All systems go for Duran Duran !

With the original members all onboard, 'Astronaut,' puts Duran Duran back in orbit

Thursday, October 7, 2004


By MARIO TARRADELL / The Dallas Morning News

Musical reunions may be passé, especially when it's some half-baked get-together by aging rockers desperately trying to revive their have-been careers. None of that applies to Duran Duran. The English lads are hot again, folks. And it's not just nostalgia.

• A fall 2003 tour reuniting the original five members – Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor (all unrelated) – celebrating the 25th anniversary of the group's formation proves a sell-out success, including a November show at the Majestic Theatre. A summer 2004 trek also drew sold-out crowds and rave reviews.

• They get their props. First, a lifetime-achievement award presented by MTV honoring the group's groundbreaking videos, from early clips such as "Girls on Film" to latter-day ones such as "Come Undone." Then, a slew of celebrities sing their praises, including Justin Timberlake, the Dandy Warhols, Debbie Harry, Christy Turlington, Edward Burns, the Donnas, Macy Gray and Adrien Brody.

• The band scores a contract with powerhouse Epic Records. Their first album for the label, Astronaut, arrives in stores Tuesday. It boasts three hip producers, R&B knob turner Dallas Austin, rock's Don Gilmore (Linkin Park) and Nile Rodgers (Chic, David Bowie).

Astronaut sounds like the work of a revitalized quintet eager to prove it still has the grooves, the hooks and the chops. The record leaps out of the speakers from the get-go. It merges the band's signature dance style with dreamy melodies, rock guitars and potent drum work. Tracks such as "Sunrise," the inaugural single, "Want You More" and "Taste of Summer" seem ripe for club remixes. Moodier numbers such as "Chains" and "Still Breathing" capture the sweeping, new-romantic vibe of classic Duran Duran.

"We feel as though we hit the vein of inspiration," says drummer Roger Taylor by phone from his home in London. "We think it's one of the best albums we've done. It's not one of those albums where you put two songs and the others are not that good. They are all strong and we made sure of that."

With a timeless body of work behind them – hits such as "Hungry Like the Wolf," "Rio," "Wild Boys" and "Union of the Snake" – Roger and company knew they had to create new standards that could stand next to the vintage material.

Mark Goodman, MTV video jockey from 1981 to 1988 when the nascent cable channel and the band were synergistically feeding off each other, agrees.

"I really believe that this could be the best record that this band has ever done," says Mr. Goodman, now an on-air personality with Sirius Satellite Radio, by phone from Los Angeles. "It's not a great record because I remember the '80s. It's a great record, period. They've come together and found whatever they needed to find within them to pull it off in the studio and deliver a record that's all there. The sound is great, there's dancey stuff on there, there's real guitars on there. It doesn't sound dated."

The journey to Astronaut began early in 2000 when Roger Taylor got a call from John Taylor to reconvene the original lineup. For Roger, who hadn't performed with Duran Duran since the Live Aid concert in 1985, it was simply the right time.

"I was just ready for it," he says. "We all were. We all hit that stage in life when the past didn't seem quite as bad as it seemed when we broke up."

When Roger left Duran Duran, he'd had enough of the constant touring, the screaming fanatics, and the increasing restlessness among five friends who felt like commodities instead of pals making music.

"The spirit of the band had been broken. We were not the same. We were in separate parts of the universe as people. Everybody was tired of each other after so much intense time together. For me, we were doing it for the wrong reasons. We started because we loved music and wanted to play together, and it became all about expectations, projections. I just didn't want to carry on with that anymore. I bought myself a farm in the countryside and just stayed here for a few years."

Duran Duran carried on through the late '80s and '90s, first without Roger and Andy Taylor, and then without John Taylor as well. By the time 2000's ill fated Pop Trash was released, only Mr. Le Bon and Mr. Rhodes were left as original members. The magic was clearly missing.

Yet the group never completely lost its cachet. Records, from 1986's Notorious to 1995's covers album Thank You, regularly sold between 500,000 and 1 million copies. Even sales disappointments Medazzaland and Pop Trash managed to make a dent on the charts. So the furor of the reunion might not seem so strange, especially in an era where everything old can be new again.

"Whether it was fashionable or unfashionable, we would have still done it," says Roger. "It's what we felt we wanted to do in our lives right now. But the world seems to be in the same state of mind. People are really ready for us. It's been like that ever since we started, a snowball effect."

Mr. Goodman isn't surprised by the massive reception to the reunion.

"Duran Duran has one of the most rabid followings of any band, and that following continues today," he says. "Through all our time at MTV they were huge but that following continues now. They have an amazing fan base. It's gigantic. I've worked on radio for many, many years and they are hugely requested."

