Retro Video of the Week: "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Rio" by Duran Duran

Many apologies for not posting a Tuesday Top Ten last night.  I was too busy trying to come up with a cure for 50-degree weather in May, as I do every Tuesday night in May that it's 50 degrees.  To make up for it, I'll give you a fantastic '80s video or two.

Today is the 35th anniversary of the worldwide release of Duran Duran's sophomore album, Rio.  The group had gained some notoriety the year before when their video for "Girls On Film" (off their debut album) was banned by MTV for showing too much skin.  If that video gave the world its first glimpse of Duran Duran, the Rio album broke the doors down and made Duran Duran one of the most iconic groups of the '80s.

The album hit #6 on the Billboard album charts, and remained on the Billboard 200 for nearly two and a half years.  In addition, it hit #2 on the UK album charts, and was top 5 in a few other countries.  The album spawned the band's first two Top 40 hits in the US -- "Hungry Like The Wolf," which went to #3, and the title track, which got to #14.  Those songs were also Top 10 songs in the UK (#5 and #9, respectively), along with "Save a Prayer" (#2), which was not released as a single in the U.S. until 1985 (and hit #16).

But let's not kid ourselves -- it's the videos that made Duran Duran stars.  Both the "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Rio" videos got very heavy airplay on the fledgling MTV.  The "Hungry Like The Wolf" video won the first-ever Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video, and ended up being the 15-most-played video in MTV history. It's also a great song to sing karaoke at Halloween when you're dressed up like a werewolf. Just something to think about.  "Rio" was also a staple on the MTV rotation. It's a great song to sing karaoke when you're in Rio and want to get shanked.  Thus, I shall give you both.