"Electric Barbarella" | ||||
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Single by Duran Duran | ||||
from the album Medazzaland | ||||
Released | 16 September 1997 | |||
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Recorded | 1997 | |||
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Writer(s) | Nick Rhodes, Warren Cuccurullo, Simon Le Bon | |||
Producer(s) | TV Mania | |||
Duran Duran singles chronology | ||||
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"Electric Barbarella" is the 29th single by Duran Duran, and the first official single from the album Medazzaland. In 1997, the single and album were released only in the United States; "Electric Barbarella" was not issued as a single in the UK until January 1999 on the back of the late 1998 release of the compilation album Greatest.
The band's previous single, "Out of My Mind", was another track from Medazzaland, but was released as a single from The Saint soundtrack album instead.
"Electric Barbarella" is a direct tribute to the 1968 Roger Vadim film Barbarella, from which the band took their name.
It has been touted as the first song available for digital purchase/download on the Internet, however, this is heavily disputed as songs had been available for download and purchase on the internet since 1992. Dozens of different mixes were created from the song. A Dom T mix exclusive to the Internet was available for download in the US for 99 cents. This pioneering move annoyed many American retailers as they saw it as infringing on their retail territory and they either refused to stock the album, or provided very little, or sometimes no, promotion of the disc.
The video, directed by photographer Ellen von Unwerth, involved a robot sex doll played by American model Myka Dunkle. Simon Le Bon stated during an interview with Carson Daly on Total Request Live that von Unwerth specifically requested to use Dunkle, despite the fact that the band had other models and friends, including Sophie Dahl (who does appear in several scenes in the video), in mind due to her background as a dancer, and her ability to "do the mime that would actually make her appear to be a robot." The video had to be mildly censored before receiving airplay on MTV or VH1; by the time the modified video was delivered, the song had already fallen off the charts.