Timeline:1984
DDW: the united memory of all the fans
| The Duran Duran Timeline | ||
| << 1983 | 1984 | 1985 >> |
|
Duran Duran plays arenas and stadiums in Japan, Canada and the US on the Sing Blue Silver tour; a documentary and a concert film are shot along the way. The live album Arena is released with the new studio single "The Wild Boys" as John and Andy begin working on their hard-rock side project, Power Station. | ||
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 9 Jan | “New Moon on Monday” video filmed in Noyers, Bercy, and Paris, France |
| Jan | “New Moon on Monday” single released worldwide, backed with the instrumental “Tiger Tiger (Ian Little remix)” |
| 14 Jan | “New Moon on Monday” peaks at #10 in US |
| 16 Jan | Seven and the Ragged Tiger goes gold and platinum in the same week |
| “Union of the Snake” single peaks at #2 in Canada | |
| The SING BLUE SILVER Tour continues... The tour goes on to Japan and North America | |
| 17 Jan | Duran Duran: Sendai Sports Centre, Sendai, Japan |
| 19 Jan | Duran Duran: Budokan, Tokyo, Japan |
| 20 Jan | Duran Duran: International Exhibition Hall, Nagoya, Japan |
| John, Nick and Roger appear on Japanese radio | |
| 22 Jan | “New Moon on Monday” single released in UK, backed with “Tiger Tiger” |
| 22 Jan | Duran Duran: Fukuoka International Centre, Fukuoka, Japan |
| 23 Jan | German TV chart show Formel Eins airs a lip-synched performance of “Union Of The Snake” (probably filmed late 1983) |
| 23 Jan | Duran Duran: Castle Sports Centre, Osaka, Japan bootlegged |
| 24 Jan | Duran Duran: Budokan, Tokyo, Japan |
| 25 Jan | Duran Duran: Budokan, Tokyo, Japan |
| Russell Mulcahy gathers crew to film the Sing Blue Silver documentary about the North American tour | |
| 28 Jan | Duran's stage is set up at the Saddle Dome two days ahead of time for technical run-throughs before the first North American date |
| 30 Jan | Duran Duran: Saddle Dome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (with Images In Vogue) about 9,000 in attendance |
| 1 Feb | Duran Duran: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (with Images In Vogue) |
| 2 Feb | Duran appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine under the headline “The Fab Five?” |
| Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “New Moon On Monday” | |
| Simon and Andy interviewed on Solid Gold TV dance show in US | |
| Feb | Artist Patrick Nagel, creator of the Rio album cover, dies of a heart attack at the age of 38 |
| The Sing Blue Silver tour goes to America, accompanied by the documentary crew | |
| Nick's girlfriend, Julie Anne, travels with the band during much of the tour. | |
| During the US tour, Nick experiments with photography by manipulating images on his hotel room televisions using the TV controls, then taking pictures of the distorted results with his Polaroid. | |
| 2 Feb | Duran Duran: Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington, USA (with Images In Vogue) |
| Feb | Canadian opening band Images In Vogue are refused work permits by U.S. Immigration and are forced to bow out of further dates |
| 4 Feb | “New Moon on Monday” single peaks at #9 in UK |
| 4 Feb | Duran Duran: Lawlor Arena, Reno, Nevada, USA bootlegged |
| 6 Feb | Duran Duran: The Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA (with Dogs on Fire) |
| 7 Feb | Duran Duran holds a large press conference at the Magic Castle club in Hollywood, California, with about 150 journalists in attendance; snippets of this conference were shown in the documentary Sing Blue Silver |
| 7 Feb | Duran Duran: The Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA recorded; “The Reflex” and “New Religion” live tracks later used as b-sides |
| 8 Feb | Duran Duran: Arizona State University Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona, USA (with a juggler) |
| 10 Feb | The extended “New Moon On Monday” video (with a longer, spoken prologue) premieres on MTV; the network soon switches to the shorter version without the prologue |
| 10 Feb | Members of the band are made honorary citizens of Texas in Austin |
| 10 Feb | Duran Duran: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, USA (with Z Rocks) The opening act is a last minute addition (not on the ticket stub) |
| 11 Feb | Duran Duran: Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas, USA (with Z Rocks) |
| 13 Feb | Duran Duran: The Summit, Houston, Texas, USA (with Z Rocks) |
| 14 Feb | Duran Duran: Louisiana State University Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA (with Z Rocks) |
