DURAN DURAN GREATEST HITS

2010-07-20T21:37:00.000+07:00

Arcadia So Red The Rose – 2 CD + DVD
February 1st, 2010

Arcadia So Red The Rose – 2 CD + DVD
EMI Catalogue Cat No: 606 6812

Arcadia were formed by three members of Duran Duran, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor. They released one album ‘So Red The Rose’, which went Platinum, and reached #30 in the UK & #23 in the US. The album featured four singles, ‘Goodbye Is Forever’, ‘The Promise’, ‘The Flame’, and UK/US Top 10 hit, ‘Election Day’.

Along with three Duran Duran members, there was also a wide range of famous guests on ‘So Red The Rose’ including; David Gilmour, Sting (backing vocals on ‘The Promise’), Herbie Hancock & Grace Jones (spoken word on ‘The Flame’ & ‘Election Day’).

The additional DVD was originally released on VHS in 1987. It follows the filming of five clips from the album ‘So Red The Rose’ & the fascinating combination of directors, locations, behind the scene footage & photographic montages which come together to give an insight into the world of video production. The collection of videos including Arcadia’s first single ‘Election Day’ are shown in full, including Dean Chamberlain’s rarely seen interpretation of the song ‘Missing’.

All Music Guide describe ‘So Red The Rose’ as “the best album Duran never made”.

Tracklisting
CD1 – Original album, remastered
1. Election Day (2010 Digital Remaster)
2. Keep Me In The Dark (2010 Digital Remaster)
3. Goodbye Is Forever (2010 Digital Remaster)
4. The Flame (2010 Digital Remaster)
5. Missing (2010 Digital Remaster)
6. Rose Arcana (2010 Digital Remaster)
7. The Promise (2010 Digital Remaster)
8. El Diablo (2010 Digital Remaster)
9. Lady Ice (2010 Digital Remaster)
10. Say The Word (Theme from ‘Playing For Keeps’) (7″ Edit) (2010 Digital Remaster)
11. Election Day (Single Version) (2010 Digital Remaster)
12. Goodbye Is Forever (Single Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
13. The Promise (7″ Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
14. The Flame (7″ Remix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
15. Say The Word (Theme from ‘Playing For Keeps’) (Soundtrack Version) (2010 Digital Remaster)
16. She’s Moody And Grey, She’s Mean And Restless (2010 Digital Remaster)

CD2 – Bonus disc with rare tracks
1. Election Day (Consensus Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
2. Goodbye Is Forever (12″ Extended Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
3. The Promise (Instrumental)
4. Rose Arcana (Extended ) (2010 Digital Remaster)
5. The Flame (Extended Remix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
6. Say The Word (Theme from ‘Playing For Keeps’) (Extended Vocal Remix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
7. Election Day (Cryptic Cut) (2010 Digital Remaster)
8. The Promise (12″ Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
9. Goodbye Is Forever (Dub Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
10. Say The Word (Theme from ‘Playing For Keeps’) (Extended Instrumental Remix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
11. Election Day (Early Rough Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)
12. Flame Game (Yo Homeboy Mix) (2010 Digital Remaster)

DVD – Original VHS, released 1987
1. Introduction (2010 Digital Remaster)
2. Filming ‘Election Day’ (2010 Digital Remaster)
3. Election Day (2010 Digital Remaster)
4. Filming ‘The Promise’ (2010 Digital Remaster)
5. The Promise (2010 Digital Remaster)
6. Filming ‘Goodbye Is Forever’ (2010 Digital Remaster)
7. Goodbye Is Forever (2010 Digital Remaster)
8. Filming ‘The Flame’ (2010 Digital Remaster)
9. The Flame (2010 Digital Remaster)
10. Filming ‘Missing’ (2010 Digital Remaster)
11. Missing (2010 Digital Remaster)
12. Credits (2010 Digital Remaster)

Press release courtesy EMI

Nick’s Art & Duran Favourites of 2009

2009-12-29T13:43:00.000+07:00

December 28th, 2009

Here are my Art & Duran favourites of 2009:

Art highlights:

The Surrealist Photo exhibit at the Pompidou Center in Paris

The Ed Ruscha exhibit at the Hayward, Southbank Centre, London

Anish Kapoor exhibit at the Royal Academy, London

The Pop Life exhibit featuring Haring, Koons, Warhol and more at the Tate Modern, London

The John Baldessari show at Tate Modern

The Tim Burton retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City

The John Galliano fashion show in Paris, which was exquisitely beautiful.

The Giles Deacon fashion show in Paris. I’ve seen all his UK shows, this was his first one in Paris, and it was great.

Duran Highlights:

Our summer shows including Edinburgh Castle (just beautiful), The Lovebox Music Festival in Victoria Park, London (very special, our first big outdoor event in London), and the West Coast Dates (fun to play, despite the fact that I had a broken foot!)

Our first tour where we used lasers – so much fun, they will definitely be back…

And working with Mark Ronson – he is a joy to work with and we’re making a record that has the real Duran Duran sound.

Hopefully we will be seeing a lot of you next year when we finally finish the album and we do some tour dates. This one is going to be fun to play live.

I wish you all a very happy shopping season for whatever denomination you are from, or supporting, and hope you have a great holiday… we will see you next year! Nic

jt's year-end picks

2009-12-11T12:56:00.001+07:00

Duran Duran – special editions

2009-12-10T19:27:00.001+07:00

December 10th, 2009

Duran Duran – special editions

Special edition 2 CD/DD set: original album, b-sides, BBC session, and demos
Limited edition 3 Disc set including a DVD of BBC footage and 1st album era videos
Digital download only BBC In Concert. Coming March, 2010

CD 1:

The original album:
1. Girls On Film (3.39)
2. Planet Earth (3.57)
3. Anyone Out There (4.02)
4. To The Shore (3.47)
5. Careless Memories (4.08)
6. Night Boat (5.25)
7. Sound Of Thunder (4.06)
8. Friends Of Mine (5.40)
9. Tel Aviv (5.16)

The B-sides:
Late Bar (2.56)
Khanada (3.28)
Fame (3.18)
Faster Than Light (4.29)

CD 2:

The AIR Studios versions (recorded on 29th July, 1980):
Girls On Film (3.57) *
Tel Aviv (6.02) *
Recorded at AIR Studios on 29th July, 1980
Produced by Jon Walls
Engineered by Jon Walls and Rick Isbell

The Manchester Square Demos (recorded on 8th December, 1980):
Anyone Out There (4.09) *
Planet Earth (5.00) *
Friends Of Mine (5.52) *
Late Bar (3.02) *

+ Radio 1 Peter Powell session (recorded 19th June, 1981 transmitted 11th August, 1981):
Night Boat (5.12) *
Girls On Film (3.38) *
Anyone Out There (3.54) *
Like An Angel (4.52) *

+ mono

The Versions:
Planet Earth (Night Version) (6.20)
Girls On Film (Extended Night version) (5.43)
Planet Earth (Night mix) (6.15)
Girls On Film (Night mix) (5.41)

* Previously unreleased

DVD:
The videos:
Planet Earth (Club version)
Planet Earth
Careless Memories
Girls On Film (Long uncensored version)
Girls On Film (Short censored version)
Night Boat
A Day In The Life featurette

BBC footage:
Planet Earth – Top Of The Pops 5/3/81 *
Careless Memories – Top Of Pops 21/5/81 *
Girls On Film – Top Of The Pops 30/7/81 *

Old Grey Whistle Test (7/7/81):
Night Boat *
Anyone Out There *

Get Set For Summer (8/8/81):
Girls On Film *

Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (27/2/81)
Friends Of Mine *
Girls On Film *

* Previously unreleased

Special edition limited LP 180gram:

Record 1:
Original album:
Side 1:
1. Girls On Film (3.39)
2. Planet Earth (3.57)
3. Anyone Out There (4.02)
4. To The Shore (3.47)
5. Careless Memories (4.08)

Side 2:
1. Night Boat (5.25)
2. Sound Of Thunder (4.06)
3. Friends Of Mine (5.40)
4. Tel Aviv (5.16)

Bonus 12″ (33 1/3)
Side 1:
Planet Earth (Night Version) (6.20)
Girls On Film (Extended Night version) (5.43)

Side 2:
Planet Earth (Night mix) (6.58)
Girls On Film (Night mix) (5.41) *

* Previously unreleased

Digital download only:
BBC In Concert recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon 17th December, 1981, transmitted 13th April 1982
1. Anyone Out There
2. Planet Earth
3. To The Shore
4. Late Bar
5. Last Chance On The Stairway
6. Khanada
7. Night Boat
8. Sound Of Thunder
9. Faster Than Light
10.My Own Way
11.Careless Memories
12.Girls On Film
13.Planet Earth

Update: "Rio" special edition / "Live at Hammersmith '82"

2009-12-09T18:35:00.004+07:00

DURAN DURAN

- 2-CD & Special Edition release of 'Rio'

- LP & 12" Vinyl Special Edition of 'Rio'

- Previously Unreleased concert DVD/CD,
'Live At Hammersmith 82!'

Release date: 7th Sept 2009 (UK)/ 22nd Sept 2009 (US)

EMI is proud to announce the release of a 2-CD and Vinyl Special Edition of Duran Duran's classic 1982 album, 'Rio', and a previously-unreleased live DVD/CD concert, 'Live At Hammersmith '82!'

'Rio' was Duran Duran's second album and is as representative of the 1980s as it gets, at its best. A fusion of style and substance ensures that even two decades after its release it remains as listenable and danceable as ever. Through the sheer quality of its singles – Rio, Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer – and their accompanying, ground-breaking videos - which were heavily rotated on MTV - 'Rio' saw the band break the U.S., with the album spending a staggering 129 weeks on the Billboard 200 Chart.

The 'Rio' 2 CD Special Edition is made up of the UK release of the album, the original U.S. album remixes (enabling U.S. listeners to programme their CD to be able to listen to the original version), EMI Manchester Square demos, B-Sides, remixes and other surprises (see below for tracklisting).
The digital download version has 2 extra tracks.

The LP & 12" vinyl special edition is the original UK album on LP and US album remixes on the 12".
LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH 82! is a much anticipated release among followers of the band. Previously unreleased, it will come as a double DVD and CD pack, allowing fans to both enjoy the visual spectacle of the concert and CD audio, too. Filmed and recorded in the latter part of 1982 as Duranmania was sweeping the UK, the performance at London's Hammersmith Odeon includes 'Rio', 'Hungry like the Wolf', 'Girls on Film', fan favourite 'Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)' and more. The release also includes 'Rio' era videos and two previously unreleased 'Top of the Pops' performances. The concert is also available as an audio digital download.

Tracklistings…

Duran Duran: Rio (2 CD Special Edition)

CD 1:
Original UK album - released May 1982
1. Rio
2. My Own Way
3. Lonely In Your Nightmare
4. Hungry Like The Wolf
5. Hold Back The Rain
6. New Religion
7. Last Chance On The Stairway
8. Save A Prayer
9. The Chauffeur

Original US album mixes released on Harvest/Capitol - released November 1982

10. Rio (US album remix)
11. My Own Way (Carnival remix)
12. Lonely In Your Nightmare (US album remix)
13. Hungry Like The Wolf (US album remix)
14. Hold Back The Rain (US album remix)

CD 2:
The Manchester Square demos (recorded 28th August 1981):
1. Last Chance On The Stairway
2. My Own Way
3. New Religion
4. Like An Angel

Non-album singles and b-sides:

5. My Own Way (original 7" version. UK single a-side released November 1981)
6. Like An Angel (UK single b-side released November 1981)
7. Careless Memories (live. UK single b-side released May 1982)
8. The Chauffeur (Blue Silver - early version. UK single b-side released November 1982)

Versions & Mixes:

9. My Own Way (Night version - UK 12" single a-side released November 1981)
10. Hungry Like The Wolf (Night version - UK 12" single A side released May 1982)
11. Rio (Night version - Dutch 12" Carnival E.P. released September 1982)
12. New Religion (Carnival remix - Japanese 12" Carnival E.P. released September 1982)
13. Hold Back The Rain (Carnival remix - US 12" Carnival E.P. released September 1982)

*Digital only extras:

14/My Own Way (Instrumental version) (6.32)
15/Hold Back The Rain (Alternate remix) (6.38)

Vinyl

Original UK album on heavyweight Vinyl

Side 1:
1/ Rio
2/ My Own Way
3/ Lonely In Your Nightmare
4/ Hungry Like The Wolf
5/ Hold Back The Rain
Side 2:
1/ New Religion
2/ Last Chance On The Stairway
3/ Save A Prayer
4/ The Chauffeur

Original US album mixes on heavyweight 12"

Side 1:
1/ Rio (US album remix)
2/ My Own Way (Carnival remix)
3/ Lonely In Your Nightmare (US album remix)
Side 2:
1/ Hungry Like The Wolf (US album remix)
2/ Hold Back The Rain (US album remix)

DVD/CD: Live at Hammersmith '82

DVD
Rio
Hungry Like The Wolf
Night Boat
New Religion
Save A Prayer
Planet Earth
Friends Of Mine
Careless Memories
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Girls On Film
Extras
Rio era videos -
My Own Way
Hungry Like The Wolf
Save A Prayer
Lonely In Your Nightmare
Rio
The Chauffeur

Top Of The Pops Performances:

Hungry Like The Wolf (May 13th, 1982)
Rio (November 18th, 1982)

CD
Rio
Hungry Like The Wolf
Night Boat
New Religion
Save A Prayer
Planet Earth
Friends Of Mine
Careless Memories
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Girls On Film

DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ALBUM: Live at Hammersmith '82

Rio
Hungry Like The Wolf
Night Boat
New Religion
Save A Prayer
Planet Earth
Friends Of Mine
Careless Memories
Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
Girls On Film

NICK RHODES

2009-05-12T09:39:00.003+07:00

Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates on June 8,1962) is the keyboardist for Duran Duran. Rhodes and singer Simon Le Bon are the only members to have been with the band throughout its 29-year professional career (beginning in 1980). Furthermore, Rhodes is the youngest band member and the only member that has been with the band since its creation in 1978.

