The Importance of Seeing Duran Live?

In the last couple of days, the Daily Duranie 30 Day Challenge has focused on live songs.  Yesterday, we asked what people's favorite song was that they have not heard live.  Today, the question was the least favorite song you have seen live.  Basically, what song have you not seen performed but really want to and which song that you have seen, could you live without.  Yesterday's results varied quite a bit.  33 different songs were given as answers.  The most popular choices were Shadows On Your Side and Late Bar.  Other popular choices were Land, None of the Above, the Chauffeur, Last Chance on the Stairway, Lonely in Your Nightmare, To the Shore, and Hold Back the Rain.  I have to admit that some of the answers surprised me as I have seen a number of these songs live.  What surprised me even more is that a number of fans haven't seen them live.  This really got me thinking.

It seems to me that most fandoms have some way of celebrating what they are interested in.  They all have some event to really look forward to.  It may be the Superbowl for football fans or the convention for Star Trek fans.  I have always felt like tours were ours.  It is what we all seem to look forward to, what keeps us going as fans.  Now, that I know that a number of people haven't been to shows, I have to wonder if my assumption was wrong.  Are tours not as important to the fandom as I thought?  Could it be that tours are the big party for some fans but not others?  Could it be that our fandom wasn't united with this common element of fandom?

I am pretty open about the fact that tours are a big deal in my life.  I look forward to them and definitely countdown to the next one once I have tickets in hand.  Tours represent fun, travel, friends and more.  Yet, even more importantly, they represent shows.  Concerts.  Gigs.  They are filled with seeing the band perform live.  Let's face it.  Duran is a band.  They play music.  The two ways they provide us with the music are the live shows and the albums.  While I love, love, love the albums, I don't know that they are enough for me.  If you look at Duran's history, they actually don't happen all that often.  How many studio albums have there been?  13?  That isn't very many for a band that has been around 30 years.  Are those albums enough to sustain interest?  Enough to keep fans?  I don't think they would be for me.  While I love the music and can listen to the albums over and over again, I know that my fandom is reinforced at most shows.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that a great show actually increases my love for Duran.  Shows makes the music more powerful, more meaningful.  Then, of course, when I see their reactions to the music and their interactions with the crowd, this pushes my interest as well.  Yet, obviously, there are other fans who don't share this outlook with me.

I wonder why people haven't been to shows.  Yes, obviously, I realize that many fans probably have wanted to but haven't been able for a variety of reasons (financial, health, other responsibilities, no shows near them, etc.).  I wonder if there are some fans who don't want to see them live, who don't think it is important.  Is it that their fandom needs are met through the albums?  Maybe they get enough through videos or dvds.  Perhaps, social interactions with other fans give them what they need.  I don't know.  Nonetheless, it seems to me that my initial assumption about tours being essential isn't totally right.  Tours might be key for some of us but not all of us. 

-A

Duran Dreams

Am I the only one who dreams about Duran and/or about touring?  Tell me I'm not.  I'm not that much of a freak, am I?  The dreams related to Duran seem to fit into certain categories:  1.  Fans/Traveling.  2.  Shows themselves.  3. Seeing the band before or after the shows.  In this past week, I have actually had 3 Duran related dreams!!  That's crazy!  (Do you think that is a sign that tour dates will be announced or that I'm insane?  Don't feel like you have to answer that one.)  The first dream I had this week fit in the fans/traveling category.  I dreamt that I was at the first UK show that Rhonda and I are planning on attending.  We met up with a bunch of people and were all walking to the show together.  In the dream, I remember holding all of the concert tickets in my hand.  Is this a sign of excitement?  Some anxiety about the tickets?  I don't know.  We generally seemed to be having fun.  I remember talking about how much the tickets cost with my friend, Robyn, which is weird since she isn't going to those shows.  Then, I realized that Rhonda wasn't there for some reason.  It didn't seem like she was gone or not in the same city just not with the group.  The second dream happened last night.  In this dream, Rhonda and I were with another friend of ours and someone new.  It was like we were training this new person about to tour or something.  As we walked through a parking ramp, it started to flood and water was everywhere.  People's belongings started traveling by us.  We decided to grab things that were cool to keep.  Not sure why.  Then, we got to a house and we came to the conclusion that we should be leaving everything there and not take anything with us.  We weren't going back.  We weren't going home ever.  There seemed to be mixed emotions there.  Yet, we weren't going to give up touring, which is what I think we were supposed to do.  Then, just this afternoon during a nap, I dreamt about being on a train in England that was filled with Duranies.  This train wasn't normal, though, as it traveled through water, up stairs, etc.  We were just getting to our destination when I woke up and I was mad about that!  I still didn't get a show!

Beyond these recent dreams, I have had many other dreams.  Some of those dreams have been of shows themselves.  Most of these shows haven't been normal.  Once I dreamt that they were playing a whole show of James Brown songs.  During the songs, huge James Brown heads moved across the stage.  What was weirder about this dream is that the venue was a Kmart, the old store.  I have had a number of dreams where the band is playing in a school, either a gym or in an auditorium.  More often than not, they played in a gym.  This one always made sense to me.  I have been a teacher for a long time and I'm sure this was a way to bridge these two worlds together.  Why did they play in a gym more often than not?  My school doesn't have an auditorium.  Strangely enough, none of these shows ever took place at my school, just similar schools. 

As for dreams with the band, again, I don't know that my dreams are very common.  I had one dream where I was in a hotel with some friends and saw Roger head to the bar after the show to get a drink.  What did he order?  A strawberry milkshake.  Seriously, WTF?!  The last dream with John was not normal, either.  In it, he was organizing roommates for tours.  I was standing with this group of fans and we were waiting to get matched up so that we didn't have to pay for a room by ourselves.  The thing that really stood out to me in this dream was the diversity of fans.  Everyone came from a different country and I kept wondering how we would be able to communicate. 

I'm sure over the course of my life as a Duranie, I have had a ton more.  I guess it shows that being a fan, being a Duranie is a part of my life, that it does take up a part of my brain.  What about the rest of you?  Any Duran dreams that you wanna share?

-A

30 Day Challenge Update of Yesterday's Results about Favorite YouTube Clip:
Lots of great clips were shared!  I was happy that there were some that I had never seen before, which is pretty rare.  I really enjoyed watching Simon's 50th birthday gift, Pop Quiz from '84, A Day in the Life, old interviews, Nick's stolen moments and more.  On this challenge, there weren't many people who repeated the same response and I think that is very cool!  I hope that everyone got a chance to enjoy the clips that were shared as much as I did!

Twitter-a-thon!

Apparently, John Taylor was one busy guy on twitter yesterday.  I came home after meeting colleagues for a few drinks to discover a TON of tweets from the Bass God himself.  After grumbling about how I'm never home when he is tweeting, I got a snack and sat down to read what he had to say.  Obviously, I wasn't that excited by a lot of his tweets but I did notice some of them, for sure!

The first thing I always look for in John's tweets is news about the band and he did not disappoint on this front.  He mentioned that he would be meeting up with the other guys next weekend.  (Did he mean this weekend, July 30th, or next weekend, August 6th?!)  He was also asked about US tour dates that we had all been hearing rumors of but have seen no evidence of.  His statement was that he had dinner with their agent and that they would be announced soon.  Okay.  So, there are tour dates.  Good to know.  Of course, there is a big part of me that wonders about Simon.  Will he be able to sing at shows?  Do we know that for sure?  Are they waiting to announce until they do know for sure?  How will they know for sure?  Then, of course, I wonder about when these dates will be.  People need sometime to plan and venues certainly need to book well in advance.  They really can't wait too long if these dates are going to be in September/October. 

Beyond the current Duran news, I noticed a few questions about Andy and a few questions about music.  I have to admit that I was surprised by the questions about Andy.  People wanted to know if he missed Andy (said he did), what he thought about his parts (liked them) and whether or not there is discussion about Andy rejoining the band (none).  I can understand fans thinking about Andy and even missing Andy as many fans really think of Duran as the Fab Five.  Yet, I also wonder how many times John gets asked questions about him.  It seems like he gets more questions about Andy than he does about Warren, for example.  It also seems to me that nothing is going to change on that front.  Andy isn't rejoining the band, but neither is Warren.  Duran is what it is now.  That said, I think it is natural for fans to want to know about Duran's past, which is probably why someone asked about RCM.  The question there was about John disliking RCM.  His response was that he never said that he didn't like that album.  Here's the thing about that question:  John may or may not like that album or any other album Duran has done but he isn't going to say that he doesn't like it even if he does.  He still wants to sell copies of it and who would buy an album that the artist himself doesn't like?  Interestingly enough, he later stated that he didn't like music that was "soulless contrived bullshit", which I thought was interesting since that is what RCM represented to a lot of people. 

