Why is duran duran name

The group has never disbanded, but the line-up has changed to include guitarist Warren Cuccurullo from to , and drummer Sterling Campbell from to The reunion of the original five members in the early s created a stir among the band's fans and music media. Andy Taylor left the band in summer , and London guitarist Dom Brown has since been working with the band as a session player and touring member, but is not considered a full member of the band.

A full time replacement guitarist for Andy Taylor so far has not been appointed. John Taylor first met Nick Rhodes in the winter of John was thirteen, Nick was eleven and they both lived in the same area in Birmingham. Nick had already been to a couple of concerts - Gary Glitter and Slade. So in the spring of , they both went to see Mick Ronson 's first solo tour that came in April at the Birmingham Town Hall.

This was the first time Taylor's parents had let John out into the city at night. The next concert the pair went to was Roxy Music in September at the Odeon.

After playing in Shock Treatment , John Taylor joined Dada in the spring of and then enrolled at the Birmingham Polytechnic's College of Art and Design for a twelve-month foundation course in the summer.

This was where he met Stephen Duffy. Dada had hit a wall and Taylor now wanted to play in a band with Duffy. Seeing the Human League for the first time was a turning point for this early incarnation of Duran Duran. John and Nick saw them supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees at the Mayfair Ballroom in Birmingham 's Bullring shopping centre and watched in stunned, amazed silence.

They had no drummer, no guitars. The band had three synthesizers and a drum machine instead. John Taylor wrote in his autobiography In the Pleasure Groove , that what made for a much more exciting proposition than for him to attempt to teach Nick guitar was to get hold of a synthesizer and make that his instrument.

It was the best investment she ever made. So with Nick controlling the keys, setting the tempo and pushing the buttons on the Kay, Stephen Duffy singing and on bass, and John on guitar, the three made their first ever recording on a cassette tape in the space above Nick 's mother's toy shop. The resulting album was called Dusk and Dawn. The trio named the band Duran Duran, after the villain from the Barbarella film. The villian's name been "Dr. The band brought in Duffy's friend Simon Colley to play clarinet and occasional bass for Duran Duran's first ever live appearance, in Taylor's and Duffy's lecture hall on 5 April at pm - practically during class time.

Their friends attended the show, around 30 people and Duran Duran took advantage of the projection screen to show abstract slides to enhance the meaning of the songs. Something the Human League had done. They had really connected with the Barbarella crowd. This was a game of musical chairs with a Birmingham accent. Wickett organised a meeting with Roger Taylor to join the band, the drummer with Birmingham 's Scent Organs. This was a period when John Taylor was still playing electric guitar.

Duran Duran version 2. John Taylor first heard Chic 's " Everybody Dance! He soon picked up the bass guitar in Andy Wickett 's bedroom and started to play. Roger Taylor and John got excited at the idea of playing in the style of these disco bands and began to forge a sound together.

The next step was to enter a real recording studio, one owned by Bob Lamb. This was their first exposure to multitrack recording. Bob got the disco influence and had Roger record the hi-hat separately, a trick he had learned from American disco producers. On the demo cassette liner recorded on this day in the studio, John Taylor appears as Nigel.

It wasn't long after this that he decided that a pop star named John Taylor sounded better than Nigel Taylor. To accompany Taylor's new name and take the new sound Bob Lamb had helped create, Duran Duran needed a full-time guitarist. With Curtis, Duran Duran's onstage confidence grew. After several gigs, the band's relationship with Andy Wickett began to fray and he soon left.

That winter, Nick and his girl friend who was previously with Wickett took their latest demo tape to London to try and secure a record deal, but returned without success.

Andy Wickett had a major part in the writing of " Girls on Film ", during his tenure with the band. Wickett is also featured on some of the demos that were presented to EMI including the Demo. Further, according to the websites belonging to Andy Wickett and John Taylor respectively, Wickett also co-wrote an early version of the song that came to be known as " Rio ", known then as "Stevie's Radio Station". In February , Nick and John were going around venues in Birmingham looking for unconventional places to play, like art galleries and cafes.

Although Dada 's residency at the Crown had served that band well, Duran Duran all agreed that they would do anything to avoid the pub circuit. The pair visited the Rum Runner and met Paul Berrow , where they handed him a tape, featuring another set of songs recorded at Bob Lamb 's studio and he listened to it.

The rest of the band came to the club that evening and Paul agreed to put on a gig in March with Fashion headlining and Duran Duran opening. A Few days later the band moved their gear into the Rum Runner. One of the bars wasn't being used and Paul said they could practise in there during the day. Having a connection with the Rum Runner was crucial for Duran Duran.

Paul and Michael Berrow became their patrons. The deal was clear, the band's job was to write the songs and develop the sound, and it was Berrow's responsibility to find them places to play, buy the gear and ultimately find a record deal. The next day John Taylor got a call from Alan Curtis who said he didn't like the scene and was going back to London. Soon Jeff Thomas and Paul were arguing, which led to Thomas also leaving the band.

The band placed an advert in Melody Maker for a guitarist. Andy Taylor applied and the night before he came down to Birmingham from Newcastle, John Taylor had been watching guitarist Gary Moore on TV and was taken by his ability to switch from bluesy rock to choppy funk. John felt Duran Duran needed a similar level of skill and versatility.

Gary Moore happened to be Andy Taylor 's favourite guitar player. He joined the band. Until the band found a singer, they were restricted to the rehearsal room. The answer would come by way of a student at the university who worked part-time at the Rum Runner on weekends. She suggested her roommate to come down and meet the band. The roommate was Simon Le Bon , hair cut short, bleached dirty blonde and he arrived wearing skin-tight leopard-print ski pants with loops under his boots.

