Key Sentence:
Between The Beatles also One Direction and BTS is Duran Duran, the biggest band in the world in the early 80s.
In 2003, the five founding members – Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Andy Taylor, and Roger Taylor – met again for the first time in 18 years. I opened their first US concert at Roxy in Los Angeles for Rolling Stone. A outside offered me a thousand dollars in cash for my ticket. It didn’t surprise anyone.
This is the passionate Duran. It is not easy to rise from this level of fame to a career musician. Even The Beatles did it individually.
The fact that I spoke to John Taylor about Duran’s brilliant new record, Future Past (out this Friday, October 22), where they worked with the likes of Giorgio Moroder, Mark Ronson, Tove Lo, and others, and NS? Even more impressive was the conversation about Zoom while Taylor was in Austin, between the main concerts at the Austin City Limit Festival.
As Taylor recalls, back in 1985 or ’86, people thought Girls On Film would end. But whoever thought they weren’t paying enough attention. Yes, these are the handsome guys who made brilliant videos at the start of MTV. But come back and listen to Save A Prayer, an endless pop gem as soulful and beautiful as it was four decades ago. Or the fast energy Hungry Like Wolves and Rio.
Then, of course, the expert “Come Undone” and “Ordinary World.” A band made a name for themselves musically, even if their insane fame prevented people from giving them what they deserved.
Today, 40 years later, that is no longer the case. Instead, Duran Duran is a career group like U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure, other iconic acts from the new wave era of the 80s. And like their peers, they push their limits as far as possible and with excellent efficiency, as Future Past demonstrates. I spoke with Taylor about the band’s development, exploring its early fame, diverse musical influences, and more.
Steve Baltin: Did you find anything good at the Austin record store?
John Taylor: I did. I’m pretty versatile, and sometimes I buy stuff; I don’t know this artist, but I have to have one. She is an African singer. But then I also get… I love that soul-jazz compilation. So this is a new British band. This is Lovers Rock, they are a London-based company, and all their collections are amazing.