For a band that banked on clothing, make-up and the power of visuals to promote its sound, the bottom line remains the songs. Duran Duran tunes merge dance and rock, R&B and punk to create music that's liberating and invigorating. That's why Roger Taylor comes back to the tunes on Astronaut. A sold-out reunion tour is great, but the true test of artistic longevity will always hinge on the ability to make resonant music again.

"If you deliver something substandard you're over," he says. "It's gone. Everybody compares it to your best stuff. That's what drove us. We didn't want to be in our own shadow."

Courtesy Dallas Morning News

I can't take it! There is just tooo much to read right now! But I'm glad they are getting exposure. I hope the album does well. Can't wait to buy the Special Edition with bonus dvd on Tuesday! Meanwhile, I have to move to my new place by the 18th, so it's a bit hard to keep up with the excitement! But they are gonna be all over tv this month so I gotta work something out, buy a new vcr and HOOK IT UP, yo!

Check this out: http://www.ew.com/ew/repo...0_,00.html


Duran Duran, pop music's original Fab Five return. The band reflex their muscles with a new album that brings their signature new-wave sound into the 21st century by Nicholas Fonseca

The five original members of Duran Duran are sitting on top of the world. At least, it sure seems that way from the 36th floor of Jersey City's high-rise Hudson Towers, an awe-inspiring view of the Manhattan skyline sprawling across the Hudson River in hazy midmorning sunlight. The band has gathered here for a promotional appearance in the offices of local Top 40 radio powerhouse Z100. Fueled by little more than breakfast tea and bonhomie, Simon LeBon (sprightly, playful, and a mite puffier than he was during the group's '80s heyday) and Nick Rhodes (natty, quick, and still sporting eyeliner and foundation after all this time) are furiously signing ticket stubs, glossy 8 x 10 photos, and scraps of paper for the two dozen hyperventilating contest winners who've won the chance to meet their idols on this pleasant September day.

Rhodes scribbles his name in silver marker on the glass frame of a platinum-album award for 1993's Duran Duran (more commonly known as the Wedding Album). LeBon leans in to watch. ''What's that?'' he asks.

''Oh, this?'' says Rhodes, barely missing a beat. ''It's from when they used to play our records.''

There was a time not so long ago (has it really been more than two decades?) when the perfectly coiffed lads of Duran Duran were the world's biggest pop stars. And if you went to any of their 25th-anniversary concerts in the summer of 2003, you'd be forgiven for assuming they still are. Those triumphant shows — the first with the complete original lineup in 18 years — were followed by a 25-city American tour and a sold-out, five-night stand at London's Wembley Arena that even had the long-critical British press tossing compliments. ''People started to use the word authentic to describe our music,'' says bassist John Taylor, as he slumps into a banquette at a dim Japanese restaurant across the river a day after their radio visit. ''And we were like, 'Holy s---!' We were always anathema to that whole idea. In the media's eyes, we were plastic dilettantes.''

Not anymore. As Duran Duran release Astronaut (due Oct. 12), the first album featuring all five charter members in 21 years, the band finds itself in the middle of a full-blown '80s new-wave revival, and it seems poised to capitalize on the success of young Duran-influenced critical favorites like the Killers and the Scissor Sisters (who opened for them at Wembley). Even so, they're wary of exploiting their retro cred. ''People keep saying to us, 'Oh, you're riding this '80s thing,''' says a still criminally handsome John (for the sake of your sanity, we'll refer to the three unrelated Taylors by their first names). ''Well, it's not really 'this '80s thing.' Do you like Prince? Do you like the Cure? Do you like Madonna? Of course you do. So then why the f--- are you complaining that we haven't been around a while if you still like our music?''

But let's be honest: Most of Duran Duran's fans are holdovers from the Reagan era. At last year's reunion shows, the audience consisted largely of that battalion of weeping no-longer-teenage girls known as Durannies, along with a smattering of their daughters. There's no scientific proof, but it's safe to say that a random survey of women between the ages of 30 and 45 will result in irony-free gushing about a favorite member, whether it's brooding drummer Roger Taylor, 44, mischievous lead singer LeBon, 45, foppish keyboardist Rhodes, 42, centerfold-ready John, 44, or grizzly guitarist Andy Taylor, 43.

Astronaut is likely to please this original audience, which has watched Duran Duran abandon their trademark new-wave-soul sound over the past decade. Coproduced, oddly enough, by Linkin Park guru Don Gilmore and R&B star maker Dallas Austin (Boyz II Men, TLC), the album is something of a return to the band's roots. ''We were very adamant that this has to be classic Duran Duran music,'' says John. ''But it also had to be modern. It took us several years to strike that balance.'' Adds Roger: ''We didn't want to be bored by ourselves when we went into the studio. We had to do something vital.''

