As the US release date of Duran Duran On Track draws closer, I’ll revisit the last album spotlighted on the book’s cover: Seven And The Ragged Tiger.
The front cover of Duran Duran On Track features Seven And The Ragged Tiger as well as Rio, The Wedding Album and Paper Gods, with Future Past on the back cover.
Though Duran Duran had their first taste of widespread international success with Rio, Seven was a juggernaut. It debuted at Number 1 in their native UK and in the top 10 in multiple countries and included three top 10 singles in both the UK and the US.
The album, named for the five band members and their two managers, with the “Ragged Tiger” being success, couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time. The marketing of the album and the band’s music that followed appealed greatly to younger listeners, especially females. The new music was accompanied by a wide range of products bearing the band members’ image that even included a board game, Into The Arena, for ages 7-plus.
That Duran Duran’s rise during that era rivaled Beatlemania is no overstatement. There are simply few rock bands that have ever reached the level of teen hysteria brought on by the Fab Four and the duly named Fab Five.
Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant acknowledged that in 1982 on MTV, calling them “enormous teen heroes” in England who have carried on “The Beatle tradition from way back. It’s remarkable to see so much style and class suddenly becoming apparent in video.”
Duran Duran On Track is available now in the UK and will be released on October 31 in the US. (The shipping date for preorders was originally September 26.) I’ll continue this occasional series up until the new US release date, ending with Danse Macabre on Halloween.
Check out Linktree for preorder links. And if you’re already enjoying the book, please leave a review on Amazon or wherever you purchased your copy.
