Big Thing
Encyclopedia
Big Thing is the fifth album by Duran Duran
, released worldwide in 1988. It reached #15 in the UK and #24 in the US.
A CD reissue (with one bonus track) was released in 1994. The album is was reissued as a three disc boxset on .
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.
The band decided to stylise how they spell their name, shortening it to the single word "Duranduran".
To get the new music played without preconceived 'teeny bopper band' notions of Duranduran, 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 stylist 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 harked 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) and "Prototypes" featuring on some versions of Pop Trash
(2000).
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 #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.
had begun working with Duran Duran in the middle of the recording of the previous album Notorious (1986), after the acrimonious departure of former guitarist Andy Taylor
. While he was still not a full band member, nor a true songwriting partner, Big Thing was the first full album with which Cuccurullo was involved. His contributions can be felt all over the record, from the "lead vamp guitar" on "All She Wants Is" to the crazed guitar solo on album closer "Lake Shore Driving".
Contrary to popular belief, Chester Kamen plays guitar on "I Don't Want Your Love" (although it's Cuccurullo who appears in the video).
At the end of the global Electric Theatre Tour promoting Big Thing in 1989, Warren Cuccurullo became a full-time member of the band along with drummer Sterling Campbell
. Campbell would stay for one more album, 1990's Liberty
, while Cuccurullo would remain with the band until 2001.
who had been killed in a car crash in late 1987, the late Andy Warhol
, who had died in early 1987 and David Miles, a childhood friend of Le Bon's who died of an illegal drug cigarette during the album's creation.
.
As neither of the UK CDs show the track listings the difference between them can be identified by the catalogue numbers. These are:-
With:
Also credited:
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, released worldwide in 1988. It reached #15 in the UK and #24 in the US.
A CD reissue (with one bonus track) was released in 1994. The album is was reissued as a three disc boxset on .
Background
In 1988, the musical climate was changing, veering to a more dance-based groove. Duran Duran were known primarily as an early '80s 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
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
" 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.
The band decided to stylise how they spell their name, shortening it to the single word "Duranduran".
To get the new music played without preconceived 'teeny bopper band' notions of Duranduran, 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 stylist respellings aside, Big Thing was an album of contrasts. While the general feel was a response to the burgeoning house music and rave
Rave
Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured fast-paced electronic music and light shows. At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers...
scene, a number of tracks on the album harked 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
Chicago house
Chicago house is a style of house music, a genre of electronic dance music which emerged in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Stylistically, Chicago house has no widely accepted definition, but generally includes the first house music productions by Chicago-based artists throughout the 1980s, and any later...
.
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
Duran Duran (1993 album)
Duran Duran is the seventh studio album and the second self-titled album by Duran Duran, released on 23 February 1993. The cover art by Nick Egan features wedding photos from the parents of the four band members.Recording of the album was completed in early 1992 with an impending release by...
(1993) and "Prototypes" featuring on some versions of Pop Trash
Pop Trash
"Last Day on Earth" directs here. For the 2009 song by Kate Miller-Heidke, see The Last Day on EarthReleased in 2000, Pop Trash is Duran Duran's tenth album. The album marked their first release not under Capitol Records/EMI, with whom they'd been signed since 1981. It was also the last to...
(2000).
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
Do You Believe In Shame
"Do You Believe In Shame?" is the nineteenth single by Duran Duran. Released 10 April 1989 it was the third and final single from the Big Thing album.-About the song:...
?" (it reached #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
Marshall Jefferson
Marshall Jefferson is an American musician, working in house music, in particular, the subgenres of Chicago house and deep house.-Biography:...
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
Dale Hawkins
Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie...
classic "Suzie Q" (more famously covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
). It was judged that there was no intentional plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
in this case.
The album was eventually reissued with the original Daniel Abraham
Daniel Abraham (record producer)
Daniel Abraham is a French record producer, sound engineer and record mixer.He has most closely been associated with the band Duran Duran, with whom he worked on the Notorious and Big Thing albums....
mix of "Drug" added as a bonus track, previously released as a b-side to the "Do You Believe In Shame?" single.
Warren Cuccurullo
Guitarist Warren CuccurulloWarren Cuccurullo
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo in Brooklyn, New York is an American rock musician who worked with Frank Zappa, was a founding member of Missing Persons, and has been a long term member of Duran Duran. He also has some notoriety in the porn industry after making nude appearances in a magazine and...
had begun working with Duran Duran in the middle of the recording of the previous album Notorious (1986), after the acrimonious departure of former guitarist Andy Taylor
Andy Taylor (guitarist)
Andy Taylor is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station....
. While he was still not a full band member, nor a true songwriting partner, Big Thing was the first full album with which Cuccurullo was involved. His contributions can be felt all over the record, from the "lead vamp guitar" on "All She Wants Is" to the crazed guitar solo on album closer "Lake Shore Driving".
