Le Bon - We lost control
Apr 28 2005
In their 80s heyday, Duran Duran were compared to the Beatles, selling more than 70 million records, playing to sell-out audiences worldwide and breaking box office records.
With leather-clad strutting frontman Simon Le Bon, bassist John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor and keyboardist Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran were icons - famous for their wild ways and wicked womanising - back in those days.
But 20 years ago, in 1985, they decided to stop making music together - until 2001, when they reformed.
"We broke up because of personal stuff," explains Simon.
"It was the only way that we could exert some control over our lives. We had lost control. We got back together because we realised we all want to do it again. There's nothing like your first band - that's just really special and we all wanted to get back together."
So why did it take them so long to reunite? "We had to get it right. You couldn't mess around, we had to get it absolutely right," he continues.
"It's great to be back. It's a good job, you know. There was a surreal sense of being really back, and we did ask ourselves if we could still do it. Do we still have that spark that made us so successful last time? Have we still got it?
"Our years apart helped us realise what we had before, and how valuable that was. And how our personal egos should never get in the way of the band's creativity."
The band, whose album Astronaut came out last year, will once again set fans' hearts aflutter with their forthcoming gig at St Andrew's football ground in Birmingham on May 28, with support coming from The Bravery and Daniel Bedingfield.
Tickets are still on sale, priced at £35 and £45 - visit www.getlive.co.uk and www.gigsandtours.com or call 0870 400 0688 or 0871 220 0260.
"We're currently on our Astronaut 2005 World Tour with over 40 dates across America and Canada, so we'll be red hot by the time we land on planet Brum! Maybe we should rename it This Is Planet Birmingham, or should it be Back To Brum?" he adds with a cheeky grin.
And he says that the band have grown up. "You don't want to be doing the same thing your whole life, growing older but no wiser. That would be sad and tragic!
"The real point is we're so lucky to do something that we really love doing. The real waste is if we didn't experience it to its full. It's not about the groupies or the parties, it's about the music."
He adds: "You could probably make it look like it did 20 years ago. We used to concentrate our energies more on the parties after the shows, than the actual gig.
"But now we know that the after-party can never be as exciting as the show you put on, so there's no point in staying up until 6am, drinking Jack Daniels, chasing dodgy women around the hotel lobby.
"It's not going to make you feel better. In fact, it might even screw you up for the show the following day. So that's how we're changed."
Courtesy IC Wales
