The 80s Hit You’d Swear Is Duran Duran (Because It Kind of Was)

Let’s say you’re listening to 80s radio and you hear the song “Election Day” pop up. It sounds an awful lot like Duran Duran, right? Yet when you look at the display, you see the strange name Arcadia listed as the artist.

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Well, you weren’t totally wrong with your hunch, as “Election Day” was the big hit from a one-off project made up of a trio of Durans. And it certainly captures the alluring magic of the mothership band.

Splitting Durans

Duran Duran was riding high in the pop music world circa 1985. They were also kind of sick of each other. And they were tiring of the pressure-cooker scenario and high expectations associated with being in the world’s biggest pop band.

They made the fascinating decision to go their separate ways, albeit only temporarily. Andy Taylor and John Taylor (not related) both wanted a less ornate production approach than what the band had been doing. That duo formed The Power Station with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson.

Meanwhile, Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes actually wanted to dive deeper into the production-heavy well. They hired the same producer (Alex Sadkin) who had done Duran Duran’s Seven And The Ragged Tiger record in 1983. They chose the name Arcadia based on a favorite painting of Rhodes. (Drummer Roger Taylor, again no relation to the other Taylors, contributed to both of the side projects.)

A Memorable “Election”

Le Bon and Rhodes decamped to Paris to make the Arcadia record, which would be titled So Red The Rose. They spent a lot of time and money getting the cream of the crop of session players to join them and fill out the sound.

As just an example of their big-name contributors, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd and Carlos Alomar, known for his work with David Bowie, both played on “Election Day”, the first single. Andy MacKay of Roxy Music delivered a prominent saxophone part. And Grace Jones popped up doing a kind of dramatic monologue right in the middle of the song.

Those fans who were longing for their Duran Duran fix certainly found it in the mystery and exotica of “Election Day”. It reached the Top 10 in the UK and the US upon its release in late 1985.

Behind the Lyrics of “Election Day”

Simon Le Bon’s Duran Duran lyrics often skewed to the opaque. On “Election Day”, he takes that approach to another level. Lines like “Opening eyes impale neon flickers” and “By roads and backways a lover’s chance downwind” refuse any easy interpretation. They instead invite you to get caught up in their gaudy excess.

“Election Day”, at times, seems to hint at the political. “Are you aware you’re being illegal?” Le Bon asks. “You’re making your savior behavior look evil.” There’s also some sensuality to them. “To your invitation stretching my body,” the narrator mewls, and then later, in Jones’ segment, “Cut open murmurs and sounds be calm on the skin.” In the end, what they mean doesn’t matter half as much as how they sound.

Arcadia made just that one record. Duran Duran reunited for the 1986 Notorious, as was always the plan. But Le Bon and Rhodes left behind an intriguing project and an unforgettable single in “Election Day”. It makes you wonder what might have come next had they continued.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns