The band records an appearance on the Richard Skinner Sessions on BBC; they perform “Sound of Thunder,” “Is There Anyone Out There,” “Friends of Mine,” and “Careless Memories.” The BBC later airs a three-minute profile on Duran Duran.

This early concert featured a setlist with songs like “Planet Earth,” “Girls on Film,” and “Tel Aviv”. The performance occurred shortly after the release of their debut single, “Planet Earth”. 

Duran Duran’s first single, “Planet Earth” hits #12 on the UK charts and #8 on the Australian charts in May.

• [1981-02-27] Birmingham (UK), Aston University
• [1981-03-02] Liverpool (UK), Brady’s Club
• [1981-03-03] Manchester (UK), Manchester Polytechnic
• [1981-03-04] London (UK), Sundown Club
• [1981-03-05] Nottingham (UK), Rock City
• [1981-03-06] Cardiff (UK), Top Rank
• [1981-03-07] Leicester (UK), Leicester Polytechnic
• [1981-03-08] Sheffield (UK), Top Rank

In March, the band performs “Planet Earth,” “Careless Memories” and “Girls on Film” on the Midlands (UK) music show LOOK HEAR!

Duran Duran’s first appearance on Top of the Pops airs on March 19, 1981. They perform “Planet Earth.”

Photographer Finn Costello remembers the Duran Duran shoot took place in an antique car sales garage, the Paradise Garage in Fulham UK in April 1981.

^the 9th is an approximate date

In April “Careless Memories” (with B-side “Khanada”) is released in UK; the 12″ single includes a cover of David Bowie’s “Fame.”

Duran Duran perform “Careless Memories” on BBC’s Top of the Pops, marking their 2nd appearance on the show.

The band’s eponymous debut is released worldwide on June 15th, 1981; the first US pressing did not include “To The Shore.”

The band appear on The Peter Powell Show on BBC Radio One, performing “Nightboat,” “Girls on Film,” “Is There Anyone Out There” and “Like An Angel.”

The band’s first album reaches #3 on the UK charts, where it will remain for 118 Weeks

The band’s Nite Romantics EP is released in Japan, containing Night versions of “Planet Earth” and “Girls On Film” along with “Fame” and “Khanada.”

The band begins the “Faster Than Light” tour of the UK with dates that include the Brighton Dome, Gaumont (Southampton), Rock City (Nottingham), Apollo (Manchester), City Hall (Newcastle), Tiffany’s (Glasgow), Odeon (Edinburgh), Royal Court Theatre (Liverpool), Hammersmith Odeon (London), New Theatre (Oxford) and the Birmingham Odeon.

Available on 7″ and 12″ vinyl via EMI, “Girl’s on Film” became the band’s first top 10 hit, peaking at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. 

Duran Duran make their 3rd appearance on BBC’s Top of the Pops with “Girls on Film.” This performance marks their first week in the UK top ten,and featured the band in their signature striped shirts.

The band film the “Girls on Film” video at Shepperton Studios “around”  August 13 with directors Kevin Godley and Lol Crème; Antony Price designs the clothing the band wears in the video.

The song becomes the world’s first extended video, edited to the Night Version of the song. Due to it’s “x-rated” content, the video is banned by both MTV and the BBC.

Duran Duran begins International promotion to support their first record, visiting and performing in Belgium, France and Netherlands. Busloads of fans from the UK came to support the band on their date in Paris.

• Belgium: September 7 (Brussels), September 9 (Harelbeke).
• France: September 8 (Paris).
• The Netherlands: September 12 (Amsterdam).

Long Island’s WLIR play “Girls on Film, becoming the first US station to play a song by Duran Duran. The station was crucial in breaking British New Wave bands in America.

(date listed is approximate) 

Duran Duran fly to America for the first time for their North American Club Tour. The first date of the tour is at Spit on Long Island, NY. Among the tour, stops are 4 shows at the Roxy in Los Angeles and 2 shows at the Ritz in New York City.

After seeing the band play in New York, and noting in his diary that they were ‘good looking kids,” Andy Warhol invites them to The Factory in September, 1981.

(date listed is approximate) 

Duran Duran do a record signing at Vinyl Fetish in Hollywood, CA and play the Roxy later that night.

Simon, Nick, John & Roger do an Interview with Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ radio, Los Angeles

Andy Warhol took Duran Duran  to the iconic Studio 54 nightclub on October 10, 1981following a performance by the band at the Savoy in New York City,

Before leaving America, Duran Duran visits with MTV, who had a staff of 16 people at the time. They discuss airing their videos and future programming ideas.

(date listed is approximate) 

Duran Duran appear, for the first time, on the cover of Smash Hits UK.

It is their first cover , ever.

Duran Duran begins their first headlining tour of Germany; dates included Die Wartburg (Wiesbaden), Markthalle (Hamburg), Ballroom Blitz (Hannover), Kant Kino (Berlin) and more.

The “My Own Way” single (with B-Side “Like An Angel”) is released as a stand-alone single worldwide, (ex-US) in November. The single was designed to capitalize on the Top 5 success of “Girls on Film.” The 7″ single and 12” versions were recorded in October 1981 with Colin Thurston, well before the rest of the Rio album, where the song would later appear. “My Own Way” was another hit, reaching #14 on the UK Singles Chart, and in Australia, where it became Duran Duran’s second Top 10 hit at #10. Malcolm Garrett and Peter Saville designed the cover artwork.

The band ends the year at home in England with performances at Hammersmith Odeon, London and 3 shows with band Talk Talk supporting at the Odeon, Birmingham.