Duran Duran.

[Deadbeat Son]

I loved them, but I was in the 3rd grade.

[Faber]

Honeyiscool: I'm afraid you have gone way down in my estimation. I can only credit the fact that you weren't alive during the early 80s to understand how they personified the watered-down, telegenic bull{censored} that substituted for actual rock during the period when MTV began to dominate the music world (i.e. form over substance). To me, they were essentially the analogue of the anodyne pop that dominated the charts in the early 60s between the death of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, et al and the teabag invasion. *YAWN*

 

 

Whether fair or not this is my opinion as well. They wrote a few good songs, but by and large they came to represent all that was bad about 80s pop - the bloated sheen of hte production, the shallowness, the total lack of energy (on record, live might be different). Aristocratic brits with faux angst and cheesy keyboards

[honeyiscool]

This thread gets a big Plenty of good music is not guitar-centric.

I think Duran Duran is actually plenty guitar-centric, but yeah, I guess this is a forum full of rock lovers and people think this kind of music grows on trees, despite the fact that I think crafting and performing a perfect pop song is very difficult, certainly harder in my experience than getting a few riffs or a few blues licks strung together. And with Duran Duran, you can't really point to anyone but themselves as the authors of their own sound.

[Doctor49]

I think Duran Duran is actually plenty guitar-centric, but yeah, I guess this is a forum full of rock lovers and people think this kind of music grows on trees, despite the fact that I think crafting and performing a perfect pop song is very difficult, certainly harder in my experience than getting a few riffs or a few blues licks strung together . And with Duran Duran, you can't really point to anyone but themselves as the authors of their own sound.

 

 

 

For many people who were around at the time, Duran Duran were a symptom of decline, as autotune, Justin Beiber and so on are viewed by some these days.

 

Please do not underestimate the range of musical taste or ability of people on this forum.

 

You are not the only one that has a high opinion of songwriting and this is far from a nest of rock lovers.

 

Try to be a little less condescending in the way you respond to these things, eh?

[honeyiscool]

I'd be less condescending if most of the criticisms against Duran Duran in this thread didn't sound like some rockist rant delivered by some who just can't let grudges go after 30 years. The very fact that some people find it necessary to even put them (and bash) in the context of rock 'n roll, when they were unabashedly pop and good at it, too, makes that even more obvious to me.

 

Like I ask to name better bassists than John Taylor and I get Entwistle and McCartney? I mean, give me a break. You couldn't have said Bootsy Collins or Louis Johnson? These are the things I notice in the most hateful of posts here, and that's why I'm responding in that fashion.

 

Stanley Clarke? Sure, amazing player, and I'm a huge fan of his, but have you heard "I Wanna Play for You"? Dude's pop sensibility is way off, which is why it's a ridiculous comparison to start with. He's a jazz man. If I want a #1 dance rock record, I'll call someone like Bernard Edwards, Stanley Clarke can stay far, far away from me. If I want a Latin jazz record, I want Clarke on that double bass right away. In that sense, I find that John Taylor is an excellent bassist, and it's hard to find non-session guys in successful pop bands that really can be said to be better than him, and it's hard to compare session with band players, anyway.

 

I don't know what I exactly expected, but I didn't think it would be a huge grudgefest, either. I thought it'd be more of in the sense that "oh, they're just not my thing but they play pretty well."

 

And I don't underestimate the ability of people on this forum. I do wonder about range, though, considering how much of the same stuff gets talked about every day, and stuff like Duran Duran gets trashed despite the obvious musical competence. Just the other day I was seeing some people trashing on Dinosaur Jr. without making much of an effort to understand where that kind of music is coming from... disappointing, really.

[Doctor49]

Well, its an internet forum.
Its full of disappointment, prejudice, grudges and opinions that differ from yours (or mine) on a daily basis.

Thats not going to change.

Its also full of good stuff.

Your reply is still full of "I am right, they are wrong"

There is no right or wrong about opinion.

[soundcreation]

People on HCEG are overall pretty closed minded and cliquey about their music. Sorry if that offends some but whatever. It's true. I mean it's cool if people just like white boy blues, classic rock, or any modern music that doesn't stray too far from those formulas. Nobody is wrong for liking that stuff. Hell, it's some of my favorite stuff too.

