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| “Ordinary World” | |||||
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| Single by Duran Duran from the album Duran Duran (aka The Wedding Album) |
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| B-side | "My Antarctica", others | ||||
| Released | December, 1992 (US) January 1993 (UK) |
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| Format | 7", CD5 | ||||
| Recorded | Privacy, London | ||||
| Genre | Rock | ||||
| Length | 5:39 | ||||
| Label | EMI - DD 16 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Duran Duran | ||||
| Producer | Duran Duran with John Jones | ||||
| Duran Duran singles chronology | |||||
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| The Wedding Album track listing | |||||
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| Greatest track listing | |||||
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"Ordinary World" is the 23rd single by Duran Duran, and the first single from The Wedding Album. It was released in December 1992 in the United States and January 1993 in the United Kingdom, reaching the top ten in both countries.
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Background
By the early 90s, Duran Duran's popularity had faded. Their album Liberty had proved a commercial failure, its two singles failing to make a significant showing on British or American charts.
It wasn't until Capitol leaked "Ordinary World" to a radio station in Florida in the autumn of 1992 that it looked like Duran Duran mania might yet hit again. The single proved so popular that Capitol had to push the US release date up, ultimately releasing it in December. In the UK, the original January release date stood. The song can be credited as introducing Duran Duran to a new generation of fans.
Simon LeBon would go on to sing the song with Pavarotti at a WarChild benefit, which was released on home video as Pavarotti & Friends: Together for the Children of Bosnia. Le Bon later said of the event, "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man."[1]
The strings in the song were arranged and performed by Nick Rhodes, using a Kurzweil K2000, the first digital synthesizer that was able to recreate any sound.
The song won an Ivor Novello Award in May 1994.
The video was filmed by director Nick Egan at Huntington Gardens in San Marino, California.
B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes
To capitalise on the success of "Ordinary World" and the new Duran Duran fans it was finding, EMI used the single's release to lure these new fans to the band's back catalogue. This mini-Decade was spread over the two CD singles released during the campaign.
Other mixes
An acoustic version of the song was included on the band's next release, the "Come Undone" single.
There were several other versions of "Ordinary World" released.[1]
- The "Acoustic version" was recorded at the May 15 "No Ordinary Tour" live performance at Tower Records in Hollywood, which was simulcast to Hard Rock Cafés around the world. This live version was found on a number of "Ordinary World" releases outside the UK, most notably the Canadian and American cassette single and featured additional musicians, Gerry L and AD'A. It would eventually be released in the UK on the first CD single for "Come Undone".[2]
- The "AC edit" was featured on a US promo CD that came packaged with the Decade album.
- A version recorded live on Simon Mayo's Radio 1 show would surface in 1995 as a b-side to "White Lines".
- A 6:08 version, recorded at Sony Studios in New York City for Hard Rock Live, was included on a promotional 2-track CD in June 2000 by the band's new label Hollywood Records.
Covers, samples, & media references
The song has been covered by Riverfenix, Something for Kate, Stereo Blonde, Aurora, Kurt Nilsen, Circa Survive, Gregorian, Paul Anka and Mandy Kane.
The song appeared in the soundtrack to the film Layer Cake in 2005.
Chart performances
"Ordinary World" peaked at #3 in the US, #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks, #6 in the UK and #1 in Canada.
Track listings
Also released in Canada (Capitol / C4-44908)
This CD came in a 2-CD case that also housed CD DDP 16.
This CD was released as a picture disc. |
Two-disc US promo. Second CD is Decade. Housed in exclusive sleeve.
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Other appearances
Apart from the single, "Ordinary World" has also appeared on :
Albums:
- The Wedding Album (1993)
- Greatest (1998)
- Singles Box Set 1986-1995 (2005)
- Layer Cake OST
Singles:
- Come Undone (1993)
- White Lines (1995)
Charts
| Chart (1993)[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 18 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 15 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 16 |
| French Singles Chart | 6 |
| German Singles Chart | 16 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 11 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| US Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks | 2 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | 14 |
| US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |
| US ARC Weekly Top 40 | 1 |
| Preceded by "A Whole New World" by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle |
ARC Weekly Top 40 number one single March 6, 1993 |
Succeeded by "I'm Every Woman" by Whitney Houston |
References
- ^ Tom McClintock's Duran Duran discographyPDF (216 KiB)
- ^ The Duran Duran Timeline: 1993
- ^ "Ordinary World", in various Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ Italian Single Chart Hit parade Italia (Retrieved May 30, 2008)
- ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
- ^ Billboard Billboard.com (Retrieved April 7, 2008)
