Mike magazine

Still 'Hungry' After All These Years

We're crawling crosstown in a cab, a publicist and I, because my chat with Duran Duran has been bounced from the Capitol Records offics to the boys' hotel. Apparently the fact that D2 defined '80s Britpop and birthed the music video does not merit an extended check-out time at New York City's swanky St. Regis Hotel.

Once there, the boys on film materialize: Frontman Simon LeBon; guitarist and Brooklyn native Warren Cuccurullo and - where's Nick? Depending on which publicist you believe, Nick Rhodes is either tied up in another interview or frantically packing. Since the boys have a new album, Medazzaland, to promote (and rooms to vacate), we start (and finish) without him.

-Elizabeth Bougerol

Mike Mag: Are you still "Hungry Like the Wolf?"

Simon: Absolutely. I've got that animal instinct you rely on when you're too stupid to think things out, which I've always been.

Mike Mag: Your initial style: Trendsetters or unfortunate '80s moment?

Simon: Trendsetters, definitely. We may have instigated an unfortunate moment, but we weren't victims of it.

Mike Mag: What was the thinking behind the video for "Electric Barbarella?"

Warren: As soon as the song was written, we knew we wanted (fashion photographer) Ellen Von Unwerth to direct it. Her instincts were to get this sexy woman into a futuristic setting with a rock band.

Mike Mag: If a woman directs a misogynist video, does that make it less misogynist?

Simon: Do you think our video is misogynist? I don't. I think it's funny. There's no dislike of women in it whatsoever. I mean, it's sexist, absolutely.

Warren: But we didn't call it "Electric Hobarella."

Simon: Exactly. We got this fax saying that MuchMusic (Canada's anwer to MTV) had a problem with it. They suggested that maybe the end of the video could be reworked and the girl could turn the boys into robots and thereby have some form of empowerment. And we were like, "Right. Fuck off."

Mike Mag: So, if a woman directs a sexist video, does that make it less sexist?

Simon: You're a cheeky monkey, aren't you? You are! I like it. I really do.

Warren: We're responsible because we wrote the song. Ellen just followed the story line. It's cybersex with a robot. What's the difference?

Simon: But I don't think that makes it less sexist. We end up in control. She ends up wearing a short skirt and stocking suspenders.

Mike Mag: Stocking suspenders? You mean a garter belt?

Simon: Right. I don't think anybody's going to want to see Duran Duran wearing stocking suspenders.... Well, I don't know, actually. Perhaps they would. Anyway, it's just silly for anyone to take it that seriously. It's like "Oh, you poor robot."

Warren: What if it was a boy robot? What if Erasure made this video and it was a little Butler walking around?

Simon: And hey, if it's politically incorrect, great!

Mike Mag: Would you clone yourselves if you could?

Warren: I think it's something that can benefit mankind in the long run. But don't screw around with my tomatoes.

Simon: No; the world ain't big enough for the both of me.

Mike Mag: How about having yourselves cryogenically frozen?

Simon: Well, I do take a cold bath every morning.

Warren: But you don't wake up 20 years later.

Mike Mag: Did you ever consider changing your name to "Simon and the Blowfish"?

Simon: Many times. It just didn't have the right kind of ring to it.

Mike Mag: How about Simon Le Blowfish?

Simon: Now you're talking!

Warren: I think that's actually been used before in the British press.

Mike Mag: Have you ever worn clogs?

Simon: I was in a windmill once.

Warren: Duran Duran is a clog-free zone.

Simon: My kids wear clogs. Lovely little pink clogs.

Mike Mag: Were you alarmed during the mad cow disease scare?

Simon: Terrified. I still don't eat beef in the UK.

Warren: Not being a beef-eater, it wasn't a problem for me.

Simon: But even if you're not, imagine if it had gone into the human race the way it went into cattle. We'd have two or three million people falling over in the streets. It's appalling.

Warren: I just don't think it's natural for man to eat flesh.

Simon: I disagree completely. We have curly intestines. If we were designed to be herbivores, we'd have straight intestines. Meat-eaters have curly ones. We have evolved into meat-eaters, there's no doubt about it.

Warren: It's just so wrong to me. Protein putrefaction is one of the major causes of degenerative diseases. If you want to go slaughter a cow and chomp on his leg, no problem, but I'd much rather be eating some grass.

Mike Mag: Do you still keep in touch with A Flock of Seagulls?

Simon: I'm sorry? Who?

Mike Mag: Never mind. Have either of you ever worn a girdle?

Warren: We both have. In our last video.

Simon: A girdle is a corset, yes?

Warren: It was strictly style. Nothing to do with midriff bulge.

Mike Mag: Do you find Americans stylish?

Simon: Yes. New Yorkers more than most. But then I find Sikhs very stylish. People in Arabic countries, they've got a very strong sense of style.

Warren: Strong odor as well. Have you ever been on a flight to Bombay?

Simon: OK, here come the letters. (leaning into microphone) That was Warren who said that, thank you. It wasn't me. I do not have problem with people from the East and their scent.

Warren: It's like the Woody Allen joke, you know, inhaling under the armpit of an Armenian. Just kidding. Don't print that.

Simon: Eau de Camel is not Warren's scent of choice.

Mike Mag: Paul McCartney's been knighted. Can we expect a Sir Simon?

Simon: I doubt it very much, because I was quoted once as saying "Fuck the Queen." Actually, what I was saying was that in the days of punk, all we thought we had to do was say "Fuck the Queen," and go out and have a good time, but we soon learned that you have to make a bit more of a statement than that. But it made the English newspapers nonetheless. So I think that sort of blows any chances of knighthood.

Mike Mag: Disappointed?

Simon: No, actually. I think it's a load of old codswallop.

Mike Mag: Codswallop?

Simon: You know, bollocks. Codswallop. C-O-D-S-W-A-L-L-O-P.

Mike Mag: Former Take That frontman Gary Barlow is in this issue. Jealous?

Simon: Maybe he is. I would be if I was him. We've still got a band.

Warren: And he's got about another 14 years to see if he's going to be in any magazine.

Mike Mag: The last line of the press release from your publicist reads: "The members of Duran Duran are often seen with supermodels."

Simon: (cackles) That's because we're always following them around.

Mike Mag: Setting aside that fact that you, Simon, are married to one.

Simon: That is very funny, isn't it?

Mike Mag: What exactly do you get out of hanging around supermodels?

Simon: Inferiority complexes.

Warren: (reading press release) This is so ridiculous.

Mike Mag: What's your fashion advice for Cherie Blair (wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair)?

Simon: Dump the husband. He's the worst possible fashion accessory. God, that smile.

Mike Mag: How often do you moisturize?

Simon: Every time I wash the moisture out of my face. Keeps the skin soft and supple. Here, feel it. (paws at interviewer's cheeks) You're quite greasy-skinned, aren't you? That's the best thing going. Otherwise, cold water is excellent. It does wonders for my skin and my back pain.

Warren: You know, you wouldn't have that back problem if you didn't have such huge breasts.

Simon: Right. That's it. I'm having these reduced.

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