Beyond the Duran or music related questions, I noticed some questions about religion/faith, addiction, swear words, and gay marriage.  I'm always fascinated by these types of questions.  I definitely understand wanting to get an insight into John's thinking and opinions.  As a John fan, I want to know as much as I can about the guy.  That said, I'm always sort of uncomfortable by these questions.  They seem too personal or too far removed from his job, his role.  Plus, I always worry about fan reactions to his answers.  What if his opinion on gay marriage is the exact opposite of the person who asked the question?  What if his religious ideas are very different from yours?  Is he in danger of offending people?  Yeah, I think he is.  I always feel like he can't win with these questions.  It makes me wonder how he decides which questions to answer.  Does he just look at the next question or does he pick out ones that he likes?  It also makes me wonder what kind of questions fans should ask.  Should we really ask personal questions?  Do we have a right to?  Yes, I realize that there is freedom of speech.  I'm not arguing that.  Of course, we can ask whatever we want.  He can answer whatever we want.  But should we ask whatever we want, even if it personal?  Should we put him in a position to feel like he has to answer something that is beyond his job?  I don't have the answer to these questions.  It is just something I think about after this twitter sessions.  It is food for thought.

-A

Challenge Update:  Day 14 (Favorite performance clip) Results
There were many great performance clips chosen!  The most popular ones were Wild Boys from Working for the Skin Trade, Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile) from Hammersmith, Save a Prayer for Amnesty International in '87, All She Wants Is from Hong Kong '89 (JoSi!!!!), and Late Bar from Songbook.  If you haven't seen these clips, I suggest that you check them out.  Good, good stuff!!!

Challenge Update!

Funny how much more of a response we had yesterday to the challenge - all we had to do was ask what your least favorite video was, and everyone had an opinion!  There isn't a lot of love for the Someone Else Not Me video out there, and Chauffeur is right next in line!  Other mentions were: All She Wants Is, Electric Barbarella, Out of My Mind and Union of the Snake.  There were also some surprises in the mix with: Is There Something I Should Know, Lonely in Your Nightmare and even Planet Earth and The Reflex.   It all makes Amanda and I want to know what people really want!  Then again, I suppose the band has spent much of their career wondering similar things...

Since I have little (as in: none!) news to share today, I will give you a little heads up with regard to our next fun little game we've been working on.  You should watch videos.  Lots of them!  I can't give the game away, but I will say that for those of you out there who have been commenting on our facebook that you haven't seen enough Duran Duran videos to know what you like best or least - you ought to take a little time out and hang out on YouTube.  Just a hint!  As for me, I'm sitting down today and figuring out how I'm going to deal with MY next challenge - paying for my son's braces!!

-R

We Do What We Do (To have them!)

One thing I've noticed in doing this challenge is that for the most part, people are far more willing to post what their favorites are as opposed to what their least favorites are...unless we're talking about management mistakes!  For the past couple of days, we've challenged fans to post what they feel was the best and worst videos/songs that John has done (whether that's solo or with the band).  The participation has weakened slightly, but the favorite video or song that was most mentioned was I Do What I Do.  There were numerous others mentioned that were also close behind - Hey Day, Careless Memories, A-anon and Fields of Eden among them.  Then yesterday we challenged you to post the worst John video or song, and the runaway winner was Do You Believe in Shame.  Other mentions were Violence of Summer, Nasty Ho, There Are Lots and Lots of Ants, and even I Do What I Do.

Interestingly enough, the "best" John challenge really made me think because several people  admitted not knowing any of John's solo music, therefore going with a Duran Duran song (perfectly fine to do!), and some said that unless he was in Duran Duran, they didn't like anything he did.  (also perfectly fine to admit!)  I know Amanda was surprised that more fans didn't really know much of his solo work beyond "I Do What I Do", and I have to agree.  While I readily admit that I had NO idea what John was doing when he wasn't in Duran Duran when I joined my first message board back just prior to the reunion, it didn't take me long to catch up.  While I don't know every word to every song - I do have most, if not all, of his solo work on my trusty iPod.  Some of it, I genuinely enjoy listening to - Hey Day and 6000 miles being among my favorites, and some of it - I Do What I Do and even Nasty Ho to some extent, I don't listen to very often.  Overall though, I do like a lot of John's solo work.

It brings up a very good discussion topic:  how do we really feel about solo work amongst the band?  Is the band only worth following when they're together, or do you/did you take the time to follow them when it wasn't about Duran Duran any longer?  Do you turn on the members as they leave, or do you still have love for them regardless of what choices they've made professionally?

When Roger left Duran Duran, I mourned the loss...but I continued to be a Duran Duran fan.  I always wondered what happened to him, and I'd heard plenty of rumors about him over the years - but when I heard about Freebass and the single Love is Like Oxygen, I searched all over for a good copy, and I still play it to this day.  I learned to endure through other drummers, going to the extent of not even looking at the drummer when I'd see them live. (this is no joke and my husband continues to torment me about it even now.  It's annoying!)  I still loved the members who left, and I missed them at Duran Duran shows, but I'd make the effort to see what they were doing otherwise, as if that somehow made it all just a little bit easier.  I don't know, for me it was as though because Andy and John were still recording, they didn't completely just disappear off of the planet.  I didn't make the same concerted effort to follow them as I did Duran Duran, but every now and then I'd try to play catch up.  Even as Andy left the second time, I wished him absolutely no ill-will, and I still read his blogs, listen to his demos, and get excited as I hear of news from him.  All of that said, I still believe that the band collectively as a whole is better than they are as solo acts...but if you can't have that...I guess hearing their ongoing work is better than nothing.  What about you?

-R

A Blog from the new Daddy!

I was up and raring to go today, which is unusual given that it's Monday - a day I normally dread.  It always seems that no matter how "together" I've got things, come Monday morning it's a complete free-for-all around here, even though it's summer and technically, this time of year should be easy!  This morning though, I knew I had quite a bit to accomplish in a short amount of time, and although my back was screaming for me to slow down, and I practically needed to physically prop my eyes open with toothpicks, I was up well before I needed this morning.  (my brain woke up before the rest of my body, so to speak!)  I got downstairs to see that my favorite drummer had posted a blog - which is no small feat for him these days considering he is once again a new papa!

It was a good way to start the day, seeing that things are going well in the Taylor household, even if sleep is at a deficit these days.  He mentioned that seeing his new son has been a blessing in disguise, and that's a great way to look at it.  Sometimes I guess enforced vacations have their point!  He also commented that sometimes we have to have things taken away from us to truly appreciate what we have.  Roger couldn't be more right.  I have no doubt that the band has experienced that moment of realizing what all could be lost and how much they'd miss it....and I know that as fans, we've experienced very much the same.  I still think back on the months prior to my UK trip in May, and out of everything I considered "could" happen, never did I even think about the tour simply not happening as being an option!  To be honest, I'm still sitting here shaking my head.  I mean, who really thought all of this would roll on down the mountain??  Not me.  Definitely not me.

Of course, I've found my own blessings in all of this.  It turns out that that the band really IS human (for a while I really kind of wondered!), I made some new friends, and I even learned how to manage in a completely different country for 9 days.  I didn't even land myself into trouble!  I'm planning to return for the rescheduled shows, we've secured tickets for the shows we intend to see - and get this - our seats are even better than the ones we had before!  We still have tickets to sell for the shows we're unable to go to (inquire within if you're looking for decent seats for Nottingham or London!), and we've yet to buy plane tickets, but that will happen soon.  Still have to consider hotels, but we'll get to that point in due time.

I'm excited that I'll be in the 3rd or 4th row for the shows I'm attending - pretty much right smack in front of Dom for all of them, and I'm going to see the triumph on the faces of the band for myself.  No, this year definitely did not turn out as any of us intended, but somehow I suspect the outcome will be that it turned out exactly as it needed for all of us.  After all, I won't lie: sitting there in the audience as they play that first UK show is going to feel like we've all scaled a huge mountain together, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the band shine in a way I'm sure I've never seen prior.  It will be worth every bit of the wait it took to get there, I have no doubt.

I'm coming for ya, Roger, John, Simon, Nick AND Dom...........again!!

-R

John Taylor: Solo Artist

Before I dive into today's blog topic, I did want to comment, briefly, on yesterday's challenge question.  The question was:  Worst storyline in a song or video.  Interestingly enough, the answers were all over the board.  In fact, I wouldn't say that there was one song/video that "won" the challenge.  Some of the answers that were given multiple times were:  Shotgun, New Moon on Monday, Is There Something I Should Know, Falling Down, Electric Barbarella, Someone Else Not Me, Violence of Summer, Skin Trade and All She Wants Is.  Interesting!

Today's and tomorrow's questions focus on John Taylor.  Today's question is:  Best John song or video.  In answering this question, many people want to know if it must be a solo song/video or one with Duran.  Obviously, we have taken every answer.  That said, I would love to know people's favorites of his solo career.  It was fairly clear in the responses that many people have not heard much, if any, of his solo stuff.  This, of course, could be the topic of the blog in itself as it seems to me that some fans dive in with much intensity and drive  in order to find everything related to their favorite whatever and others don't.  Bet you all could guess which type of fan I am?!  ;)

It seems to me that John's work still gets a truly varied response.  Some people love it simply because it's John and others hate it.  Perhaps, some of those people hate it because they don't think he has a great voice or didn't like the varied musical genres that came through.  That's fair.  Still others might not like the fact that he went solo.  Speaking for myself and as a John fan, Duran didn't feel like Duran at all without him.  It was upsetting to learn that he had left and definitely didn't make me want to pay attention to the band much.  I will also admit that I didn't really understand why he left the band, at first.  My initial impression was that he left because..well..the band wasn't doing well, musically or commercially or both.  Then, of course, I discovered that there was much more to it.  It seems to me that John left to sort his life out, to get himself together, to deal with some serious emotional demons (addiction, divorce and more).  The band didn't seem like the setting to do that.  From everything I understand about being a member of the band, all decisions and moves must be made to help the band.  It seems to me that John might have needed to put himself first and couldn't do that in that setting.  Maybe he could have but I wonder what the consequences would have been if he had stayed.  Would he have made it?  Would he be like he is today?  Somehow, I doubt it.  As someone who likes where the band is now, really, why would I want to change the history at all?

