I've heard that "I want some of that Duran Duran money" quote before, and it resurfaced again in a recent fDeluxe interview...yet I don't hear the similarities between The Family's first album and Duran Duran at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong, because I didn't really live through that time (tho' I'm a DD fan) and I am not familiar w/ The Family's music, but...

my understanding is that they wanted to get a piece of the white-funky-new-wave-band market.

I find it kind of hard to find the funky influences in 7 & the Ragged Tiger, but it's clearer in their earlier stuff and then Notorious. John Taylor always says that Bernard Edwards was his bass hero (really obvious in Good Times and Le Freak) and he's mentioned Prince in many-an-interview over the last 30 yrs, most recently in the CNN interview w/ Piers Morgan, naming Prince as being part of his ultimate fantasy band.

artist76 said:

Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong, because I didn't really live through that time (tho' I'm a DD fan) and I am not familiar w/ The Family's music, but...

my understanding is that they wanted to get a piece of the white-funky-new-wave-band market.

I find it kind of hard to find the funky influences in 7 & the Ragged Tiger, but it's clearer in their earlier stuff and then Notorious. John Taylor always says that Bernard Edwards was his bass hero (really obvious in Good Times and Le Freak) and he's mentioned Prince in many-an-interview over the last 30 yrs, most recently in the CNN interview w/ Piers Morgan, naming Prince as being part of his ultimate fantasy band.

Actually, I took another listen to 7 & the Ragged Tiger today, and I take it back - the funky influences/undertones are still there, especially if paying attention to the rhythm/bass. It's just more "produced"/slick than previous albums. Union of the Snake - quite tasty. Actually, I wonder what a Prince cover of it would sound like!

Efan said:

I've heard that "I want some of that Duran Duran money" quote before, and it resurfaced again in a recent fDeluxe interview...yet I don't hear the similarities between The Family's first album and Duran Duran at all. Can someone explain it to me?

Now... you don't expect anything Prince says to actually MAKE SENSE do you?

Produced by Nile Rogers. Black artist/producer working with white band to great commercial success.

artist76 said:

artist76 said:

Please anyone correct me if I'm wrong, because I didn't really live through that time (tho' I'm a DD fan) and I am not familiar w/ The Family's music, but...

my understanding is that they wanted to get a piece of the white-funky-new-wave-band market.

I find it kind of hard to find the funky influences in 7 & the Ragged Tiger, but it's clearer in their earlier stuff and then Notorious. John Taylor always says that Bernard Edwards was his bass hero (really obvious in Good Times and Le Freak) and he's mentioned Prince in many-an-interview over the last 30 yrs, most recently in the CNN interview w/ Piers Morgan, naming Prince as being part of his ultimate fantasy band.

Actually, I took another listen to 7 & the Ragged Tiger today, and I take it back - the funky influences/undertones are still there, especially if paying attention to the rhythm/bass. It's just more "produced"/slick than previous albums. Union of the Snake - quite tasty. Actually, I wonder what a Prince cover of it would sound like!

Thanks for the responses. I'm not a huge DD fan, but I like them, and I pretty much just know them from their hits. I never thought of them as a funky band, but you present an interesting take. Thanks.

NouveauDance said:

Produced by Nile Rogers. Black artist/producer working with white band to great commercial success.

That's interesting, but would it really be accurate, since he didn't play up his involvement that much?

Paul was a pretty boy front man. The Family was orginally meant to be fronted by Jesse Johnson but Prince wanted "some of that Duran Duran money" and Paul was his answer to Nick Rhodes.

simm0061 said:

Paul was a pretty boy front man. The Family was orginally meant to be fronted by Jesse Johnson but Prince wanted "some of that Duran Duran money" and Paul was his answer to Nick Rhodes.

So it's really just cosmetic? Lots of bands had attractive lead singers, though.

Efan said:

simm0061 said:

Paul was a pretty boy front man. The Family was orginally meant to be fronted by Jesse Johnson but Prince wanted "some of that Duran Duran money" and Paul was his answer to Nick Rhodes.

So it's really just cosmetic? Lots of bands had attractive lead singers, though.

Yep, its came down to the look. DD was huge at the time, so probably why P referenced them. It was essentially about putting an attractive, blonde, white boy up front, - the idea being its what sells. I think this is detailed in DMSR or in another book.

simm0061 said:

Efan said:

So it's really just cosmetic? Lots of bands had attractive lead singers, though.