He has also released albums with Arcadia in 1985 (a Duran Duran side-project), as well as The Devils in 2002 with Stephen Duffy who was the singer of Duran Duran when they formed in 1978.

Early history

Nick Bates was the only child of well-off parents, the owners of a Birmingham toy store. In 1978, Bates left school at the age of sixteen, and founded Duran Duran with his art school friend John Taylor. At about the same time as the name Duran Duran was chosen for the band, he decided to change his name, allegedly due to being taunted by classmates with the moniker "Master Bates", to Rhodes after the Greek island. He attended Woodrush High School in Hollywood Birmingham.

As the band coalesced into its final lineup in 1979-80, Duran Duran started playing at a local Birmingham club called "The Rum Runner". The club owners became the band's managers, and Rhodes began working at the club as a disc jockey.

Contributions to Duran Duran

The band achieved rapid success, and Rhodes was a driving force throughout. An unschooled musician, he loved experimenting with the sounds his analog synthesizers were capable of, but shied away from the "novelty" sounds of some other early synth bands. The distinctive warble of "Save A Prayer," the keyboard stabs of "A View to a Kill," and the string sounds of "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" are some of his most recognizable creations. He also popularized the Crumar Performer on the early records.

Rhodes was also quick to recognize the potential of the music video, and pushed the band to put more effort into their early videos than seemed warranted at the time (before the advent of MTV). His contributions to the band were sometimes underestimated by contemporaries and critics. Barely twenty when the band hit major stardom, he cultivated an androgynous and sometimes flamboyant image, wore heavy makeup, and changed his hair colour at whim. As the band "grew up" in the public eye, however, Rhodes's intelligence, determination, and incisive dry humour became well-known to fans and fellow musicians. He is known as the holder of the Duran Duran flame and in fact owns the rights to the Duran Duran name.

By the late 1990s, Rhodes had begun writing lyrics for Duran Duran, as well as music. His digitally altered voice is heard on the title track to the 1997 album Medazzaland.

In 2001, the original five members of Duran Duran reunited to record new music; see Duran Duran for details.

Record production

Rhodes studied production techniques while in the studio with Duran Duran, eventually helping to mix several tracks on the Rio album, and was a co-producer on many of the band's later albums.

In early 1983, he discovered the band Kajagoogoo and co-produced their debut single Too Shy which became a UK no.1 (prior to any of Duran's singles reaching no.1).

Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo wrote and produced three tracks for the Blondie reunion album in 1996; the tracks were not used, but one song called "Pop Trash Movie" was later recorded by Duran Duran for the 2000 album Pop Trash.

In 2002, Rhodes co-produced and played additional synthetizers in nine tracks of the album Welcome To The Monkeyhouse by The Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he produced British-based pop group Riviera F for their debut EP International Lover, published on Pop Cult/Tape Modern (Rhodes & Stephen Duffy’s label).

Side projects

With his bandmates Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor, Rhodes formed the side project Arcadia while Duran was on hiatus in 1985. The band had a moody, keyboard-heavy sound, far more atmospheric than Duran Duran (or the hard rock of the other Duran splinter group of 1985, Power Station). The band scored a major hit with "Election Day" and the band's only album, So Red The Rose, went platinum in the US but was less successful in their native UK. The band never toured and was dissolved when Duran Duran regrouped in 1986.

Throughout the 1990s, Rhodes worked on a side project called TV Mania with Duran bandmate Cuccurullo. They created a self-described "social junk culture triptych opera" composed of music, dialogue, samples, and "found sound," and hoped to make it into a Broadway play. The music and packaging have reportedly been finished, but they have not found a label to release it.

In 1999, Rhodes reunited with Duran Duran's original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to create new music based on some of the earliest Duran music the two had written together. The result was the album Dark Circles, released under the name The Devils.

Also in 1999, Rhodes had a small guest appearance (in voice only) as a Canadian bomber pilot in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Personal life

Rhodes met Julie Anne Friedman (heiress to the Iowa, USA Younkers Department Store fortune) at a yacht party while on an American tour in 1982, and married her on 18 August 1984. They have one daughter together, Tatjana Lee Orchid (born 23 August 1986). After a brief separation and an attempt to reconcile, they filed for divorce in 1992. Since his divorce, he has been in three long-term relationships. He dated British photographer/filmmaker Madeleine Farley from late 1992 - November 1999. From February 2000 - July 2001, he was romantically linked to American model Mary Gray. He dated American actress/model/artist Meredith Ostrom from July 2001 - February 2009. He also had a brief relationship with British Socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (from November 1999 - February 2000).

Rhodes became enamoured of the art world early in his career, making friends with Andy Warhol and The Factory crowd, and attending exhibitions worldwide. At the end of 1984, he released his own book of abstract art photographs called Interference. Many of the photos were displayed at an exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery in London.

Rhodes became a vegetarian in 1988, following an incident where he was cutting into a rare steak and blood spurted onto his shirt.

Rhodes's father, Roger Bates, to whom Nick was very close, died in 2008. Duran Duran's July 7, 2008 concert at the Birmingham NIA was dedicated to Nick's father.

ANDY TAYLOR

2009-05-12T09:35:00.001+07:00

Andy Taylor (born 16 February 1961) is an English guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station. He has also performed as a solo artist, and served as a record producer for C.C.Catch and several other artists.

He was born and raised in Cullercoats, Tyne and Wear, North East England, and attended Marden High School. He began playing guitar at the age of eleven, and was soon playing with local bands, even producing one at the age of sixteen. He dropped out of school early to tour England and Europe with several different bands, playing working men's clubs and air force bases.

Duran Duran and Power Station

Taylor joined Duran Duran in 1980 (easily the most experienced musician in the band), and enjoyed their rise to fame over the next five years. He married Tracey Wilson, one of Duran Duran's hairstylists, in 1982. The couple have four children. Taylor invested his royalties in real estate, and once owned a wine bar in Whitley Bay named "Rio" after one of Duran Duran's biggest hit singles and albums.

In the mid eighties Taylor grew dissatisfied with the band's keyboard-heavy synth pop, however, and longed to stretch out his rock muscles. During a hiatus in Duran's schedule, he joined forces with bassist John Taylor, Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and singer Robert Palmer to create the band The Power Station, which had three hit singles and played the Live Aid concert in 1985. The band was a distinct break from the New Romantic Duran Duran material as they pursued a hard-rock music style.

Taylor would later rejoin Power Station bandmates Palmer and Thompson for Palmer's first solo album since the band's formation. The resulting album, Riptide proved to be a massive success for Palmer.

After The Power Station, Taylor allowed Duran Duran to believe he would be returning to record a new album, even as he was signing contracts for a solo career in Los Angeles. Another Capitol Records group, Missing Persons, was disbanding at the same time, and Andy hired Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn to work with him. This caused ex-Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo to approach Duran Duran to fill Andy's position -- a vacancy no one in Duran Duran knew existed. Eventually Duran Duran sued Taylor to force him in to the studio to complete the album Notorious, but he ended up playing on only a few tracks before departing the band completely. He later countersued to claim some of the royalties from that album.

Solo career

In the meantime, Andy Taylor hooked up with ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and recorded the hit single "Take It Easy" (US #24), which was used as the theme song to the movie American Anthem. Ex-Missing Persons members Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn lent drums and bass, respectively, to the song and video. Two other songs by Taylor/Jones also appeared on the album: "Wings of Love" and the instrumental "Angel Eyes". Andy Taylor also contributed to the Miami Vice II soundtrack with the song "When The Rain Comes Down" (US #73). This was followed by his first solo album, Thunder (1987). O'Hearn again played bass for him on the album and during the following tour.

Taylor also contributed a cover of "Dead on the Money" to the Tequila Sunrise soundtrack in 1988. Taylor's former band Duran Duran would also allow one of their own songs, "Do You Believe In Shame?" to be included on the album. Also in 1988, Andy helped produce Rod Stewart's album "Out of Order" along with Chic members Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson.

A second solo album, this one consisting of entirely cover versions, entitled Dangerous, was released in 1990.

Taylor played as a backing musician for several other stars, including Belinda Carlisle (on her single "Mad About You"), Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, C.C.Catch and Thunder. He then moved on to producing full time, working with several moderately successful bands throughout the 1990s.

His most recent venture is the album "Burger Kingdom" which was recorded at his Ibiza studio in April 2008.

His new band consists of the following members:

Andy Taylor - Guitar & Vocal

Liam Keenan - Vocals & Piano

Joe Breban - Drums

Miky Dunn - Bass

Reunions

Taylor participated in the 1996 reunion of The Power Station, and in 2001 reunited with the other original members of Duran Duran to record their first new music together since 1985. Their ensuing album, Astronaut, featured a blend of Taylor's heavy guitar with the synth hooks of the classic Duran Duran sound.

In 2006, Taylor again parted ways with Duran Duran, leaving the band a second time, in the middle of the recording of Reportage, which was scrapped by the band after his departure. More recently, Taylor strongly hinted in his blogs that Duran Duran's management company, Magus Entertainment, were partly responsible for his departure.

This was confirmed on the 4th of May 2008 when (following legal action) The Sunday Times(UK) printed the following retraction -

"Andy Taylor

An article about Duran Duran (Wild boys always shine, Culture, November 4, 2007), referring to Andy Taylor's departure, said he had failed to turn up for a recording session in New York and had sent a "blunt message . . . that he was leaving the band, with immediate effect". It was suggested that his departure was "still unexplained". Andy Taylor's departure from the band is the subject of continuing legal proceedings, but we wish to make clear that he was unable to get a US working visa to attend the New York recording session because of administrative failures by the band's management. His departure was not unexplained and he did not leave the band — the Duran Duran partnership was dissolved by the other members. We apologise and are happy to correct the record." ^[1]

Taylor also wrote in his autobiography that in addition to the problems recording Reportage, old conflicts between Nick Rhodes and Simon LeBon resurfaced. He also suggests that he was suffering from clinical depression during that period, following the death of his father.

Andy Taylor Studios Ibiza

Work on Andy Taylor Studios Ibiza (ATSI) was completed in 2006, a state of the art recording facility in Ibiza. In 2007 Taylor created three MySpace profiles and an official website to showcase the new music he has recorded with singer Liam Keenan. Tracks from artists which Taylor has produced are also featured, including Hungover Stuntmen, Sonny J Mason, Juke and Veil Cassini

RockAffairs

Founded in November 2007 and launched in April 2008, Taylor provided the seed money and helped co-found RockAffairs.com, a website developed to allow unsigned artists to sell MP3s, sell merchandise, promote their band and keep 100% of the profit. It also pioneers a new Profit Share Scheme where 100% of income from listener signups is distributed amongst bands who sign up for the profit share scheme.

In June 2008, Taylor handed control of the company over to Sarah Eaglesfield, former webmistress at duranduran.com.

"Wild Boy: My Life In Duran Duran"

On September 9th, 2008, an autobiography by Andy Taylor was released. It covers a backstage look of Duran Duran's rise, an album by album look at how the band became synonymous with early MTV, the drug and alcohol habits of the band, and delves into Taylor's other works, both solo and with other artists, such as his bandmates in The Power Station, Steve Jones and even Rod Stewart. Above all else, it is Taylor's own accounts of his life, from the strong family ties raised in him by his father and extended family to the experiences of starting a family of his own with his wife Tracey.

Personal life

Andy Taylor married his long-time girlfriend, Tracey Wilson, in 1982. They have four children, Andrew James, born August 20, 1984; Georgina, born August 12, 1987; Bethany, born in September 1991; and Isabelle, born in May 1996.

Discography

With Duran Duran

Duran Duran (1981)
Rio (1982)
Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
Arena (live) (1984)
Astronaut (2004)
Reportage (2006) (Unreleased Album)

With Power Station

The Power Station (1985)
Living In Fear (1997)

Solo

Thunder (1987)
Dangerous (1990)
The Spanish Sessions EP (1999)

Solo Singles

"Take It Easy"
"When The Rain Comes Down"
"I Might Lie"
"Don't Let Me Die Young"
"Life Goes On" (Promo)
"Dead On The Money" (Promo)
"Lola"
"Stone Cold Sober"

ROGER TAYLOR

2009-05-12T09:33:00.002+07:00

Roger Andrew Taylor (born 26 April 1960) is the drummer for the electronic pop/rock band Duran Duran. He is not to be confused with the Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

Early life

Roger began drumming around the age of twelve, teaching himself by playing along with his favorite records. His first ambition was to become goalkeeper for English football team Aston Villa. As a child he was taken to every home match by his father Hugh, but at 5'9 never grew tall enough to realise his dream. He has cited drummers Paul Thompson of Roxy Music, Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Tony Thompson of Chic as his key musical influences growing up.

Before joining Duran Duran, he played with several school and local club bands. After being inspired by the punk bands playing at Barbarellas club in Birmingham, he formed New Wave/Punk outfit Scent Organs, who became regional finalists in the 'Melody Maker' young band of the year in 1978. After the band split in 1979 he joined Duran Duran.

[edit] Initial tenure in Duran Duran, 1980-1985

He climbed with the band to fame and fortune in the early 1980s, playing on their first four albums: Duran Duran, Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Arena. Along with bass player John Taylor, he gave the band their trademark powerful driving disco/rock rhythms. His dark brooding looks served as a pleasing contrast to the rest of the band's more glamorous look.

Noted to be fairly quiet and unassuming, Roger typically shied away from interviews and the spotlight, preferring to stay in the background and maintain a degree of privacy.

Arcadia

After Duran Duran had achieved three multi-million worldwide selling studio albums and a huge world tour in 1984 (which peaked with 3 nights at New York's Madison Square Garden), Taylor worked with Duran Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes on the album So Red The Rose for their side project Arcadia which featured among others, Sting, David Gilmour, Herbie Hancock and Grace Jones. The band never toured, and he did not participate in its promotion.

Taylor picked up two Grammy awards during this period.

