Click here to get all the dates for Duran Duran's Red Carpet Massacre Tour

Last update july 3, 2008 [scroll down to read and see the latest from the fans point of view] New Feature! To get a lighter newspage and download it quickly, older news are now archived in different pages by months. If you search a specific news just click trough the various pages/months on the navigation bar on the left! It's easier and lighter!

July 3: Hi all duranasty.com friends, in a few hours I'll be on a airplain directed to a beautiful place by the sea. This is going to be the last update for some time as summertime has arrived and I'm taking a long break from work and from the site aswell. It's been an incredible year since I revamped duranasty.com and gave it a more news-oriented cut with this particular graphic design. From the quantity of emails I got over the last year I know that all of you [and you are so many!] apreciate the site very much, I have saved every single email and every comment you posted about duranasty.com, all good comments: Thanks to all of you guys. This site wouldn't have been the same without your support, your news and photos submission. Your nice emails are what really pays me for all the hard work behind it and give me the joy to go on always trying to keep high the level. Well, as I already said summer has arrived and it's time to relax a bit, take care of my family giving them a well deserved vacation and also enjoy the extensive Duran Duran italian tour! So duranasty.com will be on vacation untill late agoust when it will come back with some more stories, exciting news and pictures. Special Thanks... without you this site wouldn't have been the same: my wife Claudia and my son Angelo for supporting me and my passion for the band, You know, I love you! Thanks also to the Duran Duran guys: every day you write a new chapter of "the life and times of duranasty", thanks for that! Thanks to Dom and Katy Krassner at duranduran.com, my best friend Christian, everyone at my favourite space on the web: the Duran_Duran_unofficial_Message_Board, and all my worldwide correspondents and contribuitors. See you soon, hope you all have a fantastic summer!

Before I leave, here is a little update on the Paris Smirnoff show written by davidc on the duranboard.

Just got back from what was problably the best time I have ever seen the band. Mark Ronson on at 8pm with full band - huge brass and string section plus guest vocalists from Tim Burgess from the Charlatans - Amazing Venue was a theater and probably stood 1000 people. As Mark Ronson played his final track "Stop Me" on walked Simon to huge applause and sang the whole song. The rest of the band walked on to massive applause and Mark Ronson went back to conduct the strings - what happenned over the next 2 hours literally blew everyones minds - the strings started up, the beats started up and somewhere in there "Is there something I should know" started up! They played [this is not the correct order]: "Is There something I should know", "Wild Boys", "Night Runner" mixing into "Notorious", I Don't Want Your Love, Bond medley into A View to A kill with full string and then full band version! The Valley, Tricked Out, Save A Prayer mixing into a superb Chauffeur, Red Carpet Massacre, Song 2 [Blur cover], Planet Earth mixing into Girls On Film [night version], Ordinary World, a really nice slow song [maybe a cover?! don't know] mixing into Rio. They were so tight and hearing the songs in a different light with different arrangements was just superb.Crowd were really into it though and the whole thing was filmed on multi cameras so we should all be able to enjoy soon!

you can see some pictures from the press conference here

and many great pictures from the Ronson Vs Duran show here

July 2: from Thaindian News [thanks to Kelgura for the link] - Washington, July 2, 23 years after releasing the title track to A View To A Kill, British rockers are teaming up with producer Mark Ronson to record a second James Bond theme. The band recently chose Ronson to remix a string of their hit singles. They will also be performing a one-off gig with him in Paris, France on Wednesday night. Keyboardist Nick Rhodes reveals that the band is keen on working with Ronson again, and that the perfect thing would be to come up with the new Bond theme for Quantum of Solace.“We’d love to collaborate with Mark on a single for the next Bond film. With him we may even surpass A View To A Kill.” Same story here, here, and here,

 

*Updated on july 2*: just in from ddm - great video Duran vs Ronson, watch it! *Updated on july 1* from The Daily Star | Ronson says: "I'm going to be playing guitar with Duran Duran, who are a really tight band and who have been playing together for about 25 years. "It's pretty surreal. Simon is going to sing 'Stop Me' with Daniel Merriweather and it's bizarre to hear this voice I've known since I was 10-years-old singing our song."

The 32-year-old hopes the performance leads to further collaborations with Duran Duran in the future.

He added to Britain's Daily Star newspaper: "I really want to nail the guitar parts. We've been rehearsing solidly in the lead-up. This is a really special gig." The star also said Tim Burgess from The Charlatans is planning to head to France on the Eurostar to see the concert, which will be filmed for British TV station Channel 4.

The producer, who will play guitar with the 80s pop band at the 'Smirnoff Experience Paris' show, admits he is terrified about messing up in front of lead singer Simon Le Bon. Mark said: "I'm really pretty nervous.

June 28 | photonews: Promotional shoot for upcoming Smirnoff Experience by Brick Lane. Simon in the last blog he wrote for dd.com said: "Mark has put together an hour of Duran Duran mega mix, complete with breakdowns, segues and - sweet Jesus - new bits..."

"Now, pay attention, young man!" [best photo caption by NineTails]

June 28: Thanks to our friends Francesca Labonne who just sent me these very nice photos of the guys hanging around Amsterdam. The pics actually are a reportage of what the band did on june 20 in Amsterdam, It was John's birthday so the band wanted to celebrate him and also relax a bit. Here you go with the nice photo report...

The band left the hotel in the morning and went away by cars [maybe for some shopping too? check out Nick's bags!] but they also enjoyed a little walk trough the typical Amstedam canals.

The photographer, Stephanie Pistel, was there to immortalize the band, they probably did a photo session hanging around the wonderfull city and hopefully we'll see some new posed pics soon.

...and then the guys stopped to the canals and they all jumped on board of a boat to have a little party in honour of John Taylor who celebrated its 48th birthday!

It seems the guys really enjoyed their stay in Holland... That's what Roger said in a recent dd.com blog:

"Looking out of the window as we pull into the station in Amsterdam, I’m being transported back to my 19 year old self, that’s when I last arrived at this train station. I was with my great friend Jeff Thomas (who went on to become one of the early singers in Duran Duran). Jeff was obsessed with European life and travel, and we both wanted to live out the promise of the Kraftwerk song ‘Trans Europe Express’ and the European dreams of early Ultravox and Simple Minds songs. We boarded the train in Birmingham and as we stepped out into the continental bustle of Amsterdam we seemed to be entering a whole new world. I had never been outside of my native country and at that point I think I realised that I wanted to broaden my horizons beyond my small town world. We stayed for a week in some run down youth hostel beside a street full of shop windows that contained dubious looking ladies bathed in red light …later that year I joined Duran Duran, who could have foreseen what the next few years would bring and that I would be returning nearly 30 years later under such different circumstances? That’s the thing about being on the road …you are constantly re-united with a segment of your past in different cities and hotels across the world…sometimes things that you want to remember…others you don’t.

