Carnival (ep)

Carnival is a dance music EP by Duran Duran, originally released in various markets around the world in September, 1982 (see 1982 in music).

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Background

As part of Capitol's shift in marketing strategy for Duran Duran from New Romantic act to dance band over the course of 1982 (in a bid to shift more units of the "Rio" album), it was decided to release an EP of remixed tracks in various territories globally to capitalise on increased night-club play and to try to replicate that success on radio.

Part of this strategy also involved producer David Kershenbaum remixing various of "Rio"'s tracks. Most of these remixes also appeared on the Carnival release as well as various twelve-inch singles.

The demand for Duran Duran material during the autumn of 1982 was quite high. Deejays who heard the new mixes could not get enough, and started to put the dance mixes on the air. On October 2 the US version of the "Carnival" EP actually entered the album charts, albeit briefly, at #98.

The success of the "Carnival" EP gave the band enough clout to bring Kershenbaum back in to remix the entire A-side of the "Rio" album, which was duly released in the USA in November 1982.

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The Songs and Releases

Due to the fact that Carnival was meant to capitalise on Duran Duran's burgeoning dance-oriented success, the tracklisting around the world differed from region to region.

The Dutch EP, released in a white sleeve with photos taken from the "Rio" tour book, featured twelve-inch versions - or "Night Versions" in early Duran Duran parlance - lifted from four of the band's more popular singles - "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Rio", "Planet Earth" and "Girls On Film".

The Night Version of "Girls On Film" is actually slightly different from the version that appeared on the EMI twelve-inch single, clocking in at just around 15 seconds longer. Also, the David Kershenbaum Night Version mix of "Rio" was commercially exclusive to this EP (it also featured on an American promo twelve-inch), as the "Rio" twelve-inch single featured "Rio (Pt II)" as the lead mix.

The Spanish EP featured, on the sleeve at least, the same running order as the Dutch EP. Closer inspection however, shows that the version of "Rio" is actually just the album version, although it's listed as the Night Version. The song titles on the Spanish release were all translated into Spanish.

For the North American release - released both in Canada and the US - the track listing changed slightly, incorporating among other things, a new Kershenbaum mix of minor single "My Own Way" which featured additional lyrics left off the original album version as well as the 'rhythm section punched up, making it ideal for dancing'. This mix eventually resurfaced on the Kershenbaum version of the "Rio" album in November 1982.

The EP also featured an extended version of album track "Hold Back The Rain" remixed by David Kershenbaum, which is quite similar to the version on the B-side of the "Rio" twelve-inch single. However the guitars are more prominent on the EP mix, and the keyboard and bass are quieter in some places. This mix also featured on the Japanese Carnival EP.

The North American tracklisting is rounded out by Night Versions of singles "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Girls On Film", lifted directly from their respective twelve-inches. Looks-wise, the EP was similar to the Dutch release but came in a purple sleeve, instead of white.

The most interesting collection of songs can be found on the Japanese/Tawainese release of "Carnival". Included among the increasingly easy to acquire versions of previous singles is a remix exclusive to this release of fan-favourite album track "New Religion". This mainly instrumental mix remained unavailable outside of Japan/Taiwan until the 1999 release of the "Strange Behaviour" remix album.

The remainder of the EP was filled with the seven-inch version of "Rio", (mis-labelled as "Rio (Pt II)" as the wrong master was delivered to the Toshiba-EMI offices in Tokyo), the Kershenbaum Re-mix of "Hold Back The Rain", and Night Versions of "My Own Way" and "Hungry Like The Wolf".

The Japanese EP was the only version of "Carnival" to receive a CD release. On 31 May 1991, Toshiba/EMI compiled the four Japanese EPs - "Nite Romantics", "Carnival", "Tiger Tiger" and "Strange Behaviour" onto a rare and highly sought after double CD set (TOCP-6707/8).

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