I have not been around much in the last two weeks and have not been able to watch each and every move that Duran or DDHQ has made. I got my second vaccine shot and it hit me hard. Ten days later and I’m finally feeling like I’m coming back to life. (Please note: Get vaccinated when you can. I just have a VERY sensitive system that is really impacted by any medication. I’m relieved that I am fully vaccinated and look forward to finally seeing my family when they come out in a couple of months for my niece’s college graduation.) While I worked at bouncing back, it took all of my energy to go to work, do the necessary household chores, etc. that I wasn’t able to do much else. Anyway, as I finally started to feel like myself again, I took note of a tweet by DDHQ about an article from Smooth Radio in which they ranked the ten greatest Duran songs. I had to take a look.
Here’s the list. You should go to the actual article to read the reasoning behind their decisions.
- Wild Boys
- A View to a Kill
- Girls on Film
- Planet Earth
- Is There Something I Should Know?
- Hungry Like the Wolf
- Rio
- The Reflex
- Ordinary World
- Save a Prayer
First thing I noticed is that the title of the article is about songs and, yet, the songs picked all had videos associated with them. This makes me wonder. Did they think that the only Duran songs that really count are the ones with videos? Do they think Duran needs those visuals in order to be good? While I understand that video and Duran go hand-in-hand, I’m not sure that it needs to be as explicit as this. Then, of course, I’m also left wondering if the videos influenced the decisions. For example, Save a Prayer is a great video, in my opinion. In fact, I think it is one of their best ones. What if the video was not that good? Would the editors of this list still think the song was awesome?
Second, I also noticed that many/most/all of these songs were singles. Each and every one of them. (Yes, I know that it is a sentence fragment but I wanted to emphasize that.) Did they just create this list of greatest songs from a list of singles? Then, ALL of them except for one was from the 1980s and the early 80s, specifically. So the only great song that Duran did after 1985 was Ordinary World? With both the focus on the videos and on their singles, it really feels as if Duran’s full history, full catalog is being ignored. They are so much more than their singles. They are so much more than their videos. If they were going to just focus on the singles, then they should list it like this. This is the list of Duran’s Greatest Singles. I could wrap my head around that more. That being said, there were some amazing singles after Ordinary World. It is like the editors of this list want to pretend that Duran ceased to exist after 1993. It is annoying and demeaning to the band.
Lastly, I wonder why the heck did they did not explore or include any song that was not a single. I think that if they asked fans about the greatest Duran songs, many/most/almost all/all of us would including album tracks in our lists of the greatest DD songs. Heck, maybe some of us would have included songs that were b-sides or bonus tracks. Maybe I’m the only one out there that thinks this but…,in my opinion, singles are different than greatest. Singles are meant to be popular, to sell copies, to gain attention for an album. They are not always the best tracks on an album. Some of the most artistic, creative, inspiring tracks are not ones that the masses would get into. Let’s take the Reflex, for example. I will always credit that song for making me a Duranie. It was a fun song in 1984 that begged for attention from the general public. Is it the best Duran song? Is it even the best song on Seven and the Ragged Tiger? Probably not. Yet, it made a great choice for a single.
In looking at this list, I could not help but compare the list of songs that I sent my niece in her quest to understand Duran (and/or me and my fandom). Here’s the songs I suggested for her:
- Planet Earth
- The Universe Alone
- Hold Back the Rain
- Finest Hour
- Careless Memories
- Pressure Off
- The Man Who Stole a Leopard
- New Moon on Monday
- Before the Rain
- Red Carpet Massacre
- Secret Oktober
- Breath After Breath
- The Seventh Stranger
- Tel Aviv
- The Edge of America
- Friends of Mine
Obviously, my list has some singles but not many. Some of more upbeat while some are more artistic. Are these the greatest songs? I am not sure that I would say that. They are more about introducing the band to my niece but I would still argue that my list is better than the one I saw from Smooth Radio.
So, what about the rest of you? Did you agree with Smooth Radio’s list? Is it okay that all had videos or that they were all singles?
-A
