A Complete History of England's Smash Hitmakers!

Duran Duran

This magazine is a CREEM collectors series. Volume 1, Number 2. April 1987. Cambray Publishing, Inc.

Articles:

The Man from D.U.R.A.N. D.U.R.A.N. by Annene Kaye: This was actualy from a July 1983 issue of CREEM when the author spoke with John Taylor. She thinks he has charm, intelligence, and plays the bass well. John said that initially Capitol did not know how to market them at all and how they had quickly outgrown the New Romantic label. He talks about being one of the only groups in Britain that are recognized on the streets all the time. Wanting to put a stop to the comparisons with the Beatles. Everyone in the band is someone's favorite. He's bored by politics.

Duran Duran Am What They Yam & That's The Snakes by Chris Salewicz: This was actually from the April 1984 issue of CREEM. The author spoke with Nick and Simon. Stress situations for Simon are girls screaming at the top of their lungs (until he rationalized it to himself) and talking to 3 different interviewers two hours before a show. The author feels comparisons to the Beatles is not very inventive. Princess Di's proclaiming them her favorite band helped the single "Is There Something I Should Know", however, there was also backlast from that. There is the usual brief history of the band. Simon talks about manipulating the New Romantic look. Cracks in the Pavement is about paranoia. Being at a party and feeling uncomfortable and unreal, of being claustrophobic. There was a discussion of drugs and their bad effects. Nick talks about being dissatisifed with the first two albums. Especially the second one since it was done in a big hurry. The record was behind schedue and he felt he did a bad job of editing Holdl Back The Rain. It is important to Nick to be artistically satisfied with his music. He accuses some groups of pursuing money before art. He feels that there is no point in doing it unless they are happy with it, which is why they took their time with 7 & The Ragged Tiger.

Power Station Soars by Laura Fissinger: This was actually from the May 1985 issue of CREEM. The author interviewed John Taylor and Robert Palmer. The original concept was to have several different singers for the one time only album. It took about three years to make. It started out as a lark, then picked up speed. Robert was amazed at the chemistry they had considering they came together from different parts of the world. Apparently the idea for this group was originally conceived by John in 1977 due to the thought of combining Chic with The Clash and The Sex Pistols. Then the other 4 members of Duran Duran came around along with the discovery of synthesizers. Robert met Nick first then became friends with John. John did the guitar work on the basic tracks and sent them to Robert so he could listen to them. Later, apparently, Andy asked John if he could do the guitar work. Tony Bernard was at an interview and played Some Like It Hot and the interviewer did not believe that the two guys from Duran Duran could actually play. Robert said he has not had a lot of sales, however, he did have favor with the critics. Duran Duran, of course, has the sales and not the critics' favor. They were even interviewed for an African American magazine because of the involvement of Bernard and Tony. This group was able to touch more audiences than they had realized.

Records from Duranland by Sylvie Simmons: Overview of disks from Duran Duran to Notorious.

...And Then Came Arcadia by Liz Derringer: This was actually from the March 1986 issue and the author talks with Simon and Nick. The spinoff groups were a way to recapture some of their innocence and the sense of danger they had when they first started out and because they had time on their hands. Nick's wife travels with him quite a bit. Nick speaks out against drugs and quite smoking cigarettes. He has seen it destroy people he cares about. He talks about wearing makeup because he likes to and cautions not to judge a book by its cover so to speak. He doesn't have anything to hide--he likes fashionable clothes. He went to a Power Station show and John has listened to some of the Arcadia stuff. Power Station is like heavy rock disco and Arcadia is avant-garde.

Creem's Profiles: Duran Duran. "Boy Howdy", picture with CREEM beer.

Nick Rhodes on the Past, Present & Future by Billy Cioffi. The articles originally appeared in July and August 1986. After Live Aid Nick and Andy got together in the studio to discuss ideas for the new album. There is a lot more time pressures in working on a Duran Duran album then there was working on Arcadia's. They had separate time alloted for video, interviews, etc. John and Andy wanted to something heavier that wouldn't work as Duran Duran and they knew he was leaning towards something more abstract. Power Station wasn't supposed to tour and Arcadia wasn't supposed to have time to finish an album. The separate projects have allowed them to come back together and reform. He hinted at some creative differences between him and Andy which the separateness helped ease. Simon's voice was more powerful in Arcadia because it was more in his range. They only had one hour to rehearse for Live Aid. He talked about Simon's boat race being an obstacle to getting together and recording the new album.

Videos in Duranland by Page Davis. A discussion of their videos.

Andy Taylor Stands Alone (I did not see an author listed on this one). There was a sense of frustration that individual expression wasn't allowed in Duran Duran. He signed a contract with MCA and wrote and recorded music for American Anthem, then his first solo project Thunder. He found he prefers the old method of recording live and going through many rolls of tape before finding the track he wants to keep. He said he wouldn't mind recording another Power Station album.

Throuh The Years with Duran Duran (I did not see an author listed on this either). Pictoral history.

Duran Duran 1987! (small letters say this was reprinted bypermission of Capitol Records) An interview with Simon, Nick, and John about the split and how they are working together as a trio. If there hadn't been separate projects, Duran Duran would have been stuck in a rut. They felt Andy wanted to do something different, that perhaps there were some insecurities, and he needed to be more in control (not 1 of 5). Roger left because he only wanted to play the drums, not go to photo sessions. They're not as cautious as they used to be and are more accepting of each other's differences. They found Duran Duran is in between the heavy sound of Power Station and the atmospheric sound of Arcadia. They enjoyed working with Nile Rogers. They feel the band is now more of a cooperative rather than 5 egos.

Duran Duran The Game by Vicki Arkoff. Review of a Milton Bradley game for ages 7 and up. It is called into the arena (collect record, video, and band member cards). The author indicated the game was rather complicated. I personally don't recall seeing this game.