Rio

The song Rio by Duran Duran originated from an idea by John Taylor about the Brazilian city, imagining it as an exotic and vibrant place, a never-ending party. However, Simon Le Bon, who wrote the lyrics, decided to focus it on a woman named Rio, although the connection to the city and its glamorous aura remains. Interestingly, the verses were inspired by an earlier song by the band, and the chorus comes from "Stevie's Radio Station," a track by the group TV Eye which featured Andy Wickett as vocalist, who at the time was one of the first singers of Duran Duran.

To create the distinctive opening sound of Rio, Nick Rhodes placed metal rods on the strings of a grand piano in the studio, and then reversed the recording to achieve that effect. The synthesizer solo was built with an arpeggiator on a Roland Jupiter-4, while the tenor saxophone solo was performed by Andy Hamilton. The laughter heard on the track belongs to Rhodes' girlfriend at the time. The music video, filmed on the island of Antigua in May 1982, shows the band in Antony Price outfits sailing on a yacht in the Caribbean Sea. The filming had its anecdotes, such as the need to borrow a camera for a specific shot or the scare of being close to sharks during a swim. The song was released as a single in Australia in August 1982 and later in the UK in November of the same year, reaching the Top 10. In the United States, following the success of "Hungry Like the Wolf," it was re-released in March 1983, reaching number 14.