Songoftheday 11/4/18 - Mine immaculate dream made breath and skin I've been waiting for you, signed with a home tattoo happy birthday to you was created for you...

"Come Undone" - Duran Duran
from the album Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) (1993)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's song of the day comes from Duran Duran, who had transformed themselves from the "Fab Five" of the New Romantic invasion of the early 1980s to a revamped group that scored a top three pop hit in America in the beginning of 1993 with "Ordinary World". The second single released from their second self-titled album (dubbed "The Wedding Album" by fans due to the cover photos) was the moody and slinky "Come Undone". Written by new guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and lyrics from lead singer Simon LeBon, so far it's been their last massively successful single...

"Come Undone" became Duran Duran's eleventh (and so far last) top ten pop hit in America in June of 1993. The song peaked at #12 on Billboard's Modern Rock radio chart, while it also crossed over to #19 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format list. Internationally, the single went to #2 in Canada, and hit the top ten in Italy (#6) and Ireland (#9). It also made the top-40 in their native Britain (#13) as well as in New Zealand (#16), Australia (#19), Sweden (#21), and France (#26). The third single from the set, the uptempo aggro track "Too Much Information", missed the top-40 in the U.S. (#45) and Canada (#43), while making it to #17 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart at #30 on the Modern Rock list. (In the UK it did hit the top-40 at #35.)

Instead of capitalizing on the momentum of The Wedding Album, the band took a left turn yet again with the covers album Thank You. With remakes of the likes of the Velvet Underground and Melle Mel, they found a tepid reaction in the States, although in the UK they scored a pair of top-20 hits including their take on "White Lines (Don't Do It)" which got to #17. After a contentious recording process that found bassist John Taylor leaving the group, their next studio album Medazzaland arrived in 1997. Lead single "Electric Barbarella" stalled right under the halfway point on the American pop chart at #52, while the track "Out Of My Mind" reached the newly-christened Adult Top-40 radio chart at #39, while going to #21 in the UK. They attempted a move to Disney's Hollywood Records, but after a failed album, Pop Trash, with only a minor British hit of "Someone Else Not Me" only hitting #53 in the UK, they were dropped by the label, with Cuccurullo leaving to start back up his old band Missing Persons.

In the early 2000s, LeBon, Rhodes, and John Taylor reunited with former original bandmates Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor for a tour that would prove hugely successful, and re-establishing their clout to be signed yet again to Epic Records. The resulting album, Astronaut, redeemed their legacy and put them back on the pop chart. First single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise" climbed to #5 on the British pop singles chart and hit #1 on Billboard's American dance chart in 2004. Also, that song as well as follow-up "What Happens Tomorrow" both peaked at #13 on Billboard's Adult Top-40 radio list. During the recordings for their next record, Red Carpet Massacre, which was helmed by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, saw original guitarist Andy Taylor quitting again. Received less warmly, nevertheless single "Falling Down" got to #25 on the American Adult Top-40 tally and #52 in the UK. Continuing on with guitarist and songwriter Dom Brown, Duran Duran has released two more albums, most recently Paper Gods in 2015, with single "Pressure Off" with Janelle Monae and Nile Rodgers being a minor hit in Italy at #59.

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Here's the band live at Wembley Arena in London...