Some Like It Hot… With The Video You Deserve
Welcome back! It’s Monday, and you all know by now that means today you get your Video You Deserve.
That’s right, every Monday, to begin your week with awesomeness, we, the kind, tender, gentle, loving, butt-kicking souls at QuadCities.com give you a cheesy music video to start your week with a laugh and maybe a weird video and catchy song or something.
This week’s video is from a band that started off as a side project and ended up breaking up a popular band, sending them into a new era.
It was 1985, and Duran Duran were the biggest band on the planet. The group had sold millions of records and had a string of top 10 hits worldwide from 1982 to 1985, culminating in the 10-million sales of “Seven And The Ragged Tiger,” and sold-out concerts across the world. The band had hit number one with their last single, “A View To A Kill,” and were absolutely huge.
They were also burned out and wanted to do some other things.
Guitarist Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor split from singer Simon LeBon and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and went their own way to do a more rock oriented project. LeBon and Rhodes would form Arcadia, going in a more Duran-like synth pop direction, whereas Andy and John would form their rock act, The Power Station. (Drummer Roger Taylor ended up working with both camps.)
Andy and John also enlisted drummer Tony Thompson from Chic and singer Robert Palmer, who would parlay his Power Station success into a much more successful solo career, scoring the biggest hits of his own with songs like “Addicted To Love” and “Simply Irresistible.”
Arcadia had great success for LeBon and Rhodes, scoring hits with songs like “Election Day,” but in America, The Power Station was by far the more successful of the two acts. They hit the top 10 with their initial hit, which we’ll feature today, as well as the follow up, a cover of T Rex’s “Get It On,” and a third single, “Communication.” They also helped launch the very successful rebranding of Robert Palmer to new heights and had a very successful tour, albeit without Palmer (Michael DesBarres took over the mic.)
When the dust all settled though, Duran Duran, as they originally were, were no more. Andy Taylor decided to go solo, with the album “Thunder,” and Roger Taylor retired from the music business. Duran soldiered on with John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon, having more hits with albums like “Notorious” and “Big Thing,” but the original band was no more, at least not until the early 2000s, when they would briefly reunite for one more album, “Astronaut,” before Andy once more split. Duran currently survives as a four-piece, with John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon working on a new album set for release next year, following up their last record, “Paper Gods,” which hit the top 10 in the U.S., UK and worldwide in 2015.
But it all started with this song, which hit the top five in the U.S. and was a hit across the world as well. “Some Like It Hot,” by The Power Station…