June 28: Extended interview on ITV to Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor. Birmingham's most successful band will come back home soon so they get interviewed by ITV Local [Midlands] in the London studio where the band is currently rehearsing for the Mark Ronson show and the remainig dates of the Red Carpet Massacre World Tour. Should we expect the announced live version of Election Day and some more obscure gemms maybe?

watch the video here [click full screen, video quality is good!]

June 28: On june 25 Nick Rhodes, society personality Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and fashion designer Philip Treacy attended in London the chic bash Tatler Summer Party in association with Jaguar in the capital's boutique Hempel hotel [in the first picture Philip Treacy, Guest, Nick Rhodes and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson]

June 28: On accesshollywood.com there's a video of the guys in Las Vegas attending Beatles Love by Cirque Royal [I already reported about this on may 14, scroll down a bit]. From the site: "Rock legends Duran Duran were awestruck after seeing the "Beatles Love" by Cirque de Soleil at the Mirage in Las Vegas"

watch the video here

June 27: There's a nice Roger Taylor interview on liverpooldailypost.co.uk. Roger says: "People remind us of these things [eta: Duran Duran anniversaries] every so often, but we are such a forward-looking group of people that we tend not to look back and say: ‘Hey, the Rio video was made 25 years ago – let’s celebrate it’. “That was then and this is now. The eighties were great but we are all about the next project.” [...] “We are always aware that we have to not pigeon-hole ourselves in that 80s pop revival mode,” Roger adds. “We try to work with contemporary producers as well – we just worked with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, and it is very important to keep your head in where we are. “The great thing is they have come to us, we haven’t been chasing people. We met Justin and Timbaland just as the band re-formed. Justin presented us with a Brit award and then turned up at our after-show party with his posse.” Read the full interview here. [photo: Roger Taylor in Brussels on june 18 2008, pic taken and manipulated by Salvo ].

June 26: As promised here are the scans of the LifeStyle Monthly magazine from Uk [june 2008 issue] with the John Taylor interview. An extract from the article: "After their Uk tour Duran move onto North America for the final leg. And then what? " A family vacation", John says, "And then we'll just see what comes along. I don't have a fixed agenda as then I won't be disappointed."

download the cover and article

June 26: Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor [in a London Studio where the band is rehearsing] discuss with Sky's Matt Smith the Mark Ronson collaboration for the Smirnoff experience that will take place in Paris at La Cigale on july 2 2008.

watch the video right here

*Updated on June 26*: I just added a wonderful two pages article from the german magazine Bunte issue n°26 with some very nice pics of the couple dancing on stage with the band! download a scan right here

June 25: Briatore's wedding has a full coverage on both, Hola! [from Spain] and Hello! [from Uk] magazines. From Hello magazine's website: "Flavio Briatore and Elisabetta Gregoracci wed in lavish style in Rome with celebrity guests". Thanks to Carmen for the Hola! scans: picture 1 picture 2 picture 3

June 25: I just got these very nice pics taken in Copenhagen on the 22 and 23 of june from my very good friend Guy Hoffman [photographed with Nick on the left], a Duran fan since the early days that I met so many years ago in London when we were kids and used to hang around the studios. Guy attended the Duran Duran show in Copenhagen and also met the guys who were so kind to pose for pictures and sign autographs to all the fans who were there. He took these nice candids and also told me that "the guys rocked the KB Hall, everyone was clapping and singing during the whole show". It's not too hard to belive him! Concert rewiews [in danish] with pics here and here , a John Taylor interview is here on the left: Nick and Guy

June 24: There are a lot of tidbits and mentions about Duran Duran as special guest at the Flavio Briatore's wedding in most of the italian magazines this week. I'm posting just the ones that include a Duran Duran picture. Plus there's a very nice 2 pages article on Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni magazine about the upcoming Duran Duran 7 dates tour in Italy, including a competition to win tickets for the concerts. download the scans here:

Tv sorrisi e canzoni . Di Più . Oggi . Diva . A

June 23: I just arrive from a quick trip to Belgium to attend the Duran Duran show at Cirque Royal on june 18. It took me few days to give an update as I had to solve a problem on the server first [or maybe I was just too lazy to get back to the *computer thing* since here in Italy it's starting getting hotter!]. Well, here I'm again anyway. The Brussels show was a very good one, Simon [who was suffering a big cold] sang perfectly and I didn't actually notice any problem in his voice! Not even technical problems during the show... strange if you think that the band arrived in Brussels very late [4.30 pm] by train from Cologne and they didn't actually reharse, they just went to the hotel then straight to venue at around 8,00pm. Well, the only problem i noticed during the show was Simon being a bit out of tempo in Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, but that one doesn't count as isn't a Duran Duran song! Nice setlist, including Simon mentioning the band's ex-guitarrist Warren Cuccurullo introducing one of his favourite songs "Come Undone" wich he said was created while Warren and Nick were working on a remix of another Duran Duran song.

Dom is the man! He really rocked the house, this guy is fitting in really well and he seems to enjoy being on stage with the guys. Just wondering if the band will ever ask him to join them in the studio for the next album and get him involved in the creative process as he's a very talented guy ...and on a personal level, he's a really down to earth guy! Hightlights of the whole experince: wonderfull lights, John having a great time reacting to an ethusiastic audience, Simon mentioning Warren on come Undone, Temped and Wild Boyz [wasn't Wild Boys?!] wich they both rocked Le Cirque Royal, the *po po po po po po po* chorus [a line from a White Stripes song that football fans here uses to sing during the football matches] that the audience sang to get the band back on stage for the encore and the band actually playing an impromptu on that chorus for few minutes, amazing!

After the show I had a drink at their hotel and both Roger and Simon stopped to say hello while the other band members went to sleep. Simon actually sat down at my table to say hello so we had quick chat. He told me that he's really looking forward to the Italian tour and I especially mentioned how is important that a huge band like Duran Duran plays in the south of Italy [Reggio Calabria] where international pop-rock band hardly comes [and they also do it for free], I told him that is gonna be massive! Talking about the south of Italy he also mentioned being on the Stretto di Messina on a boat some years ago and we also remembered when the band came to Sicily 21 years ago. The chat included also few comments on the Briatore's wedding [he mentioned how hard was for Nick to be there] and some less important things not worth reporting as it was just a relaxed chat. The next day the band left at aroung 1,00 am to Amsterdam, I spoke again to all of them and shared the moment with some other nice fans from Belgium and France so everyone got pics and autographs. I made sure to give John and Nick a printed copy of duranasty.com... John started to look trough the hundreds of pages and colorful graphics up on the site and he was truly amazed, he keep on watching/reading it also in the car. Nick told me that for sure he'll look to the printed version [i gave the to band] and the website too! Cool, isn't?! [all photos in this report are taken by Salvo]

download a new desktop theme with some Duran Duran live pics I took in Brussels!

