I can’t believe it’s been 30 years since Duran Duran released their debut single, Planet Earth. What was it about the boys from Brum that floated my boat from the tender age of 12 and a bit? And what’s kept me listening, 3 decades later?
Yes, I can honestly say Duran Duran changed my life. It was lust at first sight and my ears liked what they were hearing. Suddenly, my first love, Bob Geldof, was cast aside in favour of 5 pouting poseurs who really, truly couldn’t dance to save their lives. But they were FANTASTIC!!
I treasured that C90 cassette with their self-titled debut album. So much so, I had the album on BOTH sides of the cassette so that I could just turn the tape over and play it again.
A teenage obsession was soon in full flow. Every single penny of my pocket money went on Duran Duran: from the likes of Smash Hits, No1 and Melody Maker through to tiny articles in the Radio Times when my heroes were appearing on some BBC show. Every inch of my bedroom walls and ceiling were plastered in pictures of these 5 enigmas – until my mum commented how easy it would be for spiders to drop from behind the giant John Taylor, clumsily Sellotaped to the ceiling directly above my pillow ……
Odd jobs were undertaken to earn extra pocket money, and trips to Athena to browse the latest range of Duran Duran posters were planned with military precision.
Oh how I loathed the little girl on Jim’ll Fix It who had written in asking to be “rescued” from school by Simon Le Bon. Why didn’t Simon turn up at MY school, and rescue ME from maths on horseback, dressed as a Knight!?!? Probably because I never wrote to Jim’ll, that’s why.
My collection of VHS tapes grew: every snippet of every show Duran Duran appeared on, every video airing on Top Of the Pops, every interview – from Saturday Superstore to The Tube. I hung on their every word, soaking them up, absorbing their wit and wisdom like a sponge. Had it not been for those Q&As in Smash Hits, I’d never have thought to listen to David Bowie, Roxy Music, T Rex and Talking Heads, to name but a few.
I’ve seen Duran Duran in concert three times: the 1983 Seven And the Ragged Tiger tour, then again in 1989 on their Big Thing tour (still one of my favourite DD albums) and most recently, I was lucky enough to be at The Forum in Kentish Town in October 2003 to see their original line-up reformed, marking 25 years of all things Duran Duran. I’ll be there again in June, this time in Manchester, lost to the outside world for a couple of hours, in the zone.
Every show different, every show amazing. And Simon still can’t dance …..!
I may not be that 12 year old girl in pedal pushers and a frilly blouse any more, and my obsession has been downgraded to DEFCON 4 from it’s previous DEFCON 1 status, but for me, it’s definitely a case of Once A Durannie, Always a Durannie!
Deevs
3 Feb 2011
Cheryl, I have an almost identical photo to that, same hair, same pose, only my t-shirt was a Japan one.
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Gail.
See maybe it was just upbringing but I've never got the whole being devoted to one band and getting every tape/cd/record that they make. Okay there are a couple of CDs that have been on constant repeat in my player (Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette, Eye to The Telescope and Tiger Suit by KT Tunstall amongst others) but even then after a little while I move onto something else. (Then again I did RT your link to my friend who ADORES Duran Duran)
ReplyDeleteDeevs!! Or should we start calling you "the fringe"?! Duran Duran were JUST too early for me (I had nightmares after seeing their "Wild Boys" video as a nipper) - A-Ha were my boys; giant poster of Morton Harket served me well ;-)
ReplyDeleteBut I DID have a HUUUUGE crush on John Taylor... (stil gorgeous these days as well) - and you've got to respect them.
R&J xx
(Jasper likes Delia Smith and Nigella. But he isn't allowed posters of them on the wall). xx
I stumbled across this post whilst looking for a Durannie poster to show my teenage daughter, it was a real blast from the past coming across this particular poster as I had it bluetacked next to my bed for years. John Taylor was the love of my life!!!
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