BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1982
35 years of “RIO”!
“Hungry Like the Wolf” is a song by the British New Wave band Duran Duran. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Colin Thurston for the group’s second studio album Rio (1982). The song was released in May 1982 as the band’s fifth single in the United Kingdom. It reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart, and received a silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
“Hungry Like the Wolf”‘s Russell Mulcahy-directed music video was filmed in the jungles of Sri Lanka, and evoked the atmosphere of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although the band initially failed to break into the U.S. market, MTV placed the “Hungry Like the Wolf” video into heavy rotation. Subsequently, the group gained much exposure; the song peaked at the number three spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1983, and Duran Duran became an international sensation. The video won the first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1984.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” was written and recorded on a Saturday in the spring of 1982 at the basement studios of EMI’s London headquarters. Rhodes started the song’s demo in the morning with a sequencer; the song was built throughout the day as each band member arrived, and by the evening it was essentially complete.
“That track came from fiddling with the new technology that was starting to come in”, guitarist Andy Taylor said in an interview with Blender magazine. This refers to the rhythmic backing track they came up with by joining a Roland TR-808 drum machine with a sequencer and a Roland Jupiter-8 keyboard.
Rhodes came up with an idea for the backing track in the car while he was going to the studio. He started playing with the Roland Jupiter 8 keyboard, while singer Simon Le Bon was working with the lyrics. The lyrics were inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, and the repeating of the word “do” at the end of each verse, is an inspiration from Gordon Lightfoot’s song “If You Could Read My Mind”. Andy Taylor worked out a Marc Bolan-ish guitar part, a very Marshall-sounding Les Paul guitar lick that was added to the track. Then the bass and drums were added, and the whole track was finished that day, including Le Bon’s vocal melody and lyrics. The laugh at the beginning of the song and the screams during the song’s fade-out were performed and recorded live by Rhodes’ girlfriend at the time.
The group re-recorded the song for the Rio album a few months later at London’s AIR Studios with producer Colin Thurston, who also recorded the hits “Too Shy” for Kajagoogoo, and “I Want Candy” for Bow Wow Wow. Andy Taylor remembers: “He was a great organizer and arranger, we gave him far more ideas and music than the track actually needed, and he was important in the process of whittling them down to the essential elements.” Thurston and the band decided to keep the demo’s original electronic backing track and just re-record the other instruments and vocals.
“Hungry Like the Wolf” was released in the United Kingdom on 4 May 1982; the next week the song debuted at number thirty-five on the UK Singles Chart, six weeks later it reached its peak at number five, remaining six weeks in the top ten, and twelve weeks in total. The release of the single helped the band’s album Rio reach the second position of the albums chart. In Ireland the single entered the chart on 23 May 1982; reaching the number four position on the Irish Singles Chart, becoming the band’s first top ten hit in that country. Despite achieving commercial success with several top hits in the United Kingdom, the band failed to enter in the U.S. market. Their first album did not chart and failed to yield a hit single. “Hungry Like the Wolf” was released in the United States on 7 June 1982 but did not chart. At first, U.S. radio were reluctant to play the song, but when the newly emerging MTV began playing the accompanying music video in heavy rotation, the exposure pushed “Hungry Like the Wolf” onto AOR playlists. The song entered Billboard’s Top Tracks chart in August 1982 and reached the top of the chart in January 1983.
Following the release of the Carnival EP in September and the David Kershenbaum remaster of Rio in November, the Kershenbaum remix of “Hungry Like the Wolf” was released as a single on 3 December 1982. “Hungry Like the Wolf” entered the Billboard Hot 100 on 25 December 1982 at number seventy-seven, peaking at number three on 26 March 1983, and remaining twenty-three weeks on the chart. Ten years later in March 1993, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In Canada, the song debuted at number forty-eight on the RPM singles chart on 22 January 1983, reaching the top of the chart for one week on 19 March 1983, staying on the chart for nineteen weeks and ending at the tenth position of the 1983 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in April 1983.
SIDE A:
Hungry Like The Wolf (Night Version) 5:17
Producer, Engineer – Colin Thurston
SIDE B:
Careless Memories (Live Version) 4:12
Producer – Pete Dauncey
Recorded By, Engineer – Paul Nickson
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Hungry Like The Wolf | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #3 |
| 1983 | Hungry Like The Wolf | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 1983 | Hungry Like The Wolf | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | #36 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI – 12 EMI 5295, EMI – 12EMI 5295
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 04 May 1982
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: New Wave, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Arranged By, Written-By – Duran Duran
NOTES:
Track A from the album “RIO”
Track B recorded at Hammersmith Odeon (December 1981).
Manufactured in the UK by EMI Records Limited.
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
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 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
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
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
