of their most interesting work during that decade. And many were represented on mainstream radio. I can't recall a more varied or eclectic period of popular music.
Liking Duran Duran as a young metalhead was embarrassing so usually kept secret, but The Reflex, Hungry..., and, Union of The Snake, New Moon on Monday are among my faves songs of the 80s.
I love 12tone analysis. Duran Duran was girl music and "gay" to us. ;) But I openly liked The Fixx, the BeeGees, Devo, Ratt, and Megadeth. Would love to see Carcass' Necroticism get on this channel.
It was prince for me but still, I can totally relate. Hell, even Nirvana was too soft for me when it came out so I got to rediscover so much in my 40's.
As somebody who rolled their eyes at Duran Duran back in the day, I have to occasionally remind myself that they weren't a boy band, they were an art-pop band and that makes a difference.
Seriously, they were pop. Even Alan Parsons Project was more rock than they were. For real 80's rock we can turn to Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Van Halen, Journey, Scorpions, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen... That's not considering stuff that was labeled as new wave or punk that were also great rock contributions (The Clash, Ramones...) or the nascent heavy metal scene (Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Metallica...). It's always been interesting to me that a lot of what was called "heavy metal" in the 80's we just call "classic rock" today. A lot of radio stations wouldn't play them back then.
@@Brigand231 I was always on the fence about whether they were rock or not. Sure, they had Simmons drums and lots of synths, like a proper synth pop band, but they always felt a bit too rock for my tastes. A lot of the original New Romantics also couldn’t stand them, thinking they were bandwagon-jumpers from the Midlands, but I think they’ve passed the test of time.
@@wellurban Of course they were rock. And they were pop. And they were disco. They never hid their influences and they weren't afraid to show them. Problem was everyone wanted to put things in a specific box in the 80's and you "weren't allowed" to play outside that box by people who felt the need to "choose a side". That's why the 90's were so important. It broke down barriers between groups of fans and it became OK to like different styles.
I was born in ‘92 and I’ve always seen Duran Duran as an art pop band. With no associations of them being a “boy band”, they just sound like incredibly dense pop music that experiments with all the available technology of the time
Been a Duranie for 25 years now...had a cover band in 2007-2009. Always thought this song was simple, despite being full of elements. But this analisys took it to another level for me. You just made me fall in love with this song again. ❤️
As a Duranie of 40 years (wow, time definitely flies for sure), I can safely say that Duran Duran is not just good, they're bloody amazing and still talented beyond their years. I truly appreciate this breakdown as I never really just how complex their songs are. The first time I head this track back in 1982, it blew my 7 yr old mind and still does today. What also amazes me is that they're still around today and still relevant. Proof that the best music is timeless.
Who knew that Duran Duran’s songwriting was so complex? This explanation was pretty eye-opening to me. The key change from a semi-vague E-major to a mostly unrelated C-major was something I’d never noticed before. Bizarre. Honestly, it’s kind of amazing that this song works, at all. But it’s definitely one of Duran Duran’s most recognizable tracks, so it did work, somehow.
Early Gen X'er here and love that you covered this. In my opinion Duran Duran were absolutely betrayed by their good looks. Many wrote them off as just a "Pretty Boy Band" but this song and "Rio" should put that firmly to rest. I dabble in bass guitar and the bass line for "Rio" shows John Taylor can hang with the best. As a ballad "Save a Prayer" is still at the top of my list as well.
Even though I'm a long term follower of your channel, it's crazy how you still amaze me by spending five whole riveting minutes on a tiny little bit of a guitar riff from a Duran Duran song (which is in itself already unexpected!), and still manage to fascinate me!! 😅 I guess this is why I love so much your work. 🥰👍
Duran Duran was - and remains - a *very* good band. Their continuing existence is just one piece of evidence of their quality. They’ve been my favorite band since 1983, almost immediately from the moment I first heard “Girls on Film.” I will not only die on the hill with you, but I will lead the charge.
I remember being impressed when "Ordinary World" came out just because it was so unusual for groups that hit it big in the early 80s to still be viable a decade later.
Fascinating to me to hear you describe the 70's as the revival and the 80's as the period when it all went off; when i was growing up, it was the late 70's, most especially the disco period, that was talked about as the blemish on the face of music, while it was the hippy and art rock of the late 60's and early 70's that everyone hearkened back to. I think it just goes to show that what you love and what you revile often has less to do with objective quality and more to do with the ideas and aesthetics you want to associate yourself with. Similarly, in college i remember learning that the terms "middle ages" and "medieval" came from renaissance and post renaissance historians who wanted to associate themselves with rome, and just saw the medieval period as a dead space in between, while medieval historians were looking to associate themselves back to what they saw as biblical times, and...
I love these videos on classics because as a young person I don't really know most of these songs by name, so I just vibe with the videos until the moment when I realize "OH, THAT'S WHAT THIS SONG IS!"
I'm loving the dive into the 80s you're taking, and I hope you're able to check out what Genesis was up to with Phil in the driver's seat. There's some really cool stuff going on from Duke to Invisible Touch worth looking at. Thanks for all the cool videos!
