Duran Duran

[fange]

Let's talk about the famous Brummie New Romantics, one of the biggest bands of the '80s world-wide.

Did you like any of their songs or albums at the time?

Have they made any good music during the post-heyday career?

Do you still enjoy listening to them now?

[fange]

Can you deny the primal pop urgency of 'HLTW'?

[Stacy Heydon]

About four or five really good singles (HLTW is certainly one), plus a few good album tracks. That doesn't sound that impressive actually, but I do think they're underrated as a singles band. The more bombastic and stadium rock they got, the more they lost that pop touch that they had.

[Stacy Heydon]

I found myself voting for Planet Earth, Girls on Film, Hungry Like.., Save a Prayer, View to a Kill, Notorious and Ordinary World.
So I was underselling them a bit when I said they had four or five good singles. I'd be surprised if many beyond Fange and myself have much positive to say though, I think they are pretty disliked (...which I get to a degree).

[Stacy Heydon]

They had that quote didn't they about wanting to cross The Sex Pistols with Chic, which admittedly sounds much better than saying they wanted to copy Manifesto period Roxy, which would've been a lot nearer the mark.

[DayoRemix]

Bit too poppy for me.."Planet Earth" is interesting, I guess..Taylor is a good bassist, though..And one has to credit them for longevity. Don't think anybody in the 80s would have pegged them as the band to still be around in the 2020s, putting out actual albums and not living off the retro circuit....Hell, they are still playing arenas!

They also had some interesting videos..

[fange]

Jan 26, 2023 2:15:32 GMT DayoRemix said:

Taylor is a good bassist...

I think Taylor was a GREAT bassist; a lot like Derek Forbes of early Simple Minds, these guys were killer musicians hiding in plain sight in what many just considered image-driven pop bands. I also rate Andy Taylor as a much more than competent guitarist; there was a muscle and feel to his playing that added a lot to those great 80s singles.

While i'm not a massive fan of the band, i will happily argue with anyone who won't admit that they had at least a half-dozen or so GREAT singles in the 80s.

["BING E BONG"]

Rubbish!

[fange]

[cousinlou]

Have always loved their first album but bar a few singles, I didn't follow them in their later 
work.


As far as non-singles go, I still play 'To The Shore' from time to time.

[Stacy Heydon]

And there was this of course..

[riggers]

Encapsulated everything I loathed about 80's music and I'm baffled by their critical reappraisal these days.

[Half Machine Lipschitz]

As a wannabe 'punk' teen I hated everything they stood for, but I couldn't deny that they made catchy music and that all the girls liked them which made it a bit difficult to be totally against them. I have come around to them more in the past couple of decades, but I still wouldn't call myself a fan.

[fange]

Jan 26, 2023 11:40:15 GMT riggers said:

Encapsulated everything I loathed about 80's music and I'm baffled by their critical reappraisal these days.

Is reappraisal the right word? I'm not sure it is. I don't think there is anyone who hated them at the time and thinks they are great now. Their popularity has just not faded as some others have, because as mentioned above they are still out there, playing to fans and making music. That counts for a lot.

[Stacy Heydon]

Jan 26, 2023 11:40:15 GMT riggers said:

Encapsulated everything I loathed about 80's music and I'm baffled by their critical reappraisal these days.

It's not so baffling really..very catchy tunes married to a dancey Euro rock sound. It's a pure pop appeal, not that I'm a huge fan or anything (and certainly never bought them at the time..).