The group placed an ad in Melody Maker, which drew the attention of Andy Taylor, who became their guitarist. After recording a demo, John Taylor switched to bass and guitarist John Curtis joined the band, only to leave within a matter of months. Within a year, Duffy and Colley both left the group - Duffy would later form the Lilac Time - and were replaced by former TV Eye vocalist Andy Wickett and drummer Roger Taylor. Taking their name from a character in Roger Vadim's psychedelic sci-fi film Barbarella, the group began playing gigs in the Birmingham club Barbarella, supported by a drum machine. Inspired by David Bowie and Roxy Music, as well as post-punk and disco, schoolmates Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (guitar) formed Duran Duran in 1978 with their friends Simon Colley (bass, clarinet) and Stephen Duffy (vocals). Nevertheless, the group pulled off a surprising, if short-lived, comeback in the early '90s as a sophisticated soft rock trio. By the late '80s, the group's lineup had fragmented, and the remaining members had trouble landing hit singles. But their fall from grace was equally fast. Between 19, they rocketed from underground British post-punk sensations to teen idols. The clever videos helped make Duran Duran's rise to popularity remarkably swift. "Hungry Like the Wolf" uncannily recalled Raiders of the Lost Ark, while "Union of the Snake" and "The Wild Boys" brought to mind The Road Warrior. While early videos like "Girls on Film" and "The Chauffeur" sparked controversy in England over their sexual content, their best-known clips were often based on hit contemporary movies. Each video the group made was distinctive, incorporating a number of cinematic styles to showcase the band as either part of the jet-setting elite ("Rio") or as worldly adventurers ("Hungry Like the Wolf"). While Duran Duran did have sharper pop sensibilities than their new romantic contemporaries like Spandau Ballet and Ultravox, none of their peers exploited MTV and music video like the Birmingham-based quintet. Without music videos, it's likely that their pop-funk - described by the group as the Sex Pistols meets Chic - would never have made them international pop stars. Duran Duran's reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their fashion-model looks and glamorous sense of style. Duran Duran's reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their fashion-model looks and glamorous sense ofÄuran Duran personified new wave for much of the mainstream audience. Duran Duran personified new wave for much of the mainstream audience.
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