i was 14 years old in 1984. if you were a 14 year old girl in 1984 there was a fairly strong chance you were a durannie. i was a dedicated durannie. I looked through and bought armfuls of teen magazines like Bop, Star Hits, 16, etc. and covered my walls with posters and pictures of them. I watched MTV devotedly to see a duran duran video. I would call up my friends and we could chat away for hours about duran duran and their songs and who are favorite was and why.
as we all know young girls use these pop stars and tv/movie stars as vessels of their love and devotion that most 12-15 year old boys are just not ready to receive. it is much less scarier to devote yourself to simon le bon then joey the kid who sits two rows over from you in math class. plus, simon le bon dresses better, uses hair product, has a british acccent, etc., etc.
simon le bon was never my favorite. me i dug roger taylor. roger taylor's favorite shoes were black jazz shoes; i went and bought some black jazz shoes. while watching videos i would wait for the camera to momentarily steal away from simon and for it to pass over roger taylor.
as i was driving home last night with my xm radio on the 80's station Wild Boys came on. I, of course, still know the lyrics, and sang along strongly and loudly but I found myself struck by just how bad this song sucked. Not kinda sucked but really, really, really sucked. Sucked hard.
"You got sirens for a welcome There's bloodstain for your pain And your telephone been ringing while You're dancing in the rain Wild boys wonder where is glory Where is all you angels Now the figureheads have fell And lovers war with arrows over Secrets they could tell"
Holy Shit that there my friend is some horrible, horrible lyric writing.
(how did i miss all the homoerotic images in this and basically all duran duran videos??)
Epilogue: In 9th grade I took down all my posters down in a duran duran cleansing. no, my parents did not enroll a deprogammer but instead i had my first big real life crush who was a talking heads, cars fan and ridiculed duran duran to no end. to show my devotion i gave up duran duran.
epilogue 2: said crush never liked me anyway.
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honey, we al have those experiences. i was nsync nsane. posters, magazines, screensavers, concerts, you name it i had it or did it. i always had a thing for jc. mmm...just thinking about that memory makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. of course, i can't listen to them now. i just can't get back in that groove enough to take them seriously.
that's what pop music is for, m'dear, to take advantage of teenagers with money. goddam teenagers :)
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Meanwhile, I'll rail at anyone who would denigrate "The Reflex," "Girls on Film" or "Ordinary World." Heh.
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'Planet Earth' was a nice slice as well. But god those videos got out of control. I submit 'Wild Boys' as Exhibit A - what is that all about???
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I kinda sorta met Duran Duran in the 90's. I snuck backstage at Pine Knob (an outdoor theater for non-Michiganders) a pretty amazing feat in itself...but I snuck back to meet The Ramones, which I did! Anyway at this particular show Duran Duran was headlining. Why in the hell were The Ramones playing with Duran Duran? I asked Johnny that exact question and and he told me...'It's just one f*#king show!' but those guys had a hell of a time. The bass player's gear wasn't working and he tipped it over out of rage and stormed off the stage and when the rest of the band finally realized he was gone, they wrapped up their set. There was a whole mess of us waiting side-stage and as they walked off we just looked at them. Nobody said anything..and this apparently pissed Simon off because he started screaming 'WHAT
' glaring at us all. It is hilarious to think of now, but very weird when it happed. I didn't care I had just met The Ramones and watched their whole set a dozen feet away. The Wild Boys video is awesome btw.
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lowdown: you are showing your age by calling it Pine Knob. Didn't they change it to something newer and fresher a couple years ago and tied to the corporation sponsoring it--The DTE Energy Music Theatre?? Meeting the Ramones would be cool. As for Le Bon--you obviously not the half dressed 20 something chick he was hoping for.
jonh--i will still occasionally put on the first cd sometimes. I still like Friends of Mine a lot. Rio has Hold Back the Rain. Seven and The Ragged Tiger is where they just veered off into crap. Was it cocaine? Was it that no one was pulling Le Bon in and telling him--you are not that deep! New Moon on Monday, Union of the Snake??? The videos just got more and more over the top.
mike--i shall keep my thoughts about The Reflex to myself but i will let the lyrics speak for themselves:
"The reflex is an only child, hes waiting in the park The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark And watching over lucky clover isnt that bizarre Every little thing the reflex does leaves you answered with a Question mark "
why yes. the reflex. soooooo deep mr. le bon.
cali: i wish i would have had a duran duran bedset....ummm. my sister was into the new kids. i like to think that there are boy bands and 'man' bands. boy bands--new kids, n'synch, backstreet boys. man bands--duran duran, inxs, etc. would i have to be a zac effron fanatic if i was a pre-teen today???
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Lyrics? We don't need no steenking lyrics! (At least, not when the stuttered, sampled hook is soooooo cool...)