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Hungry Like the Wolf

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"Hungry Like the Wolf"
Song
B-side"Careless Memories" (live)

"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). "Hungry Like the Wolf" was released in May 1982 as the album'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 exotic 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 American market, MTV placed the "Hungry Like The Wolf" video into heavy rotation. Subsequently, the group gained much exposure; "Hungry Like the Wolf" peaked at the third spot of 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.

Writing and recording

"Hungry Like the Wolf"
A 23 second sample from "Hungry Like the Wolf", featuring Rhode's girlfriend's laugh at the beginning, Le Bon's vocals with a backing track that mixes a Roland 808 drum machine with a sequencer, and a Roland Jupiter 8 keyboard, and the repeating of the word do at the end.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"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.[1][2] 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.[3]

"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.[1] This refers to the rhythmic backing track they came up with by joining a Roland 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.[2] He started playing with the Roland Jupiter 8 keyboard, while singer Simon Le Bon was working with the lyrics.[2] The lyrics were inspired by Little Red Riding Hood,[1] 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".[4] 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.[1] The laugh at the beginning of the song and the screams during the song's fade-out were performed and recorded live by Rhode’s girlfriend at the time.[5]

They group re-recorded the song for the Rio album a few months later at London's AIR Studios with producer Colin Thurston,[3] 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.[1]

Critical reception

"Hungry Like the Wolf" received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics. Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork Media in a 2003 review of the "Singles Box Set 1981-1985", said that "singles don't come much stronger than 'Hungry Like the Wolf'," praising its "bubbly keys around a slashing guitar riff," adding that the song "show[s] off how Duran Duran was a band, not just a synthesizer."[6] Jon Pareles from The New York Times, said the song "put an oblique, sometimes apocalyptic spin on pop romance in the verses but kept the choruses clear and catchy, never disguising their pop intentions," adding that the "posing was always a little preposterous, but no less enjoyable for that."[7] Ned Raggett from Allmusic said the song "blended a tight, guitar-heavy groove with electronic production and a series of instant hooks," adding that it was one of Rio's "biggest smashes" that "open[ed] the door in America for the New Romantic/synth rock crossover."[8]

Music video

The iconic image of singer Simon Le Bon, and the tiger-like woman screaming at each other, in the middle of the Sri Lankan jungle.

In 1982, music video director Russell Mulcahy, who had directed the band's first video "Planet Earth," was brought back to make the music video for "Hungry Like the Wolf" and two other songs for the band's 1983 video album.[9] The band had a vision of jungles and exotic women, and Mulcahy suggested Sri Lanka, a country he had just visited.[1] EMI invested $200,000 to send the group to Sri Lanka;[10] the band made a stopover there in April, in route to a scheduled Australian tour.[1] Keyboardist Nick Rhodes remained behind to finish the mixing of the Rio album while the rest of the band began filming the video; Rhodes flew straight to Sri Lanka after handing over the final masters to EMI.[11]

As it was described in the pop culture book, The 1980s, the video was lush and cinematic, with shots of jungles, rivers, elephants, cafes and marketplaces evoking the atmosphere of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.[12] In the video, singer Simon Le Bon's head rises in slow motion out of the river as rain pours down. He then chases a beautiful tiger-like Indian woman played by Bermudian model Sheila Ming,[13] from open markets in the city through obstacles in the jungle. During the chase, Le Bon has his face mopped by a young boy and overturnes a bar room table, culminating in a final chase and struggle in a jungle clearing, which is sexually suggestive. In the meantime, the other band members hunt for Le Bon.[10]

Less than two months after the shoot of the video, the American cable television network MTV put "Hungry Like The Wolf" into heavy rotation, playing it four times a day.[10] The exposure eventually helped propel the single into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, and the Rio album into the top ten of the albums chart.[10] Les Garland, senior executive vice president of MTV, said: "I remember our director of talent and artist relations came running in and said, 'You have got to see this video that’s come in.' Duran Duran were getting zero radio airplay at the time, and MTV wanted to try to break new music. 'Hungry Like the Wolf' was the greatest video I’d ever seen."[11] MTV named "Hungry Like The Wolf" the fifteenth most-played video of the network,[14] and was eleventh on the century-end MTV "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made".[15] "Hungry Like the Wolf" won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 26th Grammy Awards, making it the first video to ever win that award.[16] In 2001, VH1 rated it thirty-first on the "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos".[17]

