September 30 | From gigwise.com | On September 29 Mark Ronson and The Business Intl showcased their new album at London’s Hackney Empire. The gig saw the band play a host of tracks from ‘Record Collection’, which was released this week. Ronson was also joined by a host of special guests, including Duran Duran, who performed their 1981 debut single ‘Planet Earth’. Boy George also made a guest appearance later in the set on ‘Somebody To Love Me’. The gig also featured songs from Ronson’s hit album ‘Version’. The Duran Duran guys also played Girls On Film and the Ronson-Le Bon duet 'Record Collection'.

Check out this artsy backstage photo [courtesy of Nicholas Rhodes] posted at iamMarkRonson and the exclusive photo report by correspondent Sivia Chironi [click the banner below]

 

Ronson says: "I’m representing all the Duran fans"

On today's Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun from Australia there's a full page article about Ronson who doesn't miss a chance to talk about Duran Duran: "‘‘As a huge Duran Duran fan I’m representing all the Duran fans and what they want to hear in a new record,’’ Ronson says. ‘‘It sounds like one of my favourite Duran records. Even if I’d never worked on it there’s some of their best songs in 25 years. I’m proud of that.’’ [...] ‘‘And even though I’ve been working on this new Duran album for the past year it’s bizarre. I didn’t start making music with the goal to one day be in the studio with Duran Duran, but it doesn’t change the fact I’m producing my first absolute favourite band from when I was nine.’’ [scan here]

heraldscotland.com 29 Sep 2010 | [Quote] Ask Mark Ronson the music he loved when he was eight years old and he starts talking about Duran Duran. “The first actual sound that comes into my head is the keyboard sound on Save A Prayer, the one that goes duh, duh, duh, duh, duh duh-duh”.

 

September 29 | From today's Birmingham Mail | Fans were hungry like the wolf to see Birmingham pop idols Duran Duran in a special appearance at a city record shop. But the ‘Wild Boys’ kept them waiting, turning up two hours late with DJ Mark Ronson at Swordfish Records, in Temple Street. Simon Le Bon, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor signed albums at the city centre store at 6.30pm yesterday ahead of a gig with Ronson at the newly-opened HMV Institute venue last night. The Birmingham band, whose string of hits includes Girls on Film, Hungry Like The Wolf and View to a Kill, looked vibrant as they were welcomed back to their home city. More than 200 people packed out the small shop with more fans queuing up outside for a chance to glimpse their idols up close. “I have been a Duran Duran fan for decades and I know they are always late, so I’m used to it and don’t get annoyed,” said fan John Rowley. Duran Duran revealed this week their new album will be called All You Need Is Now. Singer Simon Le Bon said to expressandstar.com: “It’s nice to get up close with the fans, it’s great when they’re relaxed and you can have a chat.” picture gallery

September 27 | The Duran Duran guys are in London at the moment to finalize things on the new album, which is expected in early 2011, and they just announced, through the official site, the maybe definitvie title for their upcoming album, it's All you Need Is Now [wich is also Mark Ronson's favourite track of the album!]

"We are talking about a number of things... says John Taylor, we are very excited about the album and big plans are being made"

John talks to Katy in the Kafe, published yesterday exclusively on duranduranmusic.com: when katy asks: "are you feeling an album title? john says: "I’m feeling like All you need is now. I think we are feeling that."

About the album progress: "We really nailed the album... and most of july was spent in the studio, really nailing the album and getting it almost write up, to the point that we could all take august to relax. John continues: "I really like almost everything that we’ve done [laugh], I’m really excited about it."

"I really feel the spirit of the band, the four of us and Dom on this, I mean it’s so much better than RCM and Astronaut"

The band has got 11 completed tracks to remix. Also a new unknow title has been added to the track-list, it's Leopard. About the artwork for the new album John says: "we got an artist, who Nick discovered at Saatchi-Gallery, her name is Clunie Reid [the pics I used and manipulated in the above visual are her creations], it’s gonna be really pretty fucking out there, we are very excited about her, she’s great, she’s really off the wall!"

