Post by Taylorholic78 on Jul 29, 2005 15:59:10 GMT -5
www.nj.com/entertainment/ledger/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1122616286119280.xml&coll=1
Timing feels right for comeback
Duran Duran touring and working on CD and DVD
BY JAY LUSTIG
Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey Star Ledger
Duran Duran's reunion started out modestly, more than four years ago, with some secretive songwriting sessions. Drummer Roger Taylor wasn't sure what he was getting into.
"My expectations were very low," says Taylor, 45. "I didn't know whether there was even an audience for Duran Duran."
There was, as the short but well-attended reunion tour they mounted in the summer of 2003 proved. Soon, Duran Duran became much more ambitious about its comeback, touring all over the world and releasing an album, "Astronaut," last October.
Now it appears that the reunion will be more or less permanent. The band, which performs Friday at the House of Blues in Atlantic City and Saturday at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, plans to begin work on a new CD in September. Taylor says it will be "a bit more experimental" than "Astronaut," which didn't stray far from the group's original sound.
The band will also document the reunion tour with a DVD, later this year.
"It was a surprise from Day One how much love and enthusiasm there was for the band," says Taylor, who forms Duran Duran with singer Simon LeBon, 46, guitarist Andy Taylor, 44, bassist John Taylor, 45, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, 43. (None of the Taylors are related to each other.)
"When we went out and started playing at small theaters, the reactions we were getting were ecstatic. That's what kept us moving forward. Our hardcore live audience just gave us so much love that it kept us going until we got the (record) deal, and put 'Astronaut' together."
Duran Duran -- originally from Birmingham, England-- was one the most commercially successful bands of the mid-'80s, known for their hook-filled songs ("Hungry Like the Wolf," "Rio," "The Reflex"), stylish synth-pop sound and pinup looks. Roger and Andy Taylor left in 1986, but LeBon, Rhodes and John Taylor kept the group going with other members.
All three Taylors (including John, who went solo in 1996) have released albums under their own names. They have all failed, though, to approach Duran Duran's success on their own.
Roger says he does not regret that the reunion took so long to come together.
"I don't think it could have happened earlier," he says. "Everybody had to be in the right place as individuals. The timing just felt right for this. I'm not sure whether it would have been successful five years ago, or eight years ago, or whatever.
"The world kind of came around to looking at the band in a much better light, which often happens: It sometimes takes years for people to look back and say, 'Actually, they were a great band.' I think that's why it happened. So much time had gone by that people could put away their prejudices and preconceptions and look at us for what we were."
He also points to the recent successes of younger bands such as Franz Ferdinand, the Killers and the Bravery -- all influenced by '80s New Wave -- as evidence that the world is ready, once again, for Duran Duran.
"If we had come out in'95, I don't think it would have worked. Especially in Europe, we went through the whole electro-house movement, which is all about three anonymous guys sitting in studios. There weren't many bands around.
"Then you had the pop-idol thing, which was more about the people behind the scenes -- the writers and stylists or whatever.
"It's great that there are bands coming out again that have individuals that play and write songs together. That's what Duran Duran was all about."
Timing feels right for comeback
Duran Duran touring and working on CD and DVD
BY JAY LUSTIG
Star-Ledger Staff
New Jersey Star Ledger
Duran Duran's reunion started out modestly, more than four years ago, with some secretive songwriting sessions. Drummer Roger Taylor wasn't sure what he was getting into.
"My expectations were very low," says Taylor, 45. "I didn't know whether there was even an audience for Duran Duran."
There was, as the short but well-attended reunion tour they mounted in the summer of 2003 proved. Soon, Duran Duran became much more ambitious about its comeback, touring all over the world and releasing an album, "Astronaut," last October.
Now it appears that the reunion will be more or less permanent. The band, which performs Friday at the House of Blues in Atlantic City and Saturday at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, plans to begin work on a new CD in September. Taylor says it will be "a bit more experimental" than "Astronaut," which didn't stray far from the group's original sound.
The band will also document the reunion tour with a DVD, later this year.
"It was a surprise from Day One how much love and enthusiasm there was for the band," says Taylor, who forms Duran Duran with singer Simon LeBon, 46, guitarist Andy Taylor, 44, bassist John Taylor, 45, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, 43. (None of the Taylors are related to each other.)
"When we went out and started playing at small theaters, the reactions we were getting were ecstatic. That's what kept us moving forward. Our hardcore live audience just gave us so much love that it kept us going until we got the (record) deal, and put 'Astronaut' together."
Duran Duran -- originally from Birmingham, England-- was one the most commercially successful bands of the mid-'80s, known for their hook-filled songs ("Hungry Like the Wolf," "Rio," "The Reflex"), stylish synth-pop sound and pinup looks. Roger and Andy Taylor left in 1986, but LeBon, Rhodes and John Taylor kept the group going with other members.
All three Taylors (including John, who went solo in 1996) have released albums under their own names. They have all failed, though, to approach Duran Duran's success on their own.
Roger says he does not regret that the reunion took so long to come together.
"I don't think it could have happened earlier," he says. "Everybody had to be in the right place as individuals. The timing just felt right for this. I'm not sure whether it would have been successful five years ago, or eight years ago, or whatever.
"The world kind of came around to looking at the band in a much better light, which often happens: It sometimes takes years for people to look back and say, 'Actually, they were a great band.' I think that's why it happened. So much time had gone by that people could put away their prejudices and preconceptions and look at us for what we were."
He also points to the recent successes of younger bands such as Franz Ferdinand, the Killers and the Bravery -- all influenced by '80s New Wave -- as evidence that the world is ready, once again, for Duran Duran.
"If we had come out in'95, I don't think it would have worked. Especially in Europe, we went through the whole electro-house movement, which is all about three anonymous guys sitting in studios. There weren't many bands around.
"Then you had the pop-idol thing, which was more about the people behind the scenes -- the writers and stylists or whatever.
"It's great that there are bands coming out again that have individuals that play and write songs together. That's what Duran Duran was all about."
