Rio (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Rio


Artist = Duran Duran
from Album = Rio
B-side = "The Chauffeur" "Hold Back the Rain"
Released = November 1, 1982 (UK) March 1983 (US)
Format = 7", 12"
Recorded = AIR Studios, London 1982
Genre = Rock, New Wave
Length = 4:40
Label = EMI - EMI 5346
Writer = Duran Duran
Producer = Colin Thurston
Certification =
Last single = "Save a Prayer" (1982)
This single = "Rio" (1982)
Next single = "Is There Something I Should Know?" (1983)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Rio
Type = studio
prev_track =
prev_no =
this_track = "Rio"
track_no = 1
next_track = "My Own Way"
next_no = 2"Rio" is the seventh single by Duran Duran, released on November 1, 1982.

The song was the fourth and final single lifted from the band's album "Rio", and was edited for its release. It was issued worldwide in November 1982 and became an immediate Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart.

The song did not attract much notice in the United States upon its initial global release, but after the band's breakthrough hit "Hungry Like the Wolf" stormed MTV and scaled the American charts in December 1982, radio programmers paid closer attention to the catchy melody and insistent, intricate bass line of "Rio", and Capitol Records reissued the single in March 1983 to great success.

It is one of the band's most recognisable songs, mostly due to its famous music video, which is widely regarded as symbolic of 1980s glamour and excess.

About the song

The musical hook for "Rio", well-known among Duran Duran fans and synthesiser enthusiasts, was produced by an arpeggiator -- a software tool which can play the individual notes in a chord in a chosen pattern. It was once rumored that the synthesiser used to achieve this was a Roland Jupiter-8. However, it has been said by Nick Rhodes to actually be a Roland Jupiter-4 using the random mode on the arpeggiator with a C minor chord. [ [http://www.vintagesynth.com/ Vintage Synth Explorer] ]

Rhodes created the unusual sound at the beginning of the song by throwing several small metal rods onto the strings of a grand piano in the studio. The recorded sound was then reversed to create the intro. [Duranduran.com, " [http://www.duranduran.com/fanforums.asp?EventDate=all Ask Katy] " section, 11/14/2000] The laughter on the track was that of Rhodes' girlfriend at the time.

The song 'Rio' was inspired when Duran Duran toured Brazil and decided to write a song about their experiences there; however, the song references the Rio Grande which forms the border between Texas and Mexico (and is part of the names "Rio Grande do Norte" and "Rio Grande do Sul", two Brazilian states).

Music video

Director Russell Mulcahy filmed the vivid music video for "Rio", which featured iconic images of the band in Antony Price suits, singing and playing around on a yacht speeding over the crystal blue Caribbean Sea. Short segments show band members trying to live out their assorted daydreams, only to be teased, tormented, and made fools of by a body-painted vixen (played by a London model credited as "Reema").

The music video was shot over the course of three days in May 1982 on the island of Antigua. The yacht scenes were filmed on the bay at English Harbour, the beach scenes at Miller's Beach, and the bit with the raft at Shirley Heights. Director Mulcahy originally planned a scene where the band members got chased off the island by people wielding guns, but didn't have enough film footage left to shoot this. He had to borrow a tourist's camera to shoot the part of one of the band members playing a saxophone on a raft. When the video was featured on VH1's Pop-up Video, it mentions that after the video was completed, the members of Duran Duran went for a swim and were inches away from sharks when the yacht captain yelled for them to get out of the water. Nick Rhodes was reportedly seasick during the filming, and has often said "I hate boats unless they're tied up and you're having cocktails on them." [Odell, Michael. " [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1083285,00.html Duran Duran: In their own words] ". "The Observer", November 16 2003.]

While in Antigua, the band also filmed a video for the album track "Waiting for the Nightboat", which appeared with "Rio" and nine other videos on the "Duran Duran" video album released in 1983.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

There are thirteen different, official mixes of "Rio", many of which are edits of the album version or Kershenbaum remix with fades in various places. [ [http://www.ionpool.net/duran/rio/rioversions.html Ionpool's definitive "Versions of Rio" page] ]

The original release of the single has an acoustic version of the moody album track "The Chauffeur" on the B-side, known as the "Blue Silver" version. The American 1983 reissue features an upbeat remix of "Hold Back The Rain" instead. The 12-inch single also includes a remix of "My Own Way".

