"Election Day" is the first single released by

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

offshoot band,

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

. It was released by

Parlophone Records Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 19 ...

in October 1985 and subsequently hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No. 6 in the US and No. 7 in the UK. In Italy, spurred on by several high profile TV appearances, it became a huge hit, spending seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 between November 1985 and January 1986. It also reached the Top 5 in New Zealand and Ireland. Along with the

members, "Election Day" features

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

on vocals and speech segments.

Lyrical content

When ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' published the lyrics in their magazine, they published the complete lyric, which included a verse that was subsequently dropped from the released version of the song: :''Don't even try to induce, In all my restrain there's no hesitation '' :''All the signs on the loose 'cause sanity's rare this end of the hard day '' :''Shadows are crawling out of the subway '' :''Any way that you choose in every direction just to confuse me'' This additional verse was also included in the lyrics which were printed on the back of the sleeve of the Cryptic Cut No Voice release.

Music video

The dark and moody video — with Gothic imagery inspired by

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

's 1946 film, '' La Belle et la Bête'' — was shot in and around Paris in late September 1985. It was directed by Roger Christian. There is a short cameo appearance by an actor dressed like

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

. A documentary film was made on the filming and production of the music video."Filming Election Day"
- September 1985, Paris, France. Video.

Official remixes

This was the first Duran Duran–related single to have more than one remix of the lead track, a feature that would continue on " Notorious" a year later. There were a total of seven mixes of "Election Day": *Album Version 5:29 – Original mix; all except the Early Rough Mix are different permutations of this version. *Single Version 4:30 – Edited Album Version. *Consensus Mix 8:39 – 12" and promo video version. *"She's Moody and Grey, She's Mean and She's Restless" 4:28 – Instrumental B-side; the title comes from the song's first verse. *Cryptic Cut/Fact and Story Mix 9:06 – Largely instrumental, featuring extended passages and a short 'political speech'. *Cryptic Cut No Voice 8:27 – The Cryptic Cut mix, with the speech edited out. *Early Rough Mix 9:04 – An early, mostly instrumental version.

Formats and track listing

7": Parlophone. / NSR 1 (UK)

# "Election Day" (Single version) – 4:30 # "She's Moody and Grey, She's Mean and She's Restless" – 4:28 * Track 1 is also known as "7 Inch Mix". * B-side is an instrumental version of "Election Day"

12": Parlophone. / 12 NSR 1 (UK)

# "Election Day" (Consensus Mix) – 8:39 # "Election Day" (Single version) – 4:30 # "She's Moody and Grey, She's Mean and She's Restless" – 4:28 * Track 2 is also known as "7 Inch Mix".

12": Parlophone. / 12 NSRA 1 (UK)

# "Election Day" (Cryptic Cut No Voice Mix) – 8:27 # "Election Day" (Single version) – 4:30 # "Election Day" (Consensus Mix) – 8:39 * Track 2 is also known as "7 Inch Mix".

12": Townhouse. / PSLP393 (UK)

# "Election Day" (Cryptic Cut / Fact and Story Mix) – 9:06 * 1-sided UK promo, unlabeled * This version was later referred to by Le Bon and Rhodes as "Cryptic Cut". * The name "Fact and Story Mix" comes from the spoken word part in the mix and was first referred to by this name on a bootleg remix album.

Charts

Weekly charts

Other appearances

Albums: * ''

So Red the Rose ''So Red the Rose'' is the only studio album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, released in 1985. It included the singles "Election Day", " Goodbye Is Forever" and " The Flame". The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200 in January ...

'' (1985) Singles: * " The Flame" (1986)

Personnel

Arcadia are: *

Simon Le Bon Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...

– vocals *

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member, keyboardist, and only continuous member of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "The Controller ...

– keyboards *

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

– drums Also credited: *

– guest vocalist *

Carlos Alomar Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Ricans, Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any musician other than pianist Mike Garso ...

Masami Tsuchiya is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician, coming to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and guitarist in the group Ippu-Do. His subsequent output includes solo work and collaborations. Tsuchiya's career in music started with ...

- guitars *

Mark Egan Mark Egan (born January 14, 1951 in Brockton, Massachusetts, United States) is an American jazz bassist and trumpeter known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group and the Gil Evans Orchestra. He is co-founder of the jazz fusion band, Elem ...

- bass guitar & double bass * Andy Mackay - tenor saxophone *

Alex Sadkin Alex Sadkin (April 9, 1949July 25, 1987) was an American record producer, engineer, mixer and mastering engineer. Sadkin grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida across the street from Bennett Elementary School, and played saxophone in Sunrise Junio ...

– producer & engineer

Covers, samples, and media references

's 'Strange Behaviour' tour, they performed a medley of "Election Day" and the Power Station's single, "

Some Like It Hot ''Some Like It Hot'' is a 1959 American crime comedy film directed, produced and co-written by Billy Wilder. It stars Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, with George Raft, Pat O'Brien, Joe E. Brown, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney and N ...

References

External links

Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes being interviewed on Arcadia and the theme of Election Day
- filmed at the time of the release of Election Day in 1985. * {{authority control 1985 debut singles Arcadia (band) songs Number-one singles in Italy 1985 songs Songs written by Simon Le Bon Songs written by Nick Rhodes Song recordings produced by Alex Sadkin Parlophone singles