*updated on june 15*: Check out the video report [on the right] about the wedding from Sky TG24. At minute 1:04 you'll see the guys! You can also watch the video in bigger size on its original webpage here sky Tg24

June 14: Pictures taken this moring when the *Duran Duran family* arrived at the Santo Spirito di Sassia Church in Rome | Duran Duran will play a live show tonight for the newly wedded Flavio Briatore and Elisabetta Gregoracci at the Torcrescenza Castle. [More about this news in the Quick and Brief section of the site].

June 12: Duran Duran make Louvre history and help the museum raise $2.6 Million | On june 10 Duran Duran performed at Louvre's pyramid as part of the biggest fundraising event ever held on the Paris museum. The band played for 45 minutes for free on a podium beneath the Louvre's glass pyramid, with seven huge crystal chandeliers lent by Baccarat hanging over their heads. Proceeds will go toward renovating a Louis XV drawing room, originally created for the Hotel Villemare, which will be featured in the Decorative Arts Gallery. Singer Simon Le Bon said he hoped the show had "put a smile on the Mona Lisa's face". The performance marked a first for both the band and the museum, which has never before allowed a pop concert to take place in its grounds or buildings. Le Bon added: "It was a great honour for us to be asked to perform at this prestigious event in one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in Paris and for such a worthy cause to the arts. "We are all great lovers of the arts and have visited the museum's works many times. Helping to raise funds for this incredible institution is a tremendous for all of us." More articles on the event here, here, here, here, here and here.To celebrate this huge event there's a new splash-intro picture on duranasty.com's index and it will stay up for a couple of days only so make sure to save it. Enjoy!

download a great desktop theme of Duran Duran and their wives at Louvre!

Duran Duran believe they’ve got the perfect catalogue of party hits to headline Glastonbury June 12: Full pages articles with pics on the Uk tablois Daily Star of june 11and Daily Express of june 6! From the Daily Star: "Wild Boy bassist John Taylor told me: “Festivals are something that we’re developing. Nobody asked us to do any until V in Australia and it was a very different vibe.” Duran Duran believe they’ve got the perfect catalogue of party hits to headline Glastonbury but are still waiting for the call. John, 47, admitted: “I’d love to do Glastonbury one day. But we’ll probably be in our 60s when Michael Eavis gets around to inviting us. “The Earth will be frazzled and there’ll be dust storms on the Pilton farm by then probably.” [...] look out for an Arctic Monkeys remix of new Duran Duran tune Skin Divers soon. The Brummie bass man added: “The drummer Matt Helders did it. I spoke to him and he really wanted to play drums on our track so that’s what he’s done. He’s a nice lad, knows his stuff.” download a scan of the Daily Star here download a scan of the Daily Express here

If you want to download a clean version of the above picture to use as desktop theme just click here

June 7: Thank You message from Nick on duranduran.com | "Nick would like to thank everyone for their kind messages of support - and in answer to the many questions we have had over the past few days, donations will be accepted under the name of Roger Bates to The British Heart Foundation: bhf.org.uk Thank you".

June 6: from duranduran.com | Duran Duran have been forced to cancel their upcoming show in Nice, France, originally scheduled to take place on Thursday 12 June, 2008, because of the unexpected death of keyboardist Nick Rhodes’ father at the end of last week. All tickets are fully refundable at point of purchase.

Condolences to Nick We are very sorry for your loss. Deepest sympathy, condolences and love to you and your family. Some of us had the pleasure to meet Mr. Roger Bates when Duran Duran were on tour in the Uk, he was always so nice to all the fans and a very supportive and proud father. Nick, our thoughts are with you and your family.

June 6: Yasmin and Simon le Bon attended The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts on June 4, 2008 in London. The couple looked beautiful as usual.

June 3: I just got these great pics taken about one week ago from simonalways who just returned from the Bahamas with a bag full of great Duran-memories to share. I don't usually post fan reports but this one seems so exclusive as our friend met the guys on the beach [!] and took some cool pics too! Here is what she has to say about her Bahamas trip to see the band at Atlantis - Paradise Island, Bahamas on may 24. "It was just like attending a Duran Duran convention all weekend and how we kept running into them! I met Simon Le Bon at the beach, Nick Rhodes was there too and so was Simon Willescroft [the current Duran Duran Sax Player]. I was not as nervous meeting Simon this time, although it was quite different being in a bikini at a beach [with wild wind blowing your hair every where] and meeting your idol you know?! kind of sureal actually! I also met Dom right before the show Saturday night, saw Simon at Club Aura and met also Roger with his wife Gisella at Nobu. Some fans also met Nick and John at the Fish Aquarium in the Royal Towers and they were just excited about the fish that they were messing around like little boys! Below some pics taken at Club Aura. click here to get a larger version of the above postcard with the beach photos.

The show itself was shorter than your typical show [no Electro Set and no "The Valley" either! They kicked off the show with Hungry like the Wolf and Planet Earth] but the whole experience was incredible as the atmosphere was more like a big Private Party in a Ballroom, very festive and everyone dressed up! There were so many beautiful people there, all glitz and glam and Simon mentioned that too! He said something like there are so many beautiful people here tonight in such a beautiful place! He said we smell good too! Definitely a very unique and fun experience seeing them in that setting. The band sounded great and they were very happy to be there!

June 2: Despite the rain, and a very sad news affecting the personal sphere of the band, Duran Duran played their 2nd of two shows at Central Park Summerstage in NYC on May 31. Once the band came on it started raining for about 30 mins. They all seemed to be in great sprits and full of energy on stage, very professional considering all. The band dedicated The Chauffeur in honor of Katy Krassner's wedding [who just got married]. This was the last of the 22 dates North American Tour and their 36th show since the Red Carpet Massacre World Tour kicked off in new Zealand back in march. These two months on the road have been incredible for all the fans who attended the shows and the band of course. The shows have been critically acclaimed as you can read in the many prestigious newspapers reviews posted here over the last months. Now it's about time for the guys to return to their families, rest a bit and recover energies to play some more shows in the good Old Continent. The european tour will kick off in Nice/France on june 12 and it will go on untill july. The band might add some more dates in agoust. [below some more photos from the New York show]

May 30 [evening update]: Thanks to Karen Sutera for this Youtube upload of the guys at Sirius Radio in New York on may 29. Karen says "I had the pleasure of seeing John, Simon & Dom do four acoustic songs at a small Sirius Radio taping. This is a little clip of Box Full of Honey, before security told me to stop recording". The guys played also Falling Down, Save A Prayer and Ordinary World for a future Sirius radio special so keep on checking the radio website for possible video/audio and gallery uploads.