Chart performance

"Hungry Like the Wolf" was released in the United Kingdom on 4 May 1982; the next week the song debuted at number thrity-five on the UK Singles Chart,[18] six weeks later it reached its peak at number five,[19] remaining six weeks in the top ten, and twelve weeks in total.[18] The release of the single helped the band's album Rio reach the second position of the albums chart.[20] In Ireland the single entered the chart on 23 May 1982; reaching the fourth position of the Irish Singles Chart, becoming the band's first top ten on that country.[21]

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.[22] The song entered Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in August 1982 and reached the top position in January 1983.[23] 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 in the Billboard Hot 100 on 25 December 1982 at number seventy-seven,[24] peaking at number three on 26 March 1983, and remaining twenty-three weeks on the chart.[25] Ten years later in March 1993, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[26]

In Canada, the song debuted at the forty-eight position of the RPM singles chart on 22 January 1983,[27] reaching the top of the chart for one week on 19 March 1983,[28] staying on the chart for nineteen weeks[29] and ending at the tenth position of the 1983 year-end chart.[30] It was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), in April 1983.[31]

Track listing

Personnel

Charts, peaks and certifications

Chart positions

Preceded by Canadian RPM number-one single
19 March 1983 		Succeeded by

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Black, Jhonny (Jan/Feb 2003). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Hungry Like the Wolf". Blender. Alpha Media Group. Retrieved 2009-02-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c Duran Duran. Classic Albums: Rio (DVD). Eagle Rock Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b "Ok Then, Shortest Song". Duranduran.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  4. ^ "Story From Storytellers". Duranduran.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  5. ^ "Sound's Effects". Duranduran.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  6. ^ Mitchum, Rob (2003-07-02). ""Fame Had Its Way With Us!"". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  7. ^ Pareles, Jon (2005-04-05). "Nostalgia for the Skinny Tie as Duran Duran Returns". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  8. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Album Review: Rio". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  9. ^ Denisoff; Schurk, 1986. p. 364.
  10. ^ a b c d Shuker, 2001. p. 171.
  11. ^ a b Odell, Michael (Jun/Jul 2003). ""Fame Had Its Way With Us!"". Blender. Alpha Media Group. Retrieved 2009-02-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Batchelor; Stoddart, 2007. p. 124.
  13. ^ "Hungry Lady". Duranduran.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  14. ^ "Timeline: 1982". Duranduran.com. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  15. ^ "MTV: 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made". ARC Weekly Top 40. 1999. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  16. ^ "Grammy Awards Winners: Hungry Like the Wolf". The Recording Academy. 1983. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  17. ^ "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos". ARC Weekly Top 40. 2001. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  18. ^ a b c "Chart Stats - Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf" (PDF). OCC. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  19. ^ "Chart For Week Up To 26/06/1982" (PDF). OCC. 1982-06-26. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  20. ^ "Album Chart For Week Up To 29/05/1982" (PDF). OCC. 1982-05-29. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  21. ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". IRMA. 1982-05-23. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  22. ^ Denisoff; Schurk, 1986. p. 365.
  23. ^ "Rio > Charts and Awards > Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
  24. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100: Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran - Week of Dic 25 1982". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1982-12-25. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  25. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100: Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran - Week of 9 Apr 1983". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1983-04-09. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  26. ^ a b "RIAA - Gold and Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America. 1993-03-16. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  27. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 37, No. 21, 22 January 1983". RPM. 1983-01-22. Retrieved 2009-02-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  28. ^ a b "Top Singles - Volume 38, No.3, 19 March 1983". RPM. 1983-03-19. Retrieved 2009-01-26. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 38, No. 13, 28 May 1983". RPM. 1983-05-28. Retrieved 2009-02-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  30. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 39, No. 17, 24 December 1983". RPM. 1983-12-24. Retrieved 2009-02-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  31. ^ a b "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)". Canadian Recording Industry Association. 1983-04-01. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  32. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help)
  33. ^ "Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf (Nummer)" (in Dutch). GfK. 1982-03-07. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  34. ^ "Indice per Interprete: D" (in Italian). HitParadeItalia. 1983. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  35. ^ "The Billboard Hot 100: Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran - Week of 26 Mar 1983". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1983-03-26. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  36. ^ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. 1982-07-01. Retrieved 2009-01-26.

References

  • Batchelor, Bob (2007). The 1980s. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 031333000X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Denisoff, R. Serge (1986). Tarnished Gold: The Record Industry Revisited. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0887386180. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Shuker, Roy (2001). Understanding Popular Music. Routledge. ISBN 041523509X. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)


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