| 16 Feb | Duran Duran: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri, USA (with The White Animals) moved from February 17 |
| 18 Feb | Duran Duran: Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, USA (with Corvette) |
| 21 Feb | Duran Duran: Dane Co. Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin, USA (with Combo Audio) |
| 22 Feb | Simon and Nick answer fans' questions on WLS radio in Chicago, Illinois |
| 23 Feb | Duran Duran: Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, Illinois, USA (with The Kind) bootlegged |
| 24 Feb | Duran Duran: Rosemont Horizon, Chicago, Illinois, USA (with The Kind) |
| 25 Feb | Duran Duran: Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA (with Checquered Past) sold out in 20 minutes |
| 27 Feb | Duran Duran: Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (no opening act) during snowstorm; Checquered Past was scheduled to open, but cancelled when a band member was injured |
| 28 Feb | Duran is awarded two Grammies for “Best Short Form Video” for the the video Duran Duran Video 45 which featured ”Girls on Film,"Hungry Like The Wolf and “Best Long Form Video”for the Duran Duran (1983 video) album; the band, performing in Pittsburgh, is not present to accept |
| 28 Feb | Duran Duran: Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA (with Checquered Past) another show during the snowstorm; Grammy win was announced onstage; bootlegged |
| 29 Feb | Duran Duran: WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA (with Checquered Past) |
| 1 Mar | Duran Duran': Roanoke Coliseum, Roanoke, Virginia, USA |
| Nick, Roger and John interviewed on WAPP's Rockwire Special (New York, NY) | |
| 3 Mar | Duran Duran: Syracuse Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York, USA (with Billy Idol) |
| ? Mar | Duran Duran: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| ? Mar | John does interview with CFRA radio in Ottawa, Canada |
| 5 Mar | German TV chart show Formel Eins airs a lip-synched performance of “Union Of The Snake” (probably filmed late 1983) |
| 5 Mar | Duran Duran: Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (with The Payolas) Major portions of the video for “The Reflex” are filmed before and during the show; “Cracks in the Pavement” recorded at this show was used as the b-side to “The Wild Boys” single. |
| 7 Mar | Duran Duran: The Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (with The Payolas) |
| 8 Mar | Duran Duran: Civic Center, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (with The Payolas) CFRA 58AM radio station had a phone in poll to convince Duran to come to Ottawa |
| 11 Mar | Duran Duran: Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine, USA |
| 13 Mar | Duran Duran: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut, USA (no opening act) Show took place during a snowstorm, and the scheduled opening act couldn't reach the venue; only about half the audience for the sold-out date showed up. |
| 14 Mar | Duran Duran: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, Massachussetts, USA Simon plays a joke on the band just before the show ("I've dislocated me elbow...the painkillers are rather good, actually.") |
| 15 Mar | Duran Duran: Worcester Centrum, Worcester, Massachussetts, USA |
| 17 Mar | Duran Duran: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia, USA (with Prince Charles and the City Beat Band) |
| 19 Mar | Duran Duran: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA (with Prince Charles and the City Beat Band) |
| 21 Mar | When the band leaves their hotel to go the show, a few fans from the large crowd outside jump onto Andy's back |
| 21 Mar | Duran Duran: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA (with Prince Charles and the City Beat Band) broadcast live on Westwood One radio; appears on the bootleg Live at Madison. |
| Mar | A man points a gun at Nick and Simon's limo in New York City, but doesn't fire |
| 22 Mar | EMI holds a major press conference; to preserve his voice, Simon does not attend; all band members handle a plethora of individual interviews |
| 23 Mar | Duran Duran: Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, South Carolina, USA |
| 25 Mar | Duran Duran: Jacksonville Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida, USA (with Night) |
| 26 Mar | Duran Duran: Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida, USA (with A New Personality) |
| 27 Mar | Duran Duran: Hollywood Sportatorium, Hollywood, Florida, USA |