Nine year hiatus from music

His final performance with Duran Duran was a one-off show with the band at Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia which reached a global audience of 2 billion people. At the end of 1985, after the band had achieved a transatlantic no. 1 record with the James Bond theme A View to a Kill," Roger left the band and retired to the English countryside with his wife. He then fathered two sons and one daughter: James Roger, Ellea and Elliott Dante. Taylor was said to be exhausted by the rigors of being in the limelight. He took a long sabbatical to recover and maintain a sense of privacy.

Second tenure in Duran Duran, 1994 and 2001-2008

In 1994, while visiting a friend in Paris, he temporarily joined Duran Duran to play drums on two tracks for the covers album Thank You, later appearing in the video for Perfect Day and on the band's Top Of The Pops performance of the song.

In 1997, Taylor began flirting with the music industry again. He briefly formed the electro/dance band Freebass, which produced a single, "Love is Like Oxygen,"(a cover of The Sweet) on underground dance label Cleveland City Records and was placed in the top ten of the music week UK dance chart. Taylor also released electro house vinyl with Freebass member Jake Roberts under the name 'Funkface' - 'Lost This Feeling' and 'Shine' on Taylors own label Rt Music.

In 2001, Taylor rejoined Duran Duran, as all five of the original members reunited to record new material and perform as a quintet again. This culminated in 5 sold out nights at Wembley Arena, playing Madison Square Garden again and signing with Epic Records in New York. The band delivered a worldwide hit single '(Reach Up For The) Sunrise' and multi million selling album Astronaut which heavily featured the electro-funk rhythms of the newly reunited Roger and John Taylor.

The 'Astronaut' tour lasted for more than 2 years with sold out shows all around the globe. The band also picked up several prestigious 'achievement' awards from Q magazine, MTV and a Brit award.

In 2002, Taylor appeared on the "Twelve Drummers Drumming" Christmas card in the "Twelve Days of Christmas" set sold at Woolworths to raise money for the NSPCC – alongside the "other" Roger Taylor, the drummer for Queen.
In 2003, he began a long running deejay residency at Londons Met Bar playing a mix of house and hip hop.
In 2004, Taylor and Giovanna Cantone announced their separation after nineteen years of marriage. In the same year he was named Britain's fifth most eligible bachelor in UK high society magazine Tatler alongside Prince William and Hugh Grant.
In 2005, he started work on the second Duran Duran album for Epic Records. He was named (along with John Taylor) as one of the greatest musicians of all time in the Ubersonik.com top 100.
In 2006, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake started work with Duran Duran on several tracks for a new album set for release in 2007.
In 2007, the band preview the entire album 'Red Carpet Massacre' at The Barrymore Theater on New Yorks Broadway over 10 groundbreaking and critically acclaimed nights.
On 12 May 2007 (2007-05-12), he married Peruvian girlfriend Gisella Bernales, in a Caribbean ceremony.
On 1 July 2007 (2007-07-01), he performed with Duran Duran at the 'Concert for Diana' at the new Wembley Stadium. The band were introduced by Prince William and Prince Harry. They opened the show to a worldwide audience of 1 billion people.
On 24 August 2008, Roger performed a 4-hour deejay set at legendary 'superclub' Pacha in Ibiza.
6 March . Began residency with partner Jake Fonique at Cielo , uber hip down town New York house club that has hosted some of the biggest and most respected dj's in the world.
Saturday 7 March 2009, Roger will be spinning a DJ set in club Gryphon at the Seminole HardRock Hotel and Casino.
18 March . Duran Duran begin recording a new album with 'prodigious' producer/dj Mark Ronson.

JOHN TAYLOR

2009-05-12T09:29:00.002+07:00

John Taylor (born Nigel John Taylor on June 20, 1960 in Birmingham, England) is the bass guitarist and co-founder of the pop rock band Duran Duran. Duran Duran was one of the most popular groups in the world during the 1980s, thanks to revolutionary music videos that played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV, and Taylor was one of Duran Duran's most popular members.

Taylor played with Duran Duran and its changing lineups from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He made a dozen solo releases (albums, EPs, and video projects) through his company "Trust The Process" in the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in half a dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a full reunion of the original five members of the group in 2001.

Taylor also founded two supergroup side projects: Power Station and Neurotic Outsiders.

Taylor grew up in Hollywood, a suburb of Birmingham, England. As a child he attended Catholic school and the Abbey High School, in Redditch, wore glasses (due to severe myopia, over -10 dioptres), enjoyed James Bond movies and the hobby of wargaming with hand-painted model soldiers. In his early teen years he discovered girls, choosing Roxy Music as his favourite band, and before long was collecting records and teaching himself to play piano. His first band was called Shock Treatment. John is known to be the most favorite out of all of the band. Most of his fans are girls.

1978-1997: Duran Duran and Power Station

In 1978, Taylor and school friend Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran with Stephen Duffy while attending the School of Foundation Studies & Experimental Workshop Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University). Soon after Taylor underwent an "ugly duckling" transformation -- ditching the glasses for contact lenses, adopting the ruffles and sashes of the fashion that would become known as the New Romantic style, and learning to wear eyeliner and lipstick. He stopped using the name "Nigel," and has been known throughout his professional career as John Taylor.

Taylor played guitar when Duran Duran was founded, but switched to bass guitar after discovering the funky rhythms of Chic, and learned to enjoy playing in the rhythm section with Duran's newly recruited drummer Roger Taylor. He has frequently cited Chic's Bernard Edwards and The Clash's Joe Strummer as his strongest influences, in addition to Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, and Roxy Music players Graham Simpson and John Porter. Duran Duran released its first album in 1981, and went on to worldwide success in the early 1980s.^[1]

Duran Duran's early music tended to feature prominent, almost melodic bass lines, following the model of funk and disco songs like "Good Times". Although it was occasionally plain in the beginning that Taylor's playing was naïve and self-taught, he developed a unique undulating style that has since inspired many imitators. It was John Taylor who played bass on the Band Aid charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" As Duran Duran became famous in the early 1980s, Taylor's individual celebrity grew. His picture was a staple of teen magazines, and he won numerous popularity polls, including appearances on People Magazine's annual list of "Sexiest People". He lived a lavish lifestyle with homes in London and Paris, and owned several cars, which he rarely had a chance to drive, including the Bond-style Aston Martin of which he had always dreamed. He dated fashion models, such as Bond girl Janine Andrews and "Face of the '80s" Renee Simonsen, was welcome at parties all over the world, and developed the cocaine addiction to go with the rest of his high living.

In 1985, after recording the chart-topping theme to the Bond movie A View to a Kill, Duran Duran split into two side projects. John Taylor and Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor joined forces with singer Robert Palmer and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson to form the band The Power Station. With the guidance of producer Bernard Edwards, they released one album, The Power Station, which produced the hit singles "Some Like It Hot" and the T.Rex cover song "Bang A Gong (Get It On)".

That year, Taylor also launched his first solo effort, recording the single "I Do What I Do..." for the soundtrack to the movie 9½ Weeks. He also wrote some instrumental music for the movie's score with collaborator Jonathan Elias.

Although Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left the band, the three remaining Duran Duran members reformed for the 1986 Notorious album, and continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s with new guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. Taylor recorded a fair amount of unreleased solo material on the side, including several tracks used on the soundtrack of the Allison Anders movie Mi Vida Loca.

On December 24 1991, Taylor married 19-year-old actress and party girl Amanda De Cadenet, who was already pregnant with his daughter, Atlanta (born March 31, 1992). He moved from England to Los Angeles, California to help further his wife's acting career, as well as to escape constant attention from the British tabloids. Taylor's marriage declined even as Duran Duran's star rose with the success of 1993's The Wedding Album. In late 1994, Taylor sought treatment for his substance abuse, and has remained sober since. He and De Cadenet officially separated in May 1995.

Duran Duran's success rapidly waned with the widely derided 1995 covers album Thank You. Following that album's supporting tour, Duran Duran spent part of the summer of 1995 in London working on the album Medazzaland. Concurrently, Taylor devoted time to the side project Neurotic Outsiders, recording and touring with that band from the end of 1995 through the start of 1996.

1997-2001: Solo career

In 1996, Taylor co-founded the independent record label B5 Records in California with producer Hein Hoven. B5 Records originally recorded from Hoven's Lake Hollywood home but eventually built a state of the art studio in Santa Monica dubbed "B5 by the Sea." The label had a cutting-edge website created by Kapil Mathur which featured a virtual journey through the B5 studios, and which allowed visitors to "interact" with Taylor and Hoven using mobile avatars in a virtual environment.

At B5, Taylor sang and played guitar and bass on his first solo album, Feelings Are Good (And Other Lies), working with collaborator Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols. The home-grown album was marketed by mail order, and capitalized on the Internet savvy of the Duran Duran fanbase by selling its CDs directly via the website. The music and vocals were generally rough and raw, much more akin to punk music than to Duran Duran, while the lyrics reflected Taylor's chaotic personal life and his ongoing divorce from De Cadenet. He participated in writing an album for the reunited Power Station in late 1996, but his personal problems forced him to withdraw from the project, which went on to record with Bernard Edwards on bass and toured with a hired bass player. Increasing creative differences within Duran Duran, his move to LA and a desire to focus on his solo work also led Taylor to reconsider his place in that band. In January 1997 he announced at a Duran Duran fan convention that he was leaving the band.^[2]

He was soon recording more of his own material on B5 Records, releasing the EP Autodidact even as Feelings Are Good was re-released on the larger Canadian label DeRock Records. B5 then issued a tribute album called Dream Home Heartaches... Remaking/Remodeling Roxy Music, featuring Roxy Music covers by Taylor and many other local Los Angeles artists. The label also produced the album Sub-Acid Sweet Songs for L.A. quartet Three Alarm Fire before Hein Hoven decided to leave the company. After that, the B5 Records company and the much-simplified website were renamed "Trust The Process", and focused on promoting Taylor's solo work rather than developing other acts.

During 1997 and 1998, Taylor built and toured with a band called "John Taylor Terroristen" (Gerry Laffy on guitar, Michael Railton/Tio Banks on keyboard, Larry Aberman on drums, John Amato on sax and flute) which played numerous shows in Southern California before touring the East and West Coasts of the United States. Terroristen released a live EP 5.30.98 and the accompanying video Better Off Alive through the Trust The Process website. After 9/11, Taylor said he would never use the band name "Terroristen" again.

Taylor also began making forays into acting. His long friendship with Allison Anders led to a starring role in her independent film, Sugar Town, in 1998. He also appeared in small roles in several other movies and TV programmes over the next couple of years.

In 1999, Taylor released two albums of earlier material. The first, Resume, was made up of unreleased music that he and Jonathan Elias had worked on together during the 1985 sessions for the 9½ Weeks movie soundtrack. The second, Meltdown, was a collection of tracks Taylor had laid down in 1992, during the extensive delays in Duran Duran's recording of The Wedding Album. Described by Taylor as "upbeat dance electronica with a hip hop influence", some of the lyrics reveal his disaffection with the Duran Duran lifestyle; he has said he came very near to leaving the band during that time, but was held back by the sudden success of "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" in 1993.

Later in 1999 Taylor signed a recording contract with the Japanese record label Avex Trax, and released an album labeled simply John Taylor on the cover, but listed in his official discography as The Japan Album. John Taylor Terroristen did more touring in Japan, Germany, and the United States. The Trust The Process website released an accompanying limited edition Japanese EP, followed by the "bootleg album" Live Cuts featuring unretouched recordings of Taylor's live performances from that year.

He continued recording for Avex in 2000, and early in 2001 released Techno For Two, a decidedly non-techno album filled with very personal songs. Shortly after, as talks began for a potential Duran Duran reunion, Taylor decided to create a retrospective package called Retreat Into Art demonstrating his development over the previous five years. A limited edition of 999 signed boxes contained two CDs, a poster, postcards, and more. After the signed boxes were sold out, the two-CD set was marketed on its own.

Taylor's final solo release, completed after the Duran Duran reunion was under way, was the collection MetaFour released in 2002. The album is divided into four thematic sections. The first contains instrumental music created for the 1992 film Mi Vida Loca. The second consists of previously unreleased live performances from various points in Taylor's early solo career, while the third contains a handful of acoustic performances and demos. The last section is a 17-minute question and answer session Taylor took part in at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood in 1998.

2001-2008: Duran Duran reunited

In 2000, Taylor was approached at his home in Los Angeles by singer Simon Le Bon about a possible reunion with the original Duran Duran lineup, and he was enthusiastic about the idea as long as the other two Taylors (Roger and Andy, who had left the band in 1986) were willing to rejoin as well. An agreement was soon reached, and Taylor demonstrated his renewed commitment to the band by inking an enormous linked-D's tattoo on his upper arm.

After a highly successful tour of Japan in 2003, the reunited band was signed with Epic Records, and released the album Astronaut in October 2004. They toured throughout the first half of 2005 before returning to the studio to work on their next new album. Guitarist Andy Taylor left the band again in October 2006, and recordings from this session (with the working title "Reportage") were set aside when the band got a chance to work with famed producer Timbaland. The resulting album, "Red Carpet Massacre", was released in November 2007. To celebrate its release the band took the unprecedented step of performing the album in its entirety for 10 special performances on Broadway in New York City, with a world tour in 2008.

Guest appearances

Over the years, Taylor has worked on projects with several other performers. He has performed with James Angell, and played bass on the Deadsy song "She Likes Big Words". He co-wrote and played bass on the Mindi Abair song "It Just Happens That Way", and did backing vocals on her cover of "Save Tonight".

He remixed the song, "Like A Hard Rain" for Japanese artist Nanase, and played on two songs for the Japanese band Slut Banks.

