BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Is There Something I Should Know?” is the eighth single by British band Duran Duran, released on 19 March 1983.
The song was released as a stand-alone single and became the band’s first UK number one record. It debuted in the number one position on the UK Singles Chart on 26 March 1983. The single also had great success in America, where it was released in late May: it reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 6 August 1983 and sold more than a million copies.
“Is There Something I Should Know?” was recorded in London, with producer Ian Little in December 1982. Although generally regarded as a stand-alone single, it was added to the 1983 US re-issue of the band’s 1981 debut album, Duran Duran. The first album on which the song featured in the UK was the inaugural Now That’s What I Call Music compilation at the end of the year.
The singles from the Duran Duran album did not receive much airplay in the United States on the album’s first release; both the band and the New Romantic fashion style were unknown, and very few British bands were able to break into American radio at that time. However, by the end of 1982, the band’s Rio album was rapidly climbing the American charts, fueled by saturation airplay of various Duran Duran videos on MTV. The band and their label, Capitol/EMI, decided to re-release the debut album in the United States with the inclusion of this newly recorded single.
Because of the time limitations of vinyl records, the inclusion of “Is There Something I Should Know?” required the omission of the album track “To The Shore” on the reissue. “To The Shore” was reinstated on later compact disc pressings.
“Is There Something I Should Know?” was the song Duran Duran used to open their 1983/84 Seven and the Ragged Tiger album tour shows with and also Duran Duran’s charity concert at Aston Villa football ground 1983.
In a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco wrote that the lyrics “deal with a difficult romantic relationship in rather obtuse terms.” Guarisco highlighted what he described as “odd turns of phrase” in the lyrics, such as: “and fiery demons all dance when you walk through that door/Don’t say your easy on me ’cause you’re about as easy as a nuclear war.”
Although Guarisco questioned the lyrics, he praised the melody in the song. He wrote: “The melody of ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ is one of Duran Duran’s catchiest, matching twisty verse melodies full of ear-catching hooks with a harmonized chorus.
The B-side to “Is There Something I Should Know?” in Europe is the instrumental “Faith in this Colour”. An “Alternate Slow Mix” of “Faith in this Colour” was used on the 7″ single, some pressings of which included brief unauthorized sound samples from the movie Star Wars — these were promptly withdrawn when copyright concerns were raised, although on the “Alternate Slow Mix” from the singles box set, the scene, in which Obi-Wan leaves to disable the tractor beam, can clearly be heard in the last minute. Duran Duran has not confirmed this, though.
The mainly instrumental “Monster Mix” of “Is There Something I Should Know?” was completed by producers Ian Little and Alex Sadkin.
In the US, the song “Careless Memories” is the B-side of “Is There Something I Should Know?”.
SIDE A:
Is There Something I Should Know? (Monster Mix) 6:42
Remix – Alex Sadkin, Ian Little
SIDE B:
Is There Something I Should Know? (Short Mix) 4:09
Faith In This Colour 4:06
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Is There Something I Should Know? | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #4 |
| 1983 | Is There Something I Should Know? | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #3 |
| 1983 | Is There Something I Should Know? | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance/Club Play | #34 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI Electrola – 1C K062-65 106 Z
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Germany
Released: 1983
Genre: Electronic, Pop, Rock
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Producer – Ian Little
Producer, Written-By – Duran Duran
NOTES:
Watch out for ‘Duran Duran’ the video album containing the complete history since Planet Earth and more…
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7 TubeGold Pins
Soundcard: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Thanks!!!
CL
I really like the new heading for the website what fonts did you use for the lettering?
Hi Paul
What a great 12″ choice to start the new year with! Also loving the new fresh look of the site inspired by this 12″ 🙂
This song brings back so many great memories because I fell in love with the whole Duran Duran ‘big hair’ and style look in 1983. I remember my bedroom being covered in beautiful, huge Duran Duran posters which my friends all remember about me too.
Thank you for reviving those memories
David
Hi Paul, thanks for this. The new website layout looks great, nice fresh new look. I have a question: Is this a re-post of an earlier rip? I thought it looked familiar and went and looked, I was wondering if this was a re-rip or a re-post from an earlier rip? It doesn’t say in your notes, just wondering. I hope you had a wonderful New Year and about this song, I love all the Duran singles from the 80’s. I don’t remember this video so I will be going and checking out the video to see what some here… Read more »
Hi, Memoryboy I did post this back in 2013 but took it down because I was not pleased with it. This is, however, a brand new transfer 🙂
Ok, thanks for answering my question, that’s great. A new re-rip for a New Year. I went and watched the video for this song and it’s pretty good…. In all it’s cheezy-80’s Glory! Love it! LOL
This was the first song and video in the summer of 1983 when it cool to watch MTV I saw DD that made me a fan for life. It was a different track from Duran Duran and RIO songs and the video stood out as a groundbreaker to me. Always loved guitar riff he played that made it noticeable with that cool instrumental break with the harmonica. I remember in Duran Duran The Book of Words Nick said that there is a version that was produced by Hugh Pagham that is buried somewhere in Abbey Rhodes Studios. Thanks for posting.
