Yesterday EMI released a two-CD (also available on LP, but with limited content) Limited Edition of Duran Duran’s seminal 1982 album, Rio. Of course, I already have my copy that I purchased pre-release during last weekend’s trip to New York.

This release contains the original UK album version, the US album mixes, Manchester Square demos (recorded 28th August 1981), non-album singles and B-sides, and Night Version & Carnival remixes and a 56-page booklet.

This is the first time the US album mixes have been published in different formats other than vinyl and cassette from back in the day. There is also an unconfirmed rumor of an actual reel-to-reel release. When Rio was released on CD the UK version was pressed so while it was nice to have the UK version, this meant saying goodbye to the US version once those cassettes went kaput.

Why the different album versions between the UK and the US? While DD was trying to break into America, EMI felt the album needed to be released to appeal more to the American market at the time. From the booklet, written by Daryl Easlea:

“Guitarist Andy Taylor, writing in his autobiography, ‘Wild Boy’ knew the and should listen to their American record company Capitol and remix the album if they were to make it there. “It gave the album a smoother, cleaner sound that went down better with US audiences. We understood that we needed to change our sound for the States, where the music industry spends far more time and money on mixing material” before cutting to the bottom line. “Not that we had much choice: ‘Remix it and we’ll support you, don’t do it and we won’t,’ said Capitol.” It was remixed under established producer David Kershenbaum’s expert ear. The US market’s appetite had been whetted by the Carnival EP in September 1982 (the mini-album including ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’), before the full Kershenbaum version of the album came out, propelling them into the US Top 10 in early 1983.”

So is the difference in these mixes audible? Yes and no. You can tell the difference listening on headphones; maybe at a party over speakers you wouldn’t be able to distinguish which mix it actually is. Still worth the price though, particularly for the demos and the US version of Lonely In Your Nightmare, which contains extra chorus which has never been available anywhere in the post-vinyl era.

If you want to learn everything you’d ever want to know about the many versions of the nine tracks on Rio, check this out. It even makes my head swim.

So while DD is getting 27-year-old albums re-released, two of the Duran offspring are going to take their turn on the stage. Sons of Taylor’s Andy and Roger have formed their own band, “Nite Visions”, in a clever wordplay of their dad’s moniker for their 12″ single recordings, “Night Versions”. Naturally, they have an 80s electronic dance feel to it. You can find out more about them, including a track sampling, here.

11:52 // I’m trying to stay in bed until the last possible moment before our 1:00 checkout.

1:04 // We’ve all checked out our hotel, checked our bags for the day and are cabbing down to Chelsea to have some brunching gnoshes at Viceroy, 18th & 8.

4:38 // Waiting outside Madison Square Garden for the bus.

5:00 // No electrical outlets on the megabus.

5:23 // Goodbye, New York!

8:24 // Passing thru Balmer, hon, now. Or rather around. We are not on the two-level Megabus like we had hoped. This is just a regular ole bus like the Chinatown buses, and that means little or no legroom. Eddy, sitting next to me, is 6′-6″ so it’s a little cramped. For reference, the Bolt Bu on the way up had about three inches of room in front of my knees; they have removed a row or two to space them out and it’s really nice. Definitely would recommend the Bolt with two thumbs up. Plus Bolt has electrical outlets to charge your electinics while you’re using them.

This bus has made a stop at a mall above Balmer to drop some people off and now I’m sitting in the two front seats directly behind the driver so at least I can stretch out for an hour or so.

10:30-ish // Eddy’s awake before I am, something that never happened at the beach. Now is groggy-sleep time, the TV is on am I’ve opened the curtains to reveal the brightness outside. The city looks bright but a little hazy and looks warm enough to wear shorts outside.

12:11 // Time to leave the hotel. The bits are at Astro having diner food and after a nice long shower, it’s time to join them. Maybe we’ll check out the High Line today?

12:16 // Ah, the sidewalks.

