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Timeline:1981

DDW: the united memory of all the fans

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
4 Jan Sweet': Lyceum Auditorium, London, England (with Duran Duran)
16 Jan 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)
 ? Duran begins using hairdressers Wilson, Wilson and Wilson in Wolverhampton; Andy begins dating Tracey Wilson
 ? BBC airs a three-minute Duran Duran Profile
 ? Jan Duran Duran: The Sundown Club, London, England
"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)
2 Feb 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 does first photo session with photographer Andy Earl
21 Feb “Planet Earth” peaks at #12 in UK
24 Feb Duran's first scheduled television appearance is cancelled because of Prince Charles and Lady Diana's engagement announcement
27 Feb 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
27 Feb Duran Duran: Aston Villa University, Birmingham, England
bootlegged
2 Mar Duran Duran: Brady's Club, Liverpool, England
cancelled
3 Mar Duran Duran': Manchester Polytechnic, Manchester, England
4 Mar Duran Duran: Sundown Club, London, England
bootlegged; on Sundown
5 Mar Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “Planet Earth”
5 Mar Duran Duran': Rock City, Nottingham, England
6 Mar Duran Duran': Top Rank, Cardiff, Wales
7 Mar Duran Duran': Leicester Polytechnic, Leicester, England
8 Mar Duran Duran': Top Rank, Sheffield, England
10 Mar Duran Duran: The band plays three songs live on the midlands music show "LOOK HEAR!" (Planet Earth, Careless Memories and Girls on Film.)
19 Mar Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of 'Planet Earth'
 ? On strength of the video, “Planet Earth” reaches #8 in Australia
20 Apr “Careless Memories” single (backed with “Khanada”) released in UK; the 12" single includes a cover of David Bowie's “Fame”
 ? The band appears on the Richard Skinner sessions on BBC just after the release of “Careless Memories”, performs a 4-song set
 ? Duran performs lip-synch of “Careless Memories” on BBC's Top of the Pops
 ? Duran performs “Planet Earth” on Noel Edmonds's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop Saturday TV show
May “My Own Way” written
May Duran appears on their first magazine cover: Smash Hits UK
Duran begins a love/hate relationship with teen magazines (Smash Hits/Star Hits, 16, Bop, Tiger Beat, etc.) which fuel their fame but damage their credibility
May Nite Romantics EP released in Japan, containing night versions of “Planet Earth” and “Girls On Film” plus “Fame” and “Khanada”
9 May “Careless Memories” peaks at #37 in UK
21 May Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “Careless Memories”
First North American Club Tour
The first US dates took place in May and June
[does anyone know where or when, specifically? need more information on this tour!]
 ? May Duran Duran: The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
played to about eleven people
10 Jun Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA
two shows a night, for two consecutive nights.
 ? Jun Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA
two shows a night, for two consecutive nights.
 ? Jun Duran 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…"
15 Jun 'Duran Duran album released worldwide; first pressing does not include “To the Shore”
19 Jun The band records 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 at a later date)
27 Jun Duran Duran album peaks at #3 in UK; remains in the charts for 118 weeks
The FASTER THAN LIGHT Tour'
29 Jun Duran Duran': Brighton Dome, Brighton, England
30 Jun Duran Duran: Gaumont, Southampton, England
1 Jul 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."
3 Jul 'Duran Duran: Apollo, Manchester, England
4 Jul 'Duran Duran: City Hall, Newcastle, England
5 Jul 'Duran Duran: Tiffany's, Glasgow, Scotland
6 Jul Duran Duran': Odeon, Edinburgh, Scotland
7 Jul Duran Duran': Old Grey Whistle Test bootlegged on EMI Demos,Old Grey Whistle Test,Off The Record
8 Jul Duran Duran': Royal Concert Theatre, Liverpool, England
9 Jul Duran Duran': Hammersmith Odeon, London, England (with Animal Magnet)
set list includes a cover of the Isley Brothers song 'Tell Me It's Just a Rumour' (sometimes labelled 'Just Got A Groove On'); bootlegged, on Decadent Durantics
10 Jul Duran Duran': New Theatre, Oxford, England
10 Jul Riots erupt in Birmingham suburb of Handsworth; hundreds of people attack police and property, looting and smashing, even setting off fire bombs
11 Jul Duran Duran': Birmingham Odeon, Birmingham, England
13 Jul “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 performs lip-synch of “Girls on Film” on BBC's Top of the Pops
25 Jul “Girls on Film” peaks at #5 in UK
30 Jul Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “Girls On Film”
1 Aug MTV launched in US
13 Aug “Girls on Film” video filmed at Shepperton Studios with directors Kevin Godley and Lol Creme (formerly of 10cc)
13 Aug Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “Girls On Film”
27 Aug Last Chance on the Stairway' written
European Promo Performances'
7 Sep Duran Duran: Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
8 Sep Duran Duran: Capitaine 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 Capitaine Video Paris
 ? Sep Duran Duran performs “Girls On Film” at the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin for a television broadcast
 ? Simon is interviewed on Vapor radio, Portugal
11 Sep Simon, Nick & Andy do interview with WHFS radio (Bethesda, MD)
11 Sep Duran Duran: Mandagsborsen, Stockholm, Sweden
filmed for Swedish TV; bootlegged; Simon interviewed after the show
12 Sep Duran Duran: Paradiso Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands
bootlegged, on Amsterdam 1981
15 Sep 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?]; set lists include a cover of David Bowie's 'Fame'
16 Sep Duran Duran: Spit, Long Island, NY, USA
Sponsored by WLIR radio (Garden City, NY)
17 Sep Duran Duran': The Channel, Boston, MA, USA
18 Sep Duran Duran': Peppermint Lounge, New York, NY, USA
22 Sep Duran Duran: Bayou Theater, Washington, DC, USA
bootlegged and issued by the Fan Club on Live At The Bayou Club
23 Sep Duran Duran: Eastside Club, Philadelphia, PA, USA
 ? Duran Duran: [venue?], Pittsburgh, PA, USA bootlegged [may be Philadelphia show, misidentified as Pittsburgh?]