Now, where does that leave John's music?  As I got to know John's stuff, I couldn't help but to compare it to Duran.  Obviously, his music varies a great deal from Duran and takes on different styles that simply wouldn't work for Duran but that isn't what catches my attention.  I noticed a dramatic difference in lyrics.  It seems to me that Simon is rarely personal (although that is changing more and more as he gets older).  I could probably easily list the songs that are personal to Simon and some of the more personal songs are still hidden in a metaphor of sorts.  Most of Simon's lyrics are either silly, sexual or strange.  I'm not criticizing him for this.  I like that but it hasn't really allowed me to get much of an insight into who Simon is and what makes Simon tick.  John's lyrics, on the other hand, are mostly personal and very personal, at that.  I'll be honest here.  In many ways, they are so personal that I respond in a protective manner to them.  He just puts himself out there so much that I worry that people will use this to hurt him.  Then, of course, my other reaction is awe.  I think it is so completely brave of him to be so open, to let the world see the real him, to see his fears, his anxieties, his hopes, and his feelings about himself and his family.  This openness made me a different kind of John Taylor fan.  It was no longer about his looks for me.  It is way more about his courage to be so open, his courage to make tough decisions, and his courage to be himself.  These are qualities that are much more important than his looks or his fashion sense or even his bass playing, at least to me. 

I hope Duranies take the opportunity to find his music and get to see him in a different light.  I feel very lucky that I did.

-A

P.S. If you are looking for song suggestions, I'll be happy to help!  ;)

Take a Moment to Appreciate

Yesterday's question for the Daily Duranie 30 Day Duran Challenge was:  Best storyline in a video or song.  There were 19 different songs/videos chosen with Nightboat coming out as the winner.  Behind that was New Moon on Monday.  I wasn't surprised by those choices.  After all, they featured the band talking in them, in some versions, anyway.  Seeing people talk about these videos made me smile as I thought about watching these videos as a kid with my best friend at the time, which is what I planned to talk about today.  Then, this morning, I checked online find out the latest news.  Like many people, I'm completely stunned and saddened at the tragic events in Norway.  While looking at the latest development there, I see breaking news.  Singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London home at the age of 27.  I haven't seen anything about cause of death, but I suspect drugs had something to do with it as she had a long history of battling drug addiction and had checked herself out of treatment a month ago.  These events made me realize how lucky we are as Duranies, generally.

When I stop to think about the long history of Duran Duran, I almost always acknowledge the fact that all of the members, past and present are still with us.  We are so fortunate in this as there were a number of close calls that we know about as fans.  Obviously, in light of today's news about Amy Winehouse, I can acknowledge that the band is lucky that no one died as a result of drug use, which very easily could have happened through overdoses or accidents.  Not only are we lucky that no member died from drugs, but we are also lucky that this concern is no longer present.  I, for one, am very proud of the steps John has taken, for example, to not only get clean but to stay that way.   

Of course, the band members have also survived other scary events.  I'm sure that many of us remember when Simon's boat, Drum, capsized in 1985, which could have resulted in not only his death but many of his fellow crew members.  Simon has had other accidents in his life, including the one on the motorbike, that he has been lucky to have survived as well.  Of course, they and we have been fortunate that they haven't suffered from other, deadly, more common ailments.  Yes, they have had their share of sickness, like we all have, but nothing that I know of that was serious.  To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been cancer or serious heart disease, for instance.  Goodness, when I think of many of their associates, I realize how fortunate they have been.  Look at Power Station, for example.  We have lost everyone involved besides John and Andy.  Somehow, someway, our guys keep going. 

These recent tragedies remind me that even though we have been lucky so far when it comes to the health and well-being of the band members, we won't always be.  Simon's vocal difficulties showed us that we can't and shouldn't assume that everything will be perfect forever.  It simply won't be.  The band may end tomorrow or they may end twenty years from now.  Therefore, we should remember to appreciate the now and appreciate what we have.  Isn't that really what the band was saying with AYNIN?  I think it was.  It is upsetting, though, that it sometimes takes canceled tours, horrific events and personal losses to remind us of that.  Perhaps, we should all take a moment each day to just be thankful for what we all have.

-A

Fan Criticism

I love Duran Duran.  This isn't a secret.  At this point in my life, my love for them is almost unconditional as I have loved them for decades.  I can't imagine that I would stop loving them, stop being a Duranie for anything.  That said, I don't love everything that they do and I am not afraid to say so.  I'll post my opinions here, on message boards, on facebook, on twitter, wherever.  I'll tell them when I think they have done a really great job and when they missed the mark.  To me, this is what being a fan means.  It means that I care about them and love them unconditionally while having opinions about everything they do.  I thought that this is how most fans are.  I started to wonder yesterday when reading the responses to yesterday's question about most overrated Duran song or video. 

Rhonda explained the term, overrated, on here well, I thought.  Picking a song or video for most overrated isn't about hating a Duran song or video.  You could even like or love what you deem most overrated.  The point is that the song/video is often stated as something grand, fabulous, magnificent and you just can't get there.  In my head, this praise can come from the fans.  Perhaps, it is a song that everyone seems to love when the band plays it live or a video that people couldn't get enough of and you just didn't feel the same.  In response to this challenge, many people came up with good answers, I thought.  The results were very close.  The Reflex was the big winner followed extremely closely by Hungry Like the Wolf.  Behind the lead was Save a Prayer, Wild Boys, Girls on Film, the Chauffeur and Notorious.  I thought it was interesting that all of these songs were standards in their live performances and, yet, many people thought they weren't all that.  While these results were interesting (and they always are!), what was more interesting was that some people (I'm not talking a few people here but MANY people) couldn't or wouldn't give answers.  Why?  By the way, by asking this question, I'm not criticizing them just wondering the reasons.

It seems to me that some people couldn't or wouldn't give answers for a few possible reasons.  One possible reason is that no song came to mind quickly and people didn't want to search for an answer.  Another possible reason is that they really love every song.  A third reason could be that they had answers but didn't want anyone to know what those answers are.  I had a number of thoughts based on these possibilities.  I guess I can't really see someone loving every song even by a favorite band, especially a band like Duran.  They have been around for a long time and have an extensive catalog.  On top of that, their catalog is not uniform as there are some dramatic differences between songs like Notorious to Before the Rain to Box Full O Honey to Rio.  Thus, if this isn't the case, what could the deal be?

Could it be that they didn't want anyone to know their answers?  If so, why is this the case?  It could be that they didn't want people to see them doing something that would seem like criticism of their favorite band.  I could get that.  When I'm in public or with non-Duranies, I would say that everything Duran does is great.  I would never let the outside world see their imperfections.  Never.  Yet, I have no problem giving criticism or questioning what they do among Duranies.  I know that we all love them, generally.  Therefore, any criticism is done with love.  It isn't meant to harm but meant to improve the next thing they do, if possible.  It also shows that we are thinking beings even within fandom.  Could this be the case with yesterday's question?  Could it be that these fans didn't want non-Duranies to see criticism?  Maybe.  I don't know.  Of course, it could be that they didn't want fans to see it, either.

Why would fans not share with other fans their thoughts about the band's songs or videos?  I don't really know but could speculate that they might think that other fans would judge them.  What if I went on every Duran message board and on every social networking site and started criticizing the album, Rio?  How would that go down with other Duranies?  Probably not well.  Some people would be shocked.  Some might be angry.  Some might think less of me for thinking that.  Perhaps, they think that fans should love everything the band has ever done.  I don't know.  Maybe they think that fans should "publicly" love everything the band has ever done.  Maybe they were thinking of music critics and the media which never gave Duran credit and didn't want to seem like those negative people.  Again, I don't know. 

No matter the reason for the non-responses, I was once again reminded of something I love about fandom.  I love that we aren't all the same.  We approach questions and events about the band differently.  This is good.  It makes things interesting and it keeps discussion going.  It helps to keep fandom alive.  Now, of course, I'll be watching for the results of today's challenge:  Best Storyline in a Song or Video.  Have fun and keep playing, Duranies!  :)

-A

Back to an Ordinary World

Today is going to be a rough one for me.  I'm very tired.(Probably not unlike Roger or Gisella Taylor!)  Coffee is indeed my friend.  I have been up since about 2:30 in the morning CA time.  Why?  Well, today marks a bittersweet (although I'm having difficulty finding the 'sweet' right now) moment in my the life of my family.  The Atlantis shuttle landed at about 3am my time - and really it could have been earlier than that but I was half asleep as we watched it land on CSPAN2 and I've lost track of the time.  Yes, we actually watched it land because that shuttle is a very important part of my husband's family.  My husband was raised in a Boeing family, which was once named Rockwell, which before that was North American Aviation and a few other names that I'm omitting because I can't remember them.  His dad was an engineer (a real-life rocket scientist, to be honest!) - and yes, he really did design part of the engine.  Don't ask me which part, because that's typically when I start to tune out...  He eventually retired from Boeing, but Walt's brother and sister still work there (or consult for them) in some capacity, and all of them worked on the space shuttle program in various capacities.  He has other family members that also work(ed) on the shuttle program.  My husband has all sorts of space memorabilia that his dad sent to him over the years as he went to launches at Mission Control, and never once did Walt look at them as being more important than he does today.  It's as though a part of his childhood ended today, and for his dad - well, today marks something even deeper.  He lived Boeing through and through, and it's inconceivable to him that the US would simply stop funding space exploration.  Yet we have.  I'm not writing the blog to discuss politics, only to point out that all things, even things that we never think will end, do find their end, whether it's marked with an exclamation point, question mark, or simply a period.   So, our family finds a new beginning and we carry on.