Taylor's side project Neurotic Outsiders has re-convened for an occasional live show or two since a surprise four-show stint at the Viper Room in 1999.^[3]

John Taylor made his first film appearance outside of Duran Duran as "The Hacker" (alongside then-girlfriend Virginia Hey) in the pilot episode of Timeslip, a 1985 TV programme that was not further developed. He later made a guest appearance in the 1985 Miami Vice episode titled "Whatever Works." In the episode, he, along with Tony Thompson, Andy Taylor, and Michael Des Barres played Power Station's 1985 hit "Bang a Gong (Get It On)." John was the only band member who had spoken lines, introducing character Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) to new lead singer Michael Des Barres. Taylor also made cameo appearances in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, and Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher in 2000, and That '80s Show in 2002. He also appeared on BBC Two comedy panel game Never Mind the Buzzcocks as a panelist in April 2001.

He makes a cameo appearance in the Bloodhound Gang's music video for the song "Your Only Friends Are Make Believe", "Playing rock, paper, scissors with himself... and losing" as described by Evil Jared Hasselhoff in the commentary for the band's DVD "One Fierce Beer Run".

Basses

The bass guitar most commonly associated with John Taylor is the Japanese Aria Pro II, which he used during the height of Duran Duran's fame; he also promoted the instrument in a series of magazine advertisements. In the mid-1980s, John tried other basses such as Steinberger and Wal (interestingly, although the Wal is considered by many to be one of the world's finest basses, Taylor was unimpressed with his). Taylor eventually settled on Phillip Kubicki's Factor bass with a unique drop-D latch on the head. Taylor also inherited the Music Man StingRay belonging to his idol Bernard Edwards.

As of 2007, Taylor still plays the Aria and the Stingray, but has also been seen playing a 1962 reissue Fender Precision Bass, a Gibson Les Paul bass, a Warwick Thumb 5 and a Peavey Cirrus 5 and 4 string.

Noting Taylor's loyalty to the same Peavey bass guitar onstage with Duran Duran for several years, in early 2006, Peavey Guitars asked Taylor to create a signature 4-string bass guitar. With his design partner Patty Palazzo, and designer Ted McCann, Taylor created the limited-edition "Peavey Liberator J84", which featured a detachable amplifier built into a custom-built case. The amp could be expanded into an external speaker or amplifier to increase volume and flexibility. Taylor went on to design a six-string guitar, the "Peavey Liberator A435" (named after the main road that led from his childhood home into the city of Birmingham, England), as well. Only 100 each of the numbered-and-signed basses and guitars were made available to the public, in October 2006.

Personal

John married Amanda De Cadenet in a London registry office on December 24, 1991 and they had a daughter, Atlanta Noo, on 31 March 1992. They officially separated in May 1995. John met his second wife Gela Nash, co-founder of Juicy Couture, in 1996, and they married in Las Vegas on March 27, 1999. They divide their time between Los Angeles, and the 15th-century South Wraxall Manor in the British countryside, purchased in 2004.

Discography

With Duran Duran

Duran Duran (1981)
Rio (1982)
Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)
Arena (Live) (1984)
"A View to a Kill" (Single) (1985)
Notorious (1986)
Big Thing (1988)
Decade: Greatest Hits (Compilation) (1989)
Liberty (1990)
The Wedding Album (1993)
Thank You (1995)
Medazzaland (4 tracks) (1997)
Greatest (Compilation) (1998)
Astronaut (2004)
Red Carpet Massacre (2007)

With Power Station

The Power Station (1985)
Living In Fear (1996) (9 tracks as co-writer)

With Neurotic Outsiders

Neurotic Outsiders (1996)

Solo

I Do What I Do... (Theme for 9½ Weeks) (Single) (1986)
Feelings Are Good and Other Lies (1997)
Autodidact (EP) (1997)
:Resumé (With Jonathan Elias) (1999)
Meltdown (1999)
The Japan Album (1999)
The Japan EP (EP) (2000)
Live Cuts (Live) (2000)
Terroristen: Live At The Roxy (Live) (2001)
Techno For Two (2001)
Retreat Into Art (2001)
MetaFour (2002)

Film credits

1999 - Sugar Town: Clive
2000 - Four Dogs Playing Poker: Dick
2000 - A Diva's Christmas Carol: Ghost of Christmas Present (VH1)
2001 - Strange Frequency: Jimmy Blitz (VH1)
2001 - Vegas, City of Dreams: Byron Lord

SIMON LE BON

2009-05-12T09:16:00.004+07:00

Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is the lead singer and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.

Early life

Le Bon was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School, the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions. He worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli collective community – in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to attend drama school at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran.^{[citation needed]}

Le Bon attended Birmingham University at the same time as Blancmange lead singer Neil Arthur. This fact came up during a Smash Hits interview of Blancmange done by Chris Heath. According to Arthur, Le Bon recognised his old university classmate immediately upon running into him backstage at a Top of the Pops taping, and the two met up for a drink and friendly chat.

Career

Duran Duran

Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk, and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice.

Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poetry he had written - all of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums.^{[citation needed]} After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham and London, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December.

The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981, and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas."

Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes, and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s.

Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album. Several months into the intensive concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from strained vocal cords, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered.

In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You, and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favorite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed, and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thus: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man."

When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes, and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes.

Simon Le Bon performing in 2005

In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, "Astronaut", for Epic Records. "Astronaut" was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade.

Arcadia

Before Duran Duran reunited, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor. Arcadia released only one album, the multi-platinum So Red The Rose (1985), and the band never toured.

Solo excursions

While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). Grey Lady Of The Sea was released as a single in Japan in 1988.

In 1989, for Jonathan Elias' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year.

In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director".

In 1999, Le Bon was reported to be involved in Napalm Death's new album, a collaboration brought about through their shared love of hometown Birmingham.

In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills.

Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo's side-venture TV Mania.

In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious, from the album Liberty. (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings)

In late 2006, Simon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design, and popular culture. They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJs, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan.

Personal life

In 1984, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modelling agency to track her down. They married on 27 December 1985. After Parvaneh suffered two miscarriages, the couple had three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born August 1989 - a model like her mother),^[1] Saffron Sahara (born September 1991) and Tallulah Pine (born September 1994).^{[citation needed]} The family lives in Putney.

While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, Drum, lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race, coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum - The Journey Of A Lifetime.

Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced Drum in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Unfortunately, Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing Drum (and Drum's competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan at a sold-out, 60,000-seat show

Power Station

2009-02-01T12:41:00.001+07:00


Power Station in 1985
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, USA
Genre(s)	Rock
Years active	1985, 1996-1997
Label(s)	Capitol/EMI
Associated acts	Duran Duran, Chic
Former members
Michael Des Barres Robert Palmer John Taylor Andy Taylor Tony Thompson

Power Station was a 1980s supergroup made up of singer Robert Palmer; bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor of Duran Duran; and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson. Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer. For a short time he also functioned as Power Station's manager. The band was formed in New York City late in 1984 during a break in Duran Duran's schedule that became a lengthy hiatus. Power Station was named after The Power Station recording studio where their album was conceived and recorded.

After Duran Duran's third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger, the members of the band split into two projects. One of these was the band Arcadia, which developed the melodic and atmospheric aspects of the Duran Duran "sound". The other was the Power Station, in which John and Andy Taylor worked with Palmer, Thompson, and Edwards to create a hard-rocking, rhythmic "heavy metal" sound. Roger Taylor was mainly the drummer for Arcadia, but also contributed percussion to the Power Station.

The group began as something of a whim—it was a one-time gathering of friends to provide backing to model and would-be singer Bebe Buell who wanted to record a cover of the 1972 T. Rex song "Get It On". Both Taylors were eager to branch out from the synthesizer-heavy pop of Duran Duran and play some Led Zeppelin-flavored rock'n'roll; the participation of their idols from Chic lent the project a horn-inflected funk vibe that meshed surprisingly well with the crunching guitars and booming drums.^[1]

Soon the project evolved into the idea of a revolving supergroup; a tentative name for the band was Big Brother. The original plan for the one-album project was for the three musicians (Taylor, Taylor and Thompson) to provide musical continuity to an album full of material, with a different singer performing on each track. Those who were approached included Mick Jagger, Billy Idol, Mars Williams and Richard Butler (of The Psychedelic Furs), and Mick Ronson.^[2]

The group then invited eclectic soul singer Robert Palmer to record vocals for the track "Communication". When he heard that they had recorded demos for "Get It On", he asked to try out vocals on that song as well. Before long, they had decided to record the entire album with Palmer. The group was quickly signed with Capitol Records.

history

On February 16, 1985, the band performed "Some Like It Hot" and "Bang A Gong" on the Saturday Night Live television show. It was the only time that Robert Palmer performed live with the original line-up.

In March 1985, the band issued the album Power Station, produced by Bernard Edwards with some informal assistance from Nile Rodgers. It reached number 12 in the UK and number 6 on the US album chart.

The album is sometimes referred to as Power Station 33⅓ as the sleeve for the original vinyl record release bore that subtitle, indicating the speed of a record turntable. Later compact disc issues used CD as a subtitle instead. The album's cover graphics and color scheme, which were also used in the videos, were based on sexy sketches by John Taylor.^[3]

Three singles were released from the album, two of them major hits. The first, "Some Like It Hot", reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart and number 6 on the USA Billboard Hot 100. (The music video featured the transsexual model Caroline Cossey, credited as "Tula".) The second single was "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" and it went to number 22 in the UK and number 9 in the US, while competing against the Duran Duran single "A View To A Kill," which was a number one for Duran Duran. A third single, "Communication", was not as successful; it barely reached the Top 40 in the US, and disappeared after hitting number 75 in the UK.

The band also released a collection of the band's three music videos called "The Power Station Video EP".

The group's unexpected success led to two incompatible results: the band decided to do a summer tour in America, and Robert Palmer decided to record a solo album to take advantage of his sudden name recognition. This inevitably led to Palmer's departure from the band. (Tony Thompson, Andy Taylor and Bernard Edwards from Power Station contributed to Palmer's very successful 1985 solo album Riptide.)

Power Station went on to tour with singer/actor Michael Des Barres (formerly of Silverhead, Checquered Past and Detective). Des Barres also performed with them at the enormous Live Aid charity concert in Philadelphia that summer.

Des Barres' friendship with actor Don Johnson led to the band's guest appearance on an episode of the TV drama Miami Vice. Similarly, his friendship with producer Joel Silver led to Power Station writing a song called "We Fight for Love" for the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Commando (1985). The track was originally titled "Someday, Somehow, Someone's Gotta Pay." An EP containing the song plus some live songs from their tour was planned for release that same year, but was scrapped by their record company.

The band folded late in 1985, as its members turned to other projects: John Taylor returned to Duran Duran, while Andy Taylor chose to leave Duran Duran in favour of a solo career. Tony Thompson was to take the place of John Bonham in a re-formed Led Zeppelin, but he was nearly killed in a 1986 car accident before that reunion could get off the ground. The reformed Led Zeppelin only played one gig at the Philadelphia Live Aid concert in 1985. Palmer continued his revitalized solo career.

Reunion and reissues

The band reunited ten years later with its original members, including Palmer. However, personal issues forced bassist John Taylor to withdraw from the project before the album was complete. Bernard Edwards (former Chic bassist) stepped in and completed the album Living In Fear (1996) in his stead, and was prepared to tour with the group, but then died suddenly of pneumonia during a trip to Japan. The group decided to press on, and toured first with bassist Guy Pratt and then Manny Yanes and second guitarist Luke Morley instead, to moderate success. The group disbanded shortly after.

EMI released a new version of the album Power Station on February 21, 2005, to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary. The package includes the original eight-song album, seven bonus tracks and a 40-minute eight-chapter DVD. Among the bonus tracks on the album is the track "Someday, Somehow, Someone's Gotta Pay" (from the Commando OST), sung by Michael Des Barres.

In 2002, EMI Music issued The Best of The Power Station as part of their Ten Best Series. The final track is a previously unreleased live version of "Dancing in the Street," recorded at the Hartford Civic Center in 1985 and sung by Michael Des Barres.

Both Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson died late in 2003.

Personnel

Robert Palmer - Vocalist
Andy Taylor - Guitarist
John Taylor - Bassist
Tony Thompson - Drummer

Other Members

Michael Des Barres - Tour Vocalist (1985)
Bernard Edwards - Bassist (1995)

Discography

Albums

The Power Station (1985) #6 US
Living In Fear (1996)
Best Of (2003)
The Power Station: 20th Anniversary Edition (2005)

Singles

Year	Song	US Hot 100	US MSR	US Dance	UK singles	Album
1985	"Some Like It Hot"	6	34	17	14	The Power Station
1985	"Get It On (Bang a Gong)"	9	19	-	22	The Power Station
1985	"Communication"	34	-	-	75	The Power Station
1996	"She Can Rock It"	-	-	-	63	Living In Fear

ARCADIA

2009-02-01T07:47:00.003+07:00

Arcadia was the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band’s schedule. However, Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and in none of the music videos, and stated he was only to be involved in the recording side of the project (he also had minor involvement in The Power Station, the other Duran Duran splinter group). The name of the band was reportedly inspired by the Nicolas Poussin painting Et in Arcadia ego (also known as “The Arcadian Shepherds”).

The group recorded just one album, the platinum-selling So Red the Rose. It peaked at number 23 on the US album chart, and featured the Top 40 singles “Election Day,” “The Flame,” “The Promise,” and “Goodbye Is Forever.” Simon Le Bon described So Red the Rose as “the most pretentious album ever made”[1], while All Music Guide called it “the best album Duran Duran never made”[2]. Musicians who contributed to the album included guitarists David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Carlos Alomar, pianist Herbie Hancock, Sting (who provided backing vocals on “The Promise”), Grace Jones (who provided brief but dramatic spoken-word interludes on “The Flame” and “Election Day”), bass player Mark Egan of the Pat Metheny Group (whose very distinctive fretless sound can be recognised in “The Promise”, “El Diablo” and “Lady Ice”) and David Van Tieghem, a percussionist from New York.

The band also recorded the single “Say the Word” for the Playing for Keeps movie soundtrack.

