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Duran Duran with Mark Ronson: A return to ‘Rio’?

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If you grew up in the ‘80s, these guys soundtracked your slumber parties, the ones where you tried to paint your nails black only to get nail polish remover all over your mom’s comforter. Now they’ve returned with the album ‘All You Need Is Now,’ out today on iTunes (physical drops in February) and produced by Mark Ronson, who connected with Duran Duran in 2008 in Paris, soon after they became the first band to perform at the Louvre Museum.

Duran Duran and its four original members -- John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon, the latter sporting one of the best rock names in the business -- haven’t been wanting for exposure. In addition to playing near the ‘Mona Lisa,’ the four gents who once looked like walking advertisements for Vidal Sassoon have been playing festivals around the world the last couple of years.

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But perhaps they know it’s recorded material that will prolong their legacy. Their 13th studio album has been heralded by Ronson as ‘the imaginary follow-up to ‘Rio’ that never was.’ Of course, he has vested interests -- perhaps he sees himself like Daniel Lanois for Bob Dylan’s ‘Time Out of Mind,’ a role that doesn’t seem out of his league for ‘80s dance-pop. But producer hype-talk aside, it’s still an alluring notion. Can these Euro-elders recapture the dirty, sexy sandy blast of ‘Rio,’ their 1982 pièce de résistance?

At the top is the video for ‘All You Need Is Now,’ their first attempt at grabbing Nagel-illustrated splendor once again. The album is off to a fine start: It’s currently No. 2 on the U.S. iTunes Album Chart.

-- Margaret Wappler

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