Timeline:1980
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| The Duran Duran Timeline | ||
| << 1979 | 1980 | 1981 >> |
|
Duran Duran begins its quest for fame in earnest as the band gains a pair of managers, a club gig at the Rum Runner, and a national tour with Hazel O'Connor. In December, the band signs a contract with EMI and begins recording their first album, the self-titled Duran Duran. | ||
| Date | Event
|
|---|---|
| Jan | Duran brings their demo tapes to Paul and Michael Berrow at the Rum Runner, who hit it off very quickly with John and Nick |
| Jan | Paul & Michael agree to give the band rehearsal space at the Rum Runner, and book them for a few gigs |
| Jan | John works the door at the Rum Runner; Nick deejays for £10 a night; Roger works as a glass collector (busboy), and polishes mirrors after hours |
| Jan | Warren forms Missing Persons with Dale and Terry Bozzio, later joined by Patrick O'Hearn and Chuck Wild |
| Feb 1 | Fashion: Aston University, Birmingham, England (with Duran Duran, The Dumb Blondes) |
| Feb 18 | Duran Duran: Nashville, London, UK |
| Mar 12 | Fashion: Rum Runner, Birmingham, UK (with Duran Duram) |
| Mar 25 | Duran Duran: Holy City Zoo, Birmingham, UK. |
| spring | The Beat films a video for their song "Mirror In The Bathroom" at the Rum Runner |
| spring | Alan Curtis doesn't like either of the Berrows, and Jeff Thomas never does get along with Paul, so Alan and Jeff leave the band |
| ? | Andy returns from a European tour |
| Apr 26 | Band advertises in the Melody Maker music magazine for a "Live-Wire Guitarist" <This is the legend, but in actual fact the wording of the ad reads : LEAD / RHYTHM GUITARIST (Ronson, Manzanera, Gilmour) Stylish / powerful / inventive to join band with financially strong management. the ad appears on page 42 in the left hand column. |
| ? | Andy answers the ad, then sells some of his belongings for a train ticket to Birmingham for the audition |
| May 2 | Andy impresses John with his guitar chops and Nick with his professional experience; he's told the singer's "on holiday" and is adopted into the band |
| May | Andy begins polishing mirrors, painting and cooking burgers at the Rum Runner for cash; he floats among friends' couches and beds as he gets established in Birmingham |
| ? | Roger works in a factory to make ends meet |
| ? | The Berrows buy new keyboards for Nick, and a new bass for John |
| ? | Another singer, Oliver Guy Watts, works with the band for less than two weeks |
| ? | Fiona Kemp, now a barmaid at the Rum Runner, recommends band to Simon, and vice versa |
| ? | Simon phones Michael Berrow, who arranges an audition with the band |
| May 11 | Simon wears pink leopardskin trousers to his audition; he and the rest of the guys discuss favorite bands, play "Girls on Film", discover that Simon's poem "Sound of Thunder" fits "virtually perfectly" on top of a song framework already on tape, and they agree to try each other out for the summer |
| May | Band prints tickets for first show with Simon and Andy, for six weeks hence |
| June | Simon writes final lyric to "Tel Aviv" (later stripped down to an instrumental) and "Underneath the Clocktower" (never recorded) |
| June | Duran Duran signs official management contract with Paul and Michael Berrow |
| June | The Berrows and the band form the Tritec Music company (named after the triangular-themed bar inside the club); it uses the Rum Runner office upstairs from the club as its official address |
| June | John and Nick sit in the Rum Runner and lay out their plan for world domination:
|
| Jul 5 | Duran Duran: Edinburgh Summer Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland According to Duran Duran: Their Story, this was the first show with the classic lineup, but John Taylor says the band never played this festival |
| Jul 16 | Duran Duran: The Rum Runner, Birmingham, England The first show with the classic lineup, per SLB ⓢ |
| Jul 19 | Duran Duran: Duran Duran: Cedar Ballroom, England |
| Jul 22 | Duran Duran: The Holy City Zoo, Birmingham, England |
| Jul 29 | Duran Duran records "Girls on Film" and "Tel Aviv" (with lyrics: released on Duran Duran (2 CD/DVD)) at the 24-track AIR Studios in London while Japan are recording Gentlemen Take Polaroids down the hall; Michael Berrow plays sax on the recording |
| Aug 6 | Duran Duran: The Rum Runner, Birmingham, England. bootlegged on Rum Runner |
| Aug 27 | "New Religion" written |
| Sep 16 | Duran Duran: Hosteria One, Birmingham, England |
| Oct 3 | Duran Duran: Aston University, Birmingham, England |
| Oct 4 | Duran Duran: Cedar Ballroom, Birmingham, England |
| Oct 9 | Pauline Murray, John Cooper Clark & the Invisible Girls: Lyceum Auditorium, London, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Oct 22 | Duran Duran: The Holy City Zoo, Birmingham, England with Mike Berrow on sax |