In 1998 three new mixes by Recall 22 were released on promo in France.

Covers, samples, & media references

Cover versions of "Rio" have been recorded by Goldfinger, Bodyjar, Nip Drivers and Nicole Scherzinger.

Nirvana performed the song "Rio" during the Hollywood Rock show in Brazil, on January 16 1993, and Barenaked Ladies played "Rio" live in Calgary on April 1 2004, among other occasions. The song was also played acoustically on the 2007 Ships and Dips Cruise.

The music video for the Fountains of Wayne song "Mexican Wine" is partially based on the video for "Rio."

Parts of the song were sung by Santa Claus on "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" "South Park" episode.

It has been referenced in the lyrics of the 2005 UK #1 hit by Arctic Monkeys, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor": "Your name isn't Rio, but I don't care for sand". The Killers also referenced the song in "On Top".

In 2008, for their video "Never Too Late", Hedley released a shot-for-shot remake of the video.

The song also appears in several video games:
* "Singstar 80's" (also features the song's music video)
* "Rock Band" (downloadable content)
* "" (cover version by Wavegroup)

Chart positions

Track listing

All songs written by Duran Duran.

7": EMI EMI 5346 (UK)

# "Rio" – 4:40
# "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48

12": EMI 12 EMI 5346 (UK)

# "Rio (Part 2)" – 5:29
# "Rio (Part 1)" – 5:11
# "My Own Way" [remix] – 4:34

7": Harvest B-5175 (US)

# "Rio (Edited Version)" – 4:34
# "Hold Back the Rain" [original LP version] – 3:59

7": Capitol B-5215 (US - March 1983 reissue)

# "Rio" [remix] – 3:57
# "Hold Back the Rain" [US album remix] – 6:57

CD: Part of "Singles Box Set 1981-1985" boxset

# "Rio (Part 1)" – 5:11
# "The Chauffeur (Blue Silver)" – 3:48
# "Rio (Part 2)" – 5:29
# "My Own Way" [remix] – 4:34

Notes

* Remixes done by David Kershenbaum

Other appearances

Apart from the single, "Rio" has also appeared on:

Albums:
*"Carnival" (1982)
*"Arena" (2004 reissue only)
*"" (1989)
*"" (1998)
*"Greatest" (1998)
*"Strange Behaviour" (1999)
*"Singles Box Set 1981-1985" (2005)

Nicole Scherzinger version

Infobox Single
Name = Rio


Artist = Nicole Scherzinger
from Album = Her Name Is Nicole
B-side =
Released = August 2008
Format = CD single
Recorded = 2007-2008
Genre = R&B, pop
Length = 3:39
Label = A&M, Interscope
Writer = Duran Duran
Producer = Ron Fair, JR Rotem, Ben H. Allen
Certification =
Last single = "Puakenikeni" (2008)
This single = "Rio" (2008)
Next single =

Nicole Scherzinger (lead vocalist for the Pussycat Dolls) recorded a remixed cover of "Rio" as a promotion for Caress Brazilian body wash from Unilever. [ [http://www.caressbrazilian.msn.com/ Caress Brazilian official site] ] The song was released to radio as a single on July 28, 2008 and as a CD single in August 2008. The music video shows Scherzinger performing in a pink dress in front of a crowd, with flowers appearing all around her as she sings on stage. [YouTube|noNYxMflRbg|Nicole Scherzinger - "Rio" official video from CaressBrazilian] .

Of the cover, Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon said "When we were first approached about Nicole doing a version of 'Rio' for this campaign, we thought it was the perfect fit. She's exotic and beautiful and embodies everything that inspired the original version. Because it's one of our signature songs very few people have covered it over the years, so it has been great for us to hear a new interpretation." [ [http://audiotube.com/news/183-nicole-of-pussycat-dolls-releases-brazilian-remake-of-durans-rio.html Nicole of Pussycat Dolls Releases Brazilian Remake of Duran's Rio] , Audiotube Music News]

Track listing

2-track CD single

# "Rio (Caress Brazilian Mix)"
# "Rio (Caress Brazilian Mix)" (Instrumental)

CD single Maxi Jewelcase

# "Rio (Caress Brazilian Mix)
# "Rio (Caress Brazilian Mix) (Instrumental)
# "Rio (dance Remix)
# "Rio (Video)
# The making of the "Rio (Caress Brazilian Mix)" video

References