Yesterday, the challenge was to name the song that shouldn't have made it off of the editing room floor.  I couldn't wait to read your answers - and the answers were all over the map!  There were some definite surprises though, for instance - I had NO idea that there were so many Union of the Snake haters out there!!!  I pictured some of you taking that record and roasting it slowly over an open fire until it gave in and melted, dripping into the hellish fury below.  Following closely behind were Zoom In, I Take the Dice, and even Bedroom Toys.  There were some other surprising answers out there though that only got a mention or two, such as New Moon on Monday, Breath after Breath, and even Sunrise!  There were many, many more songs mentioned - but those were among the ones that surprised me most.  Wow, even Sunrise is disliked by someone out there.  Who knew?  That band has absolutely no chance of ever making us all happy, do they?

For today, the challenge is to name the most overrated song.  I realize that many of you (including myself) have already made our choice and posted, and that's fine.  However, for those of you still on the fence, I want to clarify what overrated really means.  We're talking about songs that may have been hits, or songs that the band has really promoted as being amazing, and yet when you hear/heard it, you are/were either underwhelmed or in hindsight you see that it's just not "all that and a bag of chips".  Or crisps if you're in the UK!  I would imagine that for most of us, there's still some dislike in there though, and that's OK - but I wanted to clarify what was meant purely because someone mentioned that it seemed like the same question as the day before.  I hope that helps someone out there!

Now, why did I title the blog using Ordinary World?   Well, if you're one of my personal facebook friends - you already know my answer for today!  Happy Thursday and have a great weekend everyone!  Oh, and I hope that little Julian learns that sleep is not entirely overrated so that his parents can sleep...and if anyone wants to fly me to Sicily in August, and take care of my children while I'm gone, I'm totally up for it.  :D


-R

Katy Kafe with Simon 7/20/11

Happy Wednesday to all of you...it's been a busy morning so far, and now I'm taking a quick moment to throw down the blog before heading off to the next "adventure".  (That would be cleaning.  Joy.)  

There's absolutely no doubt that many fans feel the band completely missed the boat when they passed up putting up Beautiful Colors on Astronaut.  That said, a few other notable songs mentioned are:  Tel Aviv (the Air Studio version), Matter of Fact, Seven and the Ragged Tiger and Virus - which was only put on the Japanese release of Astronaut.  I'm still enjoying seeing the various choices people make each day - and I am especially looking forward to the results from today's question, "Which song should have never made it off of the editing room floor?"  I had a tough time choosing, did you?

This morning I was able to sit down and actually listen to the most recent Katy Kafe with Simon.  I'm going to admit that normally, I'm a little less than motivated to sit down and listen, primarily because my house is loud, and I never have that long to actually sit in a chair... However, once I saw that it was Simon in the Kafe, I was ready to sit down with a cup of coffee and give it some time.  Naturally, I was as curious as I imagine everyone else was to hear his voice and see how things were doing.  In typical Simon fashion - he was ready to tell quite a story as soon as the Kafe began.  We were treated to hearing all about his motorcycle issues.  All I really know about motorcycles: 1) We have one in my garage.  2) I'm afraid to ride it.  3) My husband has been literally thrown off of it because he's a lousy driver and takes too many chances.  He's really lucky to have come away from that "incident" without breaking a single bone....either by the accident or by what I wanted to do to him when I found out what he'd done.  Men.  *sigh*    Anyway, all I know about Simon's motorcycle:  1) It's not working properly.  2) I could HEAR the annoyance in his voice. (characterized mainly by the big huge sigh he gave when beginning the tale!!)  3) There was some stuff about petrol and paint chips in the gas tank.  I began to tune out, and I'm not even going to lie about that - I'm female, it's what we do.  

I immediately snapped to attention again when Katy casually asked about how the voice was coming along (you know I was waiting for this, and so were the rest of you!!).  Simon sounded totally positive.  He's singing again, doing the "easy" songs, and was able to hit all of his notes, including notes he hadn't been able to hit in a few months.  He says he's not 100% yet, but he feels positive that he'll get there.  Thank goodness.  Katy was right when she said that "it is what it is.  It will heal, but in it's own time."  I also chuckled a little when she said that "the fans were letting their imaginations run away."  That's fair.  I don't know if she can really blame us though.  While I realize that she tells us what she can, a lot of times that leaves VERY little that she can say, and over the years we've all come to understand that, and a lot of us also know that there are many times when we either won't get the full story, or we won't even get the REAL story.  It's difficult to ascertain when we're hearing the party line - or we're getting the real thing.  It's easy to water down the details, no?  That said, I also am aware of just how far off the beaten path some fans were getting with their imaginations, so it was very good to hear Simon tell it how it is from his point of view.  I think we'll be hearing even better news very, very soon.  *crosses fingers*  

Katy also went to bat for us and tried to get some super secret information about any songs being included in the setlists from "way back when" (read: my childhood, and possibly yours!).  Simon wouldn't give.  At this point I pictured a dark room with a single wooden slat chair and a  lonely lightbulb hanging from a socket in the ceiling.  "Ve vill MAKE you talk!"  Or not.  I guess we'll be waiting on that one....yeah, I love surprises, and he's right that if he told us then it'd take the fun out of hearing the set for the first time.  I can't help but quip that yes, all of that is true - it's just that *I* was supposed to hear MY set back in May!  Yes, I'm whining, and I'll stop.  Oh well.  December is only what, 5 months away... if I don't do any other shows??  *sigh*  Thanks for trying, Katy!

Anyone know anything about Cricket?  I always figured it was pretty similar to American baseball, but Simon sure put that notion to rest.  I had no idea that when you go to a Cricket game, you're probably only going to see 1/5 of the action because the blasted game can last for 5 days.  DAYS?? That's insanity and more proof that Americans are into instant gratification.  Our games are really long if they go for more than say, 6 hours!  Then Simon taught us that even then, the game can end in a draw. (or as we American's say - a "tie")  I say "What in the hell is the point then?"  Not only do you have to buy a ticket for each day of the game, but then at the end of it there might not even be a winner!  Ah yes, it's the "sport" of it.  Well, they can keep it.  I'll stick to....well...I don't really do sports much.  I spend too much money going to see Duran Duran! (and if they want to play a concert for 5 days, I'm all over that idea!)

A few of my thoughts, as if you haven't read enough:

* He sounds good and definitely happy.  Not at all tired or frustrated unless he's speaking of his motorcycle.  

* The one thing that struck me during the Kafe was when Simon said that the whole experience with his voice was frustrating, and even demoralizing.  Well, that statement humbled ME in return.  I've said over and over that this experience has changed me forever as a fan, and even as a fan of Simon's.  I see him so much differently now, and while I'm looking forward to seeing him get back on stage and be the onstage "Simon" I know, I like the man he's allowed us to see throughout all of this.  

* I don't know about anyone else, but I've noticed that more and more people are openly referring to Simon as Charley. (or is it Charlie?  Why can't I remember these things when I need?!?)  I seem to recall reading in more than one place over the years that he reserves that name for close friends...perhaps it's what he goes by offstage??  I really don't know, but I never used to see anyone actually calling him that, and should a FAN ever call him that - well - we'd be killed on sight by the daggers coming from Simon's eyes.  I follow the rules, so his name is and always will be Simon.  Besides, I like living.  Anyway, I've just seen his bandmates call him that, Katy referred to him that way in the Kafe today, and I just took note of it.  He's still Simon to me.  

I think that's it for today.  Be good humans and I'll be back tomorrow! - R

Seriously Underrated

OK, I admit it.  I'm behind.  Lately I've been lucky if I can keep up with blog posting or even keeping up with my friends posts on Facebook, much less tally up the responses to the daily challenge.  Thankfully, Amanda is much better at multitasking than I am.  :)   She's been keeping track, and we've been talking about the creative answers that people have given via facebook or twitter.

To begin with, thanks to everyone who is participating in the challenge, for being supportive, and for making us feel good by telling us how great we are for coming up with it - all we really did was change up the daily challenges to suit our own needs!  We'll take the little ego boost though, and say a hearty "Thank you" in return!!  We hope you're having fun with it!  Amanda and I had fun coming up with ideas for the daily challenge!  This first challenge wasn't meant to be too terribly difficult...but I have some ideas for another fun game that requires actually watching the videos that might prove to be a little more difficult...but I need to fine tune it and see what Amanda thinks before we post it. (probably in August just as you're all going crazy with US presales and "plotting"...because I know you won't possibly have enough going on to occupy yourselves!)

