1988 Duran Duran – Big Thing
Big Thing is the fifth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran. It was released on 18 October 1988 by EMI. The album reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 24 on the US Billboard 200.
In 1988, the musical climate was changing, veering to a more dance-based groove. Duran Duran were known primarily as an early 1980s new wave synth-pop act, and the band was sitting at a career crossroads; Big Thing was their stab at maintaining mainstream popularity.
Turning to more synth- and bass-heavy grooves than their previous efforts, Big Thing was seen by many as the band’s “house music” album. Tracks like the first single “I Don’t Want Your Love”, the title track, and the album’s second single “All She Wants Is” cemented the band’s more aggressive dance angle.
To get the new music played without preconceived ‘teeny bopper band’ notions of Duran Duran, the band sent an edited three-minute version of album tracks “The Edge of America” and “Lake Shore Driving” to radio stations, known as “Official Bootleg: The LSD Edit”. The promo was credited to “The Krush Brothers”, which the band also used in a few surprise live dates.
Dance music and stylistic respellings aside, Big Thing was an album of contrasts. While the general feel was a response to the burgeoning house music and rave scene, a number of tracks on the album harkened back to the band’s more lush arrangements. Tracks like “Land”, “Palomino” and the single “Do You Believe in Shame?” had more in common with “Save a Prayer” or “The Seventh Stranger” than with Chicago house.
The album also contains two short pieces entitled “Interlude One” and “Flute Interlude” which were more experimental in nature than anything the band had done before. The band would repeat the use of these “interludes” on future albums with “Shotgun” appearing on Duran Duran (1993), “Fragment” and “Kiss Goodbye” on Pop Trash (2000), and “Return to Now” and “A Diamond in the Mind” on All You Need Is Now (2011).
While the album and the first two singles did quite well in the charts, the relative failure of the third single “Do You Believe in Shame?” (it reached No. 30 in the UK) killed off any chance for a fourth single from the album. A house version of “Drug” which had been recorded with producer Marshall Jefferson in April 1989 was tentatively slated as that single.
A brief legal challenge surrounded the close resemblance of the melody of “Shame” to that of the Dale Hawkins classic “Suzie Q” (more famously covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival). It was judged that there was no intentional plagiarism in this case.
The album was eventually reissued with the original Daniel Abraham mix of “Drug” added as a bonus track, previously released as a b-side to the “Do You Believe in Shame?” single.
Tracks
1 Big Thing (Duran Duran) 03:41
2 I Don’t Want Your Love (Duran Duran) 04:06
3 All She Wants Is (Duran Duran) 04:32
4 Too Late Marlene (Duran Duran) 05:08
5 Drug (It’s Just A State Of Mind) (Duran Duran) 04:38
6 Do You Believe In Shame? (Duran Duran) 04:31
7 Palomino (Duran Duran) 05:19
8 Interlude One (Duran Duran) 00:33
9 Land (Duran Duran) 06:12
10 Flute Interlude (Duran Duran) 00:32
11 The Edge Of America (Duran Duran) 02:37
12 Lake Shore Driving (Duran Duran) 03:05
Biography
Musicians
Bass | John N Taylor |
Keyboards | Nick Rhodes |
Vocals | Simon Le Bon |
Other Musicians
1 Big Thing
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Sax | Patrick Bourgoin |
Sax | Stan Harrison |
Trombone | Glenn Ferris |
Trumpet | Mac Gollehon |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Background Vocals | Carole Fredericks |
Background Vocals | Joniece Jamison |
2 I Don’t Want Your Love
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Chester Kamen |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Sax | Patrick Bourgoin |
Sax | Stan Harrison |
Trumpet | Mac Gollehon |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Background Vocals | Carole Fredericks |
Background Vocals | Joniece Jamison |
3 All She Wants Is
Snare | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Guitar | Chester Kamen |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
4 Too Late Marlene
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Sax | Dave Tofani |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Background Vocals | Beckie Bell |
Background Vocals | Carole Fredericks |
Background Vocals | Yvonne Jones |
5 Drug (It’s Just A State Of Mind)
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Sax | Patrick Bourgoin |
Sax | Stan Harrison |
Trombone | Glenn Ferris |
Trumpet | Mac Gollehon |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Background Vocals | Carole Fredericks |
Vocals | Joniece Jamison |
6 Do You Believe In Shame?
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Guitar | Daniel Abraham |
7 Palomino
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
9 Land
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Background Vocals | Beckie Bell |
Background Vocals | Carole Fredericks |
Background Vocals | Yvonne Jones |
11 The Edge Of America
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
12 Lake Shore Driving
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Drums | Louis Cesar Ewande |
Guitar | Warren Cuccurullo |
Percussion | Marc Chantereau |
Liner Notes
Producer – Daniel Abraham, Duran Duran, Jonathan Elias
Arranged By – Duran Duran
Engineer (Second) – Danny Mormando, Dave Way, Jean Loup-Morette
Engineer (Additional Mixdown) – Eddie Garcia (Track 9)
Mastered By – Ted Jensen
Mixed By – Daniel Abraham
Mixed By – Steve Peck (Track 3)
Recorded By – Daniel Abraham
Remix – Duncan Bridgeman, Joe Dworniak (Track 5)
Design – Hans Arnold
Photography – Virginia Liberatore
Copyright DD Productions Ltd/EMI Records Ltd