October 31: More news on the celebration of Simon's 50th birthday from thelondonpaper.com: We hear that... Simon Le Bon rocked his 50th birthday party with wife Yasmin [inset] at new members’ club Moulton House in Mayfair. The extravagantly designed venue opens on 19 November.
From radaronline.com: Simon gets some Box: What do you get a rock star for his 50th birthday? If you're John Taylor, Roger Taylor, and Nick Rhodes, you get your Duran Duran bandmate Simon Le Bon a humungous silver DJ box with fifty albums -- one for each of the years Simon's been rockin' the world. The collection ranges from Kraftwerk's "Man Machine" to one of their own records, "Rio." Also included were albums by Elvis, Dr. Dre, and David Bowie. "He was thrilled," says a friend of the superstar. "He's just wondering what the lads will get him for the next fifty."
On october 26 The Sunday Mercury newpaper from Birmingham has dedicated a full page article to Simon's 50th birthday . The article is filled with "50 things you may not have known about the singer and the band" - of course we know them all! ;) download an exclusive scan of the article here
October 30: From gigwise.com | The song, which shared its title with the 1985 film, came top ahead of Shirley Bassey's 'Goldfinger' and 'Live and Let Die' by Paul McCartney & Wings in the Gigwise survey. Carly Simon's 'Nobody Does It Better' – from The Spy Who Loved Me – was fourth, while another of Bassey's Bond themes, 'Diamonds Are Forever', came in at five. The James Bond theme has become one of the most coveted recording tasks of in all of film. To see the full results to the poll click here.Sophisticated Cunning - Duran Duran were originally chosen to record the theme for A View To Kill – written in collaboration with composer John Barry - after bassist John Taylor approached director Cubby Broccoli at a party. The track sees the band's trademark 80s electro collide with the lavish and sophisticated cunning found in many of the franchise's theme songs.
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October 28: On the left a picture of the brand new Rio cd single! It's a rare 3 track promo cd [EREDV693AP] that has been sent to a very limited number of Uk radios and deejays. Edel Records in Italy will be sending the promo cd to some radios in the next days so hopefully we'll get some airplay and exposure on the Classic Album dvd. An insider says the band will do some light promotion in support of Rio Classic Album, promo will consist mainly in phone interviews. Tracklisting: 1.
Rio 5'60" 2. Save A Prayer 5'27" 3.
Hungry Like The Wolf 3'50" |
October 27th, 2008: Today is a special day: Simon Le Bon turns 50th!
Simon, we just want to wish you a very happy birthday, thanks for being such a genuine and beautiful person. Some things do get better with age, you have proven that 'cos you're better than ever. You are a passionate singer and passionate about life, so keep on whooshing!
October 25: John Taylor speaks to mexican newspaper El Universal [the interview was published on yesterday's edition]. John says: "We'll never be tired to play songs like Ordinary World, it's a classic and it's an honour to play it live. It's a very emotional song wich has the power to change you anytime you listen to it. Anytime I compose new music I always try to achive something like we did with Ordinary World..." Download the exclusive scan of the article here
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October 25: According to Nick's long interview on gaymagazine.cl "at a certain point popped up the idea to do something with Rihanna, we all think she's very special, but I don't know... When things comes in the right moment one knows what is good to do. We'll see, we are open to offers [...] We really hope to do some more work with Mark Ronson, don't know if will be a duet or something else". To read the full interview [in spanish] go here
October 25: Zone International Group from Essex, Uk, has just released a beautiful 16 months glossy calendar on Duran Duran [running from September 08 to December 09]. It's a 12x12 inch 100% unofficial wall calendar and it includes a free pull out poster. Beautifully designed, the graphic is clearly inspired by "Red Carpet Massacre" and features a selection of quality live-concert images and photo-calls mostly from 2005 and 2007 tours. The pictures are huge [each pic is on a double page]. Worth having it if you are a Duran Duran collector. You can get the calendar on amazon.co.uk here or, for a cheaper price, at Zone's ebay-shop here.
October 24: On march 19th 2008 I was contacted by a London based company called isis-productions, the producers of Rio Classic Album. They got my email from this website. Melissa, the Line Producer, was really interested in my help. I represented for her and the production team a good source of Duran Duran's early years informations, memorabilia and obscure photographs. When they first contacted me they even offered me money for the work they were asking me to do. My answer was clear, I would help them with real pleasure, but I wouldn't accept any money, I told them that all the things I do to promote Duran Duran [including this webiste] I do with pleasure and passion not for money. The Producers and I have been in touch over the months untill the release date was announced. They asked me specific things such as magazines scans and informations on some early years Duran happenings. I felt honoured to work with them, especially with Melissa. I'm glad that I have been able to give my little contribution to this huge and fantastic Duran Duran official release. The producers were kind enough to thank me [mentioning my name] in the credits at the end of the dvd.