Duran Duran is interesting in that they were one of the few bands to find a lot of success in both the 80s and 90s despite being a defining piece of the former. Sure they weren't as stratospheric in the 90s but they had several hits in the US and UK then, even getting another top 10 hit in the 2000s in the UK somehow. That's just how enduring they are.
Duran Duran really had to reinvent themselves in the 90's when Andy and Roger left the band. They did a good job, leaning into the strengths of the remaining two band members and hiring good new talent. John and Nick made a great team.
The 80’s were great; talent, tech and production peaked and genres crossed. Everything from r&b, blues, country, power pop, metal, and more, were fair game on a radio station. I grew up listening to two radio stations and I don’t think I missed out on any type of music in the 80’s.
I really like how you mentioned thr physicality of playing guitar. So much of writing for guitar is finding things that are fun not only to listen to, but to play.
Man I’ve come to the same conclusion with the 80’s. The music has hugely grown on me. I also come from a rock and metal background growing up in the 90’s
Thankyou for this wonderful breakdown... 'Arena' is in my top 10 albums of all time (I was a teenager when this came out) so hats-off to you sir. Also, I love your use of 'Ha'l when depicting 'lack of alignment' at 10:42🤣... chef's kiss. And throwing some physics in too 20:13 ... two chef's kisses!
Duran Duran’s first three albums give away that Duran Duran was really a New Romantic-Funk band. Why I love their music then and now so much. Thump on John Taylor. Thump on. The 80s: _Lived ‘em. Loved ‘em. Miss ‘em._
An excellent break down of each element. Not being a fan of DD, I still appreciate this is an excellent song. It rocks harder than anything else they ever did. There’s a desperation in LeBon’s singing and Andy’s work here is imaginative. Oh, and I want to add that female backing vocal at the climax is dynamite.
Thank you so much for this. You nailed me with that B flat in the chorus. I am one of those people that never knew that was there.There are so many other great ideas you present as well. Oh, and the idea that we can actually hear the original stems nowadays never gets old.
05:40 Messing around with the technology to see what it could do is a good summary of most of the prominent 80s bands that utilized a keyboard, whether they were synth pop or not.
This was a super well produced video! Love the auditory pitches being played as you write the notes on the paper, really helps us beginners who can’t read sheet music yet
I love the analysis of music that was made by people who were just winging it, who were just playing what sounded good, and not thinking about how it would be written down or analysed.
I listen to this even though I don't know anything about the mechanics of music. I was an enormous Duran Duran fan in the 80s. I was also a fan of lots of great 80s music that is actually heard being sampled and replayed now as if it was super popular then- like the Cure which was definitely college, underground music at the time. Anyway, I'm just here to say that the eighties wasn't just between the 70s in the 90s. The eighties was an amazingly innovative time in music and deserves its own space in music history. This is coming from a music appreciator, but definitely not someone with a lot of knowledge about the mechanics of music.
B-flat analysis was right on point. This song has a lot of nice rhythm and tonal design which a lot of critics don't get. Heavy metal guitarist created tension within the music and the band.
Great analysis! I never put that much thought into that song, but it is quite a production it seems. Amazing decade to grow up in - the music was really something else!
Duran Duran are slap in the middle of my teen years. I'm a huge fan of them and pretty much all other 80's anything. As you are right, the 80's rocks in all the ways. (And it pains me that it's now 40 years ago, and I "sound old" with my sentiments) Now, I'm off to go find the track!
Min 20: the D seems odd, but makes more sense in that instead of going to the flat VII of Cmajor, it’s going to the FlatVII of Emajor, (using as transition back to e for the verses)
Can we all just appreciate how clever your drawing choice metaphors are? Case in point at 17:45 drawing the "do you see a duck or do you see a rabbit" optical illusion for the "I don't think it matters". Bravo.
"Because while '80s music is a lot of things…. subtle isn't one of them." 😆 I guess I'm about a decade older than you, so my first independent music discoveries (i.e. not "what my parents are listening to") were in the early days of MTV, and Duran Duran was unquestionably my first favorite band. Yes, they were famous for their trendy fashion, haircuts and heartthrob status, but they were actually pretty good musicians (especially John Taylor and Nick Rhodes, who I really feel were driving things musically). I doubt they were being as intentional as all of this, but… "Hungry Like the Wolf" is a *great* song, and I thoroughly enjoyed the analysis.
Duran Duran: Hey, here's a cool song we wrote for the reasons that we like it. 12tone, 40 years later: Here's 20 minutes of me putting way too much thought into a cool song from the 80s Duran Duran: Simon, did you think of any of that? No? Nick? You neither? John? Roger? Other guy named Taylor? You think of ANY of this? No?
I love that you use references in your drawings to all sorts of things. Makes the video really fun to watch a learn more about the songs at the same time.
I will defend that hill with you! I've loved them ever since I saw them in 1982 as a warm up band. In the early days you could actually hear their playing and it was magical. Once the mania took hold you couldn't hear anything. Great video - really illuminating.
