Scandalous! The Duran Duran Interview
by Gail Worley
Ink 19 magazine

You just never know what to expect when you ask a probing question. When I was preparing to interview Simon LeBon, the 39-year-old lead singer for Duran Duran, I started by reading the press material that came with a copy of their newest record, Medazzaland (Capitol Records). I found that there were quite a few odd statements on the press release and I highlighted those sentences as a reminder to ask Simon where his head is regarding some of the hype being perpetuated in the name of Duran Duran. Once the phone call came through, and a few introductory pleasantries were exchanged, I cut right to the chase. [Note: The name of Simon's Manager has been changed to protect me from myself].

On the Biographical information/Press release that came with my advance of Medazzaland, there are some "buzz phrases" that I'd like your feedback on. You might not be aware of what's written on this release but I'm curious to hear your comments.

OK

First it says "Duran Duran, originators of the Model/Musician Phenomenon." What exactly is meant by that?

Um... I think I know what they mean. I don't necessarily agree with it. (Laughs) But then I don't that often agree with our biographers... was it "music/model phenomena?"

No, It says "Model/Musician." Do you think that has to do with the whole new romantic fashion thing?

No, I think more like pop stars going out with models.

Because you and Nick married models?

I think it's a bit of a crass remark, actually.

I was going to say, isn't that kind of a slam?

It's stupid. It's really stupid.

I think it also implies that maybe you guys were just "Pretty Boys" in make-up...

I think it can be taken like that as well... I just think it's a really stupid thing to put in our biography.

Alright, well, let's get rid of that! Now, it also says "Medazzaland is a concept album." A concept of what exactly?

It's not a concept album at all. It's a Duran Duran album.

So what's going on with your publicity?

I don't know, I'll have to speak to [our manager] about it.

Another quote from your bio:"Duran Duran, the last of the rock stars."

Oh God...

You don't really subscribe to statements like that, do you?

No, I don't. Absolutely not, it's a load of crap. It actually makes us look really stupid. [Calling out his manager who has us connected on a land line] Is that Mary?

Mary: Yes.

Simon: Mary, we've got a little problem with our album notes.

Mary: We do?

Well, I was asking Simon about some of the quotes on the press release and he doesn't seem to be in agreement with any of them.

Mary: On the press release?

Simon: Some of them are absolutely horrific.

There was one thing that said "Medazzaland is a concept album."

Simon: Which it isn't.

And there was another statement: "Originators of the model/musician phenomenon."

Simon: That is just plain fucking embarrassing.

And this one, "The last of the rock stars," which is mentioned twice.

Simon: And that is so pretentious and really laying us wide open to international lampooning. I mean, who came up with those? They ought to be fired immediately.

[feeling sheepish just at the moment] Well, I'm so glad I brought this up...

Simon: Was it you, Mary? I mean, we really do have to watch things like that. It's just... A) It's bad writing, B) It's not true, and C) It is laughable, and not laughable in the right way.

Hey! How about those fireworks! After staring World War III between Simon and his manager, and probably completely destroying my relationship with his publicist, I did manage to steer the interview back to less heated topics, and Simon proved himself to be a very good sport.

There's mention here that a Duran Duran tribute album is coming out. Do you think that Duran Duran deserves that kind of honor?

It's not a question of whether we deserve it, it's whether people feel like making that kind of gesture, and obviously they did. It's quite a funny album... what's that ska group called, is it Reel Big Fish? They do a really funny version of "Hungry Like The Wolf."

Why did John Taylor finally decide to leave the band?

He stuck around until three quarters of the way through Medazzaland. I think that his life was just becoming too complicated, with him living in L.A., us working here and him wanting to be in complete control of his artistry, rather than being willing to make the compromise that we're willing to make, which is the kind of compromise you've gotta make if you want to be in a band. Nick (Rhodes) and Warren (Cuccurullo) and me all live very close [to each other].

Did you consider changing the name of the band after you lost so many original members?

Yeah, we thought about it but we decided not to do that, because it still sounded like Duran Duran. I think the sound of my voice is one of the things that really does make us sound like Duran Duran. There's a kind of musical attitude that we've got as well, towards dance tunes.