May 30 [morning update]: New interview on papermag.com | John Taylor's answer to a possible release of Reportage follows Simon and Nick's declarations made in recent interviews. John seems now more open to possibilities about a future release of the unedited album. here is what he says: I don't know what will happen to the material we recorded with Andy before we did the Timbaland sessions - there was even artwork and a cover ready to go. If it were up to me I would leak it to a bootlegger! However we have a fairly tight hold on it, and I guess we would all like to see it released at some point in some format. We have to resolve our differences with Andy, and then, who knows. You can read this and more on the new papermag.com/blogs

May 30: You feel brand new, when you come up for air! The next release from Duran Duran is Skin Divers out on June 2nd. Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders has contributed a remix of Skin Divers the second track lifted from Red Carpet Massacre. Helders and Monkeys frontman Alex Turner are rumored to have supplied sampled vocals to the reworked track. The band's spokesman suggests the single and remix might get a special download-only release, perhaps via the iTunes Music Store. In the latest interviews all the Duran Duran guys have mentioned the Helders remix saying that he did a terrific job on the song. Let's just wait and see what happens on june 2! Hopefully the band will get some more radio airplay!

May 29: duranasty exclusive download | A great new cover version of the 1982 Duran Duran classic “Save A Prayer” is on the way. This time the idea behind the brazilian flavoured reprise is bass genius Tony Corizia, an Italian musician who’s worked with many great artists on his album “Basswoodoo”. The disc [Y Records / Delta Dischi, available in physical and download stores] features contributions by Ian Paice [Deep Purple], Maestro Beppe Cantarelli, Nando Bonini, Tim Bennett, and great Milan based gothic/classical singer Barbara Schera Vanoli who actually sings on the Duran song. Tony recently scored a distribution deal in Spain and Greece, as well as a decent exposure in the Italian market. Corizia, who is a great rewarded musician and has collected two covers on Acid Jazz magazine, says: “Save A Prayer” comes from an idea of Weruska, producer Thor’s wife. They are both big fans of the band. She walked in the studio one day with this song in mind and I instantly connected to the possibility of doing something different with it. There’s been loads of cover versions of DD, and this song in particular is so harmonically structured that it has different magical sides to it". Fans of JT’s basslines won’t be disappointed: Tony is a great bass player and he shows it completely in the surprising reworking which involves 5 and 6 string basses as well. For those who are interested in Tony’s background here’s what he says: "I've been playing bass since I was twelve. I've studied at the Bass Tech [Musician Institute] in London with masters Rob Burns & Terry Gregory. I've released two instrumental solo albums, 'Bassology' [on M.O.D.A. Music / Warner Music Italia, 2004-05] and “Basswoodoo”, which is out now on and also do bass clinics for Yamaha. Chek out myspace.com/tonycorizia

exclusive duranasty.com download | Save a Prayer by Tony Corizia [sample]

***Updated*** may 28 [second part interview] » Will anything from Reportage ever see the light of day? Maybe. It's recorded; it's there. It may take five years, maybe ten. You never know. We've got to sort out some things with Andy first. » Is Dominic Brown a permanent member of the band or are you officially a four piece now? He's on this tour with us and he was on the last one. We don't have a written constitution, so to speak. We just keep it nice and easy. He hasn't been writing with us yet. » There are a lot of new places that we want to go to. We don't want to overexpose ourselves. This record is still pretty new. We're not going to rush back into the studio to make a new one. Not for at least six months to maybe a year - maybe longer if the tour carries on. There's a chance we'll come back in September to go to some of the places we didn't go this time. part two here

May 28: there's a 2 parts interview to Simon Le Bon on pollstar.com. Earlier this month, as the tour got rolling on the West Coast, Pollstar got to chat with Simon. In part one of the interview, he talks about touring and the state of the music biz today. Part two is coming tomorrow [with questions on the lost Duran Duran album and what the future holds] so keep on checking pollstar.com.

Q: How has the business changed, touring especially, since you started?
A: Well there are a lot more places to go; the world's gotten a lot bigger as far as touring is concerned. When we started off, we played England mostly, America, Canada and Europe - a bit of Europe, but not all of it. You couldn't play shows in Italy or Portugal, because there was no way you were going to get your money out of there. It was all run by a Mafia. We went down to Australia and did some stuff there, but you'd never go to places like Manila. You wouldn't got to Eastern Europe, the Balkans. You wouldn't go down to South America. And all of these places now are really great. There are great crowds there and people who want to see the band. And it works for us; it's logistically possible to put a tour on and go to those places and come out of it looking good.

read part one here and part two here

May 28: A very good interview to Nick Rhodes - the band's only continuous member from its inception as an art-school project in 1978 - spoke with Express about songs from "The Red Carpet Massacre," the group's future plans and [again] Andy Warhol.

» Express: It seemed to me, reading about Duran Duran, that you took off pretty quickly. You got a manager after showing someone one of your first demo tapes, right?
» Rhodes: Pretty much. I started the band when I was 16. By the time I was 18, we had a record deal, some lineup changes, wrote a lot of songs, played a lot of shows. The thing going around Birmingham, where we were based at the time, was that every time we played a show, we had a different singer. We sort of did, for a few months. We were young, had a lot of energy — and you keep at it and keep at it until you get what you want.

» Express: How did art school influence the band?
» Rhodes: Well, actually, John [Taylor] was at art school and I was going to go to art school, but I was 16, the age you would go, and we formed the band. That was my art-school project. His art college was the first place we ever played. We did a lot of things out of there: made flyers, designed the logos, found a place to play, met kids that were interested in going to see an experiment. I always think of it as an ongoing art school project — with every record, with every tour, with everything we do. It's something that comes from art school: We wanted to use and merge all the elements of art: music, graphic design, video, fashion, even architecture, with the stage shows and the sets in videos. You know, the photos, the artwork for the albums and on and on and on. We're still pretty good on any kind of design. The artwork for the new album, "The Red Carpet Massacre," we did it ourselves.

read the full article here

May 27: The interview to John Taylor released by the Washington Post has been also published on yesterday edition of The Buffalo News with the headline: At 30, Duran Duran shows it’s far from over the hill. Dowload a scan of the article here and a new desktop theme made of fantastic pictures of Duran Duran live in Philadelphia taken by Sue Grace here

May 25: [happy birthday to me!]: On yesterday edition of The StarPhoenix from Canada there's an article with the nice headline "No boredom on Duran Duran tour". The article is based on the recent John Taylor interview published on the The Washington Post. Download a scan of the article here. Above pics taken by xrayteduranie [the picture on the left shows John wearing an Obama tshirt during the recent Us shows]. Below an extract of the interview:

John Taylor has been playing the same bass lines with Duran Duran for three decades. So it’s natural to ask: John, are there ever nights when you’re not sure you can soldier through yet another performance of Rio? “I haven’t felt like that in a long time,” he says during a phone call between gigs on Duran Duran’s U.S. tour. “We’re feeling really good about who we are right now. And it’s such a privilege just to go out and get to [perform] . . . I think you have to kind of surrender to what you are. I just try to play it better than I have ever played it before.” [...]