"It’s gonna be great to play live", says John. "I know this new album is gonna be the kind of album we’re gonna wanna play every song off [laugh] there’s so much to play... I’m sure we’ll have 'Boys keep Swinging' somewhere in the set as well."

About Touring: "There won’t be anything this year! We are going in South Africa, having said that I don’t know for sure that won’t be anything after that before Christmas, there might be, is it possible that there might be something in one of the capital cities.

Duran Duran announced its first South African concerts in 17 years, a five-date run in December that’s being billed as “the start of an enormous global campaign around the release of their next studio album”.

Dec. 8: International Convention Centre, Durban, South Africa
Dec. 9: The Big Top, Carnival City, Johannesburg, South Africa
Dec. 10: The Big Top, Carnival City, Johannesburg, South Africa
Dec. 11: The Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town, South Africa
Dec. 12: The Grand Arena, GrandWest, Cape Town, South Africa

In an interview for the french magazine Salut! from 1993 John answer to the question:

What is your best memory of the tour?
South Africa! When we played there, there was a special atmosphere. It is a country torn by political and racial conflicts. Playing there was a little surreal. It's a very emotional memory to me.

 

Sepetember 25 | In 2005 Ana Matronic and Jake Shears from Scissor Sisters [one of the support acts on Duran Duran's 2004 reunion tour] interviewed the guys for "Interview" magazine. In light of the recent collaboration of Ana Matronic with Duran I decided to re-read that 5 years old interview to try to figure out how their mutual love started and why our guys are so enthusiastic about her. As we all know Ana did a cameo on Safe, a new song from 13th. According to this fan who recently met Ana "she was under the impression that she would just be singing a few pre-written lines but once in the studio, they started writing! Ana also said the song is mid-tempo and the track [as well as the songs she has heard] are very reminiscent of “Rio” era Duran!

So, while Nick Rhodes is already dreaming about shooting a video for Safe [Wait, wait! Videos are usually made for singles... that means it could be a single off 13th?!? Well, we'll see] we can only go back 5 years and read this chat between the guys and Ana!

Below an extract from the interview published in march 2005 [trascription and photo-creations by Salvo]

[...] Ana Matronic: That’s good that it’s all five of you and not five managers hashing it out. I’ve heard that that’s how Fleetwood Mac operates these days: each of them have managers who all get in the room and decide by consensus. [laughs]
Roger: Well, sometimes the problem is not the people in the band, but the people around the band.

Ana: So, Roger, how do you find playing live now? You took a break for quite a while.
Roger: I did, yeah. When I left the band, I bought a farm in Gloucester, England, up in the Midlands, a beautiful area of countryside, and just lived a really simple life for a few years. I had some kids and chilled out and kind of found myself again because, as Andy [Taylor] says, being in this band in the early 1980s made you feel like you were part of a pizza. You lost your individuality.
We were always one of the band, one of Duran Duran, or one of the Taylors, and in that context it’s very easy for your true self to disappear.
Simon: I was just trying to figure out whether I was mozzarella or pepperoni?
Jake: I’d be the mushroom. What about you Ana?
Ana.: I’d be the sauce, honey. [all laugh]

Ana: How do the rest of you feel about touring again?
Simon: They work us like the dogs that we are. It’s a heavy schedule. But it’s great because it obviously means that a lot of people are interested.

Andy: The British tour last year ex-ceeded our expectations so much that we’ve stopped intellectualizing about it. The show at Wembley were fantastic. Everybody had gotten their whole thing back together, and that’s why we really enjoyed it. We just hit go, and it all worked. that’s the incredible bit.

Jake: I have a question about fans. After all this time, what would a fan have to do to really impress you?
Nick: it’s Manolo Blahniks for me.
Andy: Actually, I think that my most interesting encounter with Duran Duran fans happened when I wasn’t actually in the band. I went to a Duran Duran gig at the NEC in Birmingham, thinking I could sort of stand where I wanted. It was when ‘Ordinary World’ was out, and by that time I had quite a bit of a hiatus. I sort of stood at the side, and I was okay until they put the lights on and this sea of people caught who I was. It was like, boom! All of a sudden I was running for the dressing room. It was quite scary.

