In 1982 I was 9 and obsessed with Duran Duran, they were my favourite band and ‘Rio’ was my favourite album. I wanted nothing more than to be on that boat with Simon Le Bon in a white suit.
As part of the promotion for ‘Rio’ the band played three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon (now known as the Apollo) and this is a recording from the final night.
Originally put out in 2009 in the USA, this double LP was released for Black Friday Record Store Day in 2022, on gold vinyl and was limited to just 4500 copies worldwide.
If you enjoyed their self-titled debut album and ‘Rio’ then this is a cracking little greatest hits performed in front of, what sounds like, a venue full of teenage girls!
All the early hits are here, ‘Rio’, ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, ‘Save A Prayer’, ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Girls On Film’ etc. As a bonus, there is also a cover of the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel hit ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)’.
For years I thought ‘Make Me Smile…’ was a Duran Duran song and was mightily confused when I heard the original wondering who was the chancer doing a version of their hit, doh!
I love this record, it isn’t the best the band have sounded but it transports me back to being a kid and being glued to the TV watching the band visit exotic places looking cool AF singing the best songs I’d ever heard.
If you fancy a copy then eBay is probably your best bet, there are a couple of copies on there for about £25.
Tracks To Try: All of them. Try some of the album tracks on the second record, ‘Friends of Mine’ and ‘Careless Memory’
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