| 29 Mar | Duran Duran: The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (with The Swinging Richards) |
| 30 Mar | Duran Duran: Greensboro Coliseum , Greensboro, North Carolina, USA (with The Swinging Richards) |
| 31 Mar | Duran Duran: Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia, USA sold out |
| 2 Apr | Duran Duran: Capitol Center, Largo, Maryland, USA (with Book of Love) Duran dedicated “Save a Prayer” to Washington DC native Marvin Gaye, killed the day before |
| 3 Apr | Duran Duran: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale (Long Island), New York, USA |
| 5 Apr | Duran Duran: Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA (with The Rescue) |
| ? Apr | Duran Duran: [venue?], New Haven, Connecticut, USA |
| 9 Apr | Duran Duran: Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA (with The Blades) |
| Russell and assistant Gerry Laffy show the completed “Reflex” video to the band in an Oklahoma City hotel | |
| “The Reflex” single released in the United States, backed with “New Religion (live)” | |
| 12 Apr | Concert sequences for the movie Arena filmed in Oakland (Gerry Laffy appears as one of the fans in the audience struck by lightning) |
| 12 Apr | Duran Duran: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA (with The Contractions) The opening act was poorly received by a rowdy and hysterical crowd; the “Planet Heart” bootleg is often labeled as this show, but was actually the 1982 Hammersmith Odeon show |
| 13 Apr | Duran Duran: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA |
| 15 Apr | Duran Duran: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, CA, USA bootlegged |
| ? Apr | John gets 20 stitches in his foot from dancing barefoot on broken vodka bottles |
| 16 Apr | “The Reflex” single released in UK, backed with a live recording of “Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)” - a Cockney Rebel tune written by Steve Harley |
| 16 Apr | Duran Duran: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, USA (with Trio) |
| 17 Apr | Duran Duran: San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, CA, USA Someone celebrated the end of the tour by hiring a stripper to dance and partially disrobe onstage during the end of the show; Julie Anne was reportedly very unhappy about the way she performed near Nick at the keyboards. |
| Apr | Duran Duran flies back to London |
| 21 Apr | “The Reflex” peaks at #1 in the US; this is the band's first Number One single in America |
| 22 Apr | Duran Duran appears on a breakfast television show [which one?] in London |
| 26 Apr | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Reflex” |
| 28 Apr | “The Reflex” peaks at #1 in UK |
| Simon and Clare Stansfield begin living together in northwest London; rumors that they have become engaged begin to circulate | |
| Duran is temporarily banned from BBC kids' show Saturday Superstore after Andy is caught on-air telling a cast member of a kid's TV drama to "F*** off fatso!" | |
| late Apr | Duran tapes performance of “The Reflex” for the German show Flashlights |
| ? May | Duran Duran and others: Montreux Pop Festival, Montreux, Switzerland The band performs “The Reflex”, “The Seventh Stranger”, and “Hungry Like the Wolf” |
| May | “The Reflex” is released in Italy, backed with “New Moon On Monday” (previously unreleased there) |
| May | Duran takes a promotional trip to Rome |
| May | Duran performs “The Reflex” on Italian TV shows Orecchiocchio, Un milione al secondo, Discoring, and Domenica in |
| May | Duran does interviews for Deejay Television and Video Music |
| May | Duran Duran performs a lip-synched version of “The Reflex” on the Dutch TV show Countdown |
| May | German TV show Bananas airs a lip-synched performance of “The Reflex” |
| May | Tele Montecarlo (TMC) airs a lip-synched performance of “The Reflex”, “Union of the Snake”, “Is There Something I Should Know”, and “The Seventh Stranger” |
| 2 May | German TV show Flashlights airs taped performance of “The Reflex” |
| 3 May | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Reflex” |
| 10 May | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Reflex” |
| May | Band members visit Cannes film festival (runs 11 May to 23 May) |
| 17 May | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Reflex” |
| 18 May | Channel 4 in the UK broadcasts a 1982 Duran Duran concert on the Highband TV show |
| 24 May | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Reflex” |
| May-Jun | Duran makes several appearances on British TV game show Pop Quiz (where John is a regular as team captain, and Duran repeatedly trounces Spandau Ballet) |