 

The problem is, though, that many here have absolutely ZERO respect for other forms of music. Pop is "{censored}". Hip Hop is "{censored}". Shred guitar is "{censored}". Electronica is "{censored}." You don't like it..fine. Nobody is saying you have too. Say "I don't like..." or whatever. But when you say some entire genre of music is "{censored}" you are being a ignorant asshole. Plain and simple.

 

What's even more {censored}ed up is when people say "I hate 80's pop....Duran Duran is {censored}". Well how the {censored} can you judge the quality of a band that plays in a genre that you don't like in the first place? LOL. How the would you know what makes GOOD pop if you've written it off in the first place?

 

You have the freedom to say whatever you want. But I also have the freedom to call out your argument as a complete and utter illogical failure.

[Faber]

 

 

 

Weymouth was a fine fine player indeed. And of course she had top material to apply her playing to

[jedisb]

I watched the "Classic Albums" documentary about the RIO album on Netflix several months ago and gained a new appreciation for them. The VH1 Behind The Music episode about Duran Duran was on a few weeks ago and I found their story to be quite interesting.

[Ralph onion]

Hell, I liked their music and still do. Picked up a greatest hits album at The Dollar Store a couple of weeks ago for 6.00 along with the Best of INXS for 6.00 both of them on the Rhino label. Damned good music in my opinion and I could care less what others think of them. Bassists? Carol Kaye and James Jamerson just to name a few excellent innovative bassists who 95 % of the youngsters in here have never heard of.

[Doctor Morbius]

Hell, I liked their music and still do. Picked up a greatest hits album at The Dollar Store a couple of weeks ago for 6.00 along with the Best of INXS for 6.00 both of them on the Rhino label. Damned good music in my opinion and I could care less what others think of them.

I'm a huge fan of INXS too. It was a real blow to me when I heard Michael Hutchence had died. For me it was probably what a lot of people felt when Cobain died.

[honeyiscool]

Hell, I liked their music and still do. Picked up a greatest hits album at The Dollar Store a couple of weeks ago for 6.00 along with the Best of INXS for 6.00 both of them on the Rhino label. Damned good music in my opinion and I could care less what others think of them. Bassists? Carol Kaye and James Jamerson just to name a few excellent innovative bassists who 95 % of the youngsters in here have never heard of.

I love both of their work, but as I've said before, it's really hard to compare session players with band players. But I think that by now Carol Kaye and James Jamerson are pretty household names for anyone who cares about music.

[Doctor Morbius]

People on HCEG are overall pretty closed minded and cliquey about their music. Sorry if that offends some but whatever. It's true. I mean it's cool if people just like white boy blues, classic rock, or any modern music that doesn't stray too far from those formulas. Nobody is wrong for liking that stuff. Hell, it's some of my favorite stuff too. The problem is, though, that many here have absolutely ZERO respect for other forms of music. Pop is "{censored}". Hip Hop is "{censored}". Shred guitar is "{censored}". Electronica is "{censored}." You don't like it..fine. Nobody is saying you have too. Say "I don't like..." or whatever. But when you say some entire genre of music is "{censored}" you are being a ignorant asshole. Plain and simple. What's even more {censored}ed up is when people say "I hate 80's pop....Duran Duran is {censored}". Well how the {censored} can you judge the quality of a band that plays in a genre that you don't like in the first place? LOL. How the would you know what makes GOOD pop if you've written it off in the first place? You have the freedom to say whatever you want. But I also have the freedom to call out your argument as a complete and utter illogical failure.

I'm actually one of those that hates rap, hip hop and grunge, but '80s New Wave sure isn't one of them. When DD came around I found their songs quite refreshing compared to the same old same old I'd heard in the '70s. I realize a lot of social and political things may have started going wrong during that decade (and continue to this day), but I don't blame the music for that. The music was overall very upbeat and positive. Also, the '80s was a great time to be a young single male.

The haters will continue to hate, but I'm still going to be rocking to Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, The Thompson Twins, INXS, Howard Jones, Devo, Adam Ant (yes I love Ant music), Depeche Mode, New Order, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Tears For Fears and many others from that era.