It's funny I never thought of this as a rock song. Even though the electronic elements are used sparingly, they were enough for my childhood brain to classify this as something else... Truly masters of shiny polish and much cleverer song writers than given credit for
!!! This is by FAR your best song analysis yet !!! Great subject, insightful, and hilariously honest when the band gets into WTF territory! Awesome video! Thanks so much for doing what you do!
The whole of "Rio" was a fantastic album, arguably Duran Duran's best. Fun fact: the production is different between the CD and vinyl versions, so you have a slightly different experience depending on which copy you have (at least, with the original copies; I don't know about remasters). I like complex multi-instrument music like this. It's a contrast to the succeeding grunge era of mumbled lyrics over distorted thrashing guitars and the over-produced two-tone cookie-cutter pop music that came later. Happily this kind of music didn't fade out completely, it just disappeared from mainstream American consciousness in the '90s and you had to scour the import section of the record store to find anything decent, because the radio certainly wasn't playing it.
Around 14:15 you reference Nick Rhodes using a new synth line. That's not Nick Rhodes & that's not Nick Rhodes on Keyboards. That's Andy Taylor on guitar playing a Roland Synth Guitar, which he also used on their previous debut & eponymous album. You can hear Andy play lead with his Roland Synth Guitar on their debut single Planet Earth as well.
The 80s were a Golden Age of music. If that's not facially obvious to some of the younger generations, I'm glad 12 Tone is there to set them straight! Thanks!
Wolf was a welcome dance rock tune that addressed a need in 1982 as DIsco had "died", yet the world still wanted and needed songs to dance to in clubland. So, of course, I own the 12".
My band plays this. Our bassist's first impression was "What the fuck is this bassline? If the transcription off a beat?" And I had the to tell everyone about that damn Bb in the chorus.
“Because 80’s music is a lot of things, subtle isn’t one of them.” And that right there is exactly why when I would listen or watch the video to this song I would instantly turn down the volume so my Mom wouldn’t here. But in my gym class I still remember we’d work out to the song Physical by Olivia Newton John. Did they really not know, or did the teachers think us kids were that stupid? I will never know the truth.
Yeah it leads perfectly into that weird synth sound. It's also the same woman who pants and moans in the bridge and outro (apparently Nick Rhodes's then-girlfriend).
What is always so creative about bands that write and arrange their own music is the personalization each month member of the band gives to the artwork. Duran Duran were masters at this and its what makes their music so great. Simon's lyrical writing was so poetic in the 80s. His writing has changed since and so has the bands arrangements which are still enjoyable but fore there is something incomparable to their 80s work.
Great video for a great song, I was 12 and glued to the Top 40 when this album came out. My favorite Duran Duran song is Rio, it has one of the best bass lines from any popular song in the 80s. Their best video is the 18+ version of Girls on Film, with a different version of the song. UA-cam has it, if you can find it..
You are a godsend, been playing this song for years, I always felt I was doing something wrong but never could work out what, now I know its that elusive B!
If you're in the 80s zone, you might want to dissect "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles, there's a looooot going on in there, both harmonically and in the arrangement and production-wise.
I was born in the 80's, but by the end of it, I was only... six years old, and my parents weren't big into a lot of 80's rock and all of that. Since becoming an adult, I've delved back into the music of the 80s, and yes. It is glorious, and I love it. The wild abandon of it is just so much fun.
I love this analysis. The chorus line at 14:20 that you attribute to synth is almost certainly guitar with fuzz and a little modulation effect of some sort to make it sound fat and synthy (in my opinion.)
Great analysis. FYI for anyone here that doesn't know: Duran Duran's new album, Future Past, is the best work they've done in 20 years. It is a *fantastic* album, except for the opening track.
So at the end of the first line in the chorus, the guitar and bass are on Bb, the keyboard is holding down an A for a Bbmaj7, and Simon is singing … an E? Mind … blown …
Rock really languished in the 80's. I was there. Pop, on the other hand, really maximized the new technologies and took off, and Duran Duran is a prime example. Very talented songwriting, both lyrically and musically, and Andy Taylor might have enjoyed a longer stronger career if he'd leaned into that, or if he'd found a path forward in the emerging grunge movement.
Andy shows up in some really interesting places, like the guitar solo in Belinda Carlisle's "Mad About You", or production of other groups. He never wanted for work or inspiration.
17:00 - Re: the new key... David Bennett just did a whole vid on chromatic mediants, and this would seem like a great place to point out that the move from Emaj to Cmaj is basically that. Right?
1980s saw the emergence of a wide range of music genres, from new wave and pop to heavy metal and hip-hop, which helped to define the decade's cultural landscape and the way forward. 80's were highly influential even for bands today.
Always felt like this was at least two songs just smushed together, somehow the verses "jumped" to the choruses and back, it just didn't sound natural to me But that said, your channel is so good that I'll watch even analyses of songs I don't like Thank you and happy new year
This is amazing! Very cool analysis. After 40 years of loving this song, I have a totally new appreciation. And yes, Duran Duran are an amazing, brilliant band to this day. Why is that? Well, I have to agree with one thing you said... I blame Nick Rhodes.