As he talks about Duran Duran’s responsibility to give the fans their money’s worth at every show, his tone becomes more animated, almost urgent. When John Taylor is selling, buying is hard to resist. “We need to have those people rolling out of that show saying, ‘That was so much fun. We had such a good time,’ “ he says. “We can’t afford for people to be coming out and saying, ‘Eh, I don’t know.’ Because they just might not come again. So we’ve got to be giving our best game right now.”

May 24: Update with three new Duran Duran interviews! John Taylor has been interviewed by the The Washington Post, he says : “There is something fundamental about a live performance and the magic of the lights going down, whether you’re playing to 100 people or 100,000 people,” he says. “The principle of that entertainment has not changed. And it will never change. That, to me, is why I do this. Because that excites me.” You can download a scan of the article here. Simon Le Bon has been interviewed by the Boston Herald: "People are buzzing about the mini electro set in the middle of the show where whole band jumps on synthesizers. Simon: The electro- shock therapy? Oh, it’s got this great impact visually and sonically. It makes the show feel like a three-act event. I’d tell you more but it needs to be a surprise". You can download a scan of the article here. The best article comes from inrich.com. It's a good Q&A with Nick Rhodes full of news on the upcoming Duran events, Arcadia, Andy and Reportage! You can read some of the the most interesting questions below [or the the full article here]. *editor note: Nick in this interview confirms the hope and desire to release Reportage one day, as reported here on 21/5*

Q. Do you think the tracks do you did for "Reportage" [the album the band recorded with original guitarist Andy Taylor and then scrapped] will ever be released in some form? I hope so. At the moment, it’s sitting in a vat of dry ice somewhere. It was a really strong album. It was never quite finished, so we’d need to do some cosmetic work on it. But the songs are intact. What happened [with ‘Red Carpet Massacre’] was by accident, not by design. We thought we’d do a couple of extra tracks [for ‘Reportage’] with Timbaland and we ended up with another album worth of material that seemed very fresh. The other album is much more an indie rock record. It took us a good year of our lives to make it, so it would be a pity to let it go unheard. I’d like it to surface one day.

Q. What is the band's relationship with Andy Taylor these days? Do you talk at all? Sadly no. It’s like a divorce case. It’s one of those things where common sense doesn’t always seem to prevail and you have to deal with whatever through the lawyers.

Q. What are your thoughts on the book he's working on [Taylor’s "Wild Boy" is due in August]? Do you see it as unnecessarily airing dirty laundry or as a story that you think people should hear? I don‘t know what he’s writing, but I just hope it’s all the truth. I wouldn’t have a problem with any of it if it’s true. But if it isn’t, well, that will mean more lawyers!

Q. Do you think we’ll ever hear anything else from Arcadia [the side band of Rhodes, LeBon and Roger Taylor, which released one album, "So Red the Rose," in 1985]? There’s not much unreleased stuff. There’s one instrumental song that didn’t make it to the album, so that needs to be mixed and restored. There are a couple of things we should restore it to their full length and put out a disc of the remixes with lots of photos that we’ve never used. It’s funny because record labels, they’re trying to cut down on packaging. But I’d like to make it something glorious.

Q. What's the plan for the year? Will there be another single from “Red Carpet”? Where will tour go after the July dates in England? Because everybody seems very confused about what to do with the record, all we want to do is get more people to hear it. We’re on a bit of a campaign, so we’ll look at it and see what the best thing to do is. We’ve got some terrific dance versions of some of those songs for clubs. I’d love to go to radio with something, but we need to go from a position of some strength. But we’ll continue the tour until mid-August, then reconvene in September for a South American tour. We might come back and do some more North America dates and then it will be December. We’re going to look again at China for next year and then it’s time for a new album.

May 23: I don't usually post news on Yasmin Le Bon but this one is worth reporting for the positive message about Iran that Yasmin gives to the world. I'm talking about an article appared on the new Corriere Magazine from Italy out today [it's a supplement magazine of Corriere della Sera - of one of the most important national newspapers]. In the half page article Yasmin says that she would like to dedicate herself to the Middle Eastern diplomacy, as we all know Yasmin was born in Oxford and her father is iranian. Yasmin also says that she would like to return to Iran just to show everybody that Iran isn't a country made only of bloody-thirsty fanatics. The journalist closes the article saying "Morrisey is trying to play a show in Teheran, maybe she could try to bring her husband's band to Iran before Morrisey does it". Less important, about the picture in the article... it was taken in june 2007 at the Raisa Gorbachev foundation party. If you are curious to know more about Yasmin and browse trough pages and pages full of wonderfull Yasmin Le Bon [and Simon] pics then I highly reccomend the wonderfull yasminlebon.net an unofficial but very professional Yasmin Le Bon site.

download a scan of the article from il Corriere Magazine here

May 21: Reportage update | According to a very reliable source from Jakarta who has been very close to the band during they stay in Jakarta [back in april] the band really hopes to release Reportage. My source says: "Nick mentioned that they’d really love to put out Reportage with or without Andy but they need to do more work on it…" He seems to be really proud of that record, people think it’s been shelved because it’s not very good but he insisted that it is a good record on its own. Above picture [an exclusive of duranasty.com] photo of the guys in Jakarta taken by a local photographer.

More press from Indonesia Thanks again to my friend in Jakarta who sent pics of these 2 current magazines with reviews of Duran Duran's Jakarta show. The first from left is Trax magazine, the other is the indonesian Rolling Stones magazine. Proper scans of the articles will be up soon.

May 21: Upadate on the recent Us Duran Duran shows.

• Atlanta according to Holly H. on the ddm message boards, Simon has dedicated Ordinary World to a man who is on death row in GA. Local news reports that 7 of the 9 witnesses have recanted their statements, hopefully he will get a reprieve soon.
• UCF Arena in Orlando on May 18, 2008: Orlando metromix gallery
• Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton on May 19, 2008 miaminewtimes.com gallery and review

Below a picture collage of our Wild Boyz in Orlando - Above pics from Atlanta taken by xrayteduranie.

May 20: This news brings us back to the Tokio show on april 14. Duran played an incredible concert in Tokio and also partyed all night long with long time friend Nick Wood. Thanks to G-Star the band had the Vip room at Le Baron along with Marc Newson's Dom Perignon Silver Ice Bucket and [as already reported back in april] Roger played his deejay set! Nick Wood reports on his blog the fantastic night he spent with the guys in Tokio and some more...

May 20: This news comes from Nick Wood's blog: Simon Le Bon back at syn | Nick says: "It was great to see Simon back at syn studios one last time before we move in June. This place has not only been our work place for 13 years, but also our favorite late night party place when there's nowhere else open, Tsukiji cafe relocates one more time!"