Arcadia continued the Duran Duran tradition of a slick image, tasteful fashions and hair-dos. For the Arcadia incarnation of their ever-changing band aesthetic, Rhodes, Le Bon, and Roger Taylor donned an upmarket ‘gothic’ look of black tuxedos, vintage formal wear, and bow ties. The three also dyed their hair black, as seen when they performed (as Duran Duran, with Andy and John Taylor) at the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia.

The group did a variety of promotional appearances on television, but never toured, and dissolved a year later in 1986 when Duran Duran re-formed with Le Bon, Rhodes, and bassist John Taylor to record their next album Notorious. During the tour to support Notorious, Duran Duran played the Arcadia single “Election Day” as well as “Some Like it Hot” from the Power Station record. Drummer Roger Taylor retired from the music business for 15 years after the release of the Arcadia album, but returned to rejoin the original Duran Duran line-up in 2001.

duran duran bio

2008-12-22T19:02:00.006+07:00

Duran Duran personified new wave for much of the mainstream audience. And for good reason, too. Duran Duran's reputation was built through music videos, which accentuated their fashion model looks and glamorous sense of style. Without music videos, it's likely that the band's pop-funk -- described by the group as the Sex Pistols meets Chic -- would never have made them international pop stars. While Duran Duran did have sharper pop sensibilities than their new romantic contemporaries like Spandau Ballet and Ultravox, none of their peers exploited MTV and music video like the Birmingham-based quintet. Each video the group made was distinctive, incorporating a number of cinematic styles to showcase the band as either part of the jet-setting elite ("Rio") or as worldly adventurers ("Hungry Like the Wolf"). While early videos like "Girls on Film" and "The Chauffeur" sparked controversy in England over their sexual content, their best-known clips were often based on hit contemporary movies. "Hungry Like the Wolf" uncannily recalled Raiders of the Lost Ark, while "Union of the Snake" and "The Wild Boys" brought to mind The Road Warrior. The clever videos helped make Duran Duran's rise to popularity remarkably swift. Between 1982 and 1984, they rocketed from underground British post-punk sensations to teen idols. But their fall from grace was equally fast. By the late '80s, the group's lineup had fragmented, and the remaining members had trouble landing hit singles. Nevertheless, the group pulled off a surprising, if short-lived, comeback in the early '90s as a sophisticated soft rock trio.
Inspired by David Bowie and Roxy Music, as well as post-punk and disco, schoolmates Nick Rhodes (keyboards) and John Taylor (guitar) formed Duran Duran in 1978 with their friends Simon Colley (bass, clarinet) and Stephen Duffy (vocals). Taking their name from a character in Roger Vadim's psychedelic sci-fi film Barbarella, the group began playing gigs in the Birmingham club Barbarella, supported by a drum machine. Within a year, Duffy and Colley both left the group -- Duffy would later form the Lilac Time -- and were replaced by former TV Eye vocalist Andy Wickett and drummer Roger Taylor. After recording a demo, John Taylor switched to bass and guitarist John Curtis joined the band, only to leave within a matter of months. The group placed an ad in Melody Maker, which drew the attention of Andy Taylor, who became their guitarist. However, Duran Duran were still having trouble finding a vocalist. Following Wickett's departure in 1979, a pair of singers passed through the group before Simon LeBon, a former member of the punk band Dog Days and a drama student at Birmingham University, joined in early 1980.
By the end of 1980, Duran Duran had become popular within the burgeoning new romantic circuit in England and had secured a record contract with EMI. "Planet Earth," the band's first single, quickly rose to number 12 upon its spring 1981 release. Immediately, Duran Duran became the leaders of the new romantic movement, becoming media sensations in the British music and mainstream press. The group's popularity increased through their cutting-edge music videos, especially the bizarre, racy clip for "Girls on Film." Although the BBC banned the Godley & Creme-directed video, the single became the group's first Top Ten hit, setting the stage for the fall release of their eponymous debut album. Duran Duran reached number three upon its release and stayed in the charts for 118 weeks. The band quickly followed the album with Rio in the spring of 1982. Rio entered the charts at number two, and its singles -- "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer" -- became Top Ten hits. By the November release of the U.S.-only remix EP Carnival, the band were superstars in Europe, but only just beginning to make headway in America. Their exposure in the U.S. was helped greatly by the emergence of MTV, which put the group's stylish videos into heavy rotation. MTV's constant playing of the videos paid off, and "Hungry Like the Wolf" became a Top Ten hit early in 1983. Rio followed that single into the Top Ten, eventually selling over two million copies.
Duran Duran mania was in full swing across America, with "Is There Something I Should Know" reaching the Top Ten -- it became the group's first English number one that summer -- and the group's first album climbing its way to number ten. Duran Duran capitalized on their popularity by releasing Seven and the Ragged Tiger in time for 1983's holiday season. The record hit number one in the U.K. and number eight in the U.S., spawning the hit singles "Union of the Snake" and "The Reflex," their first number one U.S. hit and their second British chart-topper. The band took an extended break after completing their year-and-a-half-long international tour in the spring of 1984. In November, they released the non-LP single "Wild Boys," which reached number two in the U.K. and the U.S., where it was added to the live album Arena.
By 1985, Duran Duran fever was beginning to cool off, and after the band completed the title track for the James Bond film A View to a Kill, the group went on hiatus. Andy and John Taylor formed the supergroup the Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson in January, releasing their eponymous debut album in the spring; it spawned the Top Ten singles "Some Like It Hot" and "Get It On (Bang a Gong)." The remaining members of Duran Duran -- Nick Rhodes, Simon LeBon, and Roger Taylor -- responded with their own side project, Arcadia, which released an album called So Red the Rose in the fall of 1985; the album launched the Top Ten hit "Election Day." Early in 1986, Roger Taylor announced he was taking a year-long sabbatical from the group; he never returned. Several months later, Andy Taylor also left, reducing Duran Duran to a trio. Late in 1986, the band released Notorious, their first album in nearly three years. While it was relatively successful, going platinum in the U.S. and generating a Top Ten hit with the title track, it was noticeably less popular than their earlier records. For the remainder of the decade, Duran Duran's popularity continually declined, with 1988's Big Thing producing "I Don't Want Your Love," their last Top Ten single for five years.
The greatest-hits album Decade was released late in 1989, followed several months later by Liberty, the first Duran Duran album to fail to go gold. By that point, former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo had become a permanent member of the group. In 1993, the band returned from a prolonged hiatus with Duran Duran [The Wedding Album], a mature, layered record of lite funk and soulful adult contemporary pop that became a surprise hit. "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone" became Top Ten hits in America, with the former reaching the Top Ten in the U.K. as well; the album itself climbed into the Top Ten on both continents and went platinum in America. Not only did the record restore their commercial status, but it earned them some of their best reviews of their career. The group followed the album with one of their poorest-received efforts, 1995's all-covers Thank You, which managed to go gold in America despite its negative reviews. While Duran Duran was recording the follow-up to Thank You in 1996, John Taylor left the band to pursue a solo career, leaving the group a trio of LeBon, Rhodes, and Cuccurullo. That follow-up, Medazzaland, was released in 1997 but failed to produce any major hits. 2000's Pop Trash suffered a similar fate.
In March 2001, the three Taylors -- Andy, John, and Roger -- met up in Wales and worked with each other for three weeks. Around this time, rumors of a five-member reunion began to circulate. Two months after Rhodes and LeBon denied the rumors, the reunion was confirmed. Duran Duran recorded on and off for a new album over the next three years and also toured sporadically. After signing with Epic, they released Astronaut in October 2004. Red Carpet Massacre followed in 2007. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Duran duran my favorit band

2008-12-05T10:07:00.005+07:00

Duran duran, adalah band sukses di era 80's. selain band Culture Club, Wham, The Police, A-ha, gazebo, Alphaville serta band legendaris Genesis, Queen, The Beatles adalah band yang merajai top chart music di era 80's tersebut. tentunya lagu lagu mereka sering sekali diperdengarkan di radio radio di kota kota besar.
Saat theme song James bond "A view to a kill" oleh duran duran sukses, kebetulan sayapun memiliki kaset terbitan billboard 16 greatest hits of Duran duran (bajakan resmi). maka band ini makin saya sukai.

Dan ketika terjadi keretakan Personil Duran Duran yang menyisakan 3 orang (Simon, Nick, Andy) maka terbitlah album Notorious, sayapun memiliki kaset terbitan Billboard (bajakan resmi).

Namun seiring waktu, setelah bekerja dan berkeluarga hobi saya ini boleh dikata berhenti atau vakum. yang mengakibatkan koleksi kaset saya banyak yang hilang karena tugas dan tempat kerja saya selalu berpindah pindah.
Pada tahun 2004 saya teringat akan lagu lagu Duran duran maka sayapun membeli kaset resmi Duran Duran berjudul Greatest.

Akhirnya saya cari lagi kaset kaset yang pernah saya miliki di pasar loak jatinegara.

Sejak tahun 2007, mulailah saya mengenal internet, sehingga sayapun coba mengikuti situs situs yang familier seperti friendster, youtube dll.
Khusus youtube, sayapun tertarik dengan lagu lagu Duran duran, saat itu saya sudah punya kaset greatest dan Arcadia (So Red the Rose) juga 16 greatest hits (beli lagi dari loakan). Coba saya browsing lagu Arcadia, sudah banyak lagu yang di upload,kecuali El-diablo dan Keep Me in the Dark.
Sambil belajar, saya coba buat video klip berupa slideshow gambar dengan lagu El-diablo dan sayapun upload ke situs Youtube. dilanjutkan lagu Keep Me in the Dark dengan potongan video klip dari Queen dan video game.

Lagu lagu/Video klip Duran duran banyak sekali di Situs Youtube, kebetulan saya memiliki Kaset 16 Greatest hits of Duran Duran yang sebagian besar berisikan lagu lagu hits remix/extended version dan lagu lagu nya tersebut sebagian besar belum di upload ke situs youtube, maka setelah mendapatkan gambar video klip dengan download dari youtube juga. sayapun mencoba membuat video klip lagu duran duran remix/long versions/extended version dari kaset tersebut dan digabungkan dengan gambar yang ada, setelah selesai sayapun upload video klip yang berbeda dengan yang sudah ada.

Duran Duran

2008-11-23T03:41:00.003+07:00

Dari Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

New Moon On Monday - Duran Duran - Duran Duran

Latar belakang
Asal Birmingham, U.K
Genre Rock
New Wave
New Romantic
Tahun aktif 1978–Sekarang
Perusahaan rekaman EMI / Capitol Records
Hollywood Records
Epic Records
Situs web www.duranduran.com

Anggota:

Simon Le Bon
Nick Rhodes
John Taylor
Roger Taylor

Mantan anggota:

Andy Taylor
Sterling Campbell
Warren Cuccurullo
Stephen Duffy
Andy Wickett
Simon Colley
Alan Curtis
Jeff Thomas

Duran Duran adalah grup musik electronic pop/rock yang banyak mengandalkan synthenizer pada tiap singelnya, mereka melanjutkan 'invasi kedua Britania Raya' yang diawali The Beatles dan The Rolling Stones. Mereka menempatkan banyak lagu di tangga lagu Britania dan beberapa singel di Billboard Top 100.

Formasi awal Duran Duran ialah Simon Le Bon pada vokal, Andy Taylor pada gitar, Nick Rhodes pada keyboard, John Taylor pada bass dan Roger Taylor pada drum. Pada tahun 1986 Andy dan Roger keluar dari grup meninggalkan gitar dan drum yang kosong. Pada 1989, Warren Cuccurullo resmi menggantikan Andy hingga 2001 dan Sterling Campbell menggantikan Roger hingga 1991.

Anggota Bergabung

Grup musik ini berasal dari 2 sahabat karib, Nick Rhodes & John Taylor, mereka menyetujui nama Duran Duran, yang berasal dari Film "Barbarella". Mereka Mengajak Roger Taylor(Drum) dan Andy Taylor(Gitar), beserta Stephen Duffy(Vokal), Ia lalu digantikan oleh Simon Le Bon(Vokal)lalu mereka meneken kontrak dengan EMI/Parlophone untuk meluncurkan album pertama mereka.

Mereka meluncurkan album self-titled mereka pada 1981 dan dengan bermodalkan singel Planet Earth, Careless Memories, dan Girls On Film, album mereka lumayan mendulang keberhasilan, video Girls On Film yang dibuat maestro Godley & Crime disensor oleh BBC karena ada adegan dimana wanita telanjang bermain gulat-lumpur. tetapi karena video itu, Duran duran dikenal di Australia tanpa tur kesana.

Sukses Didepan Mata

Setelah sukses dengan album pertama, Duran Duran meluncurkan album kedua mereka tahun 1982, berjudul "Rio", album ini berhasil membawa kesuksesan besar, Setelah meluncurkan singel "My Own Way", "Save a prayer", "Hungry Like The Wolf", dan "Rio", Duran Duran berhasil meraih kesuksesan.

Meraih Puncak

Tahun 1983 mereka merilis singel "Is There something i should know", yang kemudian berada di album Duran Duran, mereka juga merilis album terbaru "Seven and the ragged tiger". Bersenjatakan "New moon on monday", "Union of the snake", serta Hit single nomor satu, "The Reflex" album ini meraih kesuksesan. Tahun 1984 mereka mengadakan tur di Amerika Serikat, lalu meluncurkan album live mereka bertitel "Arena", dari konser mereka itulah dirilis DVD "Sing Blue Silver" dan "Arena(An Absurd Notion)", tahun 1985 mereka terbelah dua menjadi The Power Station(John, Andy, dengan Robert Palmer&Tony Thompson) serta Arcadia(Nick, Simon, Roger), namun mereka kembali mengusung nama Duran Duran dan membuat lagu yang dimasukan kedalam OST. 007- A view To A Kill, Video klip lagu tersebut mengambil set di Paris dan mempopulerkan kalimat Ace Simon LeBon, yaitu "My name is Bon, Simon LeBon", Pada 13 Juli tahun 1985, Mereka mengadakan konser terakhir(hingga 2003) dengan Personil Original, konser tersebut bertajuk "Live Aid", yang digagaskan Bob Geldof, di konser itu mereka menyanyikan lagu "A view to a kill", "Union of the snake", "Save a Prayer"(Lagu ini juga dinyanyikan Duran Duran tanggal 2 Juli 2005 saat konser Live 8 di Circus Maximus, Roma), dan "The Reflex".