I play music for over 35 years I own all Duran Duran vinyls And I don't play any songs by them Now, I know why !! .. That was awesome So many thank youz
80's music is full of great ideas, also in rock music. I would love an analysis of iconic tracks of minutemen, like corona or vietnam, because they sounds to me full of musical ideas and very funny at the same time. I will to subscript to his patreon to ask him about. Thanks for your great work in this channel!
3:50 Saying "infinite patterns" while drawing T Rex from Dinosaur Comics? How ironic!! Clever boy. If you don't know, Dinosaur comics is notorious for having the same graphics every episode.
A lot of New Romantic/New Wave/Post-Punk/Art Rock music had disorientation as a major theme, musically if not lyrically. Part of it was in response to the disorienting shifts in UK culture of the late 70s-early 80s, part in response to the Cold War... and part due to the influence of Sparks on British music.
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) Typically, when talking about musicians, I refer to them by their full name the first time, then use their last name for the rest of the video. That's my preferred style guide on these sorts of things, but since three of the band members have the last name Taylor (despite, as far as I can tell, not being related?) I've chosen to refer to them by their first names instead to avoid confusion.
2) The very first bar of the bass part does have an extra note before where I started playing it. I chose to not mention that because it complicates the example without actually affecting my point, but I wanted to acknowledge it somewhere.
3) The synth stem also had the backing vocals, so I had to cut those out with Izotope, which is why parts of the chorus synth line sound a bit muted. That's where those vocals came in, and it couldn't fully reconstruct what the synth would sound like without them.
4) Technically I should've called the chorus D chord a _non-functional_ secondary dominant because it doesn't resolve, but I am falling asleep merely typing this clarification so imagine how bored I'd be having to say those words out loud.
"It's not a specific lick." *draws The Lick*
(I knew that's what it was from Adam Neely's "The Lick" shirt)
I only say this cuz you made a comment about it.. But the sequenced synth part does in fact repeat notes. It hits the same note twice in a row three times.
The 3 Taylors in Duran Duran are all unrelated. Roger Taylor (drums) is also unrelated to Queen's drummer...also named Roger Taylor.
I found it interesting that the guitar riff seems to have the same rhythm as Get it On by T-Rex, which Andy Taylor later covered with Niles Rodgers and Robert Palmer in the Power Station.
New Romantics did love 70s glam rock though so makes sense that the influence would be referenced in their music
@@shonkyindustries It's *similar*, but definitely not the same.
If I had a nickel for every time a mid-late 20th Century British rock band had a drummer named Roger Taylor, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
I still can’t believe the two Alan Whites aren’t related.
A double up of Mick Jones as well. I have a friend that used to be A&R for Atlantic that told me a story about bringing Foreigner's Mick to a meet and greet at a record store in the early 80's only to find out that no one had promoted it and after a fan approached Mick and asked him who the celebrity that was going to be there was and receiving the reply "Mick Jones! I love The Clash!". He decided he'd had enough and left.
Actually you'd have 3.
Because as it turns out, Roger Taylor is also the name of the drummer in that band who's songs include Photograph, Rockstar, and How You Remind Me.
And if I'm wrong about that....I will have to ask you to hand...over the...um, coin I gave you.
I'm so sorry everyone.
I had to.
And yes, I do regret it.
You're all good people. You deserve better.
This is even better knowing that Phineas and Ferb is coming back
@@avedic Damnit, fooled me
The initial stabs, capturing the anxiety of the hunt, evoking snapping twigs in the forest to the ever vigilant wolf, is maybe your most generous interpretive stretch yet and I love it!
I totally bought it! 😂
Great analysis, but I think Duran Duran put it more succinctly themselves: "it's discord and rhyme"
I never knew what that meant. Do you know?
@@revacohen chaos that creates awfully similar repetitions
@@revacohen Since rhyme is stable and coalescing, riding the line between discord and rhyme means something that is doing a balancing act between feeling safe and unsafe, like a hookup with someone you met on the subway. You want the excitement, the discord, but you want it to make sense, the rhyme.
A good reminder of how subjective music is: you say, as a 90's kid, that in rock circles the 70's were the Golden Age, the 90's were the "big revival," and in the 80's we lost our way. In the rock circles I know, where people were there for the all three decades, it was the 90's when the music died and everything started to go down hill precipitously after the first big flowering of Grunge. Grunge was the hand grenade thrown into the musical party that had lasted a decade. The 80's were for some of us the last full, great flowering of both rock and pop, and an amazing decade for many genes of popular music in the broad sense, really: pop, dance, rock, alternative/indie/college rock, hair metal, metal "proper," hardcore, crossover, goth, hip-hop, jazz, etc.
Either way, glad to see you give the 80's, and Duran Duran in particular, some loving analysis. A very talented, iconic band of that era.
Thank you for defending 80's music. Everyone writes the era off for the shallowness of many mainstream acts. Artists like Paul Simon, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, XTC, Peter Gabriel and numerous others created some of their most interesting work during that decade. And many were represented on mainstream radio. I can't recall a more varied or eclectic period of popular music.
