Meet El Presidente

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"Meet El Presidente"
Single by Duran Duran
from the album Notorious
B-side	"Vertigo "(Do The Demolition)
Released	April 1987 (1987-04) 2 May 1987 [US]
Recorded	Jun-Sep 1986, London
Genre	New wave funk rock
Length	3:38 (7" remix) 5:30 (Meet El Beat) 7:12 (The Presidential Suite)
Label	EMI Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, James Bates
Producer(s)	Nile Rodgers Duran Duran
Duran Duran singles chronology
"Skin Trade" (1987) "Meet El Presidente" (1987) "I Don't Want Your Love" (1988)
Music video
"Meet El Presidente" on YouTube

"Meet El Presidente" is the 16th single from Duran Duran, and the third single from the Notorious album.

About the song[]

According to a studio report in Star Hits magazine, one of the early drafts of this song was called "One of the Faithful." A demo version by that name can be found on several bootlegs.

The album version of the song is considerably different from the single and video versions, and from all the remixes. The former's original key and tempo are maintained, but mixes elements of the master to differing degrees for the single release, the main ones being a more emphatic, up-front mix for the percussion, brass, and backing vocal tracks, throughout the song.

Duran Duran played this song—among others—live, on the final episode of British music show The Tube.

Music video[]

"Meet El Presidente" was the third video directed for Duran Duran by and . It was a basic concert video, featuring the band in their stagewear from the Strange Behaviour tour which supported the release of the Notorious album. It was also filmed in black and white Super-8.

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes[]

"Meet El Presidente" was backed by album track "Vertigo (Do The Demolition)". This was the second single from Notorious to have an album track as b-side.

It was also the first single that Duran Duran released as a CD single, on which they included the "Meet El Beat" remix.

There are 3 official mixes of "Meet El Presidente":

• "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
• "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30
• "Meet El Presidente" a.k.a. "Meet El Presidente" (The Presidential Suite). - 7:12

Formats and track listing[]

7": EMI. / Tour 1 United Kingdom[]

1. "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
2. "Vertigo" (Do the Demolition) - 4:43

12": EMI. / 12 Tour 1 United Kingdom[]

1. "Meet El Presidente" - 7:12
2. "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30
3. "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
4. "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)" - 4:43^[1]

• This 12" is being labelled as "Meet El Presidente" on the cover.
• Also available on CD (CDTOUR 1)

12": EMI. / 12 Club Tour 1 (Promo) United Kingdom[]

The Presidential Suite:

1. "Meet El Presidente" - 7:12
2. "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30
3. "Meet El Presidente" (45 Mix) - 3:38
4. "Skintrade" (Parisian Mix) - 8:10
5. "Skintrade" (S.O.S. Dub) - 7:16

7": Capitol Records. / B-44001 United States[]

1. "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
2. "Vertigo" (Do the Demolition) - 4:43

12": Capitol Records. / V-15294 United States[]

1. "Meet El Presidente" (The Presidential Suite) - 7:12
2. "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30
3. "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
4. "Vertigo (Do the Demolition)" - 4:43^[1]

• This 12" is being labelled as "The Presidential Suite" on the cover.

12": Capitol Records. / SPRO-79008 (Promo) United States[]

The Presidential Suite:

1. "Meet El Presidente" (The Presidential Suite) - 7:12
2. "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30
3. "Meet El Presidente" (Radio) - 3:38
4. "Skintrade" (Parisian Mix) - 8:10
5. "Skintrade" (S.O.S. Dub) - 7:16

CD: Part of "Singles Box Set 1986-1995" boxset[]

1. "Meet El Presidente" (7" remix) - 3:38
2. "Vertigo" (Do the Demolition) - 4:43
3. "Meet El Presidente" - 7:12
4. "Meet El Presidente" (Meet El Beat) - 5:30

Note:

• "Meet El Presidente" 7" remix", 45 mix and "radio" are identical versions.
• "Meet El Presidente" and "Meet El Presidente" (The Presidential Suite) are the same version, also known as "The Presidential Suite Mix" (EMI DDNX 331).

Chart positions[]

• #24 UK Singles Chart (25 April 1987)
• #70 Billboard Hot 100 (2 May 1987)
• #40 Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales
• #10 Italian charts

Personnel[]

Duran Duran are:

• Simon Le Bon - Vocals
• John Taylor - Bass
• Nick Rhodes - Keyboards

With:

• Steve Ferrone - drums
• Nile Rodgers - Guitars
• - Horns
• - Background Vocals
• - Background Vocals
• Tessa Niles - Background Vocals
• Cindy Mizelle - Background Vocals

Production:

• Nile Rodgers - Producer
• Duran Duran - Producer
• Daniel Abraham - Remixer, Engineer and Mixer
• Larry Levan - Remixer

References[]

External links[]

• TM's Duran Duran Discography
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics