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Nick Rhodes Q&A(2003) 4 Vina and you other Duranies 
Supposedly, tickets for Saturday's Duran Duran concert at the Hard Rock sold out in six minutes. That's very fast. But expectations for fans may be high, because this is Duran Duran's first tour in 18 years that includes the original band members. That means the stage gets singer Simon LeBon, guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, the men behind the hits, "Rio," "Hungry Like the Wolf," "Girls on Film," "Reflex," "Union of the Snake" and "Is There Something I Should Know?" Rhodes -- who used to wear a ton of makeup while adding electronics to the new wave/new romantic group's pop-rock sound -- says the band plans to play some new songs and album cuts onstage, in addition to hits. Question: I was reading in your official bio that your influence spawned Culture Club, Spandau Ballet and Human League. What do you think of that? Answer: They wrote some good songs among them. I don't know. There aren't many bands that have survived through the '80s and the '90s. U2? REM. Depeche Mode, I guess. But that's a handful of pop-rock bands. Q: A lot has been said about your videos (being influential on MTV). If your band came out today, your videos would have you sitting around the pool, drinking 40-ouncers and surrounded by "bitches and hos." A: (laughing) Well, actually I think we did the hip-hop thing before the hip-hop mob did. Actually, I do like some of those videos, because they make me smile. I love all the (Dr.) Dre stuff. He's the cleverest guy around. Him and the Neptunes. They're really what is the cutting edge of music right now. I like the videos. They're groovy and funny. Q: I have a friend who said she used to keep your picture under her pillow, and she had 30 posters of you on her wall. What do you think about these sorts of things? A: I don't know. If she kept it under the pillow, didn't it get creased? Q: I didn't even want to ask her what condition it's in. A: I don't know. I never think about those things too much. I'm glad she had the pictures. Q: That's very humble of you. A: Well, what else can I say? Q: So I guess the mood of the band is OK? A: Things are fairly buoyant, I think. Q: Do you ever wonder what's going to happen with an audience? A friend of mine reviewed your show in the early "90s or mid-'90s, and he mentioned how you were trying to mature, but the fans just wanted to party. A: Well, we know a few songs that will push a few buttons. What we're really trying to do with the set is strike a balance between excitement and dynamics, and enough things to make the audience take a journey somewhere. And also, for us to try out some new stuff. I think it will be a very exciting show. That's what we always sort of thrived on, is high energy. Q: You know, concert tickets sold out here in six minutes. (Rhodes giggles.) What do you make of that? A: We're thrilled. I thought there would be a curious audience for this. ... And once we start playing the shows, it can only grow from there, because the band is sounding better than ever. Q: When you were playing arenas and stadiums so many years ago, did you think you'd end up with staying power? A: You always hope you'll make a career out of it and be relevant, but you'd be presumptuous to think you'd last a long time. This has been over 20 years. I've watched bands that didn't last over 20 hours. So I think it's great for us that we managed to survive all these trends. Q: What do you think of the band's musical legacy? A: It seems, you know, fairly intact at the moment. Some of the songs we're playing sound very contemporary. ... There weren't many people out there using the (synthesizers) we were using. Most of the bands were traditional. Obviously, there were some electronic bands, like Depeche Mode. But because we tried to balance the two, sort of rock and the electronics, I think we found the sound is unique and our own. And a band that finds that has a slight advantage over the others, because it's identifiable. ... The sound we make is Duran Duran. PART II CONCERT REVIEW: There's something Duran Duran should know Show pleases fans, but fading youth, high-pitched voice makes it feel as if 1980s musical icons have come undone By DOUG ELFMAN Review-Journal 
