"Planet Earth" is the debut

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 the British

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

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 2 February 1981. It was an immediate hit in the band's native UK, reaching #12 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 21 February, and did even better in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, hitting #8 to become Duran Duran's first Top 10 hit anywhere in the world. The song later appeared on the band's

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut album ''

'', released in June 1981.

About the song

"Planet Earth" begins with a mid-tempo synthesised sweep backed with sequenced electronic rhythm, but the real rhythm section of throbbing bass and crisp drums soon kick in. Muted guitar carries the up-and-down throbbing as the singer joins in. The sequenced part on this song is a

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 ...

synth, while a

Roland Jupiter-4 The Roland Jupiter-4 (JP-4) was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for employing digital control of analog ci ...

and a

Crumar Crumar was an Italian manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. It was established by Mario Crucianelli in the late 1960s, and manufactured synthesizers and keyboards during the '70s and '80s. Its name is a portmanteau of "Cruci ...

Performer were used for strings and other sounds. The

flanging Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and not ...

intro sound was the Jupiter 4 processed by an MXR flanger. The song was the first to explicitly acknowledge the fledgling

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 movement, with the line ''"Like some New Romantic looking for the TV sound"''. The original demo had an extra verse at the end, as can be heard in the Manchester Square Demo version, released in 2009: "I came outside I saw the nightfall with the rain, Sheet lightning flashes in my brain, Whatever happened to the world we used to know? I've got you coming over fear now."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was directed by future film director

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 ...

, who would go on to direct a dozen more for the group. Fairly primitive by the band's later standards, the video features the band (dressed in

fashions) playing the song on a white stage tricked out with special effects to look like a platform made of ice or crystal. Interspersed with the performance are shots of the band members alongside the

four elements Classical elements typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. Ancient cultures in Greece, Tibet, and India had simi ...

. The video focused closely on the band's faces. The instrumental middle section features two friends of the band from the Rum Runner nightclub nicknamed Gay John and Lavinya dancing in their full New Romantic regalia. In an apocalyptic science-fiction style, various world facts slide cross the bottom of the screen as the video plays, including: "the area of the surface of the earth is 196,937,600 miles"; "247,860 people are born every day"; "the oldest known song is the

Shadoof A shadoof or shaduf (from the Arabic word , ''šādūf'') is an irrigation tool. It is highly efficient, and has been known since 3000 BCE. Names It is also called a lift, well pole, well sweep, or simply a sweep in the US.Knight, Edward Henry ...

Chant"; and then it ends with a warning of "

Doomsday Doomsday may refer to: * Eschatology, a time period described in the eschatological writings in Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios of non-Abrahamic religions. * Global catastrophic risk, a hypothetical event explored in science and fict ...

." At the end of the video, singer Simon Le Bon leaps from the stage, caught in a

freeze frame shot In film and video, a freeze frame is when a single frame of content shows repeatedly on the screen—"freezing" the action. This can be done in the content itself, by printing (on film) or recording (on video) multiple copies of the same source fr ...

above an apparently bottomless abyss. The video was recreated in the music video for

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford ...

' "

You Were the Last High "You Were the Last High" is a song by American alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols. It was released in July 2003 as the second single from their fourth studio album ''Welcome to the Monkey House''. Music video The music video is an almost ...

" (which was produced by Nick Rhodes, the band's keyboardist).

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

For most countries, 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 ...

track for the "Planet Earth" 45 is a concert favourite called "Late Bar" which was one of the earliest songs Duran Duran had written together after their classic Le Bon/Rhodes/Taylor/Taylor/Taylor line-up had solidified. However, the B-side track for the North American release of "Planet Earth" is "To the Shore". Beginning with "Planet Earth", Duran Duran began creating what they called "night versions" for each of their songs; extended versions that were featured on their

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

s. Back in 1981, the technology to do extended

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es was still quite rudimentary, so the band chose instead to create a new arrangement of the song, loosely based on the version they were playing live at the time. This formed the basis for the "night version". The "Night Version" of "Planet Earth" appeared in place of the original on some early American releases of the ''

'' album. In addition to the 12", the night version of "Planet Earth" was included on the EPs ''Nite Romantics'' and ''

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

''. For the 1999 remix album '' Strange Behaviour'', EMI inadvertently unearthed unreleased alternative mixes of both "Planet Earth" and "Hold Back the Rain". The alternative mix of "Planet Earth" which is called "Night Mix" also appears on the special edition of ''Duran Duran'''s first album, released in 2010.

Formats and track listing

7": EMI. / EMI 5137 United Kingdom

# "Planet Earth" – 3:59 # "Late Bar" – 2:54

12": EMI. / 12 EMI 5137 United Kingdom

# "Planet Earth (Night Version)" – 6:18 # "Planet Earth" – 3:59 # "Late Bar" – 2:54

CD: Part of "
Singles Box Set 1981-1985 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'' ...
" boxset

# "Planet Earth" – 3:59 # "Late Bar" – 2:54 # "Planet Earth (Night Version)" – 6:18

CD: Part of Duran Duran 2010 Special Edition (CD2)

# "Planet Earth (Night Mix)" – 7:00 * Released in 2010 * This rare alternative version can also be found on the '' Strange Behaviour'' remix album, released in 1999.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

As of October 2021 "Planet Earth" is the ninth 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, "Planet Earth" has also appeared on: Albums: * ''

'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

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) * ''

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'' (1998) * '' Greatest'' (1998) * '' Strange Behaviour'' (1999) * ''

Singles Box Set 1981-1985 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'' ...

'' (2005) * '' A Diamond in the Mind: Live 2011'' (2011)

Personnel

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 ...

– lead vocals and backing vocals * Andy Taylor – electric guitar and backing vocals * John Taylor – bass and backing vocals *

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 ...

– electronic drums *

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 ...

– synthesizers and programming

References

External links

Official site

Nunos's Duran Duran homepage

Duran Duran CZ
{{Authority control 1981 debut singles Duran Duran songs Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy Song recordings produced by Colin Thurston 1980 songs EMI Records singles 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