Formasi Baru

Pada tahun 1986 Duran Duran kembali menelorkan album bertajuk Notorious, album ini menyisakan 3 personil Duran Duran, yaitu Nick, John, dan Simon, yang ditinggal mundur oleh Roger dan Andy, masing-masing karena stres dan solo karir. Tetapi di album ini Andy memberikan kontribusi dengan memainkan beberapa singel.

Tahun 1988 Duran Duran mengeluarkan album yang berjudul Big Thing, di tahun 1989 Duran Duran merekrut personil baru, yaitu Warren Cuccurullo(Gitar) dan Sterling Campbell(Drum) mereka kembali membuat album tahun 1991 dengan judul Liberty, namun Campbell mundur meninggalkan posisi Drummer yang kosong, akhirnya Duran Duran kembali menghasilkan album sukses yaitu Duran Duran/The Wedding Album, yang memiliki cover bergambar pernikahan para orang tua personil band, pada album ini terdapat salah satu lagu terbaik Duran Duran, "Ordinary World", yang memenangkan Ivor Novello songwriting Award, serta "Come Undone", di tahun 1993 juga mereka tampil di MTV Unplugged.

Terima Kasih, dan kehilangan pamor

Tahun 1995 mereka menelorkan album berjudul Thank You, di album ini mereka membawakan 2 lagu remake milik Lou Reed dan Granmaster Flash(yang ikut bernyanyi juga) dan masing-masing berjudul "Perfect Day" dan "White Lines", lalu masuk dapur rekaman kembali, namun the Frontman, John Taylor memutuskan untuk keluar dari band dan membentuk the Terroristem, tapi album itu keluar juga dan diberi judul Meddazaland, album ini merosot, tapi ketika Lady Diana meninggal dan keluarganya Membuat Tribute concert, Duran Duran diminta untuk tampil, tahun 2000 mereka membuat album Pop Trash dan merosot tajam, tetapi lagu somoene else not me menjadi lagu pertama yang menggunakan Macromedia flash player dalam pembuatan video klipnya

Next Level Of Pop

Setelah vakum sekian lama, Simon LeBon dan John Taylor bertemu di Paris untuk menghidupkan kembali Duran Duran, lalu band telah kembali dengan Formasi awal, tahun 2004 mereka mendapat deretan Award, seperti Brit Awards, dan MTV VMA.

Pertengahan 2004 mereka mengeluarkan single "Reach Up For The Sunrise", yg mendapat sambutan dari banyak kalangan.

Oktober 2004, Astronaut, album mereka keluar, dan mereka mulai kembali meniti ke puncak karir.

Oktober 2006, 2 tahun setelah keluarnya album Astronaut, Andy Taylor, Keluar dari Band, untuk sementara gitar diisi oleh Dominic Brown, yang telah menjadi session guitarist untuk duran Duran.

Album Red Carpet Massacre adalah album terakhir yang dirilis pada akhir tahun 2007, dalam rangka promosi album tersebut Duran Duran mengadakan tour dunia termasuk ke Indonesia.

DURAN DURAN LYRICS......

2008-11-19T09:06:00.026+07:00

duran duran

"Come Undone"

Duran Duran - Come Undone (acoustic) - Duran Duran

Mine, immaculate dream made breath and skin
I've been waiting for you
Signed, with a home tattoo,
Happy birthday to you was created for you

(can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can't I believe you're taking my heart
To pieces)
Oh, it'll take a little time,
Might take a little crime
To come undone now
We'll try to stay blind
To the hope and fear outside
Hey child, stay wilder than the wind
And blow me in to cry
Who do you need, who do you love
When you come undone
Words, playing me deja vu
Like a radio tune I swear I've heard before
Chill, is it something real
Or the magic I'm feeding off your fingers
(Can't ever keep from falling apart
At the seams
Can I believe you're taking my heart
To pieces)
Lost, in a snow filled sky, we'll make it alright
To come undone now

Duran Duran Save a Prayer Brothers In Rhythm DMC Mix -

You saw me standing by the wall corner of a main street
And the lights are flashing on your window sill
All alone ain't much fun so you're looking for the thrill
And you know just what it takes and where to go

Don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after
No don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after

Feel the breeze deep on the inside look you down into your well
If you can you'll see the world in all his fire
Take a chance like all dreamers can't find another way
You don't have to dream at all just live a day

Don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after
No don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after
Save it till the morning after, save it till the morning after

Pretty looking road I try to hold the rising floods that fill my skin
Don't ask me why I'll keep my promise melt the ice
And you wanted to dance so I asked you to dance but fear is in yor soul
Some people call it a one night stand but we can call it paradise

Don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after
No don't say a prayer for me now, save it till the morning after
Save it till the morning after, save it till the morning after
Save it till the morning after, save it till the morning after
Save a prayer till the morning after, save a prayer till the morning after
Save a prayer till the morning after, save a prayer till the morning after
Save a prayer till the morning after

a view to a kill.wma - duran duran

A View To Kill lyrics
Meeting you with a view to a kill face to face in secret places feel the chill
Nightfall covers me but you know the plans I'm making
Still over sea could it be the whole earth opening wide
A sacred why a mystery gaping inside the weekends why until we

Dance into the fire that fatal kiss is all we need
Dance in the the fire to fatal sounds of broken dreams
Dance in to the fire that fatal kiss is all we need dance into the fire

Choice for you is the view to a kill between the shades assasination standing still
First crystal tears fall of snowflakes on your body
First time in years to drench your skin with lovers rosy stain
A chance to find a phoenix for the flame a chance to die but can we
Dance into the fire that fatal kiss is all we need
Dance into the fire to fatal sounds of broken dreams
Dance into the fire that fatal kiss is all we need
Dance into the fire when all we see is the view to a kill

http://www.elyrics.net/song/d/duran-duran-lyrics.html

DURAN DURAN THE ALBUMS

2008-11-19T09:06:00.025+07:00

Lyrics | Duran Duran lyrics

Discography

• Duran Duran (1981)

- Anyone out there
- Careless memories
- Friends of mine
- Girls on Film
- Is there something I should know?
- Nightboat
- Planet Earth
- Sound of Thunder
- Tel Aviv

• Rio (1982)
Rio - Duran Duran
1. Rio
2. My Own Way
3. Lonely in Your Nightmare
4. Hungry Like the Wolf
5. Hold Back the Rain
6. New Religion
7. Last Chance on the Stairway
8. Save a Prayer
9. The Chauffeur

• Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983)

- (I'm Looking For) Cracks in the Pavement
- I Take the Dice
- New Moon on Monday
- Of Crime And Passion
- Shadows on Your Side
- The Reflex
- The Seventh Stranger
- Tiger Tiger
- Union of the Snake

• Notorious (1986)
Notorious - Duran Duran
1. Notorious
2. American Science
3. Skin Trade
4. A Matter Of Feeling
5. Hold Me
6. Vertigo (Do The Demolition)
7. So Mislead
8. Meet El Presidente
9. Winter Marches On
10. Proposition

• Big Thing (1988)

1. Big Thing 3:41
2. I Don't Want Your Love (LP Version) 4:05
3. All She Wants Is 4:35
4. Too Late Marlene 5:08
5. Drug (It's Just A State Of Mind) 4:38
6. Do You Believe In Shame? 4:23
7. Palomino 5:19
8. Interlude One 0:33
9. Land 6:12
10. Flute Interlude 0:32
11. The Edge Of America 2:37
12. Lake Shore Driving 3:05
13. Drug (It's Just A State Of Mind) (Daniel Abraham Mix)

• Liberty (1990)

- All Along The Water
- Can You Deal With It?
- Down Town
- First Impression
- Hothead
- Liberty
- My Antarctica
- Read My Lips
- Serious
- Venice Drowning
- Violence of Summer (Love's taking over)

• Duran Duran (The Wedding Album) (1993)

1. Too Much Information
2. Ordinary World
3. Love Voodoo
4. Drowning Man
5. Shotgun
6. Come Undone
7. Breath After Breath
8. U.M.F.
9. None Of The Above
10. Femme Fatale
11. Shelter
12. To Whom It May Concern
13. Sin Of The City

• Thank You (1995)

- 911 is a Joke
- Ball of Confusion
- Crystal Ship
- Drive By
- I Wanna Take You Higher
- I Wanna Take You Higher Again
- Lady Ice
- Perfect Day
- Success
- Thank You
- Watching the Detectives
- White Lines

• Medazzaland (1997)

1. Medazzaland
2. Big Bang Generation
3. Electric Barbarella
4. Out of My Mind
5. Who Do You Think You Are?
6. Silva Halo
7. Be My Icon
8. Buried in the Sand
9. Michael You've Got a Lot to Answer For
10. Midnight Sun
11. So Long Suicide
12. Undergoing Treatment

• Pop Trash (2000)
1. Someone Else Not Me
2. Lava Lamp
3. Playing With Uranium
4. Hallucinating Elvis
5. Starting To Remember
6. Pop Trash Movie
7. Fragment
8. Mars Meets Venus
9. Lady Xanax
10. The Sun Doesn't Shine Forever
11. Kiss Goodbye
12. Last Day On Earth

• Astronaut (2004) Track listing
1. (Reach up For the) Sunrise
2. Want You More!
3. What Happens Tomorrow - (remix)
4. Astronaut
5. Bedroom Toys
6. Nice
7. Taste the Summer
8. Finest Hour
9. Chains
10. One of Those Days
11. Point of No Return
12. Still Breathing

• Red Carpet Massacre (2007)

1. Valley, The
2. Red Carpet Massacre
3. Nite-Runner
4. Falling Down
5. Box Full O' Honey
6. Skin Divers
7. Tempted
8. Tricked Out
9. Zoom In
10. She's Too Much
11. Dirty Great Monster
12. Last Man Standing

arena

Is There Something I Should Know?" – 4:34
"Hungry Like The Wolf" – 4:01
"New Religion" – 5:37
"Save A Prayer" – 6:12
"The Wild Boys" – 4:18
"The Seventh Stranger" – 5:05
"The Chauffeur" – 5:23
"Union of the Snake" – 4:09
"Planet Earth" – 4:31
"Careless Memories" – 4:07

Arcadia

1. Election Day - (with Grace Jones)
2. Keep Me in the Dark
3. Goodbye Is Forever
4. Flame, The
5. Missing
6. Rose Arcana
7. Promise, The
8. El Diablo
9. Lady Ice

DURAN DURAN

2008-11-19T07:35:00.008+07:00

Duran Duran
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Members
Simon Le Bon
Nick Rhodes
John Taylor
Roger Taylor

Former members
Andy Taylor
Sterling Campbell
Warren Cuccurullo
Stephen Duffy
Andy Wickett
Simon Colley
Alan Curtis
Jeff Thomas

Duran Duran are an English rock band. They were one of the most commercially successful of the new romantic bands and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States. Since the 1980s they have placed 21 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and 14 in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, and have sold more than 100 million records.
A selection of the band's hit singles from the 1980s include, "Girls on Film", "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Save a Prayer", "Notorious", and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill". In the early 1990s, the band released, "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone", and released "Sunrise", and "What Happens Tomorrow" in the 2000s. "Falling Down" was released from their 2007 album, Red Carpet Massacre.
Duran Duran were created by Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Stephen Duffy, with the later addition of Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Simon Le Bon, though none of the Taylors are related. The group has never disbanded, but the line-up has changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from 1986 to 2001, and drummer Sterling Campbell from 1989 to 1991. The reunion of the original five members in the early 2000s created a stir among the band's fans and music media. Andy Taylor left the band in summer 2006, and London guitarist Dom Brown has been working with the band since.
•
1978–1980
John Taylor and Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran in Birmingham, UK in 1978, naming the band after the villain "Dr. Durand Durand", played by Milo O'Shea in Roger Vadim's science-fiction film, Barbarella. Their first singer was Stephen Duffy. A few guitarists were subsequently tried, as well as a handful of vocalists after Duffy left Duran Duran early in 1979.

