Notorious (Duran Duran album)

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This article is about the Duran Duran album. For other albums titled Notorious, see Notorious (disambiguation).
Studio album by Duran Duran
Released 18 November 1986 (1986-11-18)
27 September 2010 (2010-09-27) (Boxset)
Recorded 1985/1986
Genre Rock, funk rock, new wave, dance-rock[1]
Length 46:56
Label Capitol/EMI
Producer Duran Duran, Nile Rodgers
Duran Duran chronology
Big Thing
Singles from Notorious
  1. "Notorious"
    Released: 20 October 1986
  2. "Skin Trade"
    Released: February, 1987
  3. "Meet El Presidente"
    Released: April, 1987

Notorious is the fourth studio album by Duran Duran. Released in November 1986, it peaked at #16 in the UK and #12 in the US. The singles "Notorious" and "Skin Trade" demonstrated a Duran Duran reaching for funk, heavy on bass and brass. The gap between previous efforts and the new one, however (one year removed from "A View to a Kill" and the Arcadia/Power Station projects, two years from Arena, three from Seven and the Ragged Tiger), was hard to handle for the greater part of the fan base,[citation needed] since the album signaled a stylistic departure from the successful dance-pop of their earlier days. Many fans felt[citation needed] that the album seemed to lack the sparkle of the band's initial peak era (1981 to 1985).

In 2010, EMI released a raft of material surrounding the Notorious reissue consisting of a three disc boxset, a digital only EP, and a digital only live album. The boxset also includes remixes, live tracks and the Working for the Skin Trade live video (for the first time on DVD).

Personnel difficulties[edit]

The making of Notorious during 1986 was a difficult time for Duran Duran. The band had planned for a much-needed break after the success of their 1984 world tour, but all of the band members had ended up working on one of two side projects—the hard-rock collective Power Station in early 1985, and the atmospheric Arcadia project in late '85/early '86. When it came time to record the new Duran Duran album, they found that drummer Roger Taylor was too exhausted to continue in the music business, while guitarist Andy Taylor had developed a taste for the spotlight, as well as for a harder, more guitar-heavy sound than the rest of Duran Duran was prepared to pursue.

During this period, the band also began to act as their own management, having dismissed brothers Paul and Michael Berrow who had shepherded them through their first five years. Arrangements for the forthcoming "Strange Behaviour" tour which kicked off in March 1987, as well as the tensions with Taylor, are recounted in the documentary Three To Get Ready.




Side-project influences[edit]

In light of everything the band had experienced since the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, one[who?] might say that the development of Notorious' sound was an obvious direction, especially because the band's last two hit singles "The Wild Boys" and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" were much "heavier" in style but were nevertheless worldwide smash hits. "The Wild Boys" was also produced by Nile Rodgers, who had been a spectator during his long-time production partner Bernard Edwards' work on the brass-heavy Power Station album, as well.

It might be argued that with three years between the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Notorious, it would be foolish not to try and progress the sound, given that the band now had the added experience garnered from their work with Arcadia and Power Station, and the many gifted musicians they had encountered (Edwards, Robert Palmer, David Gilmour, etc.).


The final Arcadia release, "Say The Word", from the Playing for Keeps soundtrack was released in late September, a mere month before the release of the "Notorious" single.

In years to come, the band would refer to Notorious as their Alfred Hitchcock-inspired album. This is due to having a number of tracks titled after Hitchcock movies. In addition to the album and lead single named for the movie Notorious, there was also Vertigo and Rope, the original title for "Hold Me".

Andy's participation[edit]

According to interviews, Andy was involved in a lot of sessions, and because of this, the guitar work on a few tracks is provided by Andy. Although no one[weasel words] remembers which songs feature Andy, there is a track on, in which Andy plays guitar and sings vocals for "A Matter of Feeling."

According to some reports the relationship between Andy and the rest of the band had deteriorated to the point where he had to be threatened with legal action in order to get him back into the studio, but that the resulting sessions were so unpleasant for all involved that the band finally released him from any obligations to record.

According to an interview with Warren Cuccurullo in 2004,[citation needed] Andy also played on "American Science" the first guitar solo being Taylor's, the second Cuccurullo's.

It was also rumoured[by whom?] that Andy played on the album's closing track "Proposition"




"Skin Trade" had its sleeve banned in several countries, as it featured an airbrushed naked female buttock. In the UK and US, the single was released in a plain pinky red sleeve with the Notorious-era Duran wording along the top. In certain markets, like Canada and France, the bare buttock sleeve was used.


"Meet El Presidente", released to coincide with the tour in April 1987 reached #24 in the charts. It was their first single to be released on CD (catalogue number CD TOUR 1). The CD single featured all the tracks from the 12". In the US, the single was released under the title "The Presidential Suite".

