"Is There Something I Should Know?" is the eighth

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by British pop band

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 ...

, released on 14 March 1983. The song was released as a stand-alone single and became the band's first UK number one record. It debuted in the number one position on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 26 March 1983. The single also had great success in America, where it was released in late May. The song reached number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 6 August 1983 and sold more than a million copies.

Background

"Is There Something I Should Know?" was recorded at

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

’s

Good Earth Studios Dean Street Studios is a commercial recording studio located at 59 Dean Street, Soho, London, England. History The premises are first known to have been used as a film studio in 1950s, which then became Zodiac Studios. The studio was bought by p ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with producer Ian Little, who was recommended to the group by

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

’s

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Sun. ...

. Eventually, the song would undergo several rounds of mixing due to a lack of compression on the drums as Little asserted: one mix was done at Good Earth, one at

Eel Pie Studios Eel Pie Recording Studios, formerly Oceanic, was a recording studio located in The Boathouse, Twickenham on the banks of the River Thames in Ranelagh Drive, by Twickenham Bridge, West London, and also simultaneously at No. 45 Broadwick Street, ...

, one at The Gallery and one at The Power Station in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he has a very ...

. Keyboardist

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 ...

remembered being present most of the night during the mix with Clearmountain and leaving the next day thinking the band had something special on their hands. But upon reflection some days later, it was decided that despite being what they considered a "beautiful mix", it was a little too soft for the sound they were trying to achieve for the record. So the final mix would be done with producer

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 ...

(who’d be brought in to produce the band’s next album alongside Little, '' Seven and the Ragged Tiger'') and

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbr ...

at RAK Studios, London, who replaced the drums with samples triggered via AMS delay units. Although generally regarded as a stand-alone single, it was added to the 1983 US re-issue of the band's 1981 debut album, ''

''. The first album on which the song featured in the UK was the inaugural ''

Now That's What I Call Music ''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''Now!'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music (Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinoff ...

'' compilation at the end of the year. The singles from the ''Duran Duran'' album did not receive much airplay in the United States on the album's first release; both the band and the

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

fashion style were unknown, and very few British bands were able to break into American radio at that time. However, by the end of 1982, the band's ''

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

'' album was rapidly climbing the American charts, fueled by saturation airplay of various Duran Duran videos on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. The band and their label,

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, decided to re-release the debut album in the United States with the inclusion of this newly recorded single. Because of the time limitations of

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

s, the inclusion of "Is There Something I Should Know?" required the omission of the album track "To The Shore" on the reissue. "To The Shore" was reinstated on later

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

pressings. "Is There Something I Should Know?" was the opening song on Duran Duran’s set list for the 1983/84 ''

Seven and the Ragged Tiger ''Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' is the third studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. It was co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band. Following their decis ...

'' tour - as well as Duran Duran's charity concert at Aston Villa football ground in 1983. In its contemporary review of the song, ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' praised "the upbeat arrangement, clear production and lustrous vocals."

David Hepworth David Hepworth (born 27 July 1950) is a British music journalist, writer and publishing industry analyst who was instrumental in the foundation of a number of popular magazines in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Along with the journalist, editor and b ...

of ''

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 ...

'' just noticed that producer change lead to "more pronounced ''rock group'' sound" and expressed displeasure with impossibility to do something "with an overly-strained chorus." In a retrospective review of the song,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

journalist Donald A. Guarisco wrote that the lyrics "deal with a difficult romantic relationship in rather obtuse terms." Guarisco highlighted what he described as "odd turns of phrase" in the lyrics, such as: "and fiery demons all dance when you walk through that door/Don't say you're easy on me 'cause you're about as easy as a nuclear war." Although Guarisco questioned the lyrics, he praised the melody in the song. He wrote: "The melody of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' is one of Duran Duran's catchiest, matching twisty verse melodies full of ear-catching hooks with a harmonized chorus." According to Rhodes, the pulsing keyboard sound is from a

Roland Jupiter-8 The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981. The Jupiter-8 was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980s. Approximately 3300 units have b ...

synth, while the

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...

was used for a small melodic part.

Music video

The video for "Is There Something I Should Know?" featured colour clips of the band members, in blue shirts with tucked-in white ties, interspersed with

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

images in black-and-white. The video made a point of marking the transition between albums one and two - and the third, featuring clips from several earlier Duran Duran videos. This included "My Own Way" - presented on the

Video Album but never released to

. The video was directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos i ...

, and was one of the most popular videos of 1983 on MTV. The video is longer as there are verses that were edited out of the original 45 release, that subsequently made it to album, tape and CD. The DVD Greatest Hits has the long version video When asked if there was anything about their videos they'd like to change, drummer

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 ...

commented, "The only part of a video I would change is the end of 'Is There Something I Should Know?' where I am singing to the camera. I look very uncomfortable doing this and cringe every time I see it to this day."

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to "Is There Something I Should Know?" in the UK is the instrumental "Faith in This Colour". An "Alternate Slow Mix" of "Faith in this Colour" was used on the 7" single, some pressings of which included brief unauthorized sound samples from the movie ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

''—these were promptly withdrawn when copyright concerns were raised, although on the "Alternate Slow Mix" from the singles box set, the scene, in which Obi-Wan leaves to disable the tractor beam, can clearly be heard in the last minute. Duran Duran has not confirmed this, though. The mainly instrumental "Monster Mix" of "Is There Something I Should Know?" was completed by producers Ian Little and

and

at RAK studio One. In the US, the song "

Careless Memories "Careless Memories" is the second single by Duran Duran, released on 20 April 1981. The band's debut single "Planet Earth" had been a Top 20 hit, so it was regarded as a major setback when "Careless Memories" stalled at No. 37 in the UK chart ...