Ana: What was it like watching Duran Duran from that perspective?
Andy: a bit strange. I went down to see John and make my peace with everybody. He and I were going to talk about doing another Power Station album. I was at a point where I was ready to say, “I’ve got to see what they’re up to.” The only thing that got me was that the drummer had changed the beats. I think he changed the groove on the high hat in “Rio.” But it was also just about looking at it overall - watching the audience and seeing if they had the same sort of fever.
[...]

Ana: Well, Nick, I always thought that you would be fantastic to launch a line of men’s cosmetics.
Nick: You know, I did get asked a few times. I don’t know why it never really happened. I don’t know that I would want to launch a line, but I could be the face of Lancome or something. I never wanted to challenge Isabella Rosselini’s glory in the old days, though.

Ana: I think there’s a whole untapped market of men who enjoy cosmetics.
Nick: We’ve been accused recently in interviews of being almost entirely responsible for metro-sexuals.

Ana: I think that’s really a compliment because, as straight woman I can’t tell you how much I enjoy that expanded idea of masculinity. Most of the guys I have dated fall into the category of metrosexuals.
Nick: Beats the hell out of being retrosexual.
Jake: Yeah, I’m one of those weird girls who don’t take off their clothes. It’s so retro.

Roger: You don’t take off your clothes?
Ana: Well, you know, in front of everyone. Let’s get some dirt here. How many people have you ever woken up in bed with at once?
Roger: I’d probably be the guy walking in and finding them with the video cameras, saying, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Nick: Yeah, Roger and I are the quiet ones. We’re the discreet ones.

Ana: Do you think that the music business itself has changed a lot since the 1980’s? Is there anything people could do then that the can’t do now?
Nick: Well, it was definitely a much smaller business. it wasn’t as corporate, and people were prepared to take much bigger risks. If you look at the bands from that era alone, you’ve got The Cure, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, INXS, U2 - they’re all radically different from each other and have very strong identities. Then on top of that, you ended up with people like Madonna and Price. I don’t know that the 1990’s really produced so much diversity - a lot of it seemed much more rehashed to me. In the 1980’s everybody wanted to stand out and be an individual, whereas in the 1990s it was all about fitting in and having the same trainers as the next person. Also, when we put outour first album, there was no internet, which is the most radical change of all. It has given artists a completely different perspective on their fans. With the internet, you start to understand people’s likes and dislikes about the band more intimately and what turns them on and what turns them off.

Ana: How do you think the internet has affected their engaging in the sort of idolatry they sometimes do with bands?
Nick: Well, there are some pretty scary sites out there. I mean, when somebody told me there were over 50,000 pages up there on Duran Duran, I said, “Don’t be ridiculous. You must be wrong.” But actually, it gives everybody with even slightest knowledge of computers the opportunity to put forward their views or their thoughts. It’s the best and worst of everything.

September 25 | from my archive a very unusual interview with John Taylor published in the obscure magazine POPsmear [1994-1999] | In 1998 Jimmy Pop Ali, best known as the lead vocalist and main-songwriter of the Bloodhound Gang, has interviewed John Taylor for POPsmear magazine. John at that time was out of the band and was pursuing a solo career. John even made a cameo appearance in the Bloodhound Gang's music video for the song "Your Only Friends Are Make Believe", playing rock, paper, scissors with himself... and losing". If you know Jimmy Pop Ali you can also imagine what kind of interview he did with John, the questions are hilarius and so the answers. A very funny John Taylor who plays Jimmy's game... but it's not only fun, you might discover some John/Duran facts never heard... so have a good read! [trascription by Salvo]

