Duran Duran’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger

Published on January 30th, 2008 in: Issues, Music, Music Reviews, Retrovirus, Waxing Nostalgic |

By Less Lee Moore

In the eighties, I became a Duranie. I grew fascinated with them after seeing the “Planet Earth” video on MTV. My friend later played Rio for me and I couldn’t get enough of it so I scrounged up allowance money and bought my own copy. Previously I’d been obsessed with Adam Ant, but since I didn’t think Strip was up to the standard he set with his previous albums, my interest began to wane. Enter the Fab Five.

le bon
Simon Le Bon works his
transvestite-geisha
cabaret-german-spy look.

I read a lot of music magazines at the time: Creem, Circus, Hit Parader. Most of them mocked Duran Duran so I was vindicated when I read a review of 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, possibly in Rolling Stone, which praised it and made specific mention of the genius of keyboardist Nick Rhodes’ “electronic castanets.” In retrospect, this was probably sarcasm on their part.

I was desperately hoping for another song on the level of my favorites from Rio, like “Save a Prayer” and the poignantly catchy “Last Chance on the Stairway.” “Of Crime and Passion” was fantastic (and remains my favorite) and “The Seventh Stranger” had a moody urgency, but I felt disappointed in the album. Yeah, the electronic castanets were cool but the whole thing felt too glossy and frenetic. Besides, the amount of makeup they were wearing on the album sleeve was out of control. (This from someone who accepted Adam Ant’s lipstick-on-the-cheek look without reservation.)

Nevertheless, I went to their 1984 Valentine’s Day concert at the LSU Assembly Center in Baton Rouge. I’d seen Adam Ant the previous year (my first concert) at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans, but this was an arena show. I felt completely dwarfed by the crowd and could barely make out the band from my seat. The giant video screens didn’t help much, either.

Disillusionment aside, throughout that year I still managed to crank out several of what became known as “What-Ifs,” essentially a precursor to what we now call “fanfiction.” These began as stories told amongst my friends and I at recess or on boring Saturday afternoons. As I became more adventurous, I started writing them down. Sadly, only one is still in existence.

After seeing the videos for Seven and the Ragged Tiger, particularly the extended version of “New Moon On Monday” where the members of the band try to “act,” my friend Gina and I were inspired. Other bands had movies so why couldn’t Duran Duran? Over the course of endless phone calls and sleepovers, we developed a screenplay. The plot involved members of the band as part of a guerrilla movement dedicated to overthrowing the repressive government in a small European town. If only I was kidding. We even worked in some older Duran tunes. I think we were convinced we would send this to their management, who would immediately option the rights of such a brilliantly-conceived manuscript. Then Duran Duran would fall in love with us.

Of all the Duran Duran-related works of fiction I concocted, I think I regret the loss of this one the most.

One Response to “Duran Duran’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger


  1. taurus:
    March 9th, 2012 at 6:07 am

    i read your story about duran duran.. funny thing, i was never into them growing up in thew 80s and thought they were feminine types. but for some reason in 1989, i walked into a record store and bought their albums. to this day, i dont know what possessed me to do that. needless to say, i started listening to them and got addicted to them from then on. everything about them in their songs, lyrics, style, fashion, videos, hairstyles, etc was just perfect. they were the perfect band. theyve even influenced me. anyway, i liked your read on DD except for your comment on 7 and the ragged tiger. come on, its a classic. you got to get into that album.. its so hard not to be swept away by that album. and i think they were the best band of the 80s.. no question.







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