Post by Lydia Purple on Dec 18, 2013 9:21:45 GMT -8
Duran Duran were denied a second consecutive US no.1 after "The Reflex" when "The Wild Boys" - which they wrote with the records's producer Nile Rogers - was held up in second place behind Daryl Hall & John Oates' "Out of Touch". They were still there the following week after Madonna's "Like a Virgin" replaced "Out of Touch".
The idea for the song came from longtime Duran Duran video director Russell Mulcahy, who wanted to make a full-length feature film based on the surreal and sexual 1971 novel "The Wild Boys: A Book Of The Dead" by William S. Burroughs. He suggested that the band might create a modern soundtrack for the film in the same way that Queen would later provide a rock soundtrack for Mulcahy's 1986 movie "Highlander". Singer Simon Le Bon began writing some lyrics based on Mulcahy's quick synopsis of the book, and the band created a harsh-sounding instrumental backdrop for them.
The idea for the song came from longtime Duran Duran video director Russell Mulcahy, who wanted to make a full-length feature film based on the surreal and sexual 1971 novel "The Wild Boys: A Book Of The Dead" by William S. Burroughs. He suggested that the band might create a modern soundtrack for the film in the same way that Queen would later provide a rock soundtrack for Mulcahy's 1986 movie "Highlander". Singer Simon Le Bon began writing some lyrics based on Mulcahy's quick synopsis of the book, and the band created a harsh-sounding instrumental backdrop for them.
The video for "The Wild Boys" was directed by Russell Mulcahy. The cost totalled over one million dollars, a staggering sum for music videos at the time, as his design filled one entire end of the "007 Stage" at Pinewood Studios with a metal pyramid and a windmill over a deep enclosed pool, and called for a lifelike robotic face, dozens of elaborate costumes, prosthetics, and makeup effects, and then-cutting-edge computer graphics. The choreography of dance routines was undertaken by Arlene Phillips, including intricate stunts and fire effects added to the cost. Mulcahy meant the video to be a teaser for his full-length Burroughs film, demonstrating his vision to the movie studios he was wooing, but that project was never made.
(Source: Wikipedia & The History of Rock Day by Day)