May 20: Up on the CNN website since yesterday this nice Duran Duran interview. Journalist Ralitsa Vassileva talks with the guys about their U.S. tour, the new album and second life. If the video doesn't work keep on refreshing the page, it will show up at some point! And you can always download it [as most of the interesting Duran Duran stuff circulating on the web] on the great audio-video source duranduran.no

May 17: From mirror.co.uk and gigwise.com. It seems that the current financial climate was behind the decision to cancel the show. The bank denied that their was a rift between the two parties.

The Mirror: Duran Duran at war with Deutsche Bank for scrapping gig. Duran Duran are in dispute with one of the world's biggest banks. The 80s superstars were booked for a six-figure fee to perform for Deutsche Bank staff in the summer.But finance chiefs pulled the plug because they felt it would be "inappropriate" during the credit crunch. Angry Duran Duran fronted by Simon Le Bon claim an agreement was broken and are now "considering their options". A source close to the band said: "They rerouted their world tour at great cost to themselves to play the party. Then there's the fee. They're in talks but neither side is budging. They are disappointed." Deutsche Bank's decision to axe the band comes after an order for all staff to cut back expenses. The bank said: "There is no issue between Deutsche Bank and Duran Duran. "The fact they are not playing is purely a result of the economic climate."

Gigwise: Duran Duran are furious with Deutsche Bank after the organisation reneged on plans to hold a private concert with the band, according to reports. The veteran group were due to be paid over half a million pounds for the gig later this summer. But bosses at the bank decided that the concert would not be suitable amid the current credit crunch. Speaking to the Mirror newspaper, an unnamed source said that the band had “rerouted their world tour at great cost to themselves to play the party.” “Then there's the fee. They're in talks but neither side is budging. They are disappointed." A spokesperson for the bank denied that their was a rift between the two parties but acknowledged that the current financial climate was behind the decision to cancel the show.

Live video The Chauffer May 17: New Youtube upload of the Corgan-Duran performance of The Chauffer in Chicago. Thanks to kerri who took the above pictures at this show and to shytowngirl for the video upload. Enjoy!

May 17: Special thanks to Vincent Stachovic who went to the game last Tuesday and took these great and exclusive pictures of Simon attending the baseball match and singing the 7th inning stretch at Wrigley Field.

special gallery here

May 15: just in this great and [full of details] interview to John Taylor from BBC news website [source]. John gives an insight into life on tour, and discusses their plans for a one-off show with Mark Ronson.

I try to stay in bed until 10, but I'm a serious coffee addict so the idea of coffee gets me out of bed at 9:30-ish. Then I'll start the day with an internet connection, I might go to the gym, I might have a sauna. We like saunas and steams. Maybe do something to keep healthy. It's pretty civilised really. Staying sharp with my playing is the best formula for having a good time on stage. We might go to the venue at about four o'clock, make sure everything's set up as we like it. Most days there's an hour of press to do, interviews like this, and I try to practice for an hour a day. I try.

Do you still need to practice after all these years?

When you're away from home, it's all about the show. If you don't have a good time at the shows, then touring is miserable. I've found that staying sharp with my playing is the best formula for having a good time on stage.

What's on your rider?

We are so easy, man. We have a sushi selection, we like a certain quality of red wine to be available, we have a room that our roadies set up where we have a practice drum kit and bass and guitar amplifier so the rhythm section can warm up. We love to just play before we go on stage to break the ice.

One of the fun things we're doing on this tour is we've got a little turntable in the dressing room with us, so every day somebody has to go and find some bizarre old vinyl album. It's like a challenge. We've had Tony Bennett, the Jungle Book soundtrack, The Supremes Sing the Liverpool Hits. At the end of the tour we'll have accrued 100 vinyl oddities and we're going to eBay them off for a good cause.

Is there much partying these days?

I'm not a big party head. It takes so much energy. Parties are so much work. People talk so loud and we've just been playing for two-and-a-half hours. You can't do it very often.

How does touring now compare to 25 years ago?

Back when I was younger, there was a duality to life - there was road and home. They were like two separate lives. Today, family and friends are so important and we all try to stay connected in as consistent a way as we can, and in this sense technology has been a friend to the touring musician. I just got Skype two weeks ago when I was in Japan and it's so mindblowing.

Have you been approached to do any British festivals like Glastonbury?

No. I guess I'd like to do it. We just did the V Festivals in Australia. It's something new for us. Comparing a festival to a concert is a bit like eating a buffet as opposed to having a one-on-one candlelight dinner. I've always been a one-on-one candlelight dinner sort of person, but I can see how the buffet is appealing.

What are you planning with Mark Ronson in Paris?

I love Mark, I've known Mark for a long time. I've known his mum and dad and I'm very proud of what he's achieved.

Mark Ronson won best British male at this year's Brit Awards
Ann and [stepdad] Mick Jones - from Foreigner, who raised Mark - are two of the most wonderful people you could ever know. It was always on the cards that Mark was going to be a very special fellow. He's always been a really hard-working super-nice guy, and he deserves everything that he's getting.

At this point we've had several conversations about what we want to do, and his ideas are really exciting. The idea is to create a 30-minute monster Ronson-Duran mash with nods to all and sundry and then play the damn thing live, which is kind of rad, as the Californians like to say. It's a really exciting project. It's good to have these kinds of things that challenge you and shake you out of your complacency.

and here for a good review of the Denver show

May 15: New online interviews to Nick and Simon from two Us websites. Below some interesting questions from these articles. Check them out, especially the Miami New Times wich has a very long interview to Mr Rhodes.

Simon says to Michigan Live: "we're coming like a real classic band"

"We have been rocking the house," "The energy that's coming off this crowd is unbelievable. I haven't seen this in 25 years. It's amazing. "We seem to have moved into a different phase of our career. We had the reunion. But this time, we're coming like a real classic band. They do come to hear 'Ordinary World,' and they do come to hear 'The Reflex' and 'Hungry Like the Wolf,' but it's almost like being in the Rolling Stones." Full article here

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Nick says to Miami New Times: "we have so much material rehearsed, frankly, we could probably play all night"

Q: How much are you playing live on this tour, now that there are so many additional layers to the tracks? A: As much as I possibly can, but obviously on some of the songs where we now have so many drum parts and what have you, we're running sequences with it. We like to keep as much as possible live. I've got a whole bunch of samplers obviously. What I tend to do is trigger a lot of things too, so I could do with at least one extra hand with this album.

Anna and Simon on may 4, 2008 in Los Angeles. Picture taken by OC Vegan

Q: What additional musicians do you have onstage with you? A: It's really just us. We have a sax player, Simon Willscroft, and we have the lovely Anna Ross on backing vocals for some years now. That pretty much augments the sound.