Since I forgot to comment on the challenge for Sunday, which was "Song that should have been a single", the answers we saw were fairly mixed - but there were a few clear standouts worth mentioning!  Nice was the #1 answer, followed closely by New Religion, then Hold Back the Rain and Friends of Mine.  A number of other songs were also mentioned though - Leopard, Too Bad You're So Beautiful, Palomino, Early Summer Nerves were among them.  One thing that I found to be curious, even in my OWN answer, was that we all seemed to only choose more recent songs.  Not many answers were from "way back when".... I can tell you that in my case, it's because without actually looking at the song lists, I forget half of the songs they've got!  (Yes, I'm admitting publicly that my memory is failing.  Where can I really go from here?)  So, I went with the easy choice - something I could actually remember!  Amanda and I spoke about this today on the phone, and we theorized that perhaps people chose more recent songs from recent albums because on those recent albums, there have been many a discussion about where the fans have felt the band misstepped with regard to choosing singles.  The more recent albums have not always been commercial successes, and to many fans - it's due to the singles that were chosen.  With regard to albums of the past, many of those have done well - therefore there wasn't as much discussion as to why song "X" wasn't chosen as a single.  I'm not necessarily sure that singles really determine much with regard to the success of an album these days, regardless, the discussions are still out there.

Yesterday, the challenge of the day was "the most underrated song".  This drew a fairly long list of answers as well, but the most mentioned was Serious, which actually surprised me.  Not because I don't think the song is worthy, but because it's from Liberty - an album that isn't necessarily in the list of most "well-liked" DD albums.  On a personal note, it's my most favorite song throughout the 90's, but that's just me.  The answers to this challenge were spread pretty equally throughout the Duran Duran discography...which tells me that there's a lot of love for this band, throughout their entire history.

I'm looking forward to reading tomorrows answers!!   Hope no one is melting from the heat out there!!  -R

Tour dates soonish, or nowish?

Unless you've been underground hibernating today, or at the doctors office (read: me)...you know that tour date rumors for the US have been a-flying.  Obviously there are some Duranies out there with the coveted info...or at least they're pretending to have what the rest of us want.

Here are the facts as I know them:  The band hasn't announced dates since they canceled the European dates over the summer, while we all wait for Simon to recover his voice.  Originally the band's camp had said they would be announcing dates around the beginning of July, but it is now the 18th and of course we've heard nothing of new dates - again, waiting for Simon to get back to 100%. The band has rehearsed a few times, and the last I'd read - Simon actually sung all of his notes, although that day he also said that his neck felt like a London bus had been parked on it.  Not sure what that was about...  Just a week ago or so, John had said they were going to rehearse again in a few (3?) weeks.  Then today, all sorts of dates are announced on DDM.

I don't make any habit of going to DDM these days - so my information has come to me via "trusted sources".  I hear that the US tour is going to start in NYC, and that there will be dates in most of the big cities, including a couple of dates in LA and of course a date in Vegas.  I'm actually surprised they're coming back to my neck of the woods (assuming the rumors are true), simply because they've already been here and played a few shows, including Coachella.  I just wouldn't have thought they'd come back, in favor of spending their time playing in places they hadn't already been to where they had at least half a shot of getting airplay.  Then again, perhaps that's not the goal at this point.  For the life of me, I have no idea - and I'm glad it's not my job to know!

You would think I'd be neck-deep in the plotting and planning, even though all we've really got are some rumors, but the truth is that at least for today, I've been stuck in my own reality.  The blog is late today, and it's only been at just this moment where I've had the focus or the time to be able to write.  You see, today I was able to close a door on a chapter of REAL LIFE.  For the past year, I've been having a nagging worry in the back of my mind that would come up to the surface every now and then.  Last year, during a normal doctor visit, my doctor found a lump in my breast, and while she felt it was benign, this set off a chain of events that has taken a full year to put to complete rest.  I went in for my first mammogram and ultrasound a year ago - where indeed the lump was found to be just a regular fibroid.  Then I had the joy of going back in 6 months, only to be told that I got to come back again in 6 months.  In between the mammograms, I managed to push the worry to the back of my mind and focus on being a mom, but each time I would make the next appointment, I'd set myself up for another week or so of worry before my fears would be relieved.

Truth be told, having a mammogram is NOT a big deal.  Mine didn't even hurt, and they take just a few minutes.  It's a lot less invasive than some other "regular" tests that we women endure, and yet for me, having the mammogram is SO much more stressful.  I never think twice about whether or not my pap smear will come back with anything less than good results, so why do I worry so much about the mammogram.  I don't even have it in my family tree.  1 in 7 women have breast cancer, and I know a great percentage of those women recover and go on to lead long lives. I also understand that conversely, death is a part of life, but as I discussed with God this morning, I'm not ready for it yet.  I've still got plenty to do around here, and I insist that I see my kids all the way through their childhood.  That's not negotiable.  It's just knowing that any one of us could be the 1 in 7 that's so darn frightening, and I myself know of two women who have died from breast cancer, and they weren't that much older than I am right now.  That's scary, and that's the place I've been inhabiting since I made my appointment to go back in for my follow-up mammogram.

So today I spent my morning having yet another mammogram, and then having an ultrasound.    The mammogram was quick and painless, but the ultrasound took quite a while.  Then, the doctor came in to see me because the radiologist thought she'd found something new on my scans.  There's not really much scarier than having the doctor tell you she found something suspicious and she wants to do a scan herself before doing a biopsy.  It was in that brief moment that I thought I might actually lose what breakfast I ate - and my first thought was that I couldn't possibly stay any longer - I needed to pick my youngest up from preschool!  However, I laid back down on the table, and after several more agonizing moments - the doctor felt confident that what they thought they saw on my initial scans was basically, nothing.   Then she told me that I could come back again in a year - which is normal at my age.

Insert HUGE sigh of relief here.

What does all of that have to do with Duran Duran?  Well, nothing except that none of us are getting younger - and if you're 40 and haven't gone for a mammogram yet - GO.  If I can do it, anyone can.  It's funny because when I was in college, I was in a sorority named Zeta Tau Alpha, and our main philanthropy was the Susan B. Komen organization, which is a charity for breast cancer awareness, fundraising and support.  We'd do the fundraisers or help out with things and I never made the connection between the philanthropy and myself.  Never once did I really understand the importance of such a thing while I was in school, and I probably didn't even think twice about the possibility that one day, it could be me needing that help.  You don't really think much about 40 when you're 20, I guess.  Now here I am at 40 and I finally get the point.  I don't want breast cancer to be the reason than any of you, or I miss the next Duran Duran shows.

-R

Duran's Singles

The Daily Duranie 30 Day DD Challenge continues to have a lot of participants, which is great!  Yesterday's question was:  Your favorite video.  Unlike the first day's question, this was a much closer result.  Only 20 videos were listed as opposed to the 34 different songs that were given as answers the previous day.  Obviously, many videos were left out.  Once again, Save a Prayer led the informal poll but was followed very closely by New Moon on Monday, Nightboat and Rio.  Interesting to note is that Nightboat was not given as a favorite song.  Today's question in the Daily Duranie 30 Day DD Challenge is:  What is one song from an album that should have been a single but wasn't?  This question has brought up some discussion and has gotten me thinking.

As previously discussed in this blog, singles used to be a big deal and now not so much.  Obviously, this question implies that, at some point, the wrong single was chosen or that another single should have or could have been released and wasn't.  If the right singles were chosen, perhaps, more records would be sold, popularity would have increased, etc. Rhonda asked a question this morning that is a good one.  Who exactly decides the singles?  My follow-up question is why choose the ones they did?

In thinking about these questions, I started thinking about the songs that they chose.  We all know that Planet Earth was their first single.  My understanding and I could be wrong is that they thought Girls on Film would be the strongest single but didn't want to release that one first.  This leads back to Rhonda's question.  Who was the "they"?  I don't have the answer for this.  I suspect that the label had a lot to say about it.  Perhaps, the band could say that they would like such and such to be the single but that the label could veto their suggestion.  At other times, the label could just pick the single.  Isn't that what happened with Careless Memories?  We know that CM didn't do as well as PE or GOF and I heard/read that the band blamed the label for insisting on that one.  So, what about the rest of Duran's career? 

There were many singles off of Rio.  I have heard many times that the band doesn't like My Own Way and that was chosen as the first single.  Maybe they still didn't get much say then or decided they didn't like it later.  Of course, we know that they have been successful in getting some songs released as singles.  The record label didn't like the Reflex after Nile Rodgers got a hold of it.  Yet, the band pushed and they were right to do so as that song hit number one in a lot of places, including the US.  Singles seem to become more problematic as the career moved forward with a couple of exceptions.  There is a scene in Three to Get Ready when the band is talking about how they would like to have the next single released right now as Notorious wasn't doing as well as they had hoped (even though it really did relatively well, at least here in the US).  Yet, it seemed that the label wasn't on the same page.  Of course, many people have questioned the choice of Meet El Presidente as it did not do well at all.  Then again, the singles off of Big Thing and Liberty didn't do super well, either.  Liberty, in fact, was the first album that didn't have at least 3 singles.  Again, I'm left to wonder whose decision that was.

