A terrific new book will be coming out on July 15th, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut . An unabashed Duran Duran fan, Rob Sheffield has decided to play tribute to one of his musical heroes by sharing stories of how they aided him while growing up growing up and learning all about girls. Publisher's Weekly says "...(in this) tuneful coming-of-age memoir, the glamorous New Wave band Duran Duran presides spiritually over the all-consuming teenage male efforts to comprehend the opposite sex....The result is a funny, poignant browse from a wonderful pop-culture evocateur."
Rob had this message for duranduran.com:
" “Talking to girls about Duran Duran” is how I’ve spent my whole life! It always amazes me how huge this band is, and how much loyalty and ferocity they inspire in their listeners. They taught me a lot about music I never would have heard if not for them--stuff like Kraftwerk and Visage, Chic and Roxy Music. I remember watching MTV one night in 1983 when Simon and Nick were doing a guest VJ spot, for the world premiere of the “Save a Prayer” video. Simon and Nick were playing all these obscure videos by brilliant artists I’d never heard of, stuff that MTV normally would never play. I’ll never forget that night.
Like so many other American kids, I had my whole idea of music altered by Duran Duran. Simon’s whole sense of wit and wordplay was way ahead of what my other favorite bands were doing at the time, along with the whole idea of blending punk and funk, which would’ve been unheard of for any American band.
So I guess this book is my small attempt to pay homage to their massive presence in music and in pop culture over the years. We all owe them a lot. "
For those interested, Rob's book, "Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut," can be purchased here: Amazon.com