Duran Duran’s ‘Seven and the Ragged Tiger’ turns 40

Parlaphone Records/Warner Music Group

November 21 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Duran Duran’s third album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, which became the band’s first U.K. #1 and peaked at #8 in the U.S.

The album went double Platinum, thanks to three top 10 singles: “Union of the Snake,” which peaked at #3 in the U.S.; “New Moon on Monday,” which went to #10; and “The Reflex,” which was remixed by Chic’s Nile Rodgers and became the band’s first U.S. #1.

But the album wasn’t an easy one to make, as there had reportedly been tension among band members regarding the direction of the record.

When asked about his fondest memory of making the album, bassist John Taylor told ABC Audio that he doesn’t have any. He noted that some of the problems stemmed from the band feeling the pressure to follow up their hugely successful sophomore album, Rio.

“It was the first time in our careers that we had something to lose because Rio had been a huge success on every level. You know, it was just, everything about that album was right,” he shared. “I mean, I don’t think people think we’ve got to, like, match that. We’re thinking we’ve gotta beat that.”

And apparently original guitarist Andy Taylor had similar feelings, joking to ABC Audio that his fondest memory of the album was finishing it.

On a more serious note, Andy said that for him, one of the highlights of Seven and the Ragged Tiger was hearing Rodgers’ remix of “The Reflex.”

“I remember we were on tour, Paul Barrow, our manager, put it on and I just hit the roof,” he said. “When I got that mix back, I was like, ‘Wow.’”