Then, Ordinary World and Come Undone happened.  Those singles were super successful.  Who knew or understood that these songs would be popular and would renew interest in Duran?  What criteria was used to decide these songs or any of the songs?  Clearly, these questions became more and more popular in the fan community once the band reunited.  Many have argued that Sunrise wasn't right for the first single off of Astronaut, particularly because it was on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack, which had been out for a long time.  Then, others have wondered and continue to wonder about the choice in What Happens Tomorrow?  How come there wasn't a third single off of Astronaut?  Was that a record label choice?  The questioning over singles continued and intensified during Red Carpet Massacre.  Many fans have argued that the reason that album wasn't a success is because of the poor choice for a single.  Many didn't like Falling Down and felt like the band should be advertising the work with Timbaland.  Again, who made that decision and why?  Again, Rhonda pointed out that now they don't have a label to dictate, veto or compromise with.  Will this decision about singles be different now? 

No matter what happens from here.  It is obvious that the choice of singles or lack of choice of singles is a discussion that will continue within the fandom forever because it is a classic case of what-if.  I think that every fan has a criteria that she or he would like the powers that be to use when deciding singles.  Some fans want more upbeat, make you want to dance type songs and others would prefer something along the line of Save a Prayer.  The reality is that singles are supposed to get the public's attention and to sell more albums.  That said, figuring out which songs would do that can't be easy even though we have our opinions about it!

-A

Disrespect of Duran

Before I dive into the blog of the day, I wanted to give an update on the Daily Duranie 30 Day Challenge!  I'm completely thrilled with how many people participated yesterday and loved seeing the challenge on other people's facebook and twitter accounts.  Yesterday's question was:  Your favorite Duran song.  34 different songs were chosen, from what I could see.  These songs spanned the whole catalog from the first album to AYNIN and included b-sides and demos.  The most popular song on this informal poll was Save a Prayer followed closely by the Chauffeur, New Religion and Ordinary World.  Today's challenge is:  Your favorite DD video! 

Now back to the regularly scheduled blog! 

When I became a Duranie, I was very young, during the height of their popularity when their songs were always on the radio, their videos were always on MTV and their faces were on many magazine covers.  Yet, as a kid, I remember listening to the radio and hearing the DJs just make fun of them.  I also can recall the kids at school doing this as well.  I didn't really understand how they could be so popular, on one hand, and completely bashed, on the other.  As years went by, it continued to be obvious that rock critics and the media treated Duran badly and disrespectfully.  Now, that I'm MUCH older, I have really started to wonder why.  Yes, of course, some people might argue that it doesn't matter and that I shouldn't care.  Yeah, yeah.  That's not the point of this blog post.  It isn't about why respect matters; it is about how and why this disrespect came to be.  After doing some thinking, making some observations, reading both older and current articles on Duran, and listening to other people, I have some possible reasons.

First, Duran demonstrated a lifestyle that didn't fit the reality of the times.  What images come to mind when the general public is asked about Duran Duran?  I suspect that the first one might be that image of them on the yacht in Rio, wearing those lovely Anthony Price suits.  Maybe then they will think of them on the beaches in Sri Lanka, which appeared to be an exotic beach vacation filled with beautiful images and champagne.  These images and more show a young group of guys with a lot of money, living what seems like a carefree, jet set lifestyle filled with travel, beautiful women and expensive suits.  Obviously, we know that there is way more to them than this but if people just wanted to look at the surface, this is what they would see in 1982/1983.  Unfortunately, this isn't what the rest of the world was like as many parts of the world were struggling, economically and socially.  Neither the US nor the UK was free from problems.  Could it be that to some people Duran was being disrespectful to the struggles that people were going through?  Would they have gotten respect if they hadn't shown these images in which they appeared to be made of money and didn't have a lot of responsibilities?  I don't know, but it certainly seems possible.  Of course, what some might not have understood is that people liked the fantasy, liked the escape that Duran seemed to show.

A second possible reason for the disrespect towards Duran is their fans.  Let's face it.  In the early to mid-80s, most of their fans were young and female.  I think that anything that kids like gets dismissed by critics as being cheesy, unworthy.  Then, if a lot of kids like it, it must be really bad.  Why?  I guess the assumption here is that kids don't know enough to judge what is good or bad, right?  They don't know enough music or have enough knowledge to know, as least is the theory.  On top of being young, most of us were also female.  Could the "critics" be making the assumption that these young girls weren't really interested in the music at all but instead were interested in Simon LeBon taking his shirt off?  Did the fans seem more interested in John raising his eyebrow in a flirty manner?  If so, I'm sure it didn't help that the concerts were so loud that it was hard to actually hear the instruments.  I suspect that it didn't help that Duran was splashed across every teen magazine out there and were featured on many random items from a board game to pajamas (I had both!).  Of course, we realize that these products sold and that they helped to sell albums, but, to the critics, was it enough to dismiss them without a second thought?  Would it have been different if there seemed to be more males as fans?  I remember seeing a clip in Behind the Music where Nick says something about the rock critics didn't like them because they were for girls.  This implies that other bands that seem to be more for boys got more respect.

Speaking of that, I wonder how much of it is because Duran wasn't more...er..uh..masculine.  They wore makeup and cared about what they looked like.  I don't know about the rest of the world but this was a big deal in the Midwest.  I heard many comments about how they must be gay then, which, of course, meant that they weren't worthy as blatant homophobia was alive and well.  I remember reading somewhere about how John had some anti-gay slur said to him when he first arrived in America.  No, where I am from, it was much more respectful to be someone like Bruce Springsteen, wearing jeans and looking like you work with your hands.  I'm obviously not saying that either one "style" is better than the other, just commenting that one was given respect and the other wasn't.  Of course, even when they attempted to seem more tough in videos like Wild Boys, they didn't.  Nick's makeup was very pretty in that one!  I have even heard the band refer to that clip as the "Mad Max Factor" video.  Besides, a respectable band shouldn't be worried about what they look like, right?  They should only be worried about their music or so say some people.

Their music didn't help either.  I don't think.  When I think back to those artists who were getting a lot of positive attention from the critics, I don't remember a lot of them using keyboards or poetic type lyrics.  There was more focus on guitars and reality inspired lyrics, for those artists.  This situation for Duran wasn't helped by their attention to videos.  Many established acts refused to do them, initially, and most were doing live clips, which I suppose seemed to emphasize the music.  Duran didn't do that as they went on to make little movie like clips.  They gave images to their music.  Many of them fell in love with that but I don't think the rock critics did. 

Many of the elements of Duran that we know and love are the exact same things that caused them to lose favor with the rock establishment, it seems.  We appreciated their style, their videos and the mysterious lyrics.  We wanted the escape from reality that they promised us when watching their videos.  The rock critics didn't appreciate these things from what I could see.  Whether or not that matters is the topic of a different blog...

-A

Don't forgot to participate in today's challenge!!

Fandom is Fun!

This morning, the Daily Duranie's twitter and facebook has been very active!  Today is the first day of our 30 day Duran challenge!  We absolutely love, love, love to hear/read other Duranies answer our question of the day and hope that the participants are bringing the challenge over to their facebooks and twitter so that their friends can read and comment, too!  Just a reminder that today's challenge is, "Your favorite DD song."  It seems that many people can answer this question super quickly and others are really challenged to figure out their absolute favorite.  Still, other people are picking their favorite of the day as it can change for them, depending on their moods.  As the challenge moves along, we will do our best to both remind everyone what the daily challenge is and to report back what we hear!  I'm enjoying the challenge so much and it is only day 1!

This excitement reminded me of a fact that can and does get lost in the midst of worrying about Simon's voice, concert dates, in-fighting, and more and that fact is that fandom is supposed to be fun!  Goodness, why would we continue to be involved if it wasn't a good time?!  Besides fun little games like this challenge, what else is fun about being a Duranie?  As I think back through all of my years as being a Duranie (which makes me feel old, by the way), I immediately think of a few really entertaining things, including watching Duran stuff with other fans, touring, meeting other fans, squeeing over pictures, learning about the band, hearing new music that really kicks ass and more. 

For me, the most fun time being a Duranie is definitely when I'm on "tour".  Obviously, the shows, themselves, are a complete blast and really are the best 2 hours I could spend (assuming that they are good shows!).  There is way more to touring than just the show.  I love hanging out with other Duranies, including and especially, my partner in crime.  I think back to past tours and realize how many great people I have met at shows!  Seriously, how fun is it to meet and get to know other Duran fans?!  To me, it definitely feels like meeting a kindred spirit, someone who understands you without you having to explain yourself.  It is like meeting a long lost friend.  I like having those discussions about what shows you have been to, how people became fans, and more.  Of course, in many cases, surrounding those shows is usually a party!  I'm not sure how the rest of you live, but I don't often get to party like I do when I'm with my Duranie friends!  I remember reading a quote from John once and he said something, "Have you ever had so much fun that you didn't know if you would get over it?  It was like that."  I think that is a perfect way to describe a good tour!  Honestly, it is this fun that keeps me going back time and time!

