“Fab Five” of Birmingham should not go through Paris. But a small detour was imposed on their members, who lived in the capital and even recorded an album there, NotoriousIn 1986.
Duran Duran, a legendary British group of the 1980s, signed his return in France during an exceptional concert on October 21 at the Zénith of Paris, as part of his European tour. The pre -sales will take place on Thursday, July 10 from 10 am and the general sale, the next day, starting at 10 am
On this occasion, BFMTV met Nick Rhodes, a keyboardist, who talks about the beginnings of the group in the late 1970s.
1978, Birmingham. Nigel John Taylor and Nick Rhodes are not even 18 when they decide to start Duran Duran. A name that the two childhood friends borrowed from the film Barbarella (1968) By Roger Vadim and a character of a crazy scientist, Dr. Du Durand Durand, inventor of a destructive weapon.
Nick on the keyboard, Nigel on the guitar joins Steven Duffy in Lower, Met at the University. In an amphi at the University, they give their first concert in front of a handful of spectators … before Steven left the group.
“Disco, stinks”
The final training consists of the two childhood friends, to which Simon Le Bon à vocal and Roger Taylor are added in the battery. Since its inception, the group is not classifiable. It is not enough “rock” for some, also “disc” for others, Duran Duran chooses not to choose, offering a sound at the crossroads of sex and chic guns …
“We had a real vision of our project, the sound we wanted to obtain and the way we wanted to introduce ourselves. We didn’t have a plan B,” Nick Rhodes said.
Unprotected your musical approach, they even find the registration “La disco, stinks” at the door of a squat in which they repeated. Whatever, they last their route, influenced by the clashes, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, David Bowie, Kraftwerk …
“At that time, they all cultivated their difference. Inxs, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna … Everyone had their own sound, their individuality, and that is the most important thing,” Nick Rhodes observes.
“None of us imagined doing something that looked like another person. Times are different today.”
Your first study album Duran Duranreleased in 1981, it was quickly noticed. It is sold for more than 2.5 million copies and reached third place in classifications in Great Britain. This allows the Birmingham group to start an international tour.
James Bond Bo
The group is part of the “MTV generation”: the artists capitalized on the transmissions of their clips in this channel to make the public known. Therefore, music as the video had to be treated.
Duran Duran then won with blunt and even provocative clips. The one of Girls We Movie Establishment of naked women is quickly censored by the BBC and MTV … that contributes even more to their success. Then a version diluted in the air is transmitted, while the original extends in clubs and nightclubs.
Become essential, they last last signing the credits of Dangerously yours, (1985), fourteenth James Bond directed by John Glen, with Roger Moore. Its composition In sight to kill He is named the Golden Globe of the best original song and reached the first place in the ranking in the United States, Canada, Italy or Sweden.
“Ordinary World” out of time
The 1990s began a turning point for the group. The decade is marked by the Grunge of Nirvana, the Punk Daft electro or the birth of hip hop. Duran Duran, with his Synth-pop keyboards and his “80s” sound, was relegated to the bottom.
And yet, it was also during this period that the FAB Five signed one of their most popular compositions: Ordinary world In 1992. A song that appeared against the time, and that allowed them to return to the stage after a desert crossing.
“For eighteen months, we wrote tireless songs, even Ordinary world. This time, we understood with a look that we had something special (…), explains Nick Rhodes. It was a triumph for us, because the song knew how to transcribe its time and the feelings of people. “
In four decades, the group sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Last launch: Macabre danceIn 2023, on the subject of Halloween. This 16 studio album brings together a collection of new songs, reinvented versions of their emblematic successes or bold covers of Billie Eilish, Talking Heads or Rolling Stones. Compositions that will be possible to listen during its European tour and its zenith in Paris, on October 21, 2025.
Source: BFM TV