How cool Robert I would love to hear the Hugh Pagham production 🙂
Pretty sure it was a Bob Clearmountain mix, not Hugh Padgham, but yes, this is one of the hidden gems I would most like to hear!
Is There Something I Should Know? was the first single of Duran Duran to hit the number one spot in the UK and debuted straight to the top spot. The video version was slightly longer than the single mix and is visually stunning (effects wise) for 1983. Faith In This Colour is such a perfect instrumental, and I read somewhere that Nick Rhodes and Ian Little stayed in the studio all night to complete this B-side, there were three versions, the one with the Star Wars samples withdrawn, even though the Alternate Slow Mix” from the singles box set has… Read more »
Thank you, John, for all the info 🙂 Happy New Year!
This song was ahead of it’s time. Seeing the video for this over and over again put me onto Duran.
And for a re-working of this tune we have Yo Bad Azizi as the B-Side to Serious.
Had forgotten about Yo Bad Azizi.
built around a lyric from “Is There Something I Should Know?”. The lyrics “Yo Bad Azizi as a nuclear war” is a corruption of “You’re about as easy as a nuclear war”, due to the way vocalist Simon Le Bon sings the line. This reportedly prompted a fan’s letter asking Le Bon what “yo bad azizi” meant.
I’m confused about the “Alternate Slow Mix” of “Faith In This Colour”. I thought it was replaced with the fast version after the Star Wars samples were deemed unusable. Was it replaced with a DIFFERENT slow version? Are there in fact THREE versions of it? All I have are the two versions from the Singles Box Set. I hope if you have the third version it will eventually make an appearance here on your site! 🙂
From Duran Duran Wiki
There are three versions of “Faith In This Colour”, with the instrumental featuring as a slower alternate mix on the 7″ single compared with the 12″ release. Some pressings of the 7″ single also included brief unauthorised sound samples from the movie Star Wars, which were promptly withdrawn when copyright concerns were raised.
The original version with Star Wars samples is extremely hard to find since it was quickly pulled from shelves.
Paul do you have the 7″ with the Star Wars version? If you haven’t I will have to drag my copy out from storage and give it a spin to check mine…
If I am currently listening to a version with R2D2 sounding whistles 2:57, 3:08 and then lots from 3:14 is that the withdrawn version?
The Wiki article is incorrect. There are only two versions, the common fast version and the original slow version with the Star Wars samples. I have both the original vinyl slow version and the Singles CD Box Set one (Alternate Slow Mix), and they are exactly the same, with all the same SW sounds in the same places. If anything, the samples are even easier to hear in the Singles Box Set version due to the remastering. They are nice and loud! I guess they either settled the legal issue the second time around or no one paid any attention!… Read more »
Thanks Paul. Didn’t know that Duran Duran’s single “Burning the ground” inspired you to the sites name. Love the new look too. I wish you a great 2018 filled with health and happiness!
Actually “Burning The Ground” appears in the “Hungry Like The Wolf” lyrics which is where I actually got the name from. But the single “Burning The Ground” takes the line from “Hungry Like The Wolf” too 🙂 Happy New Year!
Happy new year paul, welcome back, nice to see the new logo, and scheme, and of course the songs… yes, it was neat hearing a new song, and re-releasing the first album which i hadn’t heard at the time. i really like this song, but can’t recommend this instrumental dub version, it’s too bad, it could have been much better. i made a fanmix which puts back the vocals on it, on youtube, and i’m sure there are other mixes that do that. the lyrics are too good to pass up, ‘don’t say you’re easy on me, you’re about as… Read more »
Agree with you the “Monster Mix” left me always wanting the lyrics. One of my favorite Duran Duran tracks. The single mix is perfection 🙂 Happy New Year!
Thanks Paul.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
Alex Sadkin ! Can’t have enough of his work on these pages. Great magician with sound, instruments, mixing and balance – to mention a few. Missed, very much. Basicly he invented some ways of remicing. (Not particularly this Duran one with cut-cut-cut’n’p-p-p-paste-work, I prefer the more organic work. Like Private life to give an example. But hey enjoy, Duran fans, and: do look him up!)
I agree Dirk Sadkin was a genius 🙂
Agreed, although Ian Little deserves credit as well. There’s a great in depth interview with Little out there where he goes over the nitty gritty of making the Reflex but he first discusses his work on ITSISK. It was like a tryout of sorts for him and he decided to make it as sharp edged and rough sounding as he could to try to turn the band’s previous sound on its head. He said he figured they’d hate it and sack him, but they loved it, and ended up using him again for Seven and the Ragged Tiger. ITSISK really… Read more »
ps Thanks a ton Paul for your amazing work!