Video hit Duran Duran

Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf

Hungry Like the Wolf is a song by the British new wave band Duran Duran. Written by the band members, the song was produced by Colin Thurston for the group's second studio album Rio (1982). The song was released in May 1982 as the band's fifth single in the United Kingdom. It reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart, and received a silver certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

"Hungry Like the Wolf"'s Russell Mulcahy-directed music video was filmed in the jungles of Sri Lanka, and evoked the atmosphere of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Although the band initially failed to break into the US market, MTV placed the "Hungry Like the Wolf" video into heavy rotation. Subsequently, the group gained much exposure; the song peaked at the number 3 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1983, and Duran Duran became an international sensation. The video won the first Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1984.

Critical reception

"Hungry Like the Wolf" received generally positive reviews from contemporary pop music critics. Rob Mitchum of Pitchfork Media in a 2003 review of the "Singles Box Set 1981-1985", said that "singles don't come much stronger than 'Hungry Like the Wolf'," praising its "bubbly keys around a slashing guitar riff," adding that the song "show[s] off how Duran Duran was a band, not just a synthesizer."

Jon Pareles from The New York Times, said the song "put an oblique, sometimes apocalyptic spin on pop romance in the verses but kept the choruses clear and catchy, never disguising their pop intentions," adding that the "posing was always a little preposterous, but no less enjoyable for that."

Allmusic's Ned Raggett said the song "blended a tight, guitar-heavy groove with electronic production and a series of instant hooks," adding that it was one of Rio's "biggest smashes" that "open[ed] the door in America for the new romantic/synth rock crossover."

Stewart Mason, also from Allmusic called "Hungry Like the Wolf" a "spectacular pop single", and "the finest song Duran Duran ever wrote", adding that it was a "much more kinetic and exciting song than earlier flop singles like 'Planet Earth'.

Music video

In 1982, music video director Russell Mulcahy, who had directed the band's first video "Planet Earth," was brought back to make the music video for "Hungry Like the Wolf" and two other songs for the band's 1983 video album. The band had a vision of jungles and exotic women, and Mulcahy suggested Sri Lanka, a country he had just visited.

EMI invested $200,000 to send the group to Sri Lanka; the band made a stopover there in April, en route to a scheduled Australian tour. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist Andy Taylor remained behind to finish the mixing of the Rio album while the rest of the band began filming the video; they flew straight to Sri Lanka after handing over the final masters to EMI.

As it was described in the pop culture book, The 1980s, the video was lush and cinematic, with shots of jungles, rivers, elephants, cafes and marketplaces evoking the atmosphere of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Andy Taylor, who contracted a stomach virus serious enough to require hospitalization from accidentally drinking water in the lagoon during the shoot, describes the storyline as "Indiana Jones is horny and wants to get laid."

In the video, singer Simon Le Bon's head rises in slow motion out of the river as rain pours down. He then chases a beautiful tiger-like Indian woman played by Bermudian model Sheila Ming, from open markets in the city through obstacles in the jungle. During the chase, Le Bon has his face mopped by a young boy and overturns a bar room table, culminating in a final chase and struggle in a jungle clearing, which is sexually suggestive. In the meantime, the other band members hunt for Le Bon.

Less than 2 months after the shoot of the video, the American cable television network MTV put "Hungry Like the Wolf" into heavy rotation, playing it four times a day. The exposure eventually helped propel the single into the top 5 of the Billboard Hot 100, and the Rio album into the top 10 of the albums chart. Les Garland, senior executive vice president of MTV, said: "I remember our director of talent and artist relations came running in and said, 'You have got to see this video that’s come in.' Duran Duran were getting zero radio airplay at the time, and MTV wanted to try to break new music. 'Hungry Like the Wolf' was the greatest video I'd ever seen." MTV named "Hungry Like the Wolf" the 15th most-played video of the network, and was 11th on the century-end MTV "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made".

"Hungry Like the Wolf" won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the 26th Grammy Awards, making it the first video to ever win that award. In 2001, VH1 rated it 31st on the "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos".

The lyrics:

Dark in the city night is a wire

Steam in the subway earth is afire

Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo

Woman you want me give me a sign

And catch my breathing even closer behind

Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo

In touch with the ground

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

Smell like I sound I'm lost in a crowd.

And I'm hungry like the wolf.

Straddle the line in discord and rhyme

I'm on the hunt I'm after you.

Mouth is alive with juices like wine

And I'm hungry like the wolf

Stalked in the forest too close to hide

I'll be upon you by the moonlight side

Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo

High blood Drumming on your skin it's so tight

You feel my heat I'm just a moment behind

Do do do do do do do dodo dododo dodo

In touch with the ground

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

Scent and a sound. I'm lost and I'm found

And I'm hungry like the wolf.

Strut on a line it's discord and rhyme

I howl and I whine I'm after you

Mouth is alive all running inside

And I'm hungry like the wolf.

Hungry like the wolf

Hungry like the wolf

Hungry like the wolf

Burning the ground I break from the crowd

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

I smell like I sound. I'm lost and I'm found

And I'm hungry like the wolf

Strut on a line it's discord and rhyme

I'm on the hunt I'm after you

Mouth is alive with juices like wine

And I'm hungry like the wolf