October 24: I just got this extraordinary photo document and news from my very dear friend Christian who just went to the Rock 'n Music Planet exhibition organized by music journalist, music collector and Duran's friend Red Ronnie. Christian says: "if you want to see what the lyrics of Ordinary World looked like when Luciano Pavarotti was learning them to perform at Pavarotti and Friends you have to go to this very nice rock exhibition. Lots of rare items and memorabilia on many rockstars are up on display at the unique Rock ‘n Music Planet exhibition in Milan, right in the center of Piazza Duomo, just meters across the holy cathedral. Duran Duran fans are ecstatic: the never before seen Ordinary World handwritten lyric sheets feature corrections by Simon Le Bon and Luciano Pavarotti, a relique of the Pavarotti and Friends edition held in Modena in 1995. There is also a t-shirt of the concert signed by Le Bon, Bono, Pavarotti and Lady D". Here is a link to the exhibition's website where you can get more informations: rockandmusicplanet.com
download the exclusive pics of the lyrics sheets
October 24: Lots of art for Duran Duran this month! On october 15 John Taylor and Nick Rhodes attended the Frieze exhibition, London's largest art fair [with over 40000 visitors every year]. The two guys visited the 151 galleries at Regent's Parkand with artist Tracey Emin and Jay Jopling owner of the White Cube. Here is a link to the art fair site: friezeartfair.com The Evening Standard from October 16 covered the multi-art-exhibiton and surprise surprise, the two pages article has a big picture of Nick and John at the fair.
Dowload an exclusive scan here
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Nick Rhodes also attended the Katherine Bernhardt Private View on October 16 in London. In the above picture Katherine Bernhardt and Nick at the Ransom Gallery. |
October 24: The above screencaps are taken from a new videoclip up on DuranDuranMusic.com [log in if you are a member and watch it, it's so cool!]. The video shows the guys on the set of a new photo shoot in London. As Nick explains in the video the set is again some Art exhibition: "Concrete and Glass" [Heart of Glass, a show of new, site-specific work by over 25 established and emerging artists in Shoreditch Town Hall’s basement, the hub of the arts projects was launched on October 2nd. Here is a link to the exhibition's website]
October
18: Dom
Brown, the talented guitarrist and songwriter who has been on board with Duran
Duran recording some great guitar in RCM and live on stage with them during
the whole Red Carpet Massacre World Tour [and involved with some band activities
from time to time since late 2004 while Andy Taylor was progressively stepping
out of the band] has conceded an interview to duranasty.com.
I would like to thanks Dom for taking the time to do it and for the nice words
he used towards the Duran Duran fans. We feel honoured that a really talented
and down to earth guy like you is in Duran Duran. Duranasty.com would like
to see more of you in the Duran Duran future.
Don't miss to watch Dom Brown Live webcast on october 28, 2008 [12.30 pm pst 8.30 pm London] performing with Blue to Brown at the Bedford in London www.whereitsat.tv/livebedford.html
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October 8: As you can see I have been busy giving some new light to the look of the website, I was tired of the RCM colours/design, I needed a change! Hope you like it. Well, I just came across this news: Eagle Rock Ent has just announced the released date of Rio Classic Album: it's november 4th! eaglerockent.com has also a preview video of the guys discussing the sound of New Religion. You can watch and downlowd it right here. The upcoming dvd has additional interviews and demonstrations not included in the History Channel broadcast version. You can preorder the dvd on amazon, here is a link. [Thanks to Mel] Track listing: Features excerpts from: Rio, My Own Way, Hungry Like The Wolf, New Religion, Save A Prayer, The Chauffeur & more. Bonus Features: Brand new session performances filmed in Boston especially for this DVD of: Save A Prayer, The Chauffeur, New Religion, Hungry Like The Wolf, Rio. |
October 7: Nick Rhodes pays another homage to the great art of his good friend Andy Warhol. Yesterday, October 6, 2008, Nick attended the private view of Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms at The Hayward Gallery in London, England. Pics in all the main photo agencies websites.
October 7: The face and voice of Duran Duran, Simon Le Bon, sat with VOA's Larry London during the band's recent visit to Washington.
After nearly 30 years together, Duran Duran has an unbreakable relationship, despite the 2006 departure of group member Andy Taylor. "There are some relationships that are even stronger than marriage. You see bands that do not get along with each other. There are plenty of very famous bands that do not get along with each other. We are not like that," Simon said. "We really get along very well with each other. There's real loyalty, friendship, and we stick up for each other. We look after each other."
October 2: Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor have been recently interviewed by the argentinian newspaper Clarin at the Blake Hotel in South Kensington, London [where the above picture has been taken] while Simon Le Bon has been reached by telephone in Ibiza where the singer is spending his last days of vacation. The article says "When the South America tour will be over, the band will come back to England to start works on a new musical project". Click here to read the online version of the article [in spanish].