'Duran Duran On Track': The enduring allure of 'Rio'

As part of the countdown to the release of my book, Duran Duran On Track, I’ll be taking deeper dives into areas that are only touched on in the book.

Duran Duran’s entry into the On Track series, one that explores “every album, every song” by over 100 musical artists, features four of the band’s albums on its front cover: Rio, Seven And The Ragged Tiger, The Wedding Album and Paper Gods. (I was delighted to find out that Future Past made it onto the back cover.) 

While all Duranies have their favorite album, few would argue against Rio being considered the band’s seminal work. It’s the LP that saw Duran Duran continue their rise in the UK and break through in the US and still has an impact on pop culture today. 

Its breakout single, “Hungry Like The Wolf, ” was just played during a Sabrina Carpenter concert at BST Hyde Park. The young singer welcomed Simon Le Bon and John Taylor onstage, exposing a new audience to the band’s music.

While the band tours parts of Europe, their own live setlist remains a near-constant topic of debate among fans. The song selection is clearly designed to appeal to a wider audience, and the inclusion of indelible hits like “Hungry Like The Wolf” and “Rio” is a no-brainer.

I’ve attended 24 Duran Duran concerts and counting, and they’ve played “Rio” at all but one, near Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2012. When the band closed with “Girls On Film” instead, chants of “Rio!” “Rio!” from the audience followed. But alas, it wasn’t played.

During the band’s wilderness years, when only three longtime members remained, they would play the song at different points in the set. Now it’s the obligatory concert-closer.

Perhaps the song’s greatest impact is its video. A shot of the band on a yacht even graced the original cover of Greatest, which was just rereleased (albeit with a simpler design) and made it onto the top 10 physical albums chart in the UK.

No matter your favorite album or song by the band, they’re all covered in Duran Duran On Track (Sonicbond Publishing), slated to be released on 31 July in the UK and September 26 in the US.

Check out Linktree for preorder links. The book can also be preordered from many other major retailers.