1:16 // After a brief walk thru the park, we’re now at Tavern On The Green, having bloodys/screwdrivers. Feels good.

3:49 // We’ve walked and walked. Now we’re thru The Bowery, thru Chinatown and down near (what I believe is) City Hall and to the Brooklyn Bridge. We’re going to walk halfway across the bridge and then back. Then back to Canal and then I need to drop by and see John at Record Runner. He’s got the new a-ha and a video bootleg of DD’s Songbook sessions they did last year (?). Also on order for (unfortunately) next week of the Rio release that contains all original 1982 mixes and demos, an the 1981 Hammerstein concert DVD. I wish they would have cone out this week so they’d be waiting but oh well.

10:30 // Record Runner purchases secured! I’ve put two more upcoming DD purchases: the Rio Masters DVD which came out in the spring and the Hammerstein DVD. John was able to give me the advance copy of the Rio re-release which isn’t officially available until Tuesday.

We reconvened at Gym Bar with Scott & Mikey who drove up from DC today. Dinner reservations were secured at Landmarc in Tribeca. Back to the hotel for another street gyro (nothing to eat all day) and then a nap and showers.

12:33 // Grilled skirt steak salad on watercress with roasted peppers, gorgonzola cheese and chimichuri vinaigrette.

4:27 // Back at the hotel room now. After dinner we went to Rawhide which was boring. Between us all there was a battle to where we’re going to go next. Half of us wanted to The Eagle and half wanted to go to double-headed Disco at Nowhere. It was raining and cans were sparse so once we made a commitment we needed to stick to it. Instead, we looked in a guide and found that Barracuda was only a couple of blocks away so we walked there and spent the remainder of the evening there. Logan Hardcore was performing in the back and we had a fun time having cocktails and hanging there, meeting people and watching the show. No street-vendor gyros tonight, time for sleep!

5:09 // Goodnight.

This morning I woke up an extra hour early to prepare six brownbag lunches. I’m going to NYC with Jeff (his bday weekend), Chris, Eddy, Shawn & Doug. Since my frig was stoked this week I’ve volunteered to make lunches for everyone for our bus ride. Orders have come in and there are sandwiches to make! I’m adding surprises to everyone’s bags: Twinkies and chocolate candies.

Chris is needing to go downtown and file some paperwork so I go with him to drive around in the car so it doesn’t need to be parked. I cruise around downtown/N Cap/Rhode Island Ave and listen to MTV VJ Mark Goodman on 80s on 8 on the satellite radio. Apparently Martha Quinn starts the morning show and Nina Blackwood is up next. They referenced Alan what’s-his-name so I’m hoping JJ Jackson also had a job there. Funny how they’re all working together again.

Back to the trip: we all make it to the bus ontime and get seats together. They have electrical outlets in each seat so we can all arrive with our phones and laptops fully charged. Nice.

Once the bus is moving we break out our picnic-sized amount of food. We also have countless bags of chips and Slim Jims. We’ve take over the aisle as our open-bag picnic storage space. Doritos? We got ‘em. Sun chips? Got those too. Kit Kat? Why sure!

1:53 // Three of us are asleep. The other three are clicktapping away on a laptop, an iPhone and an iPod touch.

2:44 // Eddy’s playing SimCity on his iPod touch. And cranking on it, as a matter of fact. He knows the interface wells and narrates his city’s history as he plays. He has 37,304 residents and $478,887 in his bank.

3:25 // After a bus break at the Woodrow Wilson Recreation Center and Stop we have reached the split in I-95 North. Those that have traveled this will know what I’m talking about.

3:49 // We’re getting to the point where, over 20 years ago, the World Trade Center first appeared on the horizon for my first trip to New York. On that trip I remember driving down West Side Highway and taking a picture straight up out of the sunroof of the twin towers. I wish I knew where that photograph was today. It’s probably in the basement of my Dad’s house, packed away in the box it’s been in since 1986 when my parents moved. I still have the picture in head though; that will have to be enough.