Liking Duran Duran as a young metalhead was embarrassing so usually kept secret, but The Reflex, Hungry..., and, Union of The Snake, New Moon on Monday are among my faves songs of the 80s.
I love 12tone analysis. Duran Duran was girl music and "gay" to us. ;) But I openly liked The Fixx, the BeeGees, Devo, Ratt, and Megadeth. Would love to see Carcass' Necroticism get on this channel.
Weird how that dynamic crept in by the early 80s. Guys all worried about their image to other guys. What a step down.
It was prince for me but still, I can totally relate. Hell, even Nirvana was too soft for me when it came out so I got to rediscover so much in my 40's.
As somebody who rolled their eyes at Duran Duran back in the day, I have to occasionally remind myself that they weren't a boy band, they were an art-pop band and that makes a difference.
Seriously, they were pop. Even Alan Parsons Project was more rock than they were. For real 80's rock we can turn to Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Van Halen, Journey, Scorpions, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Queen... That's not considering stuff that was labeled as new wave or punk that were also great rock contributions (The Clash, Ramones...) or the nascent heavy metal scene (Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Metallica...). It's always been interesting to me that a lot of what was called "heavy metal" in the 80's we just call "classic rock" today. A lot of radio stations wouldn't play them back then.
@@Brigand231 I was always on the fence about whether they were rock or not. Sure, they had Simmons drums and lots of synths, like a proper synth pop band, but they always felt a bit too rock for my tastes. A lot of the original New Romantics also couldn’t stand them, thinking they were bandwagon-jumpers from the Midlands, but I think they’ve passed the test of time.
@@wellurban Of course they were rock. And they were pop. And they were disco. They never hid their influences and they weren't afraid to show them. Problem was everyone wanted to put things in a specific box in the 80's and you "weren't allowed" to play outside that box by people who felt the need to "choose a side". That's why the 90's were so important. It broke down barriers between groups of fans and it became OK to like different styles.
Hey, their looks didn't hurt being in the new MTV era. Steely Dan were never on the cover of "Tiger Beat" for a reason.
I was born in ‘92 and I’ve always seen Duran Duran as an art pop band. With no associations of them being a “boy band”, they just sound like incredibly dense pop music that experiments with all the available technology of the time
Been a Duranie for 25 years now...had a cover band in 2007-2009. Always thought this song was simple, despite being full of elements. But this analisys took it to another level for me. You just made me fall in love with this song again. ❤️
As a Duranie of 40 years (wow, time definitely flies for sure), I can safely say that Duran Duran is not just good, they're bloody amazing and still talented beyond their years. I truly appreciate this breakdown as I never really just how complex their songs are. The first time I head this track back in 1982, it blew my 7 yr old mind and still does today. What also amazes me is that they're still around today and still relevant. Proof that the best music is timeless.
Who knew that Duran Duran’s songwriting was so complex? This explanation was pretty eye-opening to me. The key change from a semi-vague E-major to a mostly unrelated C-major was something I’d never noticed before. Bizarre. Honestly, it’s kind of amazing that this song works, at all. But it’s definitely one of Duran Duran’s most recognizable tracks, so it did work, somehow.
Early Gen X'er here and love that you covered this. In my opinion Duran Duran were absolutely betrayed by their good looks. Many wrote them off as just a "Pretty Boy Band" but this song and "Rio" should put that firmly to rest. I dabble in bass guitar and the bass line for "Rio" shows John Taylor can hang with the best. As a ballad "Save a Prayer" is still at the top of my list as well.
John's bass line on Skin Trade is so killer
@@twistedviewlabs John’s bass on almost everything is awesome.
Agreed, JT's heart throb status kept too many people from recognizing his bass brilliance.
Even though I'm a long term follower of your channel, it's crazy how you still amaze me by spending five whole riveting minutes on a tiny little bit of a guitar riff from a Duran Duran song (which is in itself already unexpected!), and still manage to fascinate me!! 😅
I guess this is why I love so much your work. 🥰👍
Duran Duran was - and remains - a *very* good band. Their continuing existence is just one piece of evidence of their quality.
They’ve been my favorite band since 1983, almost immediately from the moment I first heard “Girls on Film.”
I will not only die on the hill with you, but I will lead the charge.
The first album and Side A of Rio are absolutely untouchable synthpop. Planet Earth is the song that sold me (first heard it when I was 5 in 1986).
I remember being impressed when "Ordinary World" came out just because it was so unusual for groups that hit it big in the early 80s to still be viable a decade later.
John Taylor is a better bassist than John Deacon and you can't change my mind.
I love Duran Duran. I always thought they had interesting chord changes and modulations. They still do. Great stuff.
Fascinating to me to hear you describe the 70's as the revival and the 80's as the period when it all went off; when i was growing up, it was the late 70's, most especially the disco period, that was talked about as the blemish on the face of music, while it was the hippy and art rock of the late 60's and early 70's that everyone hearkened back to. I think it just goes to show that what you love and what you revile often has less to do with objective quality and more to do with the ideas and aesthetics you want to associate yourself with.
