"Girls on Film" is the third single by the English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 July 1981. It became Duran Duran's first top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 5 in July 1981, and an international hit reaching the top 20 in several countries, including number 1 in Portugal, number 4 in New Zealand and number 11 in Australia.

Background

Originally written and demoed in 1979 by an early line-up of the band featuring lead vocalist Andy Wickett, Duran Duran re-wrote and re-recorded the song for their 1981 debut album. The different original version, which co-writer Wickett said "was inspired by the dark side of the glitz and glamour", was released as part of an EP in 2018.

Music video

A music video was made with directing duo Godley & Creme (of 10cc) and director of photography Steven Bernstein at Shepperton Studios in July 1981. Due to the inclusion of female nudity the video exists in both uncensored form (which was played in nightclubs and on The Playboy Channel) and a heavily censored version for MTV.

Critical reception

Retrospectively, music journalist Annie Zaleski hailed "Girls on Film" as "the perfect balance of post-disco and futuristic pop", describing it as a song that "starts with the clicking camera sound before jumping into a funky rhythmic strut — courtesy of John Taylor's rubber-band-stretch bass lines and Roger Taylor's percolating drums — and a vibrant counterpoint: Andy Taylor's lilting, slashing riffs and Nick Rhodes' avant, spacey keyboards." and lyrics featuring "warning about the downsides of fame and modeling" with "some pointed critiques of an industry that values only surface beauty." In 2024, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis ranked it Duran Duran's greatest song: "It remains the most exciting thing they ever made, its choppy distorted guitar as close as they got to achieving their original “Chic-meets-the-Sex-Pistols” blueprint. Its chorus is a six-note call sign; its lyrics are unable to decide whether they think the fashion world is an exploitative nightmare or a glamorous world to aspire to."

Covers, samples, and media references

Cover versions of "Girls on Film" have been recorded by Björn Again, Wesley Willis Fiasco, the Living End, Girls Aloud, Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers, Billy Preston, Kevin Max, La Ley, Midnight Oil, Mindless Self Indulgence and Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans on Glee. The song's title also lends its name to Season 4 Episode 15 of Glee, "Girls (and Boys) On Film", though the cover appears not in this episode, but instead in Season 5 Episode 20 "The Untitled Rachel Berry Project".

Formats and track listings

7": EMI / EMI 5206 (United Kingdom)

12": EMI / 12 EMI 5206 (United Kingdom)

12": EMI / 062-20 07176 Greece

CD: Part of Singles Box Set 1981–1985

CD: Part of Duran Duran (2010 Special Edition)

CD: The Remixes (United States)

12": The Remixes (United States)

Personnel

Duran Duran Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

As of October 2021 "Girls on Film" is the fifth most streamed Duran Duran song in the UK.

Certifications