The problem with Duran Duran now is that when you see the band on stage, singer Simon LeBon isn't cresting sea waves on a yacht, surrounded by leggy models who are hungry like wolves. Those glamorous images -- from Duran's star-making music videos from 1980s MTV -- are long gone. Instead on Thursday, LeBon waved his arms, and we could see the sweat pits on his lavender dress-up shirt, and that was after he peeled off his white, "Miami Vice" jacket. The stranger thing was hearing his high voice. I turned to a friend of mine who's a fanatic, and I said, "Has his voice always been that high? Like he's got a little helium in him? Like Davy Jones from the Monkees?" My friend looked puzzled, then placated me with an "I think so." But something was amiss in those old synthesizer-driven pop songs. So I moved from the front of the club to the back. Back there, LeBon's voice seemed a little deeper. But by then, he was singing deeper-toned songs from the band's 1990s period. I never did figure out if LeBon's voice has changed, or if I had heard him wrong all these years, or if the band's sound workers had messed him up the way they over-trebled the whole sound system. I tried not to think about it. But I did sense the absence of yachts and models and caviar dreams that the British band represented early in its 25-year run. Some of their old cocky glam was there at the start of the show, which began 37 minutes late. The five players walked to the front of the stage. Strobe lights flashed on them as if paparazzi bulbs were everywhere. Many fans, more in their 30s than in their 20s, roared, clad in a dress code of collared shirts and blue jeans. The songs were mostly fine, depending on the era they were written in. Early hits, "Rio," "Hungry Like the Wolf" and "Save a Prayer" were tight, pop songs with vocals, keyboards and sometimes drums in the lead, and with guitars adding spacey effects, rather than rock-out solos. Late-1980s hits "Notorious" and "Wild Boys" seemed regimented, as if they were composed consciously to be chanted ("wild boys!" "notorious, notorious!") in dance clubs and in concert. The best two songs, the pretty ballads from the early 1990s, "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone," were written by Warren Cuccurullo, who either has been cast out of the band or who exited, to make room for Duran's current tour of all-original members. Maybe Duran could sign up Cuccurullo as an off-stage writer, since the band is creating songs for a new album and could use his more human, wavy writing to round off the retentive edges from Duran's always-on-the-beat, robot-guy structures. That said, Duran played a few new songs, and one of them, "What Happens Tomorrow," showed that Duran continues to improve dynamically, with LeBon reaching those low notes, as well as high and falsetto swells, and climaxing in a nice reverse-arpeggio set in a minor-key sweetness. The new songs lack contemporary feel, though. As I write this, I'm listening to Pink/William Orbit's new synthesizer-driven pop song, "Feel Good Time," and it's far more vital than Thursday's dance songs. Fans ate Duran up, though. One woman, afterward, exclaimed with '80s earnestness, "Oh my God, that was so awesome!" Fanatics also didn't seem to mind that Duran obscured its old image as rich, pretty boys. As if to downplay the players' advancing ages, images that were shown of the band's old yacht-snot personalities were projected only briefly on the folds of a curtain, so that we couldn't see how much prettier they used to be. When young, the band was into Nagel portraiture, in which youth is flawless and eternal. Now, these aged gentlemen are like the opposite of the "Picture of Dorian Gray"; their flaws on display, their eternal youth trapped somewhere else. Older interview...but just thought I'd share it.  | |
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Ooooh, I got so excited when I saw this.  Thanks Chico...  
Q: A lot has been said about your videos (being influential on MTV). If your band came out today, your videos would have you sitting around the pool, drinking 40-ouncers and surrounded by "bitches and hos." 
A: (laughing) Well, actually I think we did the hip-hop thing before the hip-hop mob did. Actually, I do like some of those videos, because they make me smile. I love all the (Dr.) Dre stuff. He's the cleverest guy around. Him and the Neptunes. They're really what is the cutting edge of music right now. I like the videos. They're groovy and funny.  !!! He said GROOVY!!! I always use that word! God, I'm such a dork, that really made my day. 
Q: I have a friend who said she used to keep your picture under her pillow, and she had 30 posters of you on her wall. What do you think about these sorts of things? A: I don't know. If she kept it under the pillow, didn't it get creased?  He's so funny.
What do you think of the band's musical legacy?
A: It seems, you know, fairly intact at the moment. Some of the songs we're playing sound very contemporary. ... There weren't many people out there using the (synthesizers) we were using. Most of the bands were traditional. Obviously, there were some electronic bands, like Depeche Mode. But because we tried to balance the two, sort of rock and the electronics, I think we found the sound is unique and our own. And a band that finds that has a slight advantage over the others, because it's identifiable. ... The sound we make is Duran Duran.  | |
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Where are those sexy Warren Cuccurullo pics  | |
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CinisterCee said: Where are those sexy Warren Cuccurullo pics
I might have those at home... | |
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