BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1993
“Ordinary World” is the first single from Duran Duran’s self-titled 1993 album, commonly known as The Wedding Album. The single reached number one on the US Billboard Mainstream Top 40, the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and the Italian Singles Chart. It also peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, number two in Iceland and Sweden and number six on the UK Singles Chart.
The song won an Ivor Novello Award in May 1994. Lead vocalist Simon Le Bon sang the song with Luciano Pavarotti at a benefit concert for War Child.
By the early 1990s, Duran Duran’s popularity had faded. Their album Liberty had proved a commercial failure, its two singles failing to make a significant showing on the British or American charts. It was not until Capitol leaked “Ordinary World” to a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida during the second half of 1992 that it seemed like Duran Duran would find a resurgence in popularity. To their surprise, the single proved so popular that Capitol had to push the US release date up, ultimately releasing it in December.
The keyboards in the song were arranged and performed by Nick Rhodes and John Jones. The drums were played by Steve Ferrone at Maison Rouge. The guitar solo that characterizes this song was arranged and performed by Warren Cuccurullo, a former player with Frank Zappa. His instrumental rock trio version became a staple of his solo shows and was included on one of his solo albums “Roadrage”.
The music video was filmed by director Nick Egan at Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California and the song later featured in the soundtrack to the film Layer Cake in 2005.
Simon LeBon later performed the song with Pavarotti at a WarChild benefit. The performance was released on home video as Pavarotti & Friends: Together for the Children of Bosnia.
The lyric to “Ordinary World” was written by Simon Le Bon as the second of a trilogy of songs for his late friend David Miles; the others being “Do You Believe in Shame?” (1988) and “Out of My Mind” (1997).
“Ordinary World” is one of two Cuccurullo-era songs (“Come Undone” being the other) which were played when Duran Duran did their reunion tour, both Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor insisting on playing it. Cuccurullo was brought in to teach Andy Taylor how to play it. It has remained in the setlist ever since.
The “Acoustic Version” was more correctly the “Acoustic Mix” and was created using the studio guitar & vocal tracks and adding specially arranged string orchestration.
Dolby B NR was used for this transfer.
SIDE A/B:
Ordinary World 5:39
Producer – John Jones
Written-By, Producer – Duran Duran
Ordinary World (Acoustic Version) 5:12
Producer – John Jones
Written-By, Producer – Duran Duran
Save A Prayer (‘Till The Morning After) (Live) 6:16
Engineer [Live Recording] – George Tutko
Mixed By – Jason Corsaro
Producer – Duran Duran
Written By – Duran Duran
CASSETTE GRADE:
Cassette: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Ordinary World | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #3 |
| 1993 | Ordinary World | U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | #14 |
| 1993 | Ordinary World | U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs | #2 |
| 1993 | Ordinary World | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Top 40 | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Capitol Records – 4KM 0777 7 44908 4 9
Format: Cassette, Single Dolby HX Pro, B NR
Country: US
Released: 1993
Genre: Electronic, Rock, Pop
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Art Direction – Duran Duran
Art Direction, Design – Nick Egan
Design – Eric Rionestad*
Management – Left Bank Management
Photography By – Dean Chamberlain (2)
NOTES:
Same Program Repeats On Both Sides
Track 1 from the compact disc and cassette “Duran Duran”
Track 3 from the compact disc and cassette and LP “Arena”
Find the Cassette at DISCOGS
CASSETTE RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Cassette Deck: Nakamichi BX-300 Discrete 3 Head Cassette Deck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp Line In: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
Cassette transfer was recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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