This is Eddy’s first time to the city so it will be fun to play semi-host and watch someone else be starry-eyed like I was all those years ago.

5:16 // In Manha’an! We walked the 20 short blocks north of where the bus dropped us to make it to our hotel. A great, short walk that took us right thru Times Square. Good thing for Eddy to witness. We’re staying at the 4-star Hilton a block away from the MOMA. This is world’s away from the cheap hostel I usually stay at on W83rd.

5:23 // Our rooms are on 32nd floor!

9:39 // At Stonewall, where the Pride movement began.

10:54 // These things that go through my head seem to not matter in personal conversations, and this is why I share them here.

12:37 // After Ty’s, Hanger, now a limo ride to The Eagle.

4:20 // Bedtime. After yet another trip to the corner gyro merchant. I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of him in the next few days.

4:40 // In bed. Talking with Eddy about the Towers and about old Manhattan and new Manhattan and what that all means. Can you relate?

4:42 // Eddy’s game stats: Population 113,336 and his bank is $653,689.

4:43 // We’ve opened the windows to sleep to. There is a pleasant rumble from the city coming up, and sirens and honks seem distant because they are so far below us. I love this city.

The Real World DC cast was at JRs today, accompanied by an obtrusive camera crew. Do they really think they’re going to capture good footage in a crowded bar when they can’t secure any audio?

I love the “where are they?” from the director at 1:16 and also when he tries to block my recording by moving his hand up and down at 1:30, like they have private domain in a public place. Douchebags.

The balance on my EBT card is $348.20, and that’s a lot. Apparently I have not done a real grocery shopping run since mid-July. So it’s time. Rent the Zipcar, grab a cart (the kind you actually push!) and start filling it up. Since my balance is pretty healthy, I’m grabbing both things that I need to get as well as things that strike my fancy, with little regard as to what my purchases are going to add up to.

Purchase: $202.70
EBT Card Balance: $145.50
Club Card Savings: $44.58 (17% of purchase)

While enjoying the H St Festival today I spotted two members of the Real World DC cast shopping and being pretty boring. Even the crew seemed bored with it all. When the two girls went inside the shop, they all plopped down and started texting and calling people, not even bothering to follow them inside to film them.

I’m writing this on my new iPhone 3G/s. I took the plunge.

I tried to deal with the shattered-into-100-pieces glass situ but it really got to be too much. Watching video was fine, but trying to read anything, from emails to websites, was somewhat annoying.

Yesterday I worked a cater/waiter event and made some nice cool cash and since it’s under the tax claimant limit I can run with it. This was the impetus that pushed me over the edge to decide it was time to get a new phone.

I’m up today, early from yesterday’s physical work and therefore an early evening, and I decide that this is the day. Why wait, right? The Clarendon store opens at 11:00 and I figured it was better to get there as early as I could for two reasons: a smaller crowd, and more time in the afternoon to play with the new toy.

When I get to the store I hold two new iPhones up, showing their backs. I’m still torn between the black or the white. And while I’ve leaned towards the white for its crisp look it’s still black on the interface side while you’re using it. I thought it would be cool, on the white ones, if they would make the front side top and bottom (where the ear speaker and home buttons are) white as well, and maybe have a white background for the desktop icons. So I chose the black back for its cohesiveness.

Apple apparently doesn’t want you paying cash for iPhones (afraid they will be “jailbroken” and shipped overseas or something) I have to buy a gift card and turn around and use that gift to purchase the phone. Whatevs. I have a leftover balance on the card and with that I get iTunes gift certificates.

The process to activate the new phone was pretty quick and simple. The employee helping me said it would be activated “within twenty minutes” but then about 30 seconds later it pinged and was on. My old phone was instantly turned into an iPod touch.

Now, to fill these 32 gigs up with almost all my iTunes library and even more video (Dexter episodes for $0.99 anyone?)!