[mediocreplayer]

My response to this thread (and some of the confused comments that have nothing to do with music) is: I am seeing them TONIGHT! Bow down to the funk of Notorious, bitches!

 

Honey -- link me to some of your own music. I remember hearing something that I liked a while back.

[EricJohn]

I saw them 3 years ago for the 1st time ever. Class of '88 here so I grew up with them. They put on such an amazing show. I absolutely went ballistic when they closed with Rio!

[honeyiscool]

I haven't recorded anything new in a while since I've been busy with my new band. Here are some of my better tracks, though:

 

Girl Next Door

Little Spoon

In Love with You/Inspired by Kittens

When You Smile (this is a pretty old track, it's a bit sloppier, but it's been hard to nail the feel I got on this recording for some reason.)

 

Thanks!

[Doctor49]

now showing on Piers Morgan Tonight....Duran Duran talking about music, their new cd, sex and drugs and rock'n'roll.

FAns will be pleased they plan to do more stuff like they used to.

[soundcreation]

I'm actually one of those that hates rap, hip hop and grunge, but '80s New Wave sure isn't one of them. When DD came around I found their songs quite refreshing compared to the same old same old I'd heard in the '70s. I realize a lot of social and political things may have started going wrong during that decade (and continue to this day), but I don't blame the music for that. The music was overall very upbeat and positive. Also, the '80s was a great time to be a young single male. The haters will continue to hate, but I'm still going to be rocking to Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, The Thompson Twins, INXS, Howard Jones, Devo, Adam Ant (yes I love Ant music), Depeche Mode, New Order, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Tears For Fears and many others from that era.

 

I love it all. I grew up with all that stuff. Loved 80's pop, rock, metal new wave, rap etc....whatever. My vinyl collection is filled with all of it (but mostly metal..lol) But by the time 89 rolled around I was SO happy for the change to something more down to earth and with substance. 80's music became a parody of itself and deserved to die. It became SO boring. Most of my friends got stuck in the 80's. Never really kept an open mind to new stuff.

 

It was weird because when pearl jam, soundgarden and nirvana hit I thought all my friends who I thought were into cool original music would just like it. They just couldn't get it. Music moved on and they didn't want to move with it. I couldn't understand that.

 

So when people like that, hear rap and say "it's {censored}"....I just ignore them. Because their opinion on it really doesn't deserve to be listened too since it's coming from a place of such narrow mindedness in the first place. I don't care if you or they don't like rap...that's fine...totally valid...but it's when people say such and such music is "{censored}" or not "talented" or whatever...it's just ignorant.

[sammyreynolds01]

Duran Duran was a good band but like alot of the bands in the 80's the had a short shelf life. I like many types of music. I like early rap and grunge although I have said I was never a fan of Nirvana. The first time I saw Soundgarden's "Outshined" I knew glam metal was finished.

[foppy]

 

Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, The Thompson Twins, INXS, Howard Jones, Devo, Adam Ant (yes I love Ant music), Depeche Mode, New Order, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Tears For Fears and many others from that era.

 

 

I would never lump all those bands together-- some were inspired innovators, some were schlock.

[mnewb1]

I'm actually one of those that hates rap, hip hop and grunge, but '80s New Wave sure isn't one of them. When DD came around I found their songs quite refreshing compared to the same old same old I'd heard in the '70s. I realize a lot of social and political things may have started going wrong during that decade (and continue to this day), but I don't blame the music for that. The music was overall very upbeat and positive. Also, the '80s was a great time to be a young single male. The haters will continue to hate, but I'm still going to be rocking to Duran Duran, Pet Shop Boys, The Thompson Twins, INXS, Howard Jones, Devo, Adam Ant (yes I love Ant music), Depeche Mode, New Order, Oingo Boingo, The B-52s, The Go-Gos, Tears For Fears and many others from that era.

 

I listened to it all, and hearing it now takes me back!

[*BLEEP*]

Duran Duran

 

 

Sucks Sucks

[soundcreation]

 

Duran Duran Sucks Sucks

 

 

you suck

[mediocreplayer]

Was a killer show! Great musicianship. Great showmanship from Le Bon. A pretty good way to spend a couple of hours.

[smorgdonkey]

I just wonder how many of the Duran Duran bashers are also people who rave about how great Nirvana was.