Electric Barbarella


"Electric Barbarella" is the 29th single by the English pop rock band 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 |Out of My Mind]", was another track from Medazzaland, but was released as a single from The Saint soundtrack album instead.

Background

"Electric Barbarella" is a direct tribute to the 1968 Roger Vadim film Barbarella, from which a character named Durand Durand inspired the band's name. It is considered as the first ever single by a major label artist available for digital purchase/download on the internet.

Music video

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 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.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes

The B-sides for individual "Electric Barbarella" releases included remixes of previously released singles, such as "Girls on Film" or "Out of My Mind". Numerous remixes of the track were also issued on various promo releases and on the internet as well.

Formats and track listings

12": EMI / 12ELEC 2000 United Kingdom

  1. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:54
  2. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:02
  3. "Girls on Film" – 6:27
  1. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:15
  2. "Girls on Film" – 4:51
  3. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:05
  • Released in November 1998

    MC: EMI / TCELEC 2000 United Kingdom

  1. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:15
  2. "Girls on Film" – 4:51
  3. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:05

    7": Capitol / S7-724381972175 United States

  4. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:19
  5. "Out of My Mind" – 4:20

    12": Capitol / Y 7243 8 58674 15 United States

  6. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:54
  7. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:16
  8. "Electric Barbarella" – 7:12
  9. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:49

    12": Capitol / SPRO 12098 (Promo) United States

  10. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:41
  11. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:15
  12. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:03
  13. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:12
  14. "Electric Barbarella" – 2:11
  • US promo 12" labelled "Todd Terry Remixes"

    12": Capitol / SPRO 7087 6 12098 15 (Promo) United States

  1. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:03
  2. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:12
  3. "Electric Barbarella" – 2:11
  4. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:41
  5. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:15

    12": Capitol / SPRO 7087 6 12097 16 (Promo) United States

  6. "Electric Barbarella" – 7:12
  7. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:49
  8. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:19
  9. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:15

    12": Harvest / SPRO 7087 6 12085 11 (Promo) United States

  10. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:02
  11. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:04
  12. "Electric Barbarella" – 6:17
  13. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:05

    CD: Capitol / C2 7243 8 58674 0 8 United States

  14. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:15
  15. "Electric Barbarella" – 5:41
  16. "Electric Barbarella" – 7:09
  17. "Out of My Mind" – 5:51
  18. "Sinner and Saint" – 4:12
  19. "Electric Barbarella Video" – 5:01
  • Track 6 is in Quicktime format, 320x240, Apple Cinepak codec

    Digital download

  1. "Electric Barbarella" – 4:20
  2. "Electric Barbarella" – 7:08
  • First commercially downloadable song; sold for 99 cents

    Media references

The cosmetics company Hard Candy was preparing to launch a colour of nail polish named "Electric Barbarella" at the same time the single was released, but had to halt it because the proper permissions had not been received from the owners of the Barbarella name.

Chart positions

The song was released on 16 September in the United States, and peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 1 November and one year later reached No. 23 in UK singles charts. Due to the debacle over its download release, temporary censoring of the music video and late release to other markets the single is generally considered to have under-performed.

Release history

Personnel

Duran Duran
Additional musicians