"A Matter Of Feeling", the song was released as a promo-single in Brazil only, in January, 1988; before this, the song was included on the original soundtrack of the 1987 Brazilian Telenovela "Mandala", produced by Rede Globo, because of this, the track received strong airplay and became a big success in 1987 and 1988 in such country.[2]

To drum up further interest in the album, a collection of otherwise unavailable remixes was released on a double promo 12" pack called Master Mixes in the US and Hong Kong. Rumour has it the remixes were commissioned for a possible fourth single (either "Vertigo " or "American Science"), but this release was shelved as the singles for "Skin Trade" and "Meet El Presidente" didn't do so well in the charts.

All in all, this new funkier sound was not the Duran Duran the less committed fans wanted to hear, not to mention the critics which were anything but friendly to the band from the beginning.[citation needed]

Track listing[edit]

  • All songs written by John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon (Copyright Control/Tritec Music, Ltd.)

1986 Original Album[edit]

No. Title Length
1. "Notorious"   4:18
2. "American Science"   4:43
3. "Skin Trade"   5:57
4. "A Matter of Feeling"   5:56
5. "Hold Me"   4:31
6. "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)"   4:44
7. "So Misled"   4:04
8. "Meet El Presidente"   4:19
9. "Winter Marches On"   3:25
10. "Proposition"   4:57

2010 re-issue[edit]

No. Title Length
1. "Notorious"   4:18
2. "American Science"   4:42
3. "Skin Trade"   5:56
4. "A Matter of Feeling"   5:57
5. "Hold Me"   4:32
6. "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)"   4:43
7. "So Misled"   4:03
8. "Meet El Presidente"   4:20
9. "Winter Marches On"   3:25
10. "Proposition"   5:02
Single versions and B side
No. Title Length
11. "We Need You"   2:54
12. "Notorious (45 mix)"   4:01
13. "Skin Trade (radio cut)"   4:28
14. "Meet El Presidente (7″ remix)"   3:38
CD2: Mixes
No. Title Length
1. "Notorious (extended mix)"   5:18
2. "Meet El Presidente (Presidential Suite mix)"   7:15
3. "Skin Trade (Parisian mix)"   8:08
4. "American Science (Chemical reaction mix)"   7:45
5. "Vertigo (Do The Demolition) (Mantronix mix)"   6:34
6. "Skin Trade (Stretch mix)"   7:44
7. "Notoriousaurus Rex"   8:19
Duran Goes Dutch E.P.
No. Title Length
8. "Notorious (live)"   4:15
9. "Vertigo (Do The Demolition) (live)"   5:28
10. "New Religion (live)"   5:50
11. "American Science (live)"   5:00
12. "Hungry Like The Wolf (live)"   5:07
DVD: Working For The Skin Trade
No. Title Length
1. "Intro"    
2. "A View To A Kill"    
3. "Notorious"    
4. "New Religion"    
5. "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)"    
6. "The Chauffeur"    
7. "Save A Prayer"    
8. "Skin Trade"    
9. "Hungry Like The Wolf"    
10. "Wild Boys"    
11. "Credits"    
The Videos
No. Title Length
12. "Notorious"    
13. "Skin Trade"    
14. "Meet El Presidente"    
Top of the Pops
No. Title Length
15. "Notorious (6/11/86)"    

2010 Digital Only releases[edit]

Remix EP
No. Title Length
1. "Skin Trade (S.O.S Dub)"   7:19
2. "Meet El Presidente (Meet El Beat)"   5:33
3. "American Science (Meltdown Dub)"   7:29
4. "Vertigo (Do The Demolition) (B-Boy Mix)"   6:04
5. "Notorious (Latin Rascals Mix)"   6:24

2010 download only live album: Live at The Beacon Theater, New York City, 31 August 1987[edit]

  1. "Introduction/A View To A Kill"
  2. "Notorious"
  3. "American Science"
  4. "Union Of The Snake"
  5. "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)"
  6. "New Religion"
  7. "Meet El Presidente"
  8. "Election Day"
  9. "Some Like It Hot"
  10. "The Chauffeur"
  11. "Skin Trade"
  12. "Hold Me (incorporating Dance To The Music)"
  13. "Is There Something I Should Know"
  14. "Hungry Like The Wolf"


  1. "Notorious" (Oct 1986) #7 UK, #2 US
  2. "Skin Trade" (Feb 1987) #22 UK, #39 US
  3. "Meet El Presidente" (Apr 1987) #24 UK, #70 US


Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 2/5 stars link

Duran Duran[edit]

Additional Musicians[edit]



  1. ^ "Notorious" on All Music Guide. Retrieved on 13 August 2009
  2. ^ "Essas novelas maravilhosas e suas trilhas sonoras matadoras – Mandala (1987/1988)" (in portuguese). Retrieved 2013-12-20.