| Jun | The Tiger! Tiger! (EP) is released in Japan, containing “The Reflex”, “Union of the Snake”, “New Moon on the Monday”, “Is There Something I Should Know”, and “Tiger Tiger” |
| Simon phones 19-year old model Yasmin Parveneh (whom he'd only seen in magazines) and invites her to a movie premiere; she thinks it's a joke and hangs up on him, but he persists until she agrees to a date | |
| 11 Jun | Yasmin expects to go to an ordinary cinema, but for their first date Simon takes her to the red carpet Royal Charity Premiere of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, also attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales |
| 13 Jun | Additional crowd and concert footage for Arena is filmed at the Birmingham National Exhibition Center; the 2,000 free tickets are only available through the newspapers Birmingham Evening Mail and London Standard; numerous fans wind up dehydrated and somewhat crushed during several hours of filming |
| 14 Jun | More crowd and concert footage for Arena is filmed at the Birmingham NEC |
| 16 Jun | "The Reflex” video aired on American Bandstand |
| 20 Jun | John appears on Radio 1's My Top Ten show in the UK |
| Two weeks after their first date, Simon dumps Yasmin “because she wouldn't have sex with me” | |
| Jun | Studio footage for Arena filmed at Twickenham Studios in West London; a Mulcahy staffer goes into a nearby bar (where crew members from the film 1984 are taking a break) to ask if anyone would be willing to walk barelegged past a live tiger for cash, as none of the hired dancers would do it. (There were no takers.) |
| 25 Jun | “The Reflex” peaks at #5 in Canada |
| end Jul | Band records “The Wild Boys” with producer Nile Rodgers at Maison Rouge studios in southwest London |
| end Jul | As a favor, Simon and Andy perform backup vocals for the Sister Sledge track “Lost In Music” that Nile is recording in the studio next door |
| The video for “The Wild Boys” and additional studio footage for Arena filmed on the "007 stage" in London, with veteran actor Milo O'Shea (who played Dr. Duran Duran in the 1967 movie Barbarella) and director Russell Mulcahy | |
| summer | John runs into Bond producer Cubby Broccoli at a party and proposes that Duran do the next Bond theme |
| 27 Jul | Roger (24) marries dancer Giovanna Cantone (22) in Naples, Italy; they honeymoon in Egypt, far from the crowds |
| 18 Aug | Nick (22) weds heiress Julie Anne Friedman (25) in a private civil ceremony at Marylebone registry office in London, wearing a pink velvet tuxedo and top hat; his "best man" is good friend Elaine Griffiths |
| Nick holds a posh wedding reception at the Savoy Hotel in London | |
| Aug-Sep | Nick and Julie Anne take a three-week honeymoon cruise in the Greek Islands |
| 20 Aug | Andrew James Taylor (aka "Bear" and “A2”) born to Andy and Tracey |
| John vacations in Sicily, gets bored, joins Andy at his pub | |
| Smash Hits issues a free flexidisk (with magazine purchase) containing interviews with each of the band members | |
| Aug-Sep? | Simon sails in Swan World Cup, Sardinia, and meets American racing veteran Skip Novak, later to captain Drum in the Fastnet and Whitbread races |
| 14 Sept | Duran attends the MTV Video Awards; Nick and Simon present an award for Best Female Music Video to Cyndi Lauper for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" |
| Oct | 'Dancing on the Valentine video EP is released, containing videos for “Union of the Snake”, “The Reflex”, and “New Moon On Monday” |
| Oct | “The Wild Boys” single released, backed with “Cracks in the Pavement (live)” |
| 27 Oct | A British TV show airs a lip-synched performance of “The Wild Boys” [the date was on screen, can anyone identify the show?] |
| Oct | British TV show Razzmatazz airs a lip-synched performance of “The Wild Boys” |
| 1 Nov | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Wild Boys” |
| Nov | John moves to a New York apartment on the Upper West Side (in the apartment next door to Boy George) during the mixing of the Arena album |
| Nov | Arena live album released worldwide; it includes studio single “The Wild Boys” |
| 3 Nov | “The Wild Boys” peaks at #2 in UK and US |
| Sing Blue Silver documentary video and Arena concept/concert film released on VHS, Beta, and laserdisc | |
| At the suggestion of the Berrows and Russell Mulcahy, As The Lights Go Down, a one-hour concert video, is created from Arena by trimming out the conceptual and storyline elements (John apparently was not keen on the idea) | |