Back in the '80s when you had this Beatlemania sort of fame, what was that like? Was there ever a time when you said "This is too much" or "I don't want this"?

Um... [long pause], well it was just incredible. It was great. There was something very personal about it. It was a very exciting part of my life, you know. Sometimes I just wanted to be able to go out and be a private person and not be recognized. To be able to do things in secret that other people could do, and not be recognized, and not have anybody care about it.

These days would you say you're able to lead a rather normal life?

Well, it's become normal to me. I don't know if it is a normal life.

Do you think Duran Duran gets enough credit for pioneering rock videos during the early days of MTV?

Now that you mention it, no. I think, in a funny sort of way, we've been wiped out of the history of MTV. People like Janet Jackson get the Video Vanguard award for the most contribution to video. It does make me wonder a bit where their heads are at. But I think all of those things have got more to do with who's popular at the moment. Having credit for doing something is a very empiric [sic] victory. It doesn't mean anything... but then, on the other hand, I don't like to be wiped out of history or just completely overlooked, which has happened a bit.

When I was in college radio I used to get a lot of shit for playing Rio, which I always thought was a great album.

That's very interesting that you say that, because it was voted by this publication called CMJ... we got voted I think 3rd or 5th best album ever with Rio. From college radio, that's really where we came out of.

How do you feel about the major changes in pop music since the '80s and do you feel you've had any influence on any particular genre that's going on now?

I think we're very much a part of the ancestry of the music that seems to be taking off now. Bands like Chemical Brothers and Underworld and The Prodigy, that sort of dance pop/rock sort of thing and the electronic music as well. I mean, obviously we were very much a part of the early generation of synthesizer bands. Since the '80s... the grunge movement wasn't something that excited me particularly, apart from some of the real gems like Nirvana, which rates quite highly among my top ten all time bands.

Medazzaland sounds like old Duran Duran to me. Do you think this record will win over any new fans?

I really hope it does. It'd be great if it does that.

You know, when I mentioned to friends that I was going to do this interview, all of a sudden they came out of the closet and said things like "If it's in person, can you please have them sign my Planet Earth 12 inch?" and stuff like that. And these are total punks or metal heads who you'd never suspect would be Duran Duran fans. I was wondering if, in all the time you've had to reflect on your career, you ever thought you'd have such an impact and, more importantly, such staying power, considering that maybe you were at one time considered to be sort of a fluff band?

I rather like the idea of that, actually. We were definitely considered disposable at the time. But isn't it funny how disposable things can hang around so much better than things that have been that have been sort of designed to have staying power? I mean, we're not going to go away. See, I really do believe that the whole music scene is quite cyclic and it moves all the way around. It just feels right [that] now we're back to that feeling we [had] in the early '80s. You know, we've just come out of five years of self obsessed, introverted, suicidal songs, right? Heavy guitars, real bashing around, a kind of ugly period. Well, you can really compare that to some of the aspects of the end of punk. It got more and more like that as it went on. And we sort of followed it with this, "Hey, we're here! And we're gonna have a laugh!" There seems to be a hunger for that kind of attitude right now. People want party music and they want good, happy, fun songs. I think it's just come 'round for us, and that's why you've got things like "Electric Barbarella" and "Big Bang Generation" on the album.

I'm actually really happy when you say things like, "I think it sounds like an old Duran Duran record," because I think they were really great. I think we went through a really boring period when we took ourselves too seriously and forgot what we were really all about, which is entertaining people... I'm thinking more along the lines of Liberty and even The Wedding Album to a certain extent. Although it had "Undone" and "Ordinary World" on it, which are two of our best songs ever written, it did have some sort of world-weary theories about music. That's when we really did want to be serious musicians and be taken seriously by people and have credit where credit is due. Whereas now we just want to have a laugh and go out and tour. I mean, we've been around for 17 years. It could be easy for people to forget that we've got a record out, [because] they're so used to us.

Simon LeBon (his real name) lives with his wife, Yasmin (a former model) and their three young daughters in a suburban corner of London called Putney. Medazzaland is Duran Duran's eleventh album.

Duran Duran swings through this corner of the country on November 26 (the Sunrise Musical Theatre in Ft. Lauderdale) and 27 (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center).

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