A Childhood Fairy Tale Inspired Duran Duran’s First Big Hit in 1982

In 1982, Duran Duran had their first No. 1 single, with “Hungry Like The Wolf”. On their sophomore Rio record, the band had already had some success, with early songs like “Planet Earth” and “My Own Way”. But it’s “Hungry Like The Wolf” that became Duran Duran’s first Top 5 hit. It is also their first platinum-selling song.

“Hungry Like The Wolf” is written by band members Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, and Andy Taylor. The song says, “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 down, I’m after you / Smell like I sound, I’m lost in a crowd / And I’m hungry like the wolf.”

One of Duran Duran’s biggest hits, Le Bon was inspired to write “Hungry Like The Wolf” by thinking of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale, even though the other band members didn’t know it at the time.

“He has a great ear for putting a melody to a bunch of chords,” Andy Taylor later recalls. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but his inspiration for that lyric was ‘Little Red Riding Hood.’”

The Success of “Hungry Like The Wolf” by Duran Duran 

All of the members of Duran Duran knew they liked “Hungry Like The Wolf” when they recorded it. Still, they had no idea what the song would do for them or their career.

“We were knocked out at the time,” Andy Taylor admits in 2002. “But we had no idea at all that the song would still be around 20 years later. It’s been in movies. It’s been covered by young bands like Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish. And even Courtney Love’s had a go at it. There’s one thing we haven’t done with it, though. Burger King has been at us to use it for a commercial ever since it came out.”

Duran Duran said no to Burger King using “Hungry Like The Wolf”. But it remains one of their biggest hits. Among their many other songs, including “Save A Prayer”, “The Reflex”, and more, “Hungry Like The Wolf” is also their most-streamed song.

The success of “Hungry Like The Wolf” is largely attributed to its popularity on MTV, a relatively new platform at the time.

“Video made it possible to create a cult of personality across the globe,” Roger Taylor says. “You arrive on a tour bus, and they’d already seen us on a yacht in a video.”

Photo by Randy Bachman/Getty Images

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