" is the B-side of "Is There Something I Should Know?".

Formats and track listing

7": EMI. / EMI 5371 United Kingdom

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:11 # "Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)" – 4:06

12": EMI. / 12 EMI 5371 United Kingdom

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Monster Mix) – 6:43 # "Faith in This Colour" – 4:06

7": Capitol Records. / B-5233 United States

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:07 # "Careless Memories" – 3:53 * Track 2 is the "Album Version".

12": Capitol Records. / 8551 United States

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Monster Mix) – 6:40 # "Faith in This Colour" – 4:05

12": EMI. / EMI Electrola 1C K062-65-106Z Germany

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Monster Mix) – 6:43 # "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Short Mix) – 4:06 # "Faith in This Colour" – 4:04 * Track 2 "Short Mix" is the "Single Version".

CD: Part of "
Singles Box Set 1981–1985 ''Singles Box Set 1981–1985'' is a box set by English new wave band Duran Duran. Consisting of 13 CDs, it was released on 12 May 2003 by EMI and covers the era from ''Duran Duran'' (1981) to ''Arena'' (1984), as well as the non-studio album ...
" boxset

# "Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:11 # "Faith in This Colour" – 4:05 # "Is There Something I Should Know?" (Monster Mix) – 6:40 # "Faith in This Colour (Alternate Slow Mix)" – 4:05 *"Monster Mix" remixed by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and Phil Thornalley.

Covers, samples and media references

The band

Sugar Ray Sugar Ray is an American rock band formed in Newport Beach, California, in 1986. Originally playing heavier funk metal and nu metal style music, the band achieved mainstream popularity in 1997 with their more pop-influenced single " Fly". T ...

took elements from the video and featured them in a segment of the music video for their single " When It's Over".

Cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of the song have been recorded by

The Mr. T Experience The Mr. T Experience (sometimes abbreviated MTX) is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California, United States. They have released eleven full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured international ...

Harvey Danger Harvey Danger was an American alternative rock band that was formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1992 by journalism students at the University of Washington. The band rose to prominence in 1997 with the single "Flagpole Sitta", which was later us ...

and

allSTARS* Allstars (stylised allSTARS*) were a British pop group, who were active between 2001 and 2002, achieving some chart success in the UK. Consisting of Sam Bloom, Thaila Zucchi, Ashley Taylor Dawson, Rebecca Hunter and Sandi Lee Hughes (the ini ...

, the last of which took the song back into the UK charts at #12 in September 2001 as a double-A-side with their own track "Things That Go Bump In The Night". The line "''you're about as easy as a nuclear war''" was the inspiration for the Duran Duran song "Yo Bad Azizi", included as a B-side to the "

Serious Serious may refer to: * Seriousness, an attitude of gravity, solemnity, persistence, or earnestness * ''Serious'' (TV series), a BBC children's television show Albums * ''Serious'' (Luther Allison album) or the title song, 1987 * ''Serious'' ( ...

" single released seven years later.

allSTARS* version

Track Listing

CD

# "Things That Go Bump In The Night" # "Is There Something I Should Know" # "Is There Something I Should Know" (Almighty Mix) # "Things That Go Bump In The Night" (Video)

Cassette

# "Things That Go Bump In The Night" # "Is There Something I Should Know" # "That Crazy Thing That We Call Love"

12" Vinyl

# "Is There Something I Should Know" (Mothership Mix) # "Is There Something I Should Know" (Almighty Mix) # "Is There Something I Should Know" (K Boys Club Mix) # "Is There Something I Should Know" (Radio Edit) # "Things That Go Bump In The Night" (Xenomania Mix) # "Things That Go Bump In The Night" (Radio Edit)

Promo CD

# "Things That Go Bump In The Night" (Radio Edit) # "Is There Something I Should Know" (Radio Edit)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

As of October 2021 "Is There Something I Should Know?" is the eleventh most

streamed Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

Duran Duran song in the UK.

Other appearances

Apart from the single, "Is There Something I Should Know?" has also appeared on: Albums: *''

'' (1983 US Re-release) *''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'' (1984 live album) *''Tiger! Tiger!'' EP (Japan only, 1984) *''

Decade A decade () is a period of ten years. Decades may describe any ten-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement that "du ...

'' (1989) *'' Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran'' (US only, 1998) *'' Greatest'' (1998) *'' Strange Behaviour'' (1999) *''

Singles Box Set 1981–1985 ''Singles Box Set 1981–1985'' is a box set by English new wave band Duran Duran. Consisting of 13 CDs, it was released on 12 May 2003 by EMI and covers the era from ''Duran Duran'' (1981) to ''Arena'' (1984), as well as the non-studio album ...

'' (2003) *''

Singles Box Set 1986–1995 Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

'' (2004) *''

'' (2010 remastered version) Singles: *Capitol Gold Cuts (1990) * Come Undone (1993)

Personnel

Duran Duran 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, harmonica *

– keyboards * John Taylor – bass guitar *

– drums * Andy Taylor – guitar, vocals Also credited: * Ian Little – producer *

– mixer *

– mix engineer *

Mike Nocito Johnny Hates Jazz are a British band, currently consisting of Clark Datchler (songwriter, vocalist, keyboards) and Mike Nocito (guitarist, bassist, producer, engineer). In April 1987, they achieved international success with their first hit s ...

– mix assistant engineer * RAK studios – mix studio

References

{{Authority control 1983 singles Duran Duran songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Allstars (band) songs Songs written by Simon Le Bon Songs written by John Taylor (bass guitarist) Songs written by Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) Songs written by Andy Taylor (guitarist) Songs written by Nick Rhodes Capitol Records singles EMI Records singles