Similarly, in college i remember learning that the terms "middle ages" and "medieval" came from renaissance and post renaissance historians who wanted to associate themselves with rome, and just saw the medieval period as a dead space in between, while medieval historians were looking to associate themselves back to what they saw as biblical times, and...
I love these videos on classics because as a young person I don't really know most of these songs by name, so I just vibe with the videos until the moment when I realize "OH, THAT'S WHAT THIS SONG IS!"
I'm loving the dive into the 80s you're taking, and I hope you're able to check out what Genesis was up to with Phil in the driver's seat. There's some really cool stuff going on from Duke to Invisible Touch worth looking at.
Thanks for all the cool videos!
Duran Duran is interesting in that they were one of the few bands to find a lot of success in both the 80s and 90s despite being a defining piece of the former. Sure they weren't as stratospheric in the 90s but they had several hits in the US and UK then, even getting another top 10 hit in the 2000s in the UK somehow. That's just how enduring they are.
Duran Duran really had to reinvent themselves in the 90's when Andy and Roger left the band. They did a good job, leaning into the strengths of the remaining two band members and hiring good new talent. John and Nick made a great team.
Enduraning, one might say
The 80’s were great; talent, tech and production peaked and genres crossed. Everything from r&b, blues, country, power pop, metal, and more, were fair game on a radio station. I grew up listening to two radio stations and I don’t think I missed out on any type of music in the 80’s.
Almost fell out of my chair when you said no one thinks much of 80's music. Whats wrong with people!?!?!?!
I don't understand half of what you're saying, but it is very instructive on just how complex and involved music is and can be.
I really like how you mentioned thr physicality of playing guitar. So much of writing for guitar is finding things that are fun not only to listen to, but to play.
Man I’ve come to the same conclusion with the 80’s. The music has hugely grown on me. I also come from a rock and metal background growing up in the 90’s
Thankyou for this wonderful breakdown... 'Arena' is in my top 10 albums of all time (I was a teenager when this came out) so hats-off to you sir.
Also, I love your use of 'Ha'l when depicting 'lack of alignment' at 10:42🤣... chef's kiss.
And throwing some physics in too 20:13 ... two chef's kisses!
Did you know Duran Duran released a new album this month? Kind of blew my mind when I saw it.
I’m hungry like a wolf for 12tone content awoooooooooo!
I grew up listening to this song. I've probably heard it over 1000 times, and I never noticed the B-flat chord during the chorus, either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For me, this is the best song to play while driving at night
Duran Duran’s first three albums give away that Duran Duran was really a New Romantic-Funk band. Why I love their music then and now so much.
Thump on John Taylor. Thump on.
The 80s: _Lived ‘em. Loved ‘em. Miss ‘em._
An excellent break down of each element. Not being a fan of DD, I still appreciate this is an excellent song. It rocks harder than anything else they ever did. There’s a desperation in LeBon’s singing and Andy’s work here is imaginative. Oh, and I want to add that female backing vocal at the climax is dynamite.
Thank you so much for this. You nailed me with that B flat in the chorus. I am one of those people that never knew that was there.There are so many other great ideas you present as well. Oh, and the idea that we can actually hear the original stems nowadays never gets old.
05:40 Messing around with the technology to see what it could do is a good summary of most of the prominent 80s bands that utilized a keyboard, whether they were synth pop or not.
This was a super well produced video! Love the auditory pitches being played as you write the notes on the paper, really helps us beginners who can’t read sheet music yet
Man thats so weird, for me the 90's is the "don't talk about it" era. Personal experience is such a thing.
I love the analysis of music that was made by people who were just winging it, who were just playing what sounded good, and not thinking about how it would be written down or analysed.
This is the best UA-cam channel of all time! Great work dude seriously
I listen to this even though I don't know anything about the mechanics of music. I was an enormous Duran Duran fan in the 80s. I was also a fan of lots of great 80s music that is actually heard being sampled and replayed now as if it was super popular then- like the Cure which was definitely college, underground music at the time. Anyway, I'm just here to say that the eighties wasn't just between the 70s in the 90s. The eighties was an amazingly innovative time in music and deserves its own space in music history. This is coming from a music appreciator, but definitely not someone with a lot of knowledge about the mechanics of music.
B-flat analysis was right on point. This song has a lot of nice rhythm and tonal design which a lot of critics don't get. Heavy metal guitarist created tension within the music and the band.
Great analysis! I never put that much thought into that song, but it is quite a production it seems.
Amazing decade to grow up in - the music was really something else!
What a classic song, and this breakdown is great! Thanks for setting the record straight on that chorus, haha.
Duran Duran are slap in the middle of my teen years. I'm a huge fan of them and pretty much all other 80's anything. As you are right, the 80's rocks in all the ways. (And it pains me that it's now 40 years ago, and I "sound old" with my sentiments)
Now, I'm off to go find the track!
That occasional bass pop during the chorus. That's the juice.🎸
Min 20: the D seems odd, but makes more sense in that instead of going to the flat VII of Cmajor, it’s going to the FlatVII of Emajor, (using as transition back to e for the verses)
Can we all just appreciate how clever your drawing choice metaphors are? Case in point at 17:45 drawing the "do you see a duck or do you see a rabbit" optical illusion for the "I don't think it matters". Bravo.
