More new Duran Duran reissues coming

Capitol Records continues its impressive Duran Duran catalog reissue series in September with two albums that found the band in transition, but still making vital music in the mid-to-late 1980s: "Notorious" and "Big Thing."

I personally have a special connection with the latter release since it was the first tour I saw the band on in Feb. 1989 at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. These reissues appear to be just as interesting and designed with cool touches like the "Duran Duran" and "Seven & the Ragged Tiger" ones this past spring. Those were filled with rare video clips, B-sides and a must for all diehard Durannies. Aside from the Rolling Stones' revamp of "Exile on Main St.," they are the best reissues of 2010 so far.

Here are the details from the label press release:

DURAN DURAN’S ‘NOTORIOUS’ AND ‘BIG THING’ ALBUMS REMASTERED AND EXPANDED FOR NEW LIMITED SPECIAL EDITIONS

2CD/DVD and Digital Audio Packages to be Released September 28 by Capitol/EMI


Following the recent release of expanded editions of Duran Duran’s first three albums comes the September 28 release of expanded Limited Special Editions of the band’s fourth and fifth albums, Notorious and Big Thing. Both 2CD/DVD packages feature the remastered original albums and extensive bonus materials in lift-top boxes with an eight-page booklet, five postcards, and a folded poster. On the same date, the full audio from each set’s two CDs will also be available for download purchase from all major digital service providers.

Duran Duran’s platinum-certified Notorious was produced by Nile Rodgers; its release in 1986 followed the Grammy-winning band’s third album, Seven and The Ragged Tiger, by three years. The title track reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and was revisited by The Notorious B.I.G. in 1999 as the sampled foundation of his eponymous single.

Disc one of Notorious (Ltd. Special Edition) includes the original album plus three single remixes. Disc two adds seven mixes and the “Duran Goes Dutch” EP, recorded at the Ahoy, Rotterdam on May 7, 1987. The DVD includes the music videos for “Notorious,” “Skin Trade,” and “Meet El Presidente,” a November 1986 “Top Of The Pops” U.K. TV performance of “Notorious,” and for the first time on DVD, “Working For The Skin Trade,” a concert film shot in Rio de Janeiro during the band’s 1987-’88 “Strange Behaviour Tour.”

Big Thing, recorded at Devout Studios in Paris and co-produced by Jonathan Elias and Daniel Abraham, was released in 1988. The album’s title track and lead single, “I Don’t Want Your Love,” reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the Dance Play/Club Singles chart, and its second single, “All She Wants Is,” also took the top spot on Billboard’s Dance Play/Club Singles chart, peaking at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album’s cover art was designed by Swiss illustrator and artist Hans Arnold.

Disc one of Big Thing (Ltd. Special Edition) restores the album to what the band originally wanted, with the inclusion of the original mix of “Drug (It's Just A State Of Mind),” rather than the remix that made the final album (this original version has previously been released only once before on CD, on a Japanese reissue). Disc two features singles, B-sides and mixes, including the album remix version of “Drug (It's Just A State Of Mind).” The Special Edition’s DVD includes Big Thing recorded live at the Palatrussardi in Milan, Italy on December 12, 1988, plus the music videos for “I Don’t Want Your Love,” “All She Wants Is,” and “Do You Believe In Shame?.”

For more info, go to www.duranduran.com