Carnival (EP)
Encyclopedia
Carnival is a dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 by Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

, originally released in various markets around the world in September 1982 by EMI.

Background

As part of Capitol's shift in marketing strategy for Duran Duran to develop into a dance band over the course of 1982 (in a bid to shift more units of the Rio
Rio (album)
Rio is the second studio album by the British rock band Duran Duran, originally released worldwide on 10 May 1982. It reached #2 in the UK and #1 in Australia....

album), it was decided to release an EP of remixed tracks in various territories globally to capitalise on increased night-club play and to try to replicate that success on radio.

Part of this strategy also involved producer David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur, born in Springfield, Missouri. He has worked with many artists including Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Brooks, and Tori Amos. As a producer he has earned 75 international gold...

 remixing various Rio tracks. Most of these remixes also appeared on the Carnival release as well as various twelve-inch singles.

The demand for Duran Duran material during the autumn of 1982 was quite high. DJs who heard the new mixes could not get enough, and started to put the dance mixes on the air. During the week of October 2, the US version of the "Carnival" EP actually entered the album charts at #98. It was gone by the following week.

The success of the "Carnival" EP gave the band enough clout to bring Kershenbaum back in to remix the entire A-side of the Rio album, which was duly released in the USA in November 1982.

The Songs and Releases

Due to the fact that Carnival was meant to capitalise on Duran Duran's burgeoning dance-oriented success, the tracklisting around the world differed from region to region.

The Dutch EP, released in a white sleeve with photos taken from the Rio tour book, featured twelve-inch versions - or "Night Versions" in early Duran Duran parlance - lifted from four of the band's more popular singles - "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Rio", "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film". A rare misprint of the Dutch sleeve is existing, stating "Hold back the rain" to be included instead of "Planet earth".

The Night Version of "Girls On Film" is actually slightly different from the version that appeared on the EMI twelve-inch single, clocking in at just around 15 seconds longer. Also, the David Kershenbaum Night Version mix of "Rio" was commercially exclusive to this EP (it also featured on an American promo twelve-inch), as the "Rio" twelve-inch single featured "Rio (Pt II)" as the lead mix.

The Spanish EP featured, on the sleeve at least, the same running order as the Dutch EP. Closer inspection however, shows that the version of "Rio" is actually just the album version, although it's listed as the Night Version. The song titles on the Spanish release were all translated into Spanish.

For the North American release - released both in Canada and the US - the track listing changed slightly, incorporating among other things, a new Kershenbaum mix of minor single "My Own Way" which featured additional lyrics left off the original album version as well as the 'rhythm section punched up, making it ideal for dancing'. This mix eventually resurfaced on the Kershenbaum version of the "Rio" album in November 1982.

The EP also featured an extended version of album track "Hold Back The Rain" remixed by David Kershenbaum, which is quite similar to the version on the B-side of the "Rio" twelve-inch single. However the guitars are more prominent on the EP mix, and the keyboard and bass are quieter in some places. This mix also featured on the Japanese Carnival EP.

The North American tracklisting is rounded out by Night Versions of singles "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Girls On Film", lifted directly from their respective twelve-inches. Looks-wise, the EP was similar to the Dutch release but came in a purple sleeve, instead of white.

The most interesting collection of songs can be found on the Japanese/Tawainese release of Carnival. Included among the increasingly easy to acquire versions of previous singles is a remix exclusive to this release of fan-favourite album track "New Religion". This mainly instrumental mix remained unavailable outside of Japan/Taiwan until the 1999 release of the Strange Behaviour
Strange Behaviour
Strange Behaviour is a remix album of remixes by Duran Duran. It was released by EMI in March 1999.The title comes from a line in the song "Skin Trade": "would someone please explain, the reason for this strange behaviour". The band had previously used "Strange Behaviour" as the name of their 1987...

remix album.

The remainder of the EP was filled with the seven-inch version of "Rio", (mis-labelled as "Rio (Pt II)" as the wrong master was delivered to the Toshiba-EMI offices in Tokyo), the Kershenbaum Re-mix of "Hold Back The Rain", and Night Versions of "My Own Way" and "Hungry Like The Wolf".

The Japanese EP was the only version of Carnival to receive a CD release. On 31 May 1991, Toshiba/EMI compiled the four Japanese EPs - "Nite Romantics," "Carnival," "Tiger Tiger," and "Strange Behaviour" onto a rare and highly sought-after double-CD set (TOCP-6707/8).

12": EMI / 1A 062Z-64942 Netherlands

12": EMI-Odeon / 10C 054-064942 Spain

  • titles in Spanish "CARNAVAL"
  • * - actual mix names

12": Harvest / DLP-15006 Canada, United States

  • mixes not listed
  • also released on MC (Harvest / 4DP-15006)

12": Toshiba-EMI / EMS-50125 Japan

  • Also released on MC (Toshiba-EMI / ZR18-769)
  • Also released in Taiwan (EMI / LMSP-015)
  • Japanese release includes obi strip
    Obi strip
    An is a strip of paper looped around a book or other product. This extends the term obi used for Japanese clothing; it is written with the same kanji. It is also referred to as a , or more narrowly as .-For books:...

     and lyric sheet
  • (early pressings of Carnival in Japan came with 2 fold-out colour tour inserts)
  • * - unlisted mix names

Personnel

Duran Duran are:
  • Simon Le Bon
    Simon Le Bon
    Simon John Charles Le Bon is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.-Early life:...

     - vocals
  • Nick Rhodes
    Nick Rhodes
    Nick Rhodes is an English musician, is best known as the keyboardist of the pop rock band Duran Duran...

     - keyboards
  • John Taylor
    Nigel John Taylor
    John Taylor is an English musician who is best known as the bass guitarist and co-founder of pop rock band Duran Duran....

     - bass guitar
  • Roger Taylor
    Roger Andrew Taylor
    Roger Andrew Taylor is an English double grammy award winning musician who is best known as the drummer of British rock band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards, the band selling in excess of 80 million records worldwide in the process.-Early life:Taylor began...

     - drums
  • Andy Taylor
    Andy Taylor (guitarist)
    Andy Taylor is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station....

     - guitar


Also credited:
  • Colin Thurston
    Colin Thurston
    Colin Thurston was a British recording engineer and producer.Born in Singapore, Thurston played in bands in London before he "bluffed his way" into audio engineering...

     - producer and engineer
  • Renate - Technician
  • Andy Hamilton
    Andy Hamilton (pop musician)
    Andy Hamilton is a British saxophonist who has played with Duran Duran , Wham!, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner, George Michael, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Bon Jovi and David Bowie....

     - saxophone on "Rio"
  • Malcolm Garrett
    Malcolm Garrett
    Malcolm Garrett is a British graphic designer, who has worked for music artists such as Simple Minds, Magazine, Duran Duran and Peter Gabriel...

    , Assorted iMaGes, London - sleeve design


Recorded at:
  • Chipping Norton
  • Red Bus
  • Utopia
  • Air Studios, London
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