Q: I read that your stage set is supposedly based on Blade Runner. A: No, not entirely…. Q: Oh, that's what your press kit says. A: Ohhh, bless them. There's elements of the movie in there, because there's always a little element of Blade Runner in most things we do, since it was such a magnificent piece of work. The set is sort of a futuristic cityscape, I suppose, but what we've done that is quite drastically different this time, is that we're decided we're not using any projections. I think that every show I've seen in the last 10 to 15 years has become dominated by projection. I love projection, I think it's a terrific element to a live show, and I'm sure we'll use plenty of it in the future. But we just thought for once it would be interesting to take that away, and draw it back to something where we'd use all kinds of light sources to create moods and environments, and people would have to concentrate on the action going on onstage, rather than hurting their neck by looking up at the video concept. Read it all here

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"We're always looking for a new way to represent ourselves, that's what keeps it exciting."

May 14: When those pics were just out I decided to not publish any of them on this site. I actually hoped that those bad paparazzi pics of a very tired [for the long trip] band arriving at the airport in New Zealand and the ones of the fully naked Roger Taylor photographed trough the window of his hotel's room, would'nt make into the press and they were going to be forgotten in the archives of some photo agencies [or in the photo archives of some Duran Duran fans!]. Well, I was wrong! an italian magazine called Vip Mese in the new issue has a story titled "At 50 they still give scandal". I just keep on doing what i have been doing untill now here, giving news on the good and also the bad press the band gets around the world. So here you are. Check out this bad gossip italian magazine right here

May 14: The online version of the Interview with Nick Rhodes apparead on Reax magazine volume 02 issue 12 can be read here | below some quotes.

May 14: Internationally renowned yachting photographer Rick Tomlinson will be hosting an illustrated lecture at the Manx Museum [Isle of Man] on Wednesday. He will be talking about his yachting photography which has taken him all over the world since he first set out in 1985 in the Whitbread Round the World Race aboard Simon Le Bon's yacht, Drum. Forty-six photographs of Rick's latest assignment to Antarctica are currently on display in the Temporary Exhibition Gallery at the Manx Museum and this lecture will give the public the opportunity to hear the stories behind these breathtaking images as well as seeing some of Rick's work from his other assignments. The lecture is at the Manx Museum on Wednesday May 14 at 7pm - admission is free and all are welcome. [tel. +44 (0) 1624 648000] from iomtoday.co.im Check out his work here rick-tomlinson.com

Full Planet Earth from Vegas with The Killers on the youtube upload on the left!

News updated on May 14 Duran Duran gets some Love in Las Vegas! Duran Duran's Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor went to see "Love" on Sunday night at The Mirage when they were in Vegas for their own show. look like they had a lot of fun [pic on the right, the guys with the Love cast]

May 12 | *Updated May 13 * Las Vegas May 9 what a night! | Above Duran Duran with Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning from local hit makers the Killers, who joined Duran Duran for "Planet Earth" in Las Vegas. [Photo courtesy of Hard Rock]. From the thevegaseye.com: The band rocked the hotel on Friday night, bringing, and their full fledged stadium show to The Joint stage treating fans to a nearly 2-hour show for a sold-out crowd of 2,000 people. After performing songs from their latest project along with a mix of greatest hits like “Rio” and “Girls on Film," the band came back for a blazing encore featuring surprise guests Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning from the Killers. They performed “Planet Earth” which was Duran Duran’s first single ever released back in 1981 thanks to Kimberlyblessing who uploaded on flickr this short but very cool clip of the guys playing Planet Earth live in Las Vegas with long time fans Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning of The Killers [as reported on the quick and brief section on may 10]. Picture of the Duran guys with the Killers [the full band] have been just posted on duranduran.com at the following link

below some screencaps from the live performance video

more Las Vegas live pictures here1 2 3 4 and here

May 13: Clinton Sparks [the deejay who shared the Dj set with Roger] says on his blog: "this Saturday was another awesome night at Smashtime Saturday's at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Vegas. Method Man came through as well as Carmen Electra and I shared the set this with Roger Taylor of Duran, Duran... How crazy is that??? Tony Wang from the Hard Rock hit me earlier in the week asking me "Do you mind if the guy from Duran, Duran DJs with you?" I'm like "are u crazy? They are pop music icons... of course I don't mind" I'm all about 80's music".

Updated on May 13: More news from Las Vegas just in from Tiggerella who says "Last night we happened to see all the guys go into Body English at the Hard Rock. It was totally packed [and really small] club and about 5 minutes later the DJ goes "Are you ready for Roger Taylor?" So for the next hour Roger DJ'd. Just upon a table, no far removed DJ booth or anything. He really seemed to have a great time drinking beer and rocking the house! So we are out there shaking our groove thing and I turn around to see Simon in the middle of the dance floor. He worked his way up to the front and was making faces at Roger and kind of cheering him on. Then Roger threw in a little bit of Notorious into the mix! After Rogers set the next DJ did a great Duran medley/ mix. never saw John or Nick again after they came in, but Roger, Simon and Dom were in a big booth with the guitarist from the Killers and some of Your Vegas. From thevegaseye.com Body English's guests got a surprise DJ set from Roger Taylor of Duran Duran. Taylor joined DJ Clinton Sparks at the turntables and spun for nearly an hour to a packed house that included Duran Duran band mates Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes, Dave Keuning from the Killers, nightlife queen Amy Sacco and E! "Daily 10" host Sal Masekela.

May 11: Duran Duran will be playing live in Malta on July 26, you heard it here first! The band will perform at the Luxol Parade Grounds. The deal was struck on Friday between the band's management and NnG Promotions, who have been responsible for organising other large-scale concerts featuring the likes of Bryan Adams, Elton John and Roger Waters. Nigel Camilleri from NnG said: "Till this day, Duran Duran are one of the few bands that still garner a following. They still manage to draw the crowds and like Bryan Adams, they appeal to anyone up to the age of 45." Read and dowload here an exclusive article scan from today's edition of The Sunday Times from Malta.

May 10: I just got this email from Andy Taylor trough myspace:

I have uploaded the Myspace player with 6 new tracks, none of which have been on the page before... Don't get me wrong here, but I always found streaming 6 songs at a lo-quality rate, with a flawed download system, all a bit shitty. The network is great, that's how we are here, but the content presentation is limited & frustrating... Equally, i-tunes is difficult in a number of respects, there's to many tunes, it doesn't really generate a profit for the labels, & a huge percentage of the payments don't go anywhere near the artists - 1 billion tunes & the kids still don't [& won't] pay a cent for music... So after looking at the many digital platforms, all of which I found very bland, I decided to indulge in creating my own thing [not all on my own I may add]... My logic was simple, if Iam gonna have digital music available commercially, it made more sense to have my own base with the ability to control what was sold & at what cost. Not having a distributor taking around 50%+ from sales revenue gives the artist a greater margin & therefore the ability to price competitively at preferred rates... But even more fundamental it gives the audience a direct link to their artists... Then... somebody had the bright idea of offering this platform to other artists, & to expand on the idea, so we have, but on the basis that they, the artist, receive 100% of their potential income & we don't take a any. THE 100-SONG PLAYER [yes its huge] & NEW SONGS ... I have loaded up about 70 tracks at a very high quality bit rate to my player, the available space enables you to put up around 100 tracks into a single player, which is cool when you have years of material, some which has never seen the light of day & other which is more familiar... To hear these tracks and to check out the other 40 artists currently testing the site go to...