Of course, tours don't happen everyday so many of us find other ways to have fun within our fandom.  Sometimes, again, if we are lucky, we are able to get together with other Duranies!  This could be something large like a convention or a meetup or just having a few friends get together to watch our favorite Duran related material.  These settings can and, often, do take on a party atmosphere as well!  I, personally, love all types of get togethers!  Conventions are super special because they take a lot of work and don't happen very often at all.  When they do and a bunch of Duranies get together, it can be magical.  Meetups outside of tours don't happen very much either but are still tons of fun.  Usually, for both conventions and meetups, there is a time when a little bit of drinking and/or dancing takes place.  Our fandom is expressed in that way!  Smaller, more localized, get togethers are a good time as well!  I love watching Duran related material, including classics like Sing Blue Silver to newer classics like Live from London and everything in between.  It reminds me of when I was a kid and my best friend and I would watch Duran videos for hours just to see a certain look from our favorite or to pick out a new detail!  We couldn't get enough.

I think we are lucky to be part of a fandom in an era where fans can come together online.  We don't have to have Duran friends nearby!  Now, we can have friends all over the world to share in the fun!  We have message boards to discuss the latest news and social networking to connect with others.  In those settings, some of the best times, for me, have been when we have a piece of good news like an album release date or when new pictures have been found.  I mean...really...a lot of Duranies like to openly squee over a new picture.  Just the other day, John tweeted some shots from the GQ photo shoot and those pictures got around quickly and there were many, many comments made about the appearance of the guys.  Some of those comments weren't so PG rated, either!  Of course, then, many online friends get to know each other more and more, which only enhances the fun.  :)

I believe the entertaining elements of fandom is what keeps us all going during Duran downtime, when there is bad news or when the negative elements of fandom bubble to the surface.  We wouldn't stay if we weren't having a good time, right?  So, what is fun for you?  What keeps you a part of the fandom?

-A

P.S. Remember to join in on the 30 day challenge!  Today's topic:  Your favorite song!

The 30 Day "Daily Duranie" Challenge!!

Lately, we've seen (and possibly participated in) several daily challenges on Facebook.  We decided to come up with one of our own, and we hope many of you will go ahead and give it a whirl - we'll be checking our Daily Duranie news feed on Facebook to see your answers!

Here are the "rules":  Each day, you post the topic of the day as your status update on Facebook, Twitter, a favorite message board or where ever else you'd like and give your answer.  If you want to give a reason for your choice, fabulous.  If not, fine.  If you'd like to find and post a corresponding YouTube video - the more the merrier!  Please remember to give Daily Duranie credit for the challenge (only because we'd like to get the blog out to as many people as possible...not because we're geniuses for coming up with a new challenge!), and invite your friends to read our blog and friend us on Facebook/Twitter!

1. We'll start off easy - name your favorite DD song!
2. Name your favorite DD video!
3. The one song off of an album that should have been a single but was not.
4. In your very humble opinion, the most underrated DD song.  (this can be off of any album or be any B-side, but it must be an "officially" released song.  No demos)
5. Demo that should have made it to an album.
6. Song that shouldn't have made it past the editing room floor.
7. The most overrated Duran Duran song/video.  (come on, you KNOW there are a few!!)
8. The video/song with the best storyline.
9. The video/song with the worst storyline.
10. John's best song/video
11. John's worst song/video
12. Your least favorite video.
13. Fill in the blank: If I never heard __________________________, again, it would be too soon.
14. Your favorite DD performance video.
15. Your favorite DD YouTube clip - could be an interview, talk show appearance, or anything you'd like!
16. Favorite song you've never heard them play live.
17. Least favorite song you've never heard them play live.
18. Simon's best song/video.
19. Simon's worst song/video.
20. The video you always forget about, but then see again and say "Oh wow - I LOVE this video!"
21. The one song you hear that always brings a smile to your face and a memory of a show you've been seen.
22. Song or video that most quickly transports you back to your tween-age self when you first discovered the band and fell in love.  (and if you weren't a tween, whatever age you were when you found them!)
23. Roger's best song/video
24. Roger's worst song/video
25. The song that makes you feel guilty...now whether it's a guilty pleasure or a song that makes you think dirty thoughts is entirely up to you!
26. The video or a moment within a video that makes you laugh!
27. The DD song that describes you best.
28.  Nick's best song/video.
29. Nick's worst song/video.
30. The one song you will never tire of hearing live.

Happy thinking!!  We can't wait to read your choices!! - A & R

You know you're a Duranie...

Today we're going to do something a little different here on the blog!  All of us know what it means to be a Duranie, right?  All of us know the varying lengths we've gone to at times....so here's your chance to wave that flag high and proud!   This is a bit of a game that used to be played on the message boards, and so why not do it here as well.  Here are a few of my examples - comment with a few of your own!  Keep in mind that I am poking fun at myself, my friends, and quite honestly people I don't even know here - the point is that if you can't laugh at yourself, you're taking it all way too seriously.

You know you're a Duranie if/when:

1. You not only wallpapered your wall with them as a kid, you've still got those posters hanging everywhere/somewhere from your bedroom walk-in closet (*waves flag proudly*), to your bathroom and maybe even your work cubicle!

2. You sit in your car, stand in a store, etc. just to hear the end to ______(insert a DD song here)____ .  It'd be sacrilege to leave!!

3. Not only do you know the band's birth dates, but you send cards and even get together with friends to celebrate in their absence!

4.  You have spent your entire family's vacation budget for the year in order to go to the UK and see shows that didn't quite happen the first time, so you plan to go AGAIN.  Oh wait....that's me and MY life!!  (if you can't laugh at yourself....)

5. You will park your computer on Twitter waiting for Simon or John to send out a tweet.  In the process though, you've met many new DD friends!

6. Whenever you hear a Duran Duran song on the radio, you're convinced it's a "sign" of something good about to happen....or that the band really IS stalking you!

7. When you're standing in the audience for a Duran show, you're convinced that the band is starting to recognize you.  It's either really cool to you....or you've just proven that yes, there really IS a limit as to how many DD shows one should attend in a single tour.

8. Not only do you know where the band stays on tour, but you rush to book a suite at the same hotel, knowing that you might be beating them to the punch for suites!

9. You begin a ridiculously insane project to write a blog each day....oh wait...that's me again.  Never mind.

10. You buy a tour book for a tour where you never attended a single show, just because "it's historic!"  (truth be told - I think I own more tour books for tours I didn't attend than those for tours I did attend!)

11. You agree to buy concert presale tickets for people you've never met in person, but have "spoken" extensively with online.

12. Not only have you collected each and every single for every album they've ever done, but you're well into completing your collection for "international releases" as well!  (count this for albums also!)

13. You bought the Red Carpet Massacre Limited Edition Red Vinyl, even though you strongly disliked the album to begin with.

14. Whenever you're required to come up with a screenname, password, or have a numerical combination for anything, you use the numbers "7", "7609" and "7803" as often as possible.  Hey, at least you (and at least 35,000 other people on the planet!) will remember the code!!

15. When trying to remember numbers that are not the aforementioned "7", "7609" and/or "7803", you desperately try to come up with a Duran Duran connection.  For example:  Say you're in a hotel and your room number is 725:   7-2=5....as in "the Fab 5".   (yes, we really do this and yes, it does help us remember....You should see what I've come up with to remember the license plate number for my car!!)

16. You count how many times John and/or Simon has tweeted or RT'd you on Twitter.  For SOME of us, *coughs*...this is extremely easy.  For others though, you probably NEED to take a moment to count!

17. You're buying that new "gold" membership on DDM just because of the Duran Duran fan club card that's included...and we all know it!  :)

18. You have more concert pictures of DD than you do pictures of your extended family.  (I almost said children here, but then thought twice.  My kids might read this blog!   Hi kids!!)

19.  Your husband/significant other knows what is coming when you call him/her at work and say "Hi dear. Are you having a great day at work?!?"

20.  You are shocked when other people sound shocked that you're about to fly to another continent to see the band play.   (Yeah, that's me again.  You mean normal people don't do that?!?  How boring for them!!!)


Time for you all to come up with a few of your own to add!

-R

Is it safe to hope??

I feel like I should probably read Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope, just for some additional help and spirit today!  


I'm sure everyone has seen the recent news, that Simon has been singing quite a bit, just not trying for the high notes.  I am sure that I wasn't alone when I exhaled every last bit of air out from my body as I read that sentence.   It wasn't quite a cleansing breath as much as it was a cleansing exhale, I guess.  It felt like I was ridding myself of the dust, cobwebs, fears, and bad vibes that have apparently been sticking with me since May.  Maybe I've been afraid to take a deep breath since then, I'm really not sure.  I do feel as though I've been living on pins and needles for a long time now though.  Even before we ever really left for England, life was pretty stressful, as it always is.  In hindsight I can see that the trip never really felt solid, for some reason.  Getting our presale tickets proved to be more trouble than normal, Amanda's leave from work was ridiculously difficult to get approval for...the only thing that went reasonably easy was getting the "OK" from my husband, which oddly enough - is usually the one thing that is most difficult!  That moment of exhale felt especially cleansing, and oddly hopeful.