Jimmy says: The first time I met John Taylor, I was more excited than an urban mythologist finding a peanut butter-smothered Chihuahua. A mutual friend at Drive-Thru Records had made arrangements for John and myself to converge and discuss the possibility of collaborating on a remake of Power Station’s “Some Like It Hot”. Before I could say “power lunch” I found myself jetting up the coast to chow down on Thai cuisine with one-fifth of the fab Five. I tried to hide my nervous excitement, but I think my pink fedora gave me away. I knew it was time to break the ice with my most tried and true method of warming up an intimidating audience. “Would you like to see a picture of my daughter?” I inquired enthusiastically. “Definitely”, John replied eagerly. At this point the spectator usually feigns anxiety from the photograph. The punchline is that I pull out a picture of the fattest, blackest and ugliest baby ever pushed through a birth canal. I then revel in their blank stares as their brain searches for a suitable reaction. John, however, immediately started laughing, so I knew he was one of us. If you don’t know what I mean by one of us, you are probably not one of us. Having made a connection at the hub of stupidity, I felt comfortable confiding, “You were my favorite, John.” A year had passed since I first met J.T. (as close friends like myself lovingly refer to him), and I knew the time had come to pop the question. “Would you let me interview you for Popsmear so they don’t have to rerun my ‘Philosofeces’ article again? I begged. ”I’m game, Jimmy,” he proclaimed.

Power Ration 24 Questions with John Taylor

1. How unoriginal are Mister Mister, The The and Ruth Ruth?
John: Plagiarists! Well, The The, that’s actually more of a statement than a repetition of words. But you can bet I won’t be looking over my shoulder for Mister Mister, that’s for sure. Did you think of that question on your own?

2. If you had been raised as a Shiite Muslim do you think you would have called your band Iran Iran?
Ah, yes. Very clever.

3. How many women have you slept with?
Over a hundred.

4. How many men have you slept with?
I have not had sex with any men, Jimmy.

5. Who was packing the jumbo wiener in Duran Duran?
Le Bon. He liked to prance around the dressing room naked, probably because he was the only circumcised member of the band. He was from south of Oxford where everyone is circumcised.

6. What was the weirdest experience involving sex you ever had?
The night I was beyond drunk and nearly went to bed with a man. That will do. But that really didn’t involve sex, so I’ll just cop out on this one.

7. What was the most decadent experience involving money you ever had?
I think the day my accountant told me I had to leave England immediately for tax purposes. I flew from London to the South of France, and I still had to write a six figure check to the government. Or when I bought the Aston-Martin for 100,000 pounds and never drove it.

8. Who invited Kool and the Gang to the “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” video shoot?
Yeah, how about that? I imagine Bob Geldof did. But aren’t you glad he did? These are very good questions, If I may say so, Jimmy.

9. Is it true George Michael thought they were Culture Club chauffeurs?
You are a very naughty boy.

10. Stern?
I kind of like him. Actually, I find myself drawn to him.

11. How many Power Station songs can you play on a touch-tome phone?
One. “Some Like It Hot.”

12. Who do you love when you come undone?
My toilet.

13. What’s your favourite Bloodhound Gang song?
"Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?" The drummer from Def Leppard’s only got one arm.

14. Did you ever cut your hair with the Floo-Bee?
Never. That’s stupid, Jimmy.

15. Did Nick Rhodes ever offer to give you a pedicure?
No, but he’s not as fey, you know, a queenie, as his public image.

16. Who is that guy Warren Cuccurullo and why is he bothering Duran Duran?
I think he injected quite a bit of life into the old dog, actually.

17. Did you quit Duran Duran because you hate him?
No, I’d just had enough. I’d had more than enough. I’d had it right up to here.

18. Who would win in a fight: Warren Cuccurullo or Andy Taylor?
Let’s see, Warren’s a muscleman and Andy’s a drunk. I don’t know, actually.

19. Who would win in a fight: Warren Cuccurullo or a roll of Scotch tape?
Oh c’mon.

20. How long do you give it before Nick Rhodes and Simon le Bon have to get a restraining order against Warren Cuccurullo?
Nick gets along with Warren and Simon, I don’t know. Years ago they tried to, but I told them it was a bad idea.

21. What did you think of POPsmear? I thought it was most entertaining. 22. Are James and Troy arrogant, condescending, ungrateful fucks for judging my recent Popsmear submissions with such high standards? Well, you “Philosofeces” piece was a classic of the modern vernacular. It had a positive influence on my sex life for at least the next 48 hours. But I think for them to challenge you is good. You don’t want to coast on old triumphs. 23. Do you think I’m pretty? I don’t know whether I’d say you’re pretty. I’d say you have a certain handsomeness. You’re much more together than when I first met you. But then again, you were on tour. When we were on tour, I was always hanging on by the string of my scrotum. 24. In 10 words or less, so you don’t ramble and I don’t get bored, what does the future hold for John Taylor? World by the balls and a lot more besides. Let’s wrap it up, I have to go.