Contrary to popular belief, Chester Kamen plays guitar on "I Don't Want Your Love" (although it's Cuccurullo who appears in the video).
At the end of the global Electric Theatre Tour promoting Big Thing in 1989, Warren Cuccurullo became a full-time member of the band along with drummer Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell
Sterling Campbell in New York City, New York, is an American rock drummer who has worked with numerous high-profile acts. He rose to attention in 1986, touring with Cyndi Lauper on her her True Colors World Tour, in 1986, and in 1987, joined Duran Duran...
. Campbell would stay for one more album, 1990's Liberty
Liberty (album)
Liberty is the sixth studio album by Duran Duran, released on . It entered the top 10 in the UK albums chart, and garnered a #6 hit for the single "Serious" in Japan.-Recording:...
, while Cuccurullo would remain with the band until 2001.
Dedication
For the first time in their career the band members decided to write personal dedication notes on the album sleeve thus thanking the late Alex SadkinAlex Sadkin
Alex Sadkin is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
who had been killed in a car crash in late 1987, the late Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, who had died in early 1987 and David Miles, a childhood friend of Le Bon's who died of an illegal drug cigarette during the album's creation.
1988 Original Release
All songs written and arranged by Duran DuranDuran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
.
As neither of the UK CDs show the track listings the difference between them can be identified by the catalogue numbers. These are:-
- 0777 7 909582 7 (UK: CDDDB 33) Original 12 track CD
- 0777 7 898342 2 (UK: CDPRG 1007) 1994 reissue with bonus track
2010 Reissue
- "Drug" as included here is actually the "Daniel Abraham Mix" included on previous releases, which is how the song was originally meant to be included on the album. The version which appeared on the original album, remixed by Joe Dworniak and Duncan Bridgeman, is included on disc two, labelled "Remix".
- Tracks 3, 9 and 12 are previously unreleased
Singles
- "I Don't Want Your LoveI Don't Want Your Love"I Don't Want Your Love" is the seventeenth single from Duran Duran and the first single from the Big Thing album. It was released on September 1988...
" (Sept 1988) (#14 UK, #4 US) - "All She Wants IsAll She Wants Is"All She Wants Is" is the eighteenth single from Duran Duran, and the second single from the Big Thing album. It was released in December 1988, and reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.-Music video:...
" (Dec 1988) (#9 UK, #22 US) - "Do You Believe in Shame?" (April 1989) (#30 UK, #72 US)
Promo Singles
- "Official Bootleg: LSD Edit" (as The Krush Brothers)
- "Big Thing"
- "Too Late Marlene"
Bonus Disc (Japanese Release Only)
Toshiba EMI also released Big Thing in a two-disc set, which featured not only the complete album, but a five-song live CD, Previously released as Duran Goes Dutch (USA,Promo EP 1987):- Notorious [Live]
- Vertigo (Do The Demolition) [Live]
- New Religion [Live]
- Hungry Like The Wolf [Live]
- American Science [Live]
Personnel
Duran Duran are:- Simon Le BonSimon Le BonSimon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.-Early life:...
- vocals - Nick RhodesNick RhodesNick Rhodes is an English musician, is best known as the keyboardist of the pop rock band Duran Duran...
- keyboards - John TaylorNigel John TaylorJohn Taylor is an English musician who is best known as the bass guitarist and co-founder of pop rock band Duran Duran....
- bass guitar
With:
- Warren CuccurulloWarren CuccurulloWarren Bruce Cuccurullo in Brooklyn, New York is an American rock musician who worked with Frank Zappa, was a founding member of Missing Persons, and has been a long term member of Duran Duran. He also has some notoriety in the porn industry after making nude appearances in a magazine and...
- guitar - Chester Kamen - guitar
- Sterling CampbellSterling CampbellSterling Campbell in New York City, New York, is an American rock drummer who has worked with numerous high-profile acts. He rose to attention in 1986, touring with Cyndi Lauper on her her True Colors World Tour, in 1986, and in 1987, joined Duran Duran...
- drums - Steve FerroneSteve FerroneSteven "Steve" Ferrone is a British drummer.He was a member of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Scritti Politti...
- drums
Also credited:
- Jonathan EliasJonathan EliasJonathan Elias is a U.S. composer and record producer, known for his movie soundtracks, production for several pop and rock acts, and his award-winning advertising music including the PBS logo instrumental from October 1, 1984 to October 1, 1989....
- co-producer - Daniel AbrahamDaniel Abraham (record producer)Daniel Abraham is a French record producer, sound engineer and record mixer.He has most closely been associated with the band Duran Duran, with whom he worked on the Notorious and Big Thing albums....
- co-producer and mixer