That one is pretty common. Took me ages to figure it out.
I get excited every time I see the Jurassic Park logo for "they did [thing] because they could".
Pretty sure he has Feynman diagram when he says "weak analysis".
@@trevordeke I knew what it was but not enough about that particular diagram to properly judge it.
@@trevordeke that was the one for me. 😂 I was like 😮
"Because while '80s music is a lot of things…. subtle isn't one of them." 😆 I guess I'm about a decade older than you, so my first independent music discoveries (i.e. not "what my parents are listening to") were in the early days of MTV, and Duran Duran was unquestionably my first favorite band. Yes, they were famous for their trendy fashion, haircuts and heartthrob status, but they were actually pretty good musicians (especially John Taylor and Nick Rhodes, who I really feel were driving things musically). I doubt they were being as intentional as all of this, but… "Hungry Like the Wolf" is a *great* song, and I thoroughly enjoyed the analysis.
Duran Duran: Hey, here's a cool song we wrote for the reasons that we like it.
12tone, 40 years later: Here's 20 minutes of me putting way too much thought into a cool song from the 80s
Duran Duran: Simon, did you think of any of that? No? Nick? You neither? John? Roger? Other guy named Taylor? You think of ANY of this? No?
I love that you use references in your drawings to all sorts of things.
Makes the video really fun to watch a learn more about the songs at the same time.
I love how the left to right , left handed illustration somehow help my comprehension of the songs
I will defend that hill with you! I've loved them ever since I saw them in 1982 as a warm up band. In the early days you could actually hear their playing and it was magical. Once the mania took hold you couldn't hear anything. Great video - really illuminating.
It's funny I never thought of this as a rock song. Even though the electronic elements are used sparingly, they were enough for my childhood brain to classify this as something else... Truly masters of shiny polish and much cleverer song writers than given credit for
!!! This is by FAR your best song analysis yet !!! Great subject, insightful, and hilariously honest when the band gets into WTF territory! Awesome video! Thanks so much for doing what you do!
The whole of "Rio" was a fantastic album, arguably Duran Duran's best. Fun fact: the production is different between the CD and vinyl versions, so you have a slightly different experience depending on which copy you have (at least, with the original copies; I don't know about remasters). I like complex multi-instrument music like this. It's a contrast to the succeeding grunge era of mumbled lyrics over distorted thrashing guitars and the over-produced two-tone cookie-cutter pop music that came later. Happily this kind of music didn't fade out completely, it just disappeared from mainstream American consciousness in the '90s and you had to scour the import section of the record store to find anything decent, because the radio certainly wasn't playing it.
Around 14:15 you reference Nick Rhodes using a new synth line. That's not Nick Rhodes & that's not Nick Rhodes on Keyboards. That's Andy Taylor on guitar playing a Roland Synth Guitar, which he also used on their previous debut & eponymous album. You can hear Andy play lead with his Roland Synth Guitar on their debut single Planet Earth as well.
The 80s were a Golden Age of music. If that's not facially obvious to some of the younger generations, I'm glad 12 Tone is there to set them straight! Thanks!
Wasn't there at the time, but St. Elmo's Fire is the most 80's sounding song I've ever heard
Wolf was a welcome dance rock tune that addressed a need in 1982 as DIsco had "died", yet the world still wanted and needed songs to dance to in clubland. So, of course, I own the 12".
My band plays this. Our bassist's first impression was "What the fuck is this bassline? If the transcription off a beat?" And I had the to tell everyone about that damn Bb in the chorus.
Thank you for touching on the Bb in the chorus that all chord sheets miss for some weird reason.
sung in the tune of "The Entertainer": I sure love Duran Duran, Duran Duran is my favorite band.
“Because 80’s music is a lot of things, subtle isn’t one of them.” And that right there is exactly why when I would listen or watch the video to this song I would instantly turn down the volume so my
Mom wouldn’t here.
But in my gym class I still remember we’d work out to the song Physical by Olivia Newton John. Did they really not know, or did the teachers think us kids were that stupid? I will never know the truth.
12Tone!!!!!!!!!!! My day is complete and awesome!!!!
you forgot about the lady laughing at the very beginning. It sets the tone for the whole thing!
Yeah it leads perfectly into that weird synth sound. It's also the same woman who pants and moans in the bridge and outro (apparently Nick Rhodes's then-girlfriend).
What is always so creative about bands that write and arrange their own music is the personalization each month member of the band gives to the artwork. Duran Duran were masters at this and its what makes their music so great. Simon's lyrical writing was so poetic in the 80s. His writing has changed since and so has the bands arrangements which are still enjoyable but fore there is something incomparable to their 80s work.