 

Sepetember 19: Promotion on Mark Ronson's new album is on and Rhodes helps out | On the current issue of Dazed and Confused magazine [UK] there's a 6 page feature on Mark Ronson [Ronson curates a special section on his new album along with his collaborators]. The article includes a half page photo of Nick Rhodes taken exclusively for this magazine. Rhodes is supporting Ronson's upcoming album also in the exclusive interview for dazeddigital.com orginally posted here and also available for download on this site [for everyone who enjoy collecting those videoclips - link below]. In the interview Nick and MNDR chat about their love of analogue synths, MNDR's cameo on "Bang Bang Bang", and Nick's pioneering 80s pop melodies. If you've seen the "Bang Bang Bang" video, you know that it features some pretty outrageous looking keyboards and synthesizers. It should come as no surprise that these are some expensive instruments, with the priciest being the Synthex, which Ronson bought for $5,000 on the recommendation of Nick Rhodes!

I guess Nick owes Mark some good promotion for his upcoming album Record Collection as the guy seems to be Duran Duran's N°1 fan and he even confesses to musicrooms.net that he “borderline unhealthily” obsessed with Duran Duran when he was younger.

Mark says: “Duran Duran were the first band I remember being pretty fanatical about.

It’s really weird and definitely a little bit surreal, being in a recording booth and telling Simon Le Bon to do it again and better.

"I could tell you anything you want to know about that band I was a little bit... borderline unhealthy,” he explained. “What’s been great about working on their new album is that I have this inner thing, because I am such a huge fan and I know what it’s supposed to sound like, that’s it’s kind of reinvigorated them. That’s what they say.”

Mark is proud of his new album because it is so different to the 2007 Version. He worked with a number of big name stars on that, including Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen, but was keen to ensure he wasn’t just known for cover versions. On Record Collection Mark sings and he hopes fans will approve of his new direction. “I definitely wanted to separate myself from being just the covers guy,” he explained on a British TV programme. “I wanted to switch the sound a bit. It’s definitely different and I hope people like it. It’s a mixture of some great new up-and-coming talent and some people I have worshipped through my life.”

Ronson, Boy Goerge and Nick Rhodes | Prima Donna opening night. Sadler's Wells Theatre, London, Premiere of Rufus Wainwright's opera. 13 April 2010

Just in | Ronson to reunite Culture Club for 30th anniversary | Boy George, appeared on Mark's third album 'Record Collection' and wants the producer to help him reunite his former band for their 30th anniversary of their debut album. Ronson tells Britain's Daily Star, "Boy George is going to do some shows with my band so we have talked about collaborating on a new Culture Club record, because in 2012 it's their 30th anniversary. That should be fun, they were a great band." George said: "I think we could do a one-off gig or maybe a small tour. But unfortunately, with all these reunions you get to a point where you start remembering why you left."

I had to report this news 'cos Boy George few months ago said: "I'd love to do a tour with Duran Duran. I think that would be a great gig. Us and Duran Duran. If they're up for it, we're up for it. I'll support them I don't care! It would be great - that would be one hell of a tour."

> Record Collection is out September 28th! <

There will be an exclusive 12' available exclusively at these* stores, which will feature 'Sound of Plastic' a track co-written by Mark and Nick Rhodes . The b-side consists of a dub version of the song.

* September
Mon 27th Bristol, Rise ' 5.30pm
Wed 29th London, Rough Trade West ' 12pm
October
Sat 2nd Manchester, Piccadilly ' 5pm
Sun 3rd Leeds, Jumbo ' 12.30pm

Get Nick and MNDR video [right click, save target as - you need a flv player]

Get a great a new close up [high-res] picture of Nick Rhodes here [taken at the Naked Heart Cocktail Party on September 8, 2010 in London].

