Save a Prayer
After being mobbed by the other women in the office who wanted to talk to Duran Duran dreamboat John Taylor, B-Sides beat them off with our copy of the band's new album, Astronaut, and secured the interview. Here's what the married father (sob) and B-Sides discussed.
B-Sides: So first of all, I have to admit to you that I'm a little bit of a Duran Duran superfan, so you'll have to excuse me.
John Taylor: What constitutes a "superfan"?
Well, like, I still kiss, ah, you know, my poster that came with "The Reflex" 45.
No way!
Yes, it's true.
No, you don't!
It's true! I got it when I was like seven years old, and I still have it. It's actually at my desk.
You're not married?
No, I'm not married.
Wow.
Yeah, it's in great shape, believe it or not.
Well, I should hope it is. It must be quite sticky by now though.
So do you encounter a lot of people like me out and about or....
Yes! Well, obviously, I think the reunion has brought a lot of energy back to the band, and a lot of feelings that were perhaps underlying are now, like, back....I don't want to say people need us, but there are some people that what we do gives them a sense of fun and vitality.
Sure, sure. I'm sure now, too, with the '80s fashion revival, the crowd probably looks the same in some ways.
The crowd looks good, the crowd looks pretty good. We were always the generation that [was] very image-conscious. Right? Generation Hair Lacquer..... We've all been saying the crowd that's come back to us is the crowd that we always wanted..... I mean, they're the people we have a lot in common with, I suppose -- we all love me. [Laughs]
Kinda along those lines, back in the '80s, it seemed that fashion and hair were very important to Duran Duran. So what kind of hair products do you use? Your hair looks great on the [Astronaut] cover.
For many years after I left the band, I stopped using hair products. And when we finally decided that we were going to work together, we singled out a house in the south of France that we rented for ten days. We sent an engineer in to set up, and it was a house that we all lived in -- it was like Big Brother or something. We all made a decision that we were going to move in, leave the family, leave the wives. And I think I was the last one to get there; I'd flown in from LA. I got quite a tiny room because everybody else was there before me. And I get into the room and in the corner is this golden hair dryer -- it's just glowing. It's not like my hair was dirty or anything, but I sat down in front of the mirror, I picked up the hairdryer and suddenly, I'm blow-drying my hair. This is all bullshit, of course, but you know [laughing], it's a funny idea, isn't it?
Maybe you could make an album based on that! I just have one more question for you: How does it feel to be the most handsome member of Duran Duran? Are you shy about your handsomeness?
Not really, not really.
You wear your handsomeness with pride?
Yeah, well, it's all about how you feel, isn't it? Sometimes you've got to work hard to feel good, but I'm very lucky. There are a lot of people out there who I don't know, who I've never met, but they think a lot of me and I do feel that -- I think we all get that, so that's extraordinary, amazing. Why me?
-- Alison Sieloff
Courtesy Riverfront Times