Seriously enjoyed this. It is an iconic 80s song and fascinating to see it broken down at such length.
funnily enough I got to see duran duran live late 2022 with my mom and her friends and we had a grand old time😆👍
Great video for a great song, I was 12 and glued to the Top 40 when this album came out. My favorite Duran Duran song is Rio, it has one of the best bass lines from any popular song in the 80s. Their best video is the 18+ version of Girls on Film, with a different version of the song. UA-cam has it, if you can find it..
You are a godsend, been playing this song for years, I always felt I was doing something wrong but never could work out what, now I know its that elusive B!
If you're in the 80s zone, you might want to dissect "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles, there's a looooot going on in there, both harmonically and in the arrangement and production-wise.
The most 80s song ever is probably "The Warrior". "We Built This City" is a close runner up.
i play guitar, understand non of what you say, but you make a song sound cool enough to learn to play. I never heard of it but now imma learn it
Okay now I have to listen to the entirety of the Rio album again, genuinely thank you so much, Duran Duran is great.
I was born in the 80's, but by the end of it, I was only... six years old, and my parents weren't big into a lot of 80's rock and all of that. Since becoming an adult, I've delved back into the music of the 80s, and yes. It is glorious, and I love it. The wild abandon of it is just so much fun.
I love this analysis. The chorus line at 14:20 that you attribute to synth is almost certainly guitar with fuzz and a little modulation effect of some sort to make it sound fat and synthy (in my opinion.)
I like the feynman diagram of a beta decay at 20:14. Particle physics in perfect harmony with music theory. :D
Great analysis. FYI for anyone here that doesn't know: Duran Duran's new album, Future Past, is the best work they've done in 20 years. It is a *fantastic* album, except for the opening track.
So at the end of the first line in the chorus, the guitar and bass are on Bb, the keyboard is holding down an A for a Bbmaj7, and Simon is singing … an E?
Mind … blown …
man I love Duran Duran's sound, and 80s music in general, so much.
The more I hear of them the more I love it.
What a great analysis, mate!
I love your analysis
You take songs that I think are goofy or lack depth and show me how wrong I am by dissecting its deceptive girth
03:25 kinda like Iron Maiden's the Trooper, alternating between A7, A5, and D5, before jumping down an octave to do it again?
Rock really languished in the 80's. I was there.
Pop, on the other hand, really maximized the new technologies and took off, and Duran Duran is a prime example. Very talented songwriting, both lyrically and musically, and Andy Taylor might have enjoyed a longer stronger career if he'd leaned into that, or if he'd found a path forward in the emerging grunge movement.
Andy shows up in some really interesting places, like the guitar solo in Belinda Carlisle's "Mad About You", or production of other groups. He never wanted for work or inspiration.
17:00 - Re: the new key... David Bennett just did a whole vid on chromatic mediants, and this would seem like a great place to point out that the move from Emaj to Cmaj is basically that. Right?
1980s saw the emergence of a wide range of music genres, from new wave and pop to heavy metal and hip-hop, which helped to define the decade's cultural landscape and the way forward. 80's were highly influential even for bands today.
Always felt like this was at least two songs just smushed together, somehow the verses "jumped" to the choruses and back, it just didn't sound natural to me
But that said, your channel is so good that I'll watch even analyses of songs I don't like
Thank you and happy new year
I believe it was kind of pushed out quickly according to them.
Love the Animal Farm reference. I wonder how many people caught it.
Great work, some parts brings vibe of Cheap Trick Surrender and also the Ramones.
This is amazing! Very cool analysis. After 40 years of loving this song, I have a totally new appreciation. And yes, Duran Duran are an amazing, brilliant band to this day. Why is that? Well, I have to agree with one thing you said... I blame Nick Rhodes.
The guitar riff is very Bolan-esque (Get It On). Andy has said so himself.
Never used to hear it in the full mix, but this really leapt out in the isolated track.
I would love you have you examine SHADOWS ON YOUR SIDE by DD from Seven and the Ragged Tiger.
9:32 I got it right! That's not to say I heard it as beat 2 the whole time, but I heard it as beat 2 as soon as you said it wasn't beat 1.
That emphasis of the word wolf was genius. Nice analysis.
I play music for over 35 years
I own all Duran Duran vinyls
And I don't play any songs by them
Now, I know why !!
..
That was awesome
So many thank youz
Can you do an understanding of Primus My Name is Mud?
Thanks for the definition of foreshadowing.
80's music is full of great ideas, also in rock music. I would love an analysis of iconic tracks of minutemen, like corona or vietnam, because they sounds to me full of musical ideas and very funny at the same time. I will to subscript to his patreon to ask him about. Thanks for your great work in this channel!
Could you do an analysis of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin?
3:50 Saying "infinite patterns" while drawing T Rex from Dinosaur Comics? How ironic!! Clever boy.
If you don't know, Dinosaur comics is notorious for having the same graphics every episode.
Could you take a look at the iPod Anthem, sporting event nostalgia, and circus energy of “Jerk it Out” by Caesars?
A lot of New Romantic/New Wave/Post-Punk/Art Rock music had disorientation as a major theme, musically if not lyrically. Part of it was in response to the disorienting shifts in UK culture of the late 70s-early 80s, part in response to the Cold War... and part due to the influence of Sparks on British music.