Yep, its came down to the look. DD was huge at the time, so probably why P referenced them. It was essentially about putting an attractive, blonde, white boy up front, - the idea being its what sells. I think this is detailed in DMSR or in another book.

This is accurate. DD was the big pop act at the time and were making money with major successes on the pop charts and on tours. Prince just wanted to duplicate some of that fever. They were the fab 5, and he wanted a little of that sort of success. Simple as that.

the song that kept Raspberry Beret out of number 1

was DD's A View To A Kill. Prince took notice!

It was an exciting but tough draw for me at the time as I was

a huge fan of both songs.

The family doesn't exactly sound like Duran Duran, but i can see what Prince was aiming at:

- Look-wise Paul Peterson could easily have fit into Duran Duran at that time. He had that same type of blow-dried blonde haircut Nick Rhodes had.

- The Family was showing a sort of a 'jet set' / posh image (I mean: look at the photography, the clothes and the art-work they used, and listen to the lyrics of 'High Fashion'), contrary to The Time who showed more of a streetwise / pimpish vibe.

- Although the funk is not overtly obvious in Duran Durans music from that time, they surely did use 'funky' and disco-elements in their music (just listen to John Taylors rubbery bass-work for example). So they were a white-pop band incorporating some 'black' musical elements. The Family was also a offering a mixture of 'poppy' and 'funky' elements (and also the jazzy aspects, which were sort of a blueprint for the Madhouse material IMO).

Husky said:

The family doesn't exactly sound like Duran Duran, but i can see what Prince was aiming at:

- Look-wise Paul Peterson could easily have fit into Duran Duran at that time. He had that same type of blow-dried blonde haircut Nick Rhodes had.

- The Family was showing a sort of a 'jet set' / posh image (I mean: look at the photography, the clothes and the art-work they used, and listen to the lyrics of 'High Fashion'), contrary to The Time who showed more of a streetwise / pimpish vibe.

- Although the funk is not overtly obvious in Duran Durans music from that time, they surely did use 'funky' and disco-elements in their music (just listen to John Taylors rubbery bass-work for example). So they were a white-pop band incorporating some 'black' musical elements. The Family was also a offering a mixture of 'poppy' and 'funky' elements (and also the jazzy aspects, which were sort of a blueprint for the Madhouse material IMO).

Yes, thanks for filling in the info. I'm not familiar with The Family but this ^^ is what I guessed from interviews and articles and things I'd read about them. The looks, image, eclectic style with mix of "white" and "black" music.

As for DD, they'd be very happy to be getting any posts on prince.org. They've extrapolated bits of "Hot Thing," I think "Sign o' the Times" or "Pop Life" and "Sexy MF" (yes, "Sexy MF") in their concerts. And JT is into the funk, and his bass lines underscore a lot of their best songs.

artist76 said:

Yes, thanks for filling in the info. I'm not familiar with The Family but this ^^ is what I guessed from interviews and articles and things I'd read about them. The looks, image, eclectic style with mix of "white" and "black" music.

As for DD, they'd be very happy to be getting any posts on prince.org. They've extrapolated bits of "Hot Thing," I think "Sign o' the Times" or "Pop Life" and "Sexy MF" (yes, "Sexy MF") in their concerts. And JT is into the funk, and his bass lines underscore a lot of their best songs.

Actually, I seem to recall the bass line from New Position being used on one of the Notorious tracks but it's been ages since I listened to that album. Skin Trade maybe?

I never got it save the fact that it was predominantly a "white" band.

The Family is an astonishing album, if not a masterpiece, but I fail to understand how such an odd, experimental mix of jazz-funk instrumentals, glamorous weird pop ballads and funk songs was supposed to attract the audience of new wave bands such as DD or achieve any kind of commercial success. I think Prince hadn't REALLY listened to any DD album before making such a guess.

Efan said:

I've heard that "I want some of that Duran Duran money" quote before, and it resurfaced again in a recent fDeluxe interview...yet I don't hear the similarities between The Family's first album and Duran Duran at all. Can someone explain it to me?

White guys.

databank said:

The Family is an astonishing album, if not a masterpiece, but I fail to understand how such an odd, experimental mix of jazz-funk instrumentals, glamorous weird pop ballads and funk songs was supposed to attract the audience of new wave bands such as DD or achieve any kind of commercial success. I think Prince hadn't REALLY listened to any DD album before making such a guess.

I agree.I like the Family's album but there is no way that those songs would have appealed to Duran Duran's fanbase,or pop fans in general.It was actually a dark,non-commercial album.