25 Sep Duran Duran': Le Club Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
26 Sep Duran Duran: El Mocambo, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
27 Sep Duran Duran': Saint Andrews, Detroit, MI, USA
29 Sep Duran Duran': First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, USA
30 Sep Duran Duran: Parkwest, Chicago, IL, USA
2 Oct Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA
bootlegged
3 Oct Duran holds an autograph party at Vinyl Fetish record store in Hollywood
3 Oct Duran Duran: The Roxy, Hollywood, CA, USA duplicate date?
3 Oct The Go-Gos: The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA (with Duran Duran) duplicate date? [unconfirmed]
4 Oct Simon, Nick, John & Roger do an interview with Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ radio (Los Angeles, CA)
5 Oct 'Duran Duran: I-Beam, San Francisco, CA, USA (with Quiet Room)
8 Oct Duran Duran': Pirate's Cove, Cleveland, OH, USA
9 Oct Duran Duran': Left Bank, Mount Vernon, NY, USA
10 Oct Duran Duran: Underground Club, The Savoy, New York, NY, USA
about 2,500 in attendance, including Andy Warhol
10 Oct After the show, Duran meets 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
 ? Duran visits the MTV studios (when MTV was only sixteen people in three rooms) in New York, and discuss the possibilities of video
 ? Oct Band hangs out with Andy Warhol; parties at the Savoy
21 Oct Duran spends a week at Townhouse Studios in London, recording the single and 12" mix of “My Own Way”
29 Oct Band flies to Germany
FIRST GERMAN TOUR
Fourteen dates; need more information on this tour!
30 Oct Duran Duran: Die Wartburg, Wiesbaden, Germany (with The Bootlegs)
31 Oct Duran Duran: Markthalle, Hamburg, Germany
1 Nov Duran Duran: Ballroom Blitz, Hannover,, Germany
2 Nov Duran Duran: Kant Kino, Berlin, Germany
4 Nov Duran Duran: Jovel, Münster, Germany (with Our Daughter's Wedding)
12 Nov EMI holds a presentation to award the band with their Gold and Silver records for the sales of the Duran Duran album
16 Nov “My Own Way” single (backed with “Like An Angel”) released as a stand-alone single worldwide, except in US
23 Nov Duran performs lip-synch of “Girls on Film” on Rock Pop Germany
 ? Nov Band visits Barcelona, Spain
28 Nov “My Own Way” peaks at #14 in UK
The CARELESS MEMORIES Tour'
29 Nov Duran Duran: Gaumont, Southampton, England
30 Nov Duran Duran: Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester, England (with punk poet John Cooper Clarke) filmed for the TVS series "Off The Record"
3 Dec Top of the Pops' airs Duran's lip-synch performance of 'My Own Way'
3 Dec Duran Duran': Rum Runner, Birmingham, England
7 Dec Duran Duran': Kent University Sports Hall, Canterbury, England
8 Dec Duran Duran': University of East Anglia, Norwich, England
10 Dec Duran Duran': City Hall, Sheffield, England
11 Dec Duran Duran': Apollo, Manchester, England
12 Dec Duran Duran: De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England
13 Dec Duran Duran: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales band is involved in a car crash on the way to this gig
15 Dec Duran Duran: Arts Centre, Poole, England
16 Dec Duran Duran: Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
17 Dec Top of the Pops' airs Duran's lip-synch performance of 'My Own Way'
17 Dec Duran Duran: BBC College Concert, Hammersmith Odeon, London, England filmed by the BBC; 'Careless Memories' recording later released as a b-side; bootlegged
19 Dec Duran Duran': Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland (with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk)
20 Dec Duran Duran: Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England
21 Dec Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk)
22 Dec Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk)
23 Dec Duran Duran: Odeon, Birmingham, England (with Mark Hollis of Talk Talk)
<< 1980 1981 1982 >>
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