Duran Duran in 1981. Clockwise from top left: Nick Rhodes (keyboards), Simon Le Bon (vocals), John Taylor (bass), Andy Taylor (guitar) and Roger Taylor (drums)
The meeting of drummer Roger Taylor with Taylor and Rhodes at a party, led John Taylor, who originally played lead guitar, to switch to bass. Guitarist Andy Taylor came from Newcastle to audition after responding to an advertisement in Melody Maker, and London vocalist Simon Le Bon was recommended to the band by an ex-girlfriend who worked at the Rum Runner nightclub where the band rehearsed. The owners of the club, brothers Paul and Michael Berrow, became the band's management, paying them to work as doormen, disc jockeys and glass collectors when they were not rehearsing.
The group were generally considered part of the New Romantic scene, with other style-and-dance bands such as Spandau Ballet, Japan and ABC. In 1980, they recorded two demo tapes and performed in clubs around Birmingham and London. In late 1980, when touring as an opening act for Hazel O'Connor, the band attracted critical attention, resulting in a bidding war between the record companies EMI and Phonogram Records. "A certain patriotism" toward the label of The Beatles led them to sign with EMI in December. However, Nick Rhodes said in a 1998 interview with Deluxe magazine, that the band felt they were "appallingly ripped off" by the EMI contract. Duran Duran were amongst the earliest bands to work on their own remixes. Before the days of digital synthesizers and easy audio sampling, they created multilayered arrangements of their singles, sometimes recording entirely different extended performances of the songs in the studio. These "night versions" were generally available only on vinyl, as b-sides to 45 rpm singles or on 12-inch club singles, until the release of the compilation Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran in 1998.
From the beginning of their career, the band members each had a keen sense of visual style. They worked with stylist Perry Haines and fashion designers such as Kahn & Bell and Antony Price to build a sharp and elegant image, soon outgrowing the ruffles and sashes of the pirate-flavoured New Romantic look. They have continued to present fashion as part of the package throughout their career. In the 1990s, they worked with Vivienne Westwood, and in the 2000s with Giorgio Armani. The band retained creative control of their visual presentation and worked closely with graphic designer Malcolm Garrett and many others over the years, to create album covers, tour programmes, and other materials.
All five members of the band were photogenic, labelled the "the prettiest boys in rock" by People magazine. Teen and music magazines in the UK latched onto their good looks quickly, and the U.S. soon followed. It was a rare month in the early eighties when there was not at least one picture of the band members in teen magazines such as Smash Hits or Tiger Beat. John Taylor once remarked that the band was "like a box of Quality Street [chocolates]; everyone is someone's favourite" Duran Duran would later come to regret this early pin-up exposure, but at the time it helped attract national attention. In an interview with Rock Fever Superstars Magazine in early 1988 John Taylor stated:
We used to be a very chi-chi name to drop in '79, but then the Fab Five hype started and something went wrong. Something went really wrong. That wasn't what I wanted. [...] Not that I didn't like being screamed at. At one point I really did."
1981–1982
The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released on the EMI label in 1981. The first single, "Planet Earth", reached the United Kingdom's Top 20 at Number 12. A follow-up, "Careless Memories," stalled at Number 37. However, it was their third single, "Girls On Film", that attracted the most attention. The song went to Number 5 in the UK, before the notorious video was even filmed. That video, featuring topless women mud wrestling, pillow fighting and stylized depictions of other sexual fetishes, was made with directing duo Godley & Creme in August.
The video was filmed just two weeks after MTV was launched in the United States. The band expected the "Girls On Film" video to be played in the newer nightclubs that had video screens, or on pay TV channels like the Playboy Channel. Kevin Godley explained the thinking behind it:
We were very explicitly told by Duran Duran's management to make a very sensational, erotic piece that would be for clubs, where it would get shown uncensored, just to make people take notice and talk about it.The raunchy video created an uproar and was banned by the BBC and heavily edited for MTV. The band unabashedly enjoyed and capitalised on the controversy.[citation needed] The album peaked in the UK Top Twenty at Number 3. Later in 1981, the band embarked on their first United States club tour, followed by more dates in Germany and the UK. This second tour of Britain coincided with a wave of riots sparked by unemployment and racial tension, including those of Moss Side and Toxteth. The band played an eerily quiet Birmingham the day after the Handsworth riots.
Duran Duran began to achieve worldwide recognition in 1982. In May, they released their second album, Rio, which scored four UK Top Twenty singles with "My Own Way", "Hungry Like The Wolf", "Save A Prayer", and the title song "Rio". A headlining tour of Australia, Japan, and the U.S. was followed by a stint supporting Blondie during that band's final American tour. Diana, Princess of Wales declared Duran Duran her favourite band, and the band was dubbed "The Fab Five" by the British press. The Fab Five moniker was an indirect tribute to The Fab Four, one of the many titles bestowed upon The Beatles.
However, the Rio album did not do well in the United States at first. EMI in the UK had promoted Duran Duran as a New Romantic band, but that genre was barely known in the U.S., and Capitol Records (EMI's American branch) was at a loss about how to sell them. After Carnival (an EP of Rio's dance remixes) became popular with DJs in the fall, the band arranged to have most of the album remixed by David Kershenbaum.
In June 1982, Duran Duran appeared for the first time on American television. They energetically performed Hungry Like The Wolf and Rio on Dancin' On Air, the forerunner to the national hit show, Dance Party USA. Michael Nise, executive producer of both shows, recalls how shy the "boys" were, and how they kidded each other about how bad they looked on TV.
Only after it was re-released in the U.S. in November, with heavy promotion as a dance album, did Rio begin to climb the American charts, six months after its European success. MTV placed "Hungry Like The Wolf" and then several other Duran Duran videos into heavy rotation, pushing it and "Rio" into the top twenty on the U.S. charts in early 1983; the seduction ballad "Save A Prayer" also did well. "The band was a natural for music television," noted Rolling Stone magazine. "They may be the first rock group to ride in on a video wave." In the end, the album peaked at number 6 in the U.S. and remained on the charts there for 129 weeks — almost two and a half years. In 2003, Rio was listed at number 65 in the NME 100 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
1983–1985
The band began 1983 by playing the MTV New Year's Eve Rock'n'Roll Ball, with "Hungry Like The Wolf" still climbing the charts in the US, and the American reissue of the "Rio" single to follow in March. To satisfy America's appetite for their music, the band re-released their eponymous first album in the US in the middle of the year, with the addition of the new single "Is There Something I Should Know?" On its release, this song entered the chart at Number 1 in the UK (a rarity then, and their first chart-topper in their home country), and reached Number 4 on the American charts. During the promotion of this album, Rhodes and Le Bon were MTV guest VJs for a show, during which artist and admirer Andy Warhol dropped by to greet them. "Our first gigs in the United States were crazy and culty,” Rhodes said later. “But when we came back after “Hungry” was a hit, it was mayhem. It was Beatlemania. We were doing a signing of the “Girls on Film” video at a store in Times Square. We couldn’t get out of the store. The cops sealed off the streets." Also in 1983, keyboardist Nick Rhodes produced the UK number 1 and US number 5 hit "Too Shy" for the English band Kajagoogoo, and Andy Taylor became the first member of Duran Duran to get married. The band's main pop rivals were now Culture Club and Wham!.
The band spent the next year as tax exiles, writing songs at a chateau in France in May 1983 before flying to Montserrat and then Sydney to record and mix their third album. The band was under enormous pressure to follow up the success of Rio, and the recording process took over six months as different band members went through bouts of perfectionism and insecurity.[20] A newly decadent lifestyle and substance abuse issues added complications. In the documentary film Extraordinary World, filmed a decade later, Rhodes described the effect on their sound as "barely controlled hysteria, scratching beneath the surface ". The new album, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, included the late 1983 hit "Union of the Snake"; following "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Rio", "Save A Prayer" and "Is There Something I Should Know", Duran Duran had had five U.S. Top Twenty hits from three different albums in a single year. The band made music headlines by deciding to release the "Union of the Snake" video to MTV a full week before the single was released to radio, at a time when the industry feared video really might kill the radio star. They followed up with "New Moon on Monday", which after reaching no 9 in the UK dropped out of the UK charts very promptly, possibly threatening their success. However, their next single "The Reflex", taken from Seven and the Ragged Tiger and given a significant remix overhaul by Nile Rodgers of Chic fame, became their first number one hit in the United States. "The Reflex" was also their second and final UK number one, and was successful in numerous other countries around the world.
The band embarked on a global tour that continued throughout the first four months of 1984, including their first major stadium dates in America. A film crew led by director Russell Mulcahy followed the band closely, leading to the documentary film Sing Blue Silver and the accompanying concert film Arena.The live album Arena was also recorded during the tour and was released with the new studio single "The Wild Boys", which went to Number 2 on both sides of the Atlantic. In February 1984, the band appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine and won two Grammy awards in the brand-new Long Form and Short Form music video categories.
After the tour, Roger Taylor was married in Naples, Italy, and Nick Rhodes wed in London, famously wearing a pink velvet tuxedo and top hat. At the end of 1984 , the group was featured on the Band Aid benefit single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" along with other popular British musical acts. Simon Le Bon sang between contributions from George Michael and Sting.
1985
Even with Duran Duran on hold, band members were soon anxious to record new music, leading to a supposedly temporary split into two side projects. John and Andy Taylor wanted to break away from the Duran Duran sound and pursue hard rock material; they collaborated with Robert Palmer and Tony Thompson to form the rock/funk supergroup Power Station, which released two Top 10 singles. Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes, on the other hand, wanted to further explore Duran Duran's atmospheric aspect and formed Arcadia, who released one LP from which the single "Election Day" was released. Roger Taylor was primarily the drummer for Arcadia, but also contributed percussion to the Power Station album.
Duran Duran were never the same after this break. According to Rhodes, the two side projects "were commercial suicide... But we’ve always been good at that." The band was still off balance when they regrouped to contribute "A View to a Kill" to the 1985 James Bond movie of the same name. This single remains the only Bond theme to go to Number 1 on the U.S. charts, and the highest-placed Bond theme on the UK chart where it reached Number 2. It was the last single the band recorded as the original five-piece for twenty years.
As a follow-up to the Christmas 1984 Band Aid single, Duran Duran performed in front of 90,000 people (and an estimated 1.5 billion TV viewers) at the Live Aid charity concert at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 1985 while their Bond song held the top spot on the American charts. It was not intended to be a farewell performance—the band planned only to take a break after four years of non-stop touring and public appearances—but the original five did not play live together again until July 2003. Their Live Aid set became infamous for Le Bon inadvertently hitting a falsetto note in the chorus of "A View to a Kill", which he later described as the most humiliating moment of his career.

1986–1991
After releasing five albums in five years, each accompanied by heavy media promotion and lengthy concert tours, the band lost two of its core members to fatigue and tension in 1986. After Live Aid and Arcadia, drummer Roger Taylor retired to the English countryside, suffering from exhaustion. This was originally announced as a one year sabbatical, but it soon became clear that he would not be returning to the band. An official press release was issued in April 1986 confirming his departure. Guitarist Andy Taylor, on the other hand, led the remaining members to believe he would return to work on a new Duran Duran album even as he was signing a solo recording contract in Los Angeles. The band resorted to legal measures to get him into the studio, but after numerous delays, they let him go at last. He played on only a few songs on the next album while the disagreements were being settled.

In 1986, Duran Duran had now been reduced to a trio: Rhodes, John Taylor, Le Bon
Without a guitarist or a drummer, the three remaining members, Le Bon, Rhodes, and John Taylor had producer (and former Chic guitarist) Nile Rodgers play a few tracks on guitar, and hired studio musicians to play drums while they searched for replacements. Finally in September 1986, Warren Cuccurullo (formerly of Missing Persons and Frank Zappa's touring band) was hired as a session guitarist. With Le Bon, Rhodes, and Taylor, he recorded the rest of the Notorious album, which was released in October 1986. The black-and-white documentary film Three To Get Ready chronicled the recording of the album, legal tensions, and preparations for the tour.
Although the song "Notorious" went to nr. 2 in the U.S., nr.7 in the UK and album sales were strong, the band found they had lost much of the momentum and hysteria they had left behind in 1985. In the three years between the release of Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Notorious, many of their teenage fans had grown up, and the music was funkier, more mature, and less "pop", given the added experience of their work on Arcadia and Power Station and with many gifted musicians. "Skin Trade" and "Meet El Presidente", the two subsequent singles, made the charts but fared poorly compared to the band's earlier successes.
Subsequently, Duran Duran's fame began to wane as they struggled to escape the teen idol image and gain critical success with more complex music. Rolling Stone said, "In their search for musical maturity, the surviving Durans have lost a good deal of their identity." Another factor was the band's dismissal of early managers the Berrow brothers. There was no announcement of the reasons for the decision, but disagreements over money, and the brothers’ involvement in Le Bon's yachting adventures (they were co-owners of Drum) were thought to have played a part. Whatever the reason, Duran Duran switched managers frequently and undertook periods of self-management in the later stages of their career. In addition, EMI (which fired its president and went through a major corporate restructuring that summer) seemed to have lost interest in promoting the band. The next album Big Thing (1988) yielded the singles "I Don't Want Your Love" (nr.4 in the US), "Do You Believe In Shame?" and "All She Wants Is" (the last a top ten hit in the UK). The record was experimental, mixing influences from house music and rave music with Duran's atmospheric synth pop and Cuccurullo's creative guitar work, as well as more mature lyrics (the juvenile title track notwithstanding). By the next year, after touring for the album finished, the band regained a five-man membership as Cuccurullo and tour drummer Sterling Campbell were made full members of Duran Duran. Inexplicably during this time, the group was credited as Duranduran on some of the releases (one word, instead of two).
The compilation album Decade: Greatest Hits was released late in 1989, along with the megamix single "Burning The Ground", which consisted of woven snippets of the band's hits from the previous ten years. The single came and went with little fanfare, but the album became another major seller for the band. However, the tepid 1990 release Liberty (a retreat from the experimentation of Big Thing) failed to capitalise on any regained momentum, a pattern the band repeated often in their later years. The album entered the UK album chart in the top ten, but faded away quickly. The singles "Violence of Summer (Love's Taking Over)" and "Serious" were only mildly successful, and the album's soft rock did not fare well against contemporaries like Alice in Chains and Jane's Addiction, while Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the grunge revolution were just around the corner. For the first time, Duran Duran did not tour in support of an album, performing on only a handful of club dates and TV shows.[30]
Sterling Campbell left the band early in 1991, going on to work with Soul Asylum and David Bowie. The quartet of Le Bon, Rhodes, Taylor, and Cuccurullo would remain intact for six more years. In December 1991, Taylor (then 31) married 19-year-old model/actress Amanda De Cadenet, and she gave birth to his daughter in March 1992.