| Oct 24 | Duran Duran: Cedar Ballroom, Birmingham, England |
| Nov 9 | Duran Duran: Marquee Club, London, England |
| Nov | Simon decides to stay with the band, drops out of university |
| ? | Band records "Planet Earth" and "Anyone Out There" |
| ? | Duran Duran plans to release a 45rpm single with "Planet Earth" and "Anyone Out There" on their own Tritec Music label; they print 5,000 labels with a new Duran Duran logo designed by John Warwicker. Nick now owns the only copy of this record, pressed on acetate |
| ? | Michael Berrow mortgages his house for 15,000 pounds to finance a support tour with Hazel O'Connor |
| THE HAZEL O'CONNOR AND MEGAHYPE TOUR The band lives in a camping bus and earns 10 pounds a week | |
| Nov 14 | Hazel O'Connor: Ulster Hall, Belfast, North Ireland (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 16 | Hazel O'Connor: Dublin Grand Cinema, Dublin, Ireland (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 18 | Hazel O'Connor: Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 19 | Hazel O'Connor: Apollo, Manchester, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 21 | Hazel O'Connor: Sheffield University, Sheffield, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 22 | Hazel O'Connor: Lancaster University, London, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 23 | Hazel O'Connor: Colston Hall, Bristol, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 26 | Hazel O'Connor: Top Rank, Brighton, England (with Duran Duran) cancelled; Simon had a throat infection |
| Nov 27 | Hazel O'Connor: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 28 | Hazel O'Connor: Liverpool University, Liverpool, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Nov 29 | Hazel O'Connor: Odeon, Edinburgh, Scotland (with Duran Duran) |
| Dec 1 | Hazel O'Connor: City Hall, Newcastle, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Dec 2 | Hazel O'Connor: De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Dec 3 | Hazel O'Connor: Leeds University, Leeds, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Dec 4 | Hazel O'Connor: University of East Anglia, Norwich, England (with Duran Duran) |
| Dec 6 | Hazel O'Connor: Dominion Theatre, London, England (with Duran Duran) Simon Le Bon joins Hazel O'Connor on stage for a performance of "Suffragette City". Later released on O'Connor's "Time" single. |
| ? | During the Hazel O'Connor tour, a bidding war erupts between three record companies to sign Duran Duran; eventually it comes down to EMI and Phonogram |
| ? | "Phonogram offered us a better deal, but we were patriotic, we thought EMI, English company, the Beatles... We got appallingly ripped off." -- Nick Rhodes |
| Dec 8-9 | A&R man Dave Ambrose from EMI signs Duran Duran; the band retains creative control over music, videos, album covers, etc. The band earns an advance of 42,000 pounds for album, tour, and video production, and a retainer of 50 pounds each per week. |
| Dec 8 | Duran Duran records "Anyone Out There", "Planet Earth", "Friends of Mine", and "Late Bar" at EMI's studios in London, with recordings released on Duran Duran (2 CD/DVD) |
| Dec 8 | Duran Duran: Marquee Club, London, England First headlining show after the record deal; standing in for The Associates. |
| Dec 12 | Duran Duran: The Venue, London, England This gig is sponsored by Rusty Egan, former Rich Kids drummer, now a popular London DJ |
| Dec 13 | Journalist Betty Page of Sounds magazine writes the first article about the band, labeling them as part of the embryonic New Romantic movement involving Spandau Ballet and others |
| Dec 14 | Duran Duran: Bow Wow Wow party, [venue?], London, England Another Rusty Egan gig |
| ? | Perry Haines (who co-founded British style magazine I-D, and coined the term "new romantic") takes charge of the band's image |
| Dec | Band records "Planet Earth" and "Careless Memories" for the Duran Duran album at Red Bus Studios, London with producer Colin Thurston |
| Dec | Other tracks for Duran Duran completed at Abbey Road, Utopia and Chipping Norton studios |
| Dec | "I remember two things about recording "Planet Earth". Staying in a horrible hotel in Fulham where I got very sick, and John Lennon dying." -- John Taylor |
| Dec | Duran meets director Russell Mulcahy and Gerry Laffy (then acting as Russell's assistant); Andy asks "what the hell is the guitar player from Girl doing here?", and John and Gerry become great friends |
| Dec | Video for "Planet Earth" shot at St. Johns Wood with Russell Mulcahy |
| ? | Video for "Careless Memories" shot in Soho, directed by Perry Haines and Terry Jones |
| << 1979 | 1980 | 1981 >> |