| Sing Blue Silver & As The Lights Go Down shown on MTV | |
| Nov | Nick releases Interference, an art book of Polaroids |
| Nov ? | Dutch TV show Topop airs a lip-synched performance of “The Wild Boys” |
| 15 Nov | Top of the Pops airs Duran's lip-synch performance of “The Wild Boys” |
| 24 Nov | Arena peaks at #6 in UK |
| Duran tapes a performance of “The Reflex” and “The Wild Boys” for Thommy's Popshow at Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany | |
| 25 Nov | Duran participates in Band Aid recording of “Do They Know It's Christmas?” at Trevor Horn's Sarm West Studio in London |
| 26 Nov | Second day of recording of “Do They Know It's Christmas” |
| ? | John and Jody Watley (who he met at the “Do They Know It's Christmas” recording session) date briefly. |
| 28 Nov | Duran Duran lip-synchs “The Wild Boys” on German TV show Musikladen in Bremen, Germany; the show also premieres the video of “Do They Know It's Christmas” |
| 30 Nov | Duran (minus Roger) lip-synchs “The Wild Boys” on German TV show WWF Club, while Roger attends the funeral of his grandfather. |
| 1 Dec | Arena peaks at #4 in US |
| 3 Dec | “Do They Know It's Christmas”, backed with “Feed The World”, released in US and UK |
| “The Wild Boys” single peaks at #2 in Canada | |
| Dec | Duran travels to Spain for promotion |
| Duran lip-synchs “The Wild Boys” and “The Reflex” on Spanish TV show Tocata | |
| The band does an interview about their videos on Spanish TV show Disco Visto, and tapes a holiday greeting for the Viva 85 show | |
| John plans to cut a funky version of T Rex's “Bang A Gong” with girlfriend Bebe Buell and drummer Tony Thompson; Andy comes along for the ride | |
| John and Andy guest on a Tony Thompson solo project (?) | |
| Tony introduces John and Andy to Chic bassist Bernard Edwards, now a producer; they cut a demo of Bebe singing 'Bang A Gong' just before John and Bebe break up | |
| John, Andy, Tony and Mars Williams (Psychedelic Furs saxophonist, previously approached by Duran to join their live band) discuss doing an album with several different singers, and propose calling the project “Big Brother” | |
| Tony Thompson approaches Mick Jagger about singing on the project | |
| Mars is enthusiastic about the project; he rents studio time for a multitude of friends to come and jam (John, Andy, Tony, Bernard, Mars, Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, Tommy Price, Mick Ronson and Robert Palmer, among others) | |
| Mars plays club shows around New York City under a variety of names, and many of these friends play live with him; other guests include Tim and Richard Butler, Paul Garristo, and Ian Hunter; during one show at the Limelight, John and Andy play with Mick Ronson | |
| {{{1}}} | John, Andy and Tony demo “Some Like It Hot" and "Murderess,and they invite Robert Palmer to do the vocals for "Communication";when he hears they've done "Get It On (Bang a Gong) ”, he asks to have a crack at that one and impresses Bernard enough that he suggests doing the whole album with Robert |
| Dec | The newly named Power Station begin recording the first week of December; Bernard Edwards produces |
| John and Andy move in to New York's Carlisle Hotel during the recording of the Power Station album, and end up staying for six months, spending nearly half a million dollars. | |
| Capitol/EMI signs Power Station to a contract | |
| 10 Dec | “The Wild Boys” becomes Duran's first (and only) #1 single in Germany, only to be dethroned by “Do They Know It's Christmas” three weeks later |
| Dec | 'The Source syndicated radio show airs across US, featuring tracks from Arena, the US premiere of “Do They Know It's Christmas”, Rona Elliot interviewing Simon and Nick from Abbey Road studios in London, and fans' questions being answered |
| 26 Dec | Sing Blue Silver premieres on British station ITV |
| 27 Dec | As The Lights Go Down premieres on ITV |
| Nick holds an party for the opening of an exhibition (running through January 9) for Interference at the Hamilton Gallery, London; Julie Anne steals the headlines by wearing a dress that reveals a generous amount of derriere | |
| 28 Dec | BBC TV airs a special Christmas edition of the game show Pop Quiz; Duran Duran once again defeats Spandau Ballet |
| 31 Dec | The Viva 85 New Year's Eve show features the premiere of the 'Wild Boys' video in Spain |
| 31 Dec | Simon and John join Frankie Goes To Hollywood on stage at the MTV New Year's Eve Rock'n'Roll Ball |
| << 1983 | 1984 | 1985 >> |