1992–1996
In 1993, the band released a second self-titled album: this Duran Duran album is known as The Wedding Album (for Nick Egan's cover art featuring the wedding photos of the band members' parents) to distinguish it from the 1981 release. Listener demand for leaked single "Ordinary World" forced it onto radio playlists months earlier than planned; it reached Number 3 on the U.S. chart and Number 6 in the UK and won a prestigious Ivor Novello Award award for song writing. "Come Undone", a slinky number primarily written by Cuccurullo, made Number 7 in the U.S. and Number 13 in the UK. Both the band and the record label seemed to be caught by surprise by the album's critical and commercial success (#4 in the UK, #7 in the U.S.). Bassist John Taylor had been considering leaving the band but changed his mind. The band's largest tour ever, which included stops in the Middle East, the then recently de-embargoed South Africa, and South America, was halted after seven months when Le Bon suffered from strained vocal cords. After six weeks' recuperation, the band performed intermittently for another five months, including appearances in Israel, Thailand, and Indonesia.'
The band's upswing in momentum, however, was once again swiftly curtailed by the poor showing of the covers album Thank You. The album reportedly originated as a lighthearted tribute to the band's influences, in the vein of Bowie's Pin Ups. Some of the tracks were recorded in borrowed and makeshift studios in hotel rooms (with the aid of programmer Mark Tinley) while the band was on tour. The plan was to have an album ready to release soon after the tour was finished, with another studio album to follow quickly afterwards. Original drummer Roger Taylor even returned from retirement to contribute on a few songs. However, conflicts within the band and with Capitol/EMI caused repeated delays; mix after mix was ordered and rejected, and by the time it finally came out in 1995, the band had lost enthusiasm for the project.
Singles from Thank You included covers of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" and Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" (with backing vocals from the original artists). In a video interview provided with the album's electronic press kit, Reed said he considered Duran Duran's version the best cover ever done of one of his songs. Still, the critics lambasted the band's attempts at "911 is a Joke", "Lay Lady Lay", "Ball of Confusion" and "The Crystal Ship", and the band only completed a 1995 summer tour of radio station festivals under duress.
After that tour's completion, John Taylor co-founded the B5 Records label and recorded a solo album, founded and toured with the supergroup Neurotic Outsiders, and reunited the Power Station, though the project proceeded without him when he had to withdraw to deal with his divorce from De Cadenet. Finally, after struggling for months to record the next album, Medazzaland, in January 1997, Taylor announced at a Duran Duran fan convention that he was leaving the band "for good". His departure reduced the band to two original members (Le Bon and Rhodes) and Cuccurullo, who decided to continue recording under the name Duran Duran.

1997–2000

In 1997, the band lost its final Taylor, leaving Rhodes, Le Bon, and Cuccurullo
Freed from some internal writing conflicts, the band returned to the studio to rewrite and re-record many of the songs on Medazzaland. (Taylor's work remains on only four tracks.) This album marked a return to the layered experimentation of Big Thing, with intricate guitar textures and processed vocals. The track "Out of My Mind" was used as the theme song for the movie The Saint, but the only true single to be released in the United States was the quirky "Electric Barbarella", which was the first single ever to be sold online. The video for this single, featuring a sexy robot purchased and played with by band members, had to be censored before airing on MTV, but there was little of the controversy that had surrounded "Girls On Film". "Barbarella" peaked at #52 in the U.S. in October 1997. Although Medazzaland was released in the U.S. in October 1997, the album was never released in the UK. "Barbarella" was later released in the UK as a single from the 1998 Greatest compilation album and peaked at #23 on the UK chart in January 1999.
The group played a set at The Princess Diana Tribute Concert on 27 June 1998 by special request of her family.
Duran Duran parted ways with Capitol/EMI in 1999, although the label has since used Duran Duran's back catalogue to release several compilations of remixes and rare vinyl-only b-sides. The band then signed what was intended to be a three-album contract with Disney's Hollywood Records, but it lasted only through the poorly received 2000 album Pop Trash. This slow-paced and heavy album seemed out-of-keeping with earlier band material. Rhodes' intricate production and Cuccurullo's songwriting and experimentation with guitar sounds and time signatures were not enough to hook the public, and the album did not perform well. The dreamy single "Someone Else Not Me" lasted barely two weeks on the radio, although its video was noted as the first to be produced entirely with Flash animation. While supporting Medazzaland and Pop Trash, Duran Duran toured with bassist Wes Wehmiller and drummer Joe Travers.

2001–2006
In 2000, John Taylor approached Le Bon and Rhodes with a proposal to re-form Duran Duran's classic line-up. They agreed, and after completing the Pop Trash tour fired Cuccurullo by letter. Cuccurullo then announced on his website that he was leaving Duran Duran to resume work with his 1980s band Missing Persons. This announcement was confirmed the next day by the Duran Duran's website, followed a day later by the news that John, Roger, and Andy Taylor had rejoined. To fulfill contractual obligations, Cuccurullo played three Duran Duran concerts in Japan in August 2001, ending his tenure in the band.
Throughout 2001, 2002 and 2003, the band worked on writing new material, initially renting a house in St. Tropez where sound engineer Mark Tinley built a recording studio for their first serious writing session. They then returned to London to do some self-financed work with various producers (including old friend Nile Rodgers) and search for a new record deal. It proved difficult to find a record label willing to gamble on the band's comeback, so Duran Duran went on tour to prove the drawing power of the reunited band. The response of the fans and the media exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The band played a handful of 25th-anniversary dates in July 2003. Tickets sold out for each show within minutes, and celebrities turned out en masse for reunion shows booked at small venues the band had played on their first trip to America in 1981. In August, the band were booked as presenters at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, only to be surprised with a Lifetime Achievement Award. They also received a Lifetime Achievement award from Q Magazine in October, and the equivalent Outstanding Contribution award at the BRIT Awards in February 2004.
The pace picked up with a sold-out tour of America, Australia and New Zealand. The band played a full concert at a private Tailgate Party at Super Bowl XXXVIII, their performance of "The Wild Boys" broadcast to millions during the pre-game show. A remix of the new track "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise" was released on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV show soundtrack in February, while the Queer Eye guys (the modern "Fab Five") hailed Duran Duran as "the first metrosexuals". Duran Duran then celebrated their homecoming to the UK with fourteen stadium dates in April 2004, including five sold-out nights at Wembley Arena. The British press, traditionally hostile to the band, accorded the shows some very warm reviews.[41] Duran Duran brought along bands like Scissor Sisters, and Goldfrapp, as opening acts for this tour.[3] The last two shows were filmed, resulting in the concert DVD Duran Duran: Live From London which was released in November.
Finally, with more than thirty-five songs completed, the band signed a four-album contract with Epic Records in June, and completed the new album, now entitled Astronaut, with producer Don Gilmore. The album was released in October 2004 and entered the UK charts at Number 3 and the U.S. charts at Number 17. The first single was "(Reach Up for the) Sunrise", which reached Number 1 on the Billboard U.S. Dance Chart in November and peaked at number 5 on the UK singles chart, Duran Duran's highest chart position since "A View To a Kill" in 1985. A second single, "What Happens Tomorrow", debuted at #11 on the UK charts in February. After a world tour in early 2005, Duran Duran headlined the massive Live 8 concert, Rome on 2 July 2005 in the Circus Maximus.

2006–present
In early 2006, Duran Duran covered John Lennon's song "Instant Karma" for the Make Some Noise campaign sponsored by Amnesty International to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death, and performed at two high profile events — the Nobel Prize Awards and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. After a couple of weeks of songwriting in California, the band began working with producer Michael Patterson in London, and continued intermittently for the next several months. At one point, they reported having fifteen tracks nearly complete for an album tentatively titled Reportage, but no further news emerged from the band for months afterward. In September, the band held meetings in New York City with Justin Timberlake and producer Timbaland with an eye to a potential collaboration and were soon reported to have completed three songs with the producer, including a duet with Timberlake.
On 25 October 2006, Andy Taylor parted ways with Duran Duran for the second time. In an official announcement on their website, Duran Duran stated that an "unworkable gulf" had developed between them and Taylor and that "we can no longer effectively function together". Dom Brown, who had previously toured with the band, took over guitar duties and has been performing with them since. After Taylor's departure, the band scrapped the Reportage album and wrote and recorded a new album which included the Timbaland tracks. Dom Brown is the featured guitarist.
In July, the band performed twice at Wembley Stadium, at the Concert for Diana and at Live Earth concert, London. On 25 September, the Timberlake collaboration "Falling Down" was released as a download single on iTunes, and the band announced that they would play nine shows at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway to launch the album Red Carpet Massacre. The album launch was later extended to incorporate a show in London on December 3, 2007 and one in Dublin on December 5, 2007.
In May 2008, they toured the US leg of their 2008 world tour and were supported by fellow British quintet Your Vegas.
In June 2008, they played the Louvre in Paris in a fundraising effort that contributed to the restoration of a magnificent Louis XV drawing room. Guests dined, privately viewed some of the museum’s works, and then following came a performance from Duran Duran in the I.M. Pei-designed Pyramid Du Louvre. The group’s performance marked a first for both the band members and the 18th Century Museum (who have never before allowed a rock concert to take place anywhere within either the grounds or buildings).
On 2 July in Paris, Mark Ronson performed a unique live set with Duran Duran for an exclusive, invite-only performance. Together, they showcased specially re-worked versions of some of Duran Duran's classic hits re-created by Ronson, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Simon Le Bon also performed songs from Ronson's latest album, Version, as one of Ronson's featured guest vocalists.

Influences
Although they began their career as "a group of art school, experimental, post punk rockers", the band's quick rise to stardom, polished good looks, and embrace of the teen press, almost guaranteed disfavour from music critics. During the 1980s, Duran Duran were considered the quintessential manufactured, throw-away pop group. However, according to the Sunday Herald, "To describe them, as some have, as the first boy band, misrepresents their appeal. Their weapons were never just their looks, but self-penned songs." As Moby said of the band in his website diary in 2003: "... they were cursed by what we can call the 'Bee Gees' curse, which is: 'write amazing songs, sell tons of records, and consequently incur the wrath or disinterest of the rock obsessed critical establishment'."
Several of the band's contemporaries including The Bangles, Elton John, Kylie Minogue and Paul Young, have named themselves fans of the band's stylish, uplifting pop. Le Bon described the group as "the band to dance to when the bomb drops".[45] Successors like Barenaked Ladies, Beck, Jonathan Davis of Korn, The Bravery, Gwen Stefani and Pink have all cited Duran Duran as a key band in their formative years. The newest crop of performers to name Duran Duran as influences include Dido, Franz Ferdinand, Panic! at the Disco, Lostprophets (who took their name from the title of a Duran Duran bootleg tape), Goldfrapp, Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers of The Killers, who said, "Nick Rhodes is an absolute hero of mine - their records still sound fresh, which is no mean feat as far as synths are concerned".
Nick Rhodes has directly lent his production techniques to Kajagoogoo album White Feathers and its Number One single "Too Shy", and to The Dandy Warhols album Welcome to the Monkey House. The band's music has been used by several hip hop artists, most notably Notorious B.I.G., who sampled Duran Duran's 1986 single "Notorious". Numerous bands have covered their music on record and in concert.
Videos
The MTV cable channel and the band were launched at about the same time, and each had a hand in propelling the other to greater heights. MTV needed showcase videos with charismatic performers. Les Garland, senior executive vice president at MTV, said "I remember our director of talent and artist relations came running in and said, “You have got to see this video that’s come in.” Duran Duran were getting zero radio airplay at the time, and MTV wanted to try to break new music. “Hungry Like the Wolf” was the greatest video I’d ever seen". The band's video work was influential in several ways. First, Duran Duran filmed in exotic locales like Sri Lanka and Antigua, creating memorable images that were radically different from the then-common low budget "band-playing-on-a-stage" videos. Second, rather than simply playing their instruments, the band participated in mini-storylines (often taking inspiration from contemporary movies: "Hungry Like The Wolf" riffs on Raiders of the Lost Ark, "The Wild Boys" on The Road Warrior, etc.). Videos were obviously headed in this direction already, but Duran Duran led the trend with a style, featuring quick editing, arresting graphic design, and surreal-to-nonsensical image inserts, that drew attention from commentators and spawned a wealth of imitators.
Duran Duran were among the first bands to have their videos shot with a professional movie camera on 35 mm film, rather than on videotape with cheaper video cameras, making them look superior to many of the quickly and inexpensively shot videos which had been MTV staples until then. MTV provided Duran Duran with access to American radio markets that were unfriendly to British music, New Wave music, or "anything with synthesisers". Because MTV was not available everywhere in the United States at first, it was easy to see a pattern: where MTV went, listener demand for Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Def Leppard and other European bands with interesting videos went through the roof.
The band's sun-drenched videos for "Rio", "Hungry Like The Wolf" and "Save A Prayer", and the surreal "Is There Something I Should Know?" were filmed by future movie director Russell Mulcahy, who made eleven videos for the band. Duran Duran have always sought out innovative directors and techniques, even in their later years when MTV gave them little airplay. In addition to Mulcahy, they have had videos filmed by influential photographers Dean Chamberlain and Ellen von Unwerth, Chinese director Chen Kaige, documentary filmmaker Julien Temple, and the Polish Brothers, among others. According to Nick Rhodes, "Video is to us like stereo was to Pink Floyd".
In 1984, the band introduced video technology into their live stadium shows by being among the first acts to provide video screens above the stage. They have recorded concerts using IMAX and 360 degree panoramic "immersive video" cameras, with 10.2 channel audio. In 2000, they experimented with augmented reality technology, which allowed three-dimensional computer-generated images to appear on stage with the band.[1] They appeared on several century-end video countdowns: The MTV "100 Greatest Videos Ever Made" featured "Hungry Like The Wolf" at #11 and "Girls On Film" at #68, and the "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos" listed "Hungry" at #31 and "Rio" at #60. MTV named "Hungry" the fifteenth of their most-played videos of all time.
The band has released several video compilations, starting with the self-titled "video album" Duran Duran, for which they won a Grammy award, up to the 2004 two-disc DVD release Greatest, which included alternative versions of several popular videos as Easter eggs. In addition to Greatest, the documentary Sing Blue Silver, and the concert film Arena (both from 1984) were released on DVD in 2004. Live From London, a concert video from one of their sold-out 2004 reunion shows at Wembley Arena, was released in the fall of 2005.
Other video collections, concert films, and documentaries remain available only on videotape, and Duran Duran have not yet released a collection which includes all their videos. The band has said that a huge amount of unreleased concert and documentary footage has been filmed over the years, which they hope can be edited and released in some form in the near future. The video for "Falling Down" was released in October 2007.

• John Taylor and Nick Rhodes founded Duran Duran, and were there in it's begining in 1978. *