Duran Duran. Founded in 1978, they were an art school band fronted by Stephen "Tin Tin" Duffy (remember that 80's song "Kiss Me?" Yea, that guy). Nick Bates was on keyboards, Nigel Taylor on guitar. There was even a clarinet.
Stephen leaves, drummer Roger Taylor joins, Nigel switches to bass and starts using his middle name, John. Nick changes his last name to Rhodes and starts wearing makeup. (This is later the reason that Andy Warhol decides he wants to meet Duran Duran when they first came to the States in 1981.)Andy Taylor is flipping burgers at the Rum Runner, a hip Birmingham club, and joins on guitar. Simon Le Bon's girlfriend is a waitress at the Rum Runner and recommends the drama student for the singing gig, and Simon wins the guys over with his pink leopard skin pants and vocal style.
Duran Duran becomes the house band at the Rum Runner (where Nick also DJs) and within a year, they are signed and off to America. They make good on their promise to play Madison Square Gardens within 2 years of forming this particular lineup. Videos, yachts, supermodels and tons of hair dye follow.
Roger leaves the band after the 1985 performance on Live Aid, the last time the original lineup played together until 2003. Roger, Simon & Nick did Arcadia; Andy & John did the Powerstation, then Andy bailed. John left the band in 1996.
But then they all got back together. I was lucky enough to meet John Taylor and chat with him a tiny bit about it a couple years ago. This evening, I almost got to meet them all.
Last week, a friend from In Touch Magazine (lots of pictures, few words - those few words are usually followed by exclamation points) assigned me to a story: Go to the taping of the new VH1 concert series, this one featuring Duran Duran, and have 20 minutes with the band afterwards. I almost fainted.
Now understand, I am pretty much an indie rock girl. I love a wide range of music, but my journalistic past dealt pretty much with alternative type bands and electronic outfits just on the cusp of Spin magazine level or something. I got to interview artists like Failure, the Chills, Kristin Hersh, Rocket From the Crypt, the Geraldine Fibbers, Discount (who went on the become the Kills), Creeper Lagoon (they were practically my house band at KALX), Shonen Knife... stuff like that. Oh, and Tracy Lords. I got to interview her about electronica though, not her filmography. Bummer, I know.
But my weakness for Duran Duran runs deep. I spent the week in a mild state of shock. I figured out what to ask them in a few minutes, but it took me days to decide what to wear. At one point, I realized I had to wear my ex boyfriend's brown denim jacket. So I called Diego Luna ex, and left him a frantic message begging for his jacket. He brought me the coat in question and wished me luck (since he had been there when I met John Taylor and almost hyperventilated). Eventually, the hair was good, the outfit chosen, the recorder functional, the camera loaded, the new Sharpie pen and Creem magazine from 1983 ready to be autographed... and off I went.
It rained like crazy today. Californians say they like rain, but they don't react to it well. As a result, Duran Duran was cranky. Andy Taylor was out due to "exhaustion." The sound stage was freezing, and at sound check, the band was worried that turnout would be low. Once the show was ready to go, perhaps 2/3 of the people invited had showed, and we were all bundled up and a bit wet. There were diehards there, and I'm pretty into Duran Duran - but I ain't a diehard. I can still laugh at them as well as with them. They played and sounded great - they really are tight and clean and rowdy... one person nearby thought it was a lip sync, but Simon's antics soon proved that it wasn't.
The show will air next Tuesday, December 14th. I'm sure that some bits of dialogue will be cut out though... Like John telling the crowd that they were so good looking that they must have come from Central Casting, and Simon retorting, "Yea, just do what we do. Act like you're enjoying yourself." Or later in the show (once everyone had warmed up a bit), Simon enthusiastically yelling to the crowd, "Is our fucking drummer hot shit tonight?" (Um, he was.)
I'm lousy at recalling setlists and such, and I'm sure their website will have all sorts of that. We heard some new stuff and some old stuff. Okay, okay... I was really happy to hear "Planet Earth," "Girls On Film," "Careless Memories," and even "Wild Boys," which I used to hate but now really get a kick out of. "Notorious" was awesome as usual, and we were treated to a beautiful rendition of "The Chauffeur," always haunting and amazing.
And then it was over, and the Wild Boys in question were tired and cranky and no press got to hang out with them. So I didn't meet them. I'm going to do a phoner either with just Simon or the whole band later this week, but that's not quite the same. Although I'm not upset about it. I'm sure I would have held it together had I met them (just barely), but after that, then what? A question still not answered, but perhaps to be answered another day. Besides, I've gotten this close, and I ain't even trying.