They didn't play together the first day Le Bon came, but talked about music. He returned to the club a day or two later, bringing with him a battered blue book, his Dog Days lyric book , which was filled with lyrics and ideas for songs.

That book contained the basis for many of Duran Duran's future compositions including " The Chauffeur ". The four members of Duran Duran plugged in their instruments and played Le Bon an instrumental track. As the band played, Le Bon made notes in his book. He then stood up and walked over to the mic, and began to sing the lines to " Night Boat ".

The poetry had arrived. Duran Duran later played their first live gig with this line-up on 16 July at the Rum Runner. During this period Duran Duran were the resident band at the Rum Runner , working as doormen, disc jockeys and glass collectors when they were not rehearsing. In late , when touring as an opening act for Hazel O'Connor , the band attracted critical attention, resulting in a bidding war between the record companies EMI and Phonogram Records.

However, Nick Rhodes said in a interview with Deluxe magazine, that the band felt they were "appallingly ripped off" by the EMI contract. Duran Duran were amongst the earliest bands to work on their own remixes.

Before the days of digital synthesizers and easy audio sampling they created multilayered arrangements of their singles, sometimes recording entirely different extended performances of the songs in the studio.

These "night versions" were generally available only on vinyl as B-sides to 45 rpm singles or on inch club singles, until the release of the compilation Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran in It is widely thought, nowadays, that the band Japan was probably the main inspirational force behind Duran Duran, at least until 's Rio.

From hairdos to clothing, from soundscapes to arrangements, David Sylvian's sense of style and taste in music were imitated and exploited by Duran to a greater commercial success than Japan ever had. At one point, Nick Rhodes ' entire look closely resembled that of David Sylvian, from his features to his platinum blond hair, make-up, and attire.

From the very beginning of their career together, however, all the band members each had a keen sense of visual style. They have continued to present fashion as part of their package throughout their career. In the s, they worked with Vivienne Westwood and in the s with Giorgio Armani. The band retained creative control of their visual presentation and worked closely with graphic designer Malcolm Garrett and many others over the years, to create album covers, tour programmes, and other materials.

All five members of the band were photogenic, labelled the "the prettiest boys in rock" by People magazine. Teen and music magazines in the UK latched onto their good looks quickly, and the U.

It was a rare month in the early eighties when there was not at least one picture of the band members in teen magazines such as Smash Hits or Tiger Beat! John Taylor once remarked that the band was "like a box of Quality Street chocolates; everyone is someone's favourite" Duran Duran would later come to regret this early pin-up exposure, but at the time it helped attract national attention. Something went really wrong. That wasn't what I wanted. Not that I didn't like being screamed at.

At one point I really did. A follow-up, " Careless Memories " stalled at Number However, it was their third single, " Girls on Film , that attracted the most attention. The song went to Number 5 in the UK, before the notorious video was even filmed. The video was available on the Duran Duran Video The song, in turn, inspired the name of the ill-fated MTV reality show girl band, the Electric Barbarellas. The album Medazzaland is the only one to feature vocals from keyboardist Nick Rhodes.

In this case, it is a spoken word performance on the trippy title track, which was inspired by a visit Le Bon made to the dentist.

He returned to his bandmates after taking the intravenous drug Midazolam, which allegedly removed all traces of the surgery experience from his memory. At the height of their s fame, Milton Bradley released the Duran Duran board game Arena , the title drawn directly from their hit live album from and released in conjunction with the video version. Designed for two to four players, the objective was to collect video cards and band member cards and accumulate as many points as possible.

The person who finished with all the required cards and the highest score won. It came out in And I used to get left in charge. As Nick moves his hands in to this zone, it triggers Midi information which operates one of his synthesizers. What ever happened to that "documentary" Nick announced the band were doing during the summer tour?

They have been sidetracked with other things but do hope to release the Documentary some time in the future. Can you tell me about the Duran Duran Fan Community? How much does it cost? Duran Duran is excited to have an official fan community! The site explains all the different bonuses you get as a member. Please visit Duranduranmusic. Does Simon still have his "tiger baby" necklace? Who gave it to him? Simon still has the necklace and wears it occasionally. He declines to name the person or history behind it.

Who was "Georgie Davis"? George Davis born became notorious because of an incident in which he played no part. Davis was serving a prison sentence for armed robbery when, on August 19, , it was discovered that the pitch at the Headingley cricket ground had been dug up, preventing further play in the test match between England and Australia.

The vandalism was a protest by relatives and friends of George Davis, and was accompanied by graffiti proclaiming that "George Davis is innocent". Four people were put on trial, and one, Peter Chappell, was jailed for eighteen months. However, in May , the Home Secretary, Roy Jenkins, after a review of the case, agreed to George Davis being freed because of doubts over the evidence presented by the police which helped convict him. Two years later, Davis was jailed again, having pleaded guilty to involvement in another robbery.

Having completed that sentence in , he was jailed yet again in for a further offence. What album is the song "Secret Oktober" on? Where can I order merchandise on the site?

Check out our web shop by clicking here: DD Webshop. Why aren't their any articles scanned on to the website? Or streams of TV Show appearances? Primarily, because it violates copyright fair use laws to post anything that can have a financial impact on a publication that is currently in print or a TV show. Exceptions are made only for non-profit educational purposes libraries, archives and schools.

Will the band play my favorite song if I ask? Did Simon see the sign I held up for him? Did John get the gift I left for him at the venue? These are always tough questions for me. Not even for someone's birthday! But they do appreciate the ones they get a glimpse of for sure.

I have asked for a signed photo, why can't I have one?