Duran Duran's original lineup crumbled in 1985, when — after seven years, four albums, and nine Top 40 hits — Roger and Andy stashed their eye shadow and walked away from the entire enterprise. Quite simply, they wanted to take back their lives. ''I didn't want to be a role model,'' says Andy, who soon after launched a lukewarm solo career. ''I wanted to f--- models!'' The remaining trio hung on as new members came and went, and a series of mediocre albums stalled on the charts (with the exception of the Wedding Album, which spawned the hugely popular ballad ''Ordinary World''). By the time John departed in 1996, the band was clearly at a creative low point. A brief deal with Disney's Hollywood Records (''It's amazing that [Disney's] logo is a pair of ears,'' says Rhodes, ''because nobody there actually uses theirs'') resulted in 2000's widely panned Pop Trash. ''I felt very strongly that somebody had pulled the plug from the bath and let the water drain away,'' says LeBon. ''I'd had it with the [2000] lineup and I wasn't going to do it anymore.''

Then John had an idea: What about a reunion of the original roster? In 2000, he called up LeBon, who went for it. Amazingly, the long-departed Roger and Andy also liked the idea, and the seed was planted. ''It's always been in the back of my mind that it could work again because it was such a short-lived, great experience,'' says Roger, who was originally more resistant than the others to the idea. ''But I also knew that I had to be completely committed and that it was going to be a life-changing experience.'' He laughs. ''So, you know, I just thought about it for a day.'' The quintet headed to southern France the following year for months of songwriting sessions.

New tunes came easily, but holding five admittedly large egos in check proved harder. ''Musically? Yes, we got along,'' says Rhodes. ''Personally? No. Not right away. It was hard. It's like being a polygamist. We had to relearn each other's idiosyncrasies, but it made perfect sense why we were there the minute that we plugged in.''

The band recorded an album's worth of material on its own dime, but a dismal recent sales track record soured labels on signing them. Roger recalls a gauntlet of thanks but no thanks visits to the executive suite. ''They wanted to do market research to see if people would even buy a Duran Duran album,'' he says. ''We couldn't believe it!''

Eventually, they found a supporter in Sony Music Label Group president and CEO Don Ienner, who, impressed by the reunion tour, signed the band to a four-album deal last spring. ''These guys are very current,'' says Ienner. ''They're not just a nostalgia band coming out and playing their history. They want to finish what they started.'' Austin — an avowed fan who remembers eighth-grade classmates ''crying over their album covers'' — agrees: ''You have to give artists someplace else to go so that they don't ride their past the whole time. And they were a good group to do it with because they're talented and seasoned, and Simon's voice still sounds so sincere.''

''This is a sincere album,'' agrees Rhodes. ''There's nothing I hate more than insincerity. It makes my blood boil. What are we leaving our kids today? Pop Idol and Starbucks? What do they then have?''

It's probably for the best, then, that on this most recent round of flesh pressing, the boys aren't making a once inescapable pit stop: MTV's offices are nowhere to be found on their exhaustive to-do list. Do they feel rejected? ''That's become a great big angle whenever people are interviewing us,'' sighs LeBon, growing slightly testy at the common suggestion that their videos turned them into superstars. ''It sounds like somebody knows what they're talking about when they ask it. And asking us to comment upon it is actually quite spurious because what happened happened. We came in, we seized our opportunity, and we drove the band right into people's living rooms. People are trying to get us to tell a sob story, and the truth is that we just don't have a sob story to tell.''

''The success of this project does not hinge on whether or not MTV plays our new videos,'' adds John. ''We don't need [them] to make our band successful. If they aren't playing the videos, it doesn't mean that we can't have tremendous success and communicate with millions of f---in' people!''

Pollyanna couldn't have said it better, but even if this Astronaut fails to take off, Rhodes insists that he and his four bar-hopping school chums from Birmingham, England, are just thankful that they got the chance to try and recapture the optimism of their zenith: ''We grew up doing this together as kids, and we remind each other of our best times. And to get that back and to be able to refocus it sharper than ever, like we've just tuned it in? It's amazing. In this band, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.''

(Posted:10/06/04)

Next week can't come any sooner. I am ready to relive it all and go to the next level of enjoying new music. Oh yeah the tv appearance. I'm really bad with keeping up with those. I need to rehook my vcr, or at least make sure I stay awake. I'm jealous of those who have heard half or more of the new music already. Next Tuesday, all day Duran Duran.