 

September 12: Duran Duran | summer 2010 | Ok, I’m back and duranasty.com is back! I’m glad to have my hands on this keyboard again and bring back the site after such a long break. Hope everyone had a great summertime. Mine has been great, thanks to everyone who sent emails. It’s so good be back online and find some new Duran Duran music to listen, even if it's just a snippet from 13th or a Bowie cover! This post is just to make the point on the state of the Duran things.

I downloaded Boys Keep Swinging and it sounds great! Amazing stuff guys! I think it's worth to read again what Nick had to say about the song [I originally posted this on march 18]:

"Lebon just finished all vocals on the new Duran album. Oh My Lord, it is very real in the field right now. Best DD album in maybe 25 years."

So, according to the recent Duran Duran video-messages posted on the official site the track-list of the album includes the following songs:

* [with Ana Matronic vocal cameo]

That last song title has been revealed by Ronson in this cnn interview where he discusses what's it like working with Duran Duran. But if you go back and read John's birthday blog you'll find a mention to this song's title! In the video Mark Ronson says it was surreal working with Duran Duran on the band's latest album. Ronson also says that he would put All You Need Is Now in his top five overall Duran Duran songs!

More on 13th: In a video-message recorded in july, Roger gives a band update from Eastcote Studios in London where he added drums to a song that needed a military feeling, he said he used some antique drums.

Below an attempt to write down the lyrics to Blame the Machine [thanks to Donata for sending me an sms back in august, much apreciated while I was on a desert Island!]

And now theres no way home this love affair is ended
I should've known, when I brought into the dream
so lock your sonic souls and keep me lost and stranded
I blame myself and I blame the machine

In another video clip [recorded in July] and posted on their official site only in august, Nick says the new album should be out in 6/7 months. Nick Rhodes also confirms through the media that the sessions nearly are over, and “we will have a record done this year and out in the first quarter of next year.”

According to Richard Blade, who has meet John at his house last week [John Taylor will be hosting for two weeks Blade's radio show on Sirius 22, XM 44 starting Monday Sept 13th], Duran Duran hopes to get the new album out by Christmas but the fans are aware that it will probably be out early next year. Blade says: “It's really good, definitely has the classic DD/Rio sound which is great news and is very danceable”.
John also confesses to Blade that they are hoping to tour starting late Spring/early Summer. And musically to put the new tracks in perspective.

A couple of snippets: The guys did take a break from the recording sessions in july to join Ronson onstage during his set at London’s Lovebox festival to perform the band’s 1981 debut single “Planet Earth” together; watch some fan-shot video. Lovebox Duran Duran Planet Earth 17-07-2010

Last but not least, a Reportage update: On july 23 Andy Taylor answered to a fan's question on his facebook page. The fan just asked "what about "Reportage? I think every Duran Duran-Fan and music lover would like to hear the songs".

Andy Taylor says: If it were possible I would like to finish that album - but I don't think there's currently much chance of that... But I guess its a step in the right direction... Question is, which freezer is it in???

Some bonus for you all. If you like to collect also paparazzi pictures here some recent ones [including one of Nick taken a couple of days ago] that I got in high resolution. Enjoy :)

Nick Rhodes, Tiphaine de Lussy and Dinos Chapman attend the Naked Heart Cocktail Party September 8, 2010 in London

Nick Rhodes and Pam Hogg attend the Almeida 2010 Fundraising Gala, at the Almeida Theatre on March 14, 2010

Nick Rhodes attends Mario Testino's exhibition 'Kate Who' at Phillips De Pury on July 5, 2010 in London

Nick Rhodes attends the after party for the launch of the Louis Vuitton Bond Street Maison on May 25, 2010

Le Bons Mrs Paisley's Lashings private dinner on June 2, 2010

Le Bons The Serpentine Gallery Summer Party July 8, 2010 in London

John Taylor attends the private view of the Frieze Art Fair, at Regent's Park on October 14, 2009

John and Jasmin Le Bon Juicy Couture children's tea party in aid of Mothers 4 Children, at the Juicy Couture Store on December 2, 2009

One last bonus a couple of funny autographs with sentences written by Simon and John. The one from 2000 says:

'We all are God and life is just a pite of pop trash - better get used to this idea'.

The other is very old, from 1982, Simon and John jokes about bisexuality with the readers of a japanese magazine.

 

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