Duran Duran – Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes, Andy Taylor, Roger Taylor
Year: 1984
Artists: Duran Duran
Album: Seven and the Ragged Tiger
Other Hits: Is there something I should know?, Save a Prayer, Come Undone, New Moon on Monday
All I can recall about Duran Duran was I was young… too young to like music but I liked them a fair bit. I remember them being well dressed, elegant and sharp and they have their own style of music and it doesn’t sound pop or rock and they never do ballads. Their MTVs are always amusing to watch it’s not just sing, sing, sing there’s always a story, a plot.
An English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Stephen Duffy, with the later addition of Roger Taylor and, after numerous personnel changes, Andy Taylor and Simon Le Bon. None of the Taylors are related and Roger Taylor is not to be confused with Queen’s drummer. Duran Duran was named after the villain from Barbarella, Roger Vadim’s French science-fiction film. The villain, played by Milo O’Shea, is named “Dr. Durand Durand”. John Taylor and Nick Rhodes wanted to be the resident band at the city’s Rum Runner nightclub where John worked as a doorman and Nick as a deejay. In May 1980, London vocalist Simon Le Bon was recommended to the band by an ex-girlfriend who worked at the same pub. When they are not rehearsing they worked as disc jockey, doormen, and glass collectors by the club owner and also their manager.
In 1983, they became famous with the release of the album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger that includes the songs “Union of the Snake”, “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Rio”, “Save A Prayer” and “Is There Something I Should Know”, They followed up with “New Moon on Monday” and their next single “The Reflex”, became their first number one hit in the United States and was successful in numerous other countries around the world. They contribute “A View to a Kill” to the 1985 James Bond movie of the same movie title and it was the last single the band recorded as the original five-piece for twenty years.
All five members of the band were photogenic and were labelled “the prettiest boys in rock” by People magazine, the band worked with fashion designers to build a sharp and elegant image. They always looked appealing in all their posters but it’s always John Taylor who always caught my eyes, he is really a looker. Princess Diana of Wales declared Duran Duran her favourite band and the band were dubbed “The Fab Five” by the British press, comparing them to the Beatles whose nickname was The Fab Four.
Duran Duran got introduced to Generation Y, In 1993 when they released their comeback album entitled ‘Wedding Album’ with hits like “Ordinary World” and “Come Undone” their music fits likes a glove and it sound so current
Watching them live was just plain crazy the sound of Simon’s voice will lift your spirit high and take on an emotional journey and will take you back in time like it was still 1983.
“I feel sorry for the ’90s, because it was never able to be anything much more than the hangover to the party that was the ’80s” – Simon LeBon
New Wave Journal 