rockaffairs.com/andytaylor

& then go into songs, blog or events. You can also find out about the new live dates and the festival I am organising. There are no fees or sign-up required, please feel free to roam & enjoy the music/info... & if you are a band or an artist then you can also join for free at rockaffairs.com

Andy Taylor
ATSI - Ibiza
May 2008

Andy Taylor Also Posted some Infos On his new upcoming album Burger Kingdom Track Listing: 1. Moaner Liza Smythe 2. Burger Kingdom 3. Quicksand 4. Visible Target 5. Next In Line 6. You Zombie 7. Undadog 8. Feelin Like Elvis 9. End Of The World 10. Enemies 11. Mad Dogs & Englishmen 12. Come Back The Band: Andy Taylor - Guitar & Vocal, Liam Keenan - Vocals & Piano, Joe Breban - Drums, Mikey Dunn - Bass Produced By Andy Taylor | Written & Arranged By Andy Taylor & Liam Keenan Recorded @ Atsi April & May 2008 Andy also says: this album was played by humans & not recorded on a tempo grid or from a machine

May 10: This amazing news comes from thecheappop.com's second part interview to Nick Rhodes | link to the article here [The full Nick Rhodes interview on thecheappop.com will be posted next week on the site]:

“Election Day” to play in Election Year: Nick Rhodes, longtime keyboardist for Duran Duran, told thecheappop.com that the band plans on rehearsing “Election Day” soon and include it in their current Red Carpet Massacre tour. The song, which the band has never played live, was a big hit on Rhodes’ 1985 side project Arcadia, which featured Duran Duran bandmates Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor. The band only recorded one album [So Red The Rose, which went multiplatinum], but has never toured together. “Funny enough,” Rhodes told the pop humor website that Duran Duran guitarist John Taylor actually came up with the idea for the band to include it in their set list. “John said recently he’d really love to do ‘Election Day.’ We sort of prepared it and figured out what certain things are and what sounds we need and all these kind of things. We haven’t rehearsed it yet [but] yeah that’s going to be coming into the battalion.” He added, “We like to keep adding things to our repertoire so that we’ve got some choice. We can draw from so many songs now. That one, we haven’t gotten around to.” Looking back, Rhodes said he’s very proud of the Arcadia record and was delighted to find it has held up so well throughout all these years. “I hadn’t heard it for literally about 15 years until a few years ago, and was very pleased with how its held up sconicly and the kind of ideas that we had musically then. I mean we played with some amazing people on that record…Sting, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock – amazing people.”

May 10, 2001: It's official | duranduran.com announces the Reunion

Simon & Nick announce the next phase of Duran Duran As many fans have speculated over recent months, a profound change has occurred at the heart of the band as the story of Duran Duran moves into a new chapter. The trio of Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes & Warren Cuccurullo is coming to an end; the upcoming Japanese dates will be their last together after which Warren will be bound for America and a new project with his pre-Duran band, Missing Persons. Simon & Nick are to be reunited with original band members Roger, Andy and John Taylor for the first time in 15 years. "It's something we are very much looking forward to. There has always been an incredible chemistry and musical energy when we have got together. We are all very excited about the prospect of seeing what we can create." An album will be scheduled for release some time in 2002 [posted 5/10/2001] [On the left a clipping from The Sun from may 12, 2001]

May 10, 2008 | Editor note: the reunion days have been some of the most exciting of the life and times of duranasty so I thought it was worth to bring back some carelless memories! Can you still remeber the excitement of that day? I do very well! Thank you guys for making it possible, even if for five years *only*, five *fantastic* Duran Duran years i should add.

May 10: Terrific interview to Nick Rhodes from realdetroitweekly.com. Nick talks about the very missed Andy Warhol and more things. Below some interesting quotes from the interview [to read it all go here | thanks to Andre for the link].

when I was about 14-years-old, I decided that I wanted to be either in a band or to make films, and since I wanted to write them and direct [movies], I figured that being in a band was probably a better choice 'cause when you’re at that age, you don’t know so much about life. But I did know an awful lot about music and exactly what I wanted to do, so I was 16 when I formed the band with John and we never knew whether we were ever going to have a successful record or play to a lot of people or if it would all be over a week later. Here we are three decades later, still making Duran Duran records and playing shows.

I look to the Internet and satellite radio; that’s the future, the people to be able to choose what they want to listen to.

May 10: A picture is worth a million words! Birmingham prepare itself to the next Duran Duran show and the Birmingham Mail website puts online a vintage Duran Duran gallery with many pics of the band in their hometown and local fans from the early years till the recent years. The above pictures shows the band in May 1981, local Duran Duran fans line the streets as they wait for their idols and the crowd at Aston Villa football ground in July 1983. Check out the full gallery [thanks to Christian for the link]

birmingham mail picture gallery

Still from the Birmingham Mail this Mark Ronson article titled "I'm going wild with the boys!" He says of the band: "The level to which they combined melody, groove, sonic and style has yet to be outdone.

May 10: that's what John Taylor says in this interview from Las Vegas Weekly. Below the most interesting bits of the quick but intense interview. [thanks to Kelgura for this link]

Duran Duran has been Rock and Roll Hall of Fame eligible for a couple years now. Is that on your radar at all?

To be honest with you, I really don’t give a fuck. I don’t know what the benefit of it is. [The Hall] should be about the unsung heroes of rock ’n’ roll. What’s the fucking point of putting Duran Duran in there? What’s the point of putting, like, The Rolling Stones in there? I think that when they started that thing they weren’t planning ahead; they didn’t realize that if they kept going at the rate they were going, sooner or later they were gonna have to start thinking about Duran Duran [laughs]. That was not on their agenda. And I don’t think we really need anything like that right now. We’ve had more than enough plaudits. We’ve just got to quietly work away. It’s a little bumpy right now. We put a lot into the last album, it came out and nothing really happened with it. So it’s one of those kinds of periods where you’ve gotta walk the walk, where it’s not just about, “Oh, are we gonna quit now because the last album was a flop?” We thought the new record was gonna do a lot better than it has. But we’re really enjoying our playing right now, and that’s what we have to make it about.

[...] From the point of view of the soul of the band, there was something wonderful about that reunion—there was an incredible energy that the five of us had together. But it just didn’t work out. The good news is that the guy we’ve got playing guitar with us, Dom Brown, is an electric blues guitar player cut from a similar cloth to Andy. He comes from that great English tradition of Mick