Slickly-produced synth-pop from Birmingham's answer to Spandau Ballet.
Duran Duran's "Save A Prayer" was released in August 1982 and became the highest charting song from their immensely successful second album Rio. It was held to the number 2 slot in the UK charts by Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger". In March 1983, the band bagged their first #1 with "Is There Something I Should Know" and their success continued into the early 90s.
The quintessentially 80s sound of this ballad was courtesy of keyboard player Nick Rhodes who'd spent the afternoon playing about on some new synths in a small room of the Rumrunner club in Birmingham where the band had regularly played in the early days of their career.
By the time singer Simon Le Bon got to the rehearsal room, the music for the verse had written itself. Simon immediately set to work on the melody and the chorus which was a variation on a melodyof Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind".
"We were a little nervous because the first album had done pretty well"
Band lyricist Simon penned the song's words whilst on tour. He describes this tale of a one-off sexual encounter as a "freedom song", and one can only speculate as to how relevant his experiences as a young, handsome pop star were to his writing!
"It's definitely a freedom song but like a kinda nobody owns anybody kinda song"
The producer of Rio was Colin Thurston, who'd also worked on the band's debut album Duran Duran. Thurston had honed his production techniques working as an engineer on Iggy Pop's Lust for Life and David Bowie's Heroes and as a producer of numerous 80s acts including Bow Wow Wow, The Human League and Howard Jones. His production roots are evident -throughout the album he created a music bed that Le Bon referred to as "lush without being thick" and "prickly and sparkly" by elongating the synthesizer harmonies that sit alongside the syncopated melodies.
The concept of the music video was one that these Brummie art and drama students took to with ease. "Save A Prayer" and "Hungry Like The Wolf" were shot in Sri Lanka among the spectacular Buddist temples. Shortly after, the band flew to the Leeward Islands, Antigua to shoot the video for "Rio." These videos helped to establish Duran Duran's image and made them MTV favourites. Their US breakthrough came late in 1983 and "Save A Prayer" finally charted Stateside in 1985.
"When we made the "Save a Prayer" video it was a kind of stressful time for me"
The rhythm of the melody is not straightforward - it is heavily syncopated. Le Bon said that he likes songs that are free and not standardised and "enjoy[s] music like John Lennon that turns round on itself".
Awards came aplenty for this single which was no surprise as the band was definitely 'en vogue'. In 1983, "Save A Prayer" was runner up for Best Single at the British Rock and Pop Awards and number 2 in Record Mirror's Best Single of the Year chart. The video also picked up the 'best of' prize in Record Mirror's annual poll.
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Arranging and producing a song can clarify it or change it out of all recognition...
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