Planet Earth (Duran Duran song): Difference between revisions

 

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==References==

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===

* {{cite book |last=Davis |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Davis (music journalist) |url= |title=Please Please Tell Me Now: The Duran Duran Story |date=2021 |publisher=[[Hachette Books]] |isbn=978-0-306-84606-9 |location=New York City}}

* {{cite book |last=Malins |first=Steve |url= |title=Duran Duran – Wild Boys: The Unauthorised Biography |publisher=[[André Deutsch]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-233-00392-4 |edition=Updated |location=London}}

==External links==

==External links==

1981 single by Duran Duran

“Planet Earth” is the debut single by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 2 February 1981.

It was an immediate hit in the band’s native UK, reaching number 12 on the UK Singles Chart on 21 February, and did even better in Australia, hitting number 8 to become Duran Duran’s first top 10 hit anywhere in the world. Along with the track, “Girls on Film“, “Planet Earth” also hit the top 40 on the US dance charts.

The song later appeared on the band’s eponymous debut studio album Duran Duran, released in June 1981.

“Planet Earth” begins with a mid-tempo synthesised sweep backed with sequenced electronic rhythm, but the real rhythm section of throbbing bass and crisp drums soon kick in. Muted guitar carries the up-and-down throbbing as the singer joins in.

The sequenced part on this song is a Prophet-5 synth, while a Roland Jupiter-4 and a Crumar Performer were used for strings and other sounds.^[5] The flanging intro sound was the Jupiter 4 processed by an MXR flanger.^[6]

Record World described the song as being a “simple, catchy cut” with “a flexible bass [that] sets the consistent, throbbing pulse” and “mechanistic keyboard lines.”^[7]

The song was the first to explicitly acknowledge the fledgling New Romantic fashion movement, with the line “Like some New Romantic looking for the TV sound”.

The original demo had an extra verse at the end, as can be heard in the Manchester Square Demo version, released in 2009:

“I came outside I saw the nightfall with the rain,
Sheet lightning flashes in my brain,
Whatever happened to the world we used to know?
I’ve got you coming over fear now.”

On the song’s first week on the Radio 1 chart show, presenter Tony Blackburn mispronounced the band’s name as “Durran Durran”. He corrected this the following week.

“Planet Earth” was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 2 February 1981 by EMI Records, with “Late Bar” as its B-side.^[8] The single’s artwork was designed by Malcolm Garrett of Assorted Images. It entered the UK Singles Chart at number 67 on the week of 21 February 1981 and later peaked at number 12. Although it narrowly missed the Top Ten, the chart position was sufficient for Duran Duran to appear on the television program Top of the Pops. Outside the UK, the single reached number eight in Australia and number fourteen in Ireland.^[11][12] In the United States, the song was released by Capitol Records on its Harvest imprint, with “To the Shore” as the B-side. However, it failed to chart there due to a lack of promotion.

The music video for “Planet Earth” was the band’s first collaboration with the director Russell Mulcahy. According to John Taylor, the main motivation for producing the video was to support the song’s growing attention in Australia through television exposure, rather than traveling there for promotional appearances.^[14] The video ultimately helped broaden the song’s visibility internationally, particularly in Portugal, Sweden, and further across Australia. John Taylor was initially hesitant about the music video format, believing it was “certainly at odds with the whole punk ethic”.

The production featured a flamboyant and highly stylized visual approach. According to Malins, the video included “dyed hair, lip-gloss and shirts with gigantic ruffles”, all styled by Patti Bell on a £500 clothing budget. Specific moments in the video included Le Bon dancing on an upside-down crystal pyramid while wearing jodhpurs, Rhodes with frizzy orange-blond hair and an elaborate frilled shirt at his keyboard, and Roger Taylor appearing shirtless. Bell’s friend, known as “Gay John”, was one of the dancers and assisted with the band’s outfits. The shirts were difficult to maintain, reportedly taking about an hour to iron each one.

1. “Planet Earth” – 3:59
2. “Late Bar” – 2:54

1. “Planet Earth” (night version) – 6:18
2. “Planet Earth” – 3:59
3. “Late Bar” – 2:54

1. “Planet Earth” – 3:59
2. “Late Bar” – 2:54
3. “Planet Earth” (night version) – 6:18

1. “Planet Earth” (night mix) – 7:00

• This rare alternative version can also be found on the Strange Behaviour remix album, released in 1999.

Duran Duran