I heard you making patterns rhyme

The Fab Four once proclaimed, "It was 30 years ago today...". Slowly but surely, it crept its way into becoming an appropriate rock n' roll catchphrase as the youth of the 1960s began to slip into adulthood.

Now, one band I've been following since the very beginning is celebrating a landmark moment in their career. Today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of "Planet Earth", Duran Duran's debut single.



I distinctly remember the very first time I saw the video. As I've mentioned previously, my dad used to work at a production house in NYC that duplicated UK sourced videos for US labels. Everything was transferred from PAL to NTSC and lovingly delivered to the record companies for distribution to clubs and a fledgling cable channel called MTV.

The site of Simon Lebon prancing around in a tea towel made me feel a bit sexy before I explored the real meaning behind that twitch in my loins. I was very taken with Lord Nicholas Of Rhodes and his sense of "fashion". The pink feather duster wig. The frilly shirt. He looked like a futuristic, colonial soldier. Roger's awkward shyness and plain attire made him seem at odds with Duran's visual aesthetic. Still, he was droolworthy and I needed an endless supply of hankies. For my overactive saliva glands, natch.

Somehow, their rag tag look worked. The band were made up of distinct individuals not characters. The sum of their parts pulled all the threads together in a cohesive sonic and visual unit.

As a teenager in the shadow of the Manhattan skyline, I had no clue about the New Romantic movement. The music spoke to me. The Rum Runner and Blitz Club didn't even make a ripple on my radar until I started reading i-D and The Face, THE essential Brit mags for a self-proclaimed Anglophile. That was about two or three years after "Planet Earth" touched down on my small home stereo.

But what about the song? I remember being obsessed with the sound of it. I could pick out bits of Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk and Chic. The chorus could've been lifted from an old Bay City Rollers single. The past, present and future collided in one swift three and a half minute pop opus.

And what about the b-side? Strong enough for an a-side! I couldn't believe "Late Bar" had been relegated to the flip of "Planet Earth". In fact, when "Late Bar" didn't appear on Duran Duran's debut longplayer, I was shocked. I remember making a cassette tape of the elpee and adding the b-side to the end of it. There are few bands that boast b-sides as a-side contenders. And the mighty DD has had many of them.



So, here we sit with our lattes and iPads as Duran Duran release their thirteenth longplayer, "All You Need Is Now". Certainly a strong album. One worthy of their long and distinguished career. And "Planet Earth" doesn't sound out of step with the current league of electro flavored pop stars. It's deliciously retro and super fresh at the same time.

In terms of a timeline, imagine if The Beatles had released a new album in 1994. That's the length of time between Duran's debut and their current elpee. That blows my mind. I think I need to rest my weary head after that little realization.

And I'm not the only who can't bend their brain around that. Check out John Taylor's thoughts as he ruminates about that inaugural pop explosion. You can read his recollections over at the official Duran Duran website.