Duran Duran: The Reflex
With an ounce of Chic, Duran Duran makes their big American splash with a heavy smash hit
This morning, I awoke from a really feel-good dream. And I must admit I was feeling damn good too. In my head, I was dancing to Duran Duran‘s "The Reflex" while parading around a super box store as if I had organized my own choreographed flash mob. And I must admit, that song always gets me grooving. It’s one of the great dance anthems to come out of the Eighties.
What you may not know about the song is that the album version and the popular Nile Rodgers remix are not the same. First heard on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger LP, the album version of "The Reflex" seemed a bit dry for American radio according to the band. It was finally put in the hands of Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers to help add that extra zing to it. When everything was said and done, Duran Duran was celebrating their first number one pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1984.
Regardless of which version you play, "The Reflex" is loaded with rich electro dance grooves and a soaring almost-ethereal chorus carried by lead singer Simon Le Bon. But Rodgers’ spice certainly fired up everything great about Duran Duran, turning this into one hell of a funk-laden, Europop landmark.
J MATTHEW COBB
I remember when this song first came out, I hated it. Needless to say it didn’t take long for me to fall in love it and it became one (of many) of my favorite songs by them.