Is it fair to be hopeful at this point?  Simon is singing again.  That alone is cause for guarded optimism at the very least, isn't it?  I've seen comments that we shouldn't cheer until he's singing ALL the notes, and while I wouldn't dare argue, I think that singing alone is a good step in the right direction - never mind what notes he can or can not hit.  Keeping in mind that a good portion of the bands catalog is written in the upper heights of Simon's range, it's very encouraging to read that he's singing. Who knew we'd ever spend so many blogs discussing Simon's vocal chords!!   I just feel like we all could use a little hope now and then.  Sure, he may have quite a road ahead of him, and sure, it could be many more months before we hear of the band doing full shows again.  The news could always be worse, thankfully today, it's not.

I know that today, it's way cooler to be a cynical, unhappy Duranie than it is to be the ever hopeful and positive fan.  It's cooler to say their albums are OK but that they'll never reach the top again - and they're lucky to have fans at all - than it is to say that the albums are fantastic and that you really hope to see them in the top 10 again.  I've never said I was cool, and you know - I enjoy myself a whole lot better when I'm feeling positive and uplifted rather than being the one to rain on everyone's parade.  So I'm off to jump over rainbows and sprinkle flower petals as I clean my house!  -R

Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame really important?

This weekend I checked the Daily Duranie gmail after a week's absence.  I found a lot of "junk" mail, a couple emails that needed a response of some sort, and an email containing a link to an article regarding the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and specifically - Duran Duran's current lack of nomination.

I've blogged about this subject before.  In fact, you can read my initial thoughts here.   Since that blog posting, I've had the chance to trade emails and posts with folks who are a driving force behind getting the band nominated.  My own personal opinion hasn't really changed, but I have to recognize and even applaud their efforts.  Working to get the band nominated is just another facet to our fandom, and the last thing I wish is to make light of their energy, enthusiasm, and hard work.

I try to remain as open minded as possible, both in "real" life and within the blog, and as such I'm always interested in reading articles about the band, and you never know when an opinion can be swayed.  As it turns out, the article comes from a blogger for Goldmine magazine, and you can read the blog for yourself right here.   The blog sets lays groundwork as to why the band should eventually be included, and for the most part, I believe that goal was reached although my questions about the necessity remain.

Ultimately, my issues with the Hall of Fame are at least trifold:

1.  (and probably most important)  The band themselves do not care about the Hall of Fame.  They're not interested!  I realize that's probably a shock to many readers out there, and some are probably asking "How does SHE know?" right about now.   There was an interview done this past winter (I believe it was in December) on what I think must have been a UK morning TV program.  I am trying to find a link to the interview, and if I find it - I'll bring it here.   There are two interviews I'm thinking of at the moment - in one of the interviews they were doing a cooking segment for some sort of holiday-ish pudding thing, and on the other, I believe they were being interviewed by someone who was a self-described huge fan for a podcast??  I'm not sure, but if anyone knows of the interviews I'm talking about, please send them my way!  The question was asked during the interview, and Simon answered.  I can't quote him word for word without the video, but his point was that they've never once cared about what the critics thought, and they feel (as do I) that being nominated to the Hall of Fame is very much based on politics in the music industry.  The band hasn't ever really wanted to be that "legitimate mainstream" band - they like being on the outskirts, in the fringe, so to speak - and in Simon's thinking, if being nominated is important to the band, that means they would be buying into that line of thinking, which at least Simon, speaking for the rest of the band, does not.  That may be a blow to fans who are working so hard to get them nominated, but I can still understand where the band is coming from on this one.

2.  I still believe the band has more to write in their book of history.  To induct the band at this point would be underselling them, in my opinion.  I still believe that their best days may very well lie ahead, and in my opinion to nominate them now is far too soon.

3.  There are MANY other bands out there who have yet to be nominated that I really do feel have given far more to music history than Duran Duran at this point.  I know I'm not alone in saying that.  I still feel their lasting legacy lies far more with the visual media (videos) than it does with the music at this point.  Their time may eventually get here, but I don't believe that this is their moment yet.

As I ponder this topic, the big question that comes to mind over and over is whether or not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is really that important over the long haul.  Is it going to make a difference in years to come?  Is it worth selling one's soul over?  Part of me almost has to liken the induction to getting a star on the Walk of Fame.  Many don't realize that it doesn't take much to get a Star - just money of course - and these days it's become almost a "vanity" sort of thing in Hollywood.  It didn't start out that way of course.  Back in the "golden days", it was a real honor to be awarded a Star, and not many had one.  Nowadays when you walk down the streets of Hollywood, you'll see stars awarded to not only radio, TV & film stars, but even animal "actors", and celebrities that have barely gotten to the legal drinking age, much less done work of enough substance to truly appreciate their celebrity status.  It just seems to have lost it's magical meaning from overuse.  Of course, the R&R Hall of Fame may be different since it takes more than just money to get nominated, but the fact remains that in the end after all is said and done, it's just another shiny plaque to hang on someone's wall.

-R

Many Fandoms or One Fandom?

To me, fandom has always meant having a passion for something.  It goes beyond the common, ordinary "like".  It is more intense than that.  Obviously, there are many bands that I like, but I participate in the Duran Duran fandom.  My feelings for Duran go beyond the like.  In some ways, it is like a romance of sorts as feelings are intense.  On one hand, I have experienced great joy in being a Duranie.  On the other hand, I have had times when I'm frustrated or angry.  I doubt that I'm alone in this description of fandom.  This leads me to think about people who seem to be fans of many things and when I say fans, I am meaning this definition of intense emotions as opposed to just liking something, those who participate in the fandom. 

I have been involved in a couple of other fandoms.  Obviously, I have been open about being a Sox "fan".  Does that mean that I'm part of that fandom?  In some ways, yes, and, in other ways, I'm not.  Here's an example.  I voted for the Sox first baseman, Paul Konerko, to make it to the All Star game, but I don't go to Sox message boards.  I don't really communicate with fans outside of my family.  I have been more of an active participant for a couple of other fandoms outside of Duran and the Sox.  For those, I have read message boards and talked with other fans.  I have even made life long friends that way.  That said, there has been no fandom like Duran for me.  I haven't traveled for other fandoms and I haven't written anything about other fandoms.  Why is this?  Is it because of the fact that I have been a Duranie for decades?  Is that the difference?  Is the difference that the other fandoms were based on fictional characters and Duran is real?  I suspect that both of those factors might play a role.  Despite these other fandoms, I don't see myself as someone who is always involved in a fandom.  For me, because the fandoms are so personal, I think the ones that are worthy of my participation are truly few and far between.  Therefore, right now in 2011, if Duran were to stop, I wouldn't try to find a new fandom.  I couldn't.  It doesn't work that way for me.  Besides, how would I replace decades of fandom and all of the experiences I have had because of it?  This fandom is irreplaceable to me.

So how about those people who are fans of many things?  What makes them tick?  Is their fandom less worthy because of their varied interests?  Let me be clear about the fans I'm talking about.  I have seen people move from one fandom to another to another to another.  For example, I knew someone who was a fan of the show, Roswell, then Harry Potter, then Twilight and now the Vampire Diaries.  She has never been without a fandom.  What about the people who do the same thing with bands?  First, it might be Duran then Depeche Mode, then the Killers, etc.  They could be a fan and be a part of those fandoms of all of those bands at the same time, too!  Honestly, I don't think that there is anything wrong with this.  People can't help how they feel or what they might be interested in at any given time.  Perhaps, this is similar to that romance analogy where joining a fandom is like falling in love.  Some people are very selective when it comes to getting involved, romantically, with someone and other people can fall for people easily.  Neither one is wrong, just different. 

Why do people become fans of something in the first place?  They become fans because they see something they like and someone that makes them feel good, right?  For many fans, I believe they get a little high from their fandom.  I'll give you an example.  I bet every Duranie reading this can remember a time when s/he got SO excited by Duran.  Maybe it was the first time you heard a certain song.  Maybe it was the first time you saw them live.  Maybe it was seeing the best concert ever.  Do those moments make you want to stop caring about the band or do they make you want more?  For me, every great show makes me want more shows.  I can't ever seem to get enough.  In this way, fandom is sorta like a drug, then, huh?  Perhaps, those people that are fans of a ton of things are always searching for that high.  Maybe, for them, the high is short-lived and only happens in the beginning of joining a fandom.  I don't know.  Maybe being part of a lot of fandoms helps with the disappointments that can and often do follow fandom.  If you aren't focused on one thing, it doesn't hurt as bad if it falls apart.  For example, if I'm a fan of sci-fi TV shows, then, if one has a bad storyline, I can deal with it because other shows might have good storylines.  If I'm into bands, if one isn't touring, maybe others are. 

I think I understand, logically, those people who are in multiple fandoms or go from one fandom to another.  They might want the high that joining a fandom gives or they might want protection from disappointment.  They might always want that distraction that a fandom can bring in their lives.  Emotionally, I admit that it is much harder for me to understand.  I have only given my heart a few times and can't see giving it as easily in the future even though I, too, would like the highs and the protection.  I just can't do it.  It is too personal to me or something.  Plus, let's face it...you can't make something excite you if it doesn't.  I guess this means that, for now, and in the future I'll be emotionally living and dying for what I always have, Duran Duran.  What about the rest of you?  Can you be in multiple fandoms?  Does that make you less of a Duranie?

-A