val@whuxi.UUCP (GARDNER) (06/12/84)
Hi there: Can I get some opinions "unbiased" please? Going back in time, I remember the first time I heard "Hungry Like A Wolf", a really liked it. Then FM and the Clubs really started overplaying it, "what else is new?". I questioned, "Who and What the Hell is Duran Duran". Shortly I went out to buy their first album "Duran Duran" and also Rio. Well, I consider my self a music critic and am really into music, and coming from a family of professional musicians. I don't know to this day, what really interestes me about "DD". Their music is REALLY different, some tunes are average, but what I would consider "filler" music on most of my favorite groups' albums, I actually LIKE by "DD" and think they deserve FM play. My favorites are "Hold back the Rain", "Save a Prayer" etc. I know they sound so Roxy Music-ish, but I really think that they are innovative. I even went to see them at the Meadowlands with 2,000 screaming little l4 year olds. Do you think they use subliminal advertising. SIMON LE BON PLEASE REPLY TO: !whuxi val P.S. - Or anyone who looks like him. DEE @ BELLCORE WHIPPANY / /
rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (06/13/84)
> Can I get some opinions "unbiased" please? I always flinch when I see someone make a request like that. Usually "unbiased" means "agreeing with the authors and no negative comments that might upset them". In this case, my comments may not appear to be "unbiased" in that sense. (What is an "unbiased" opinion, anyway?) > Going back in time, I remember the first time I heard "Hungry Like A Wolf", > a really liked it. Then FM and the Clubs really started overplaying it, > "what else is new?". I questioned, "Who and What the Hell is Duran Duran". > Shortly I went out to buy their first album "Duran Duran" and also Rio. > Their music is REALLY different, some tunes are average, but what > I would consider "filler" music on most of my favorite groups' > albums, I actually LIKE by "DD" and think they deserve FM play. > My favorites are "Hold back the Rain", "Save a Prayer" etc. > I know they sound so Roxy Music-ish, but I really think that > they are innovative. I always wonder what people are really trying to say when they exclaim "they're so different and innovative" and "they sound like someone else". > I even went to see them at the Meadowlands with 2,000 screaming > little l4 year olds. > Do you think they use subliminal advertising. > SIMON LE BON PLEASE REPLY TO: !whuxi val > P.S. - Or anyone who looks like him. --- > Well, I consider my self a music critic and am really into music, and > coming from a family of professional musicians. I don't know to > this day, what really interestes me about "DD". Nor I, but from the tone of your request to Mr. Le BonBon, I'd say 1) yes they do use subliminal advertising in the form of tight pants and other accoutrements designed to impress impressionable young girls, 2) is the name "val" a real name or a description? :-) Check out the Rolling Stone expose on Duran Duran a few months back. (RS has actually been the bastion of music exposes lately; witness their explosion of the MTV myth in a recent issue.) In the article, quoting from members of the band, they explain how, although they originally dissociated themselves from the "new romantic" movement, they actually thought it was the most convenient bandwagon to jump on at the time. "We were poseurs, and we were looking for good-looking poseurs to be in our band." And, for those who care, there's a great incident involving the increasingly rotund Mr. Le Bon's pants buttons popping just before a concert. (Couldn't walk out on stage without the right clothes...) Well, I'm off to South Iguana to film my next video, so... (Actually, the band gave up the "let's go to a foreign place to have our pictures taken" concept for their last video, in which they blatantly FAKED a live concert.) They're so easy to pick on, but I'll admit I do like "Hungry Like the Wolf" and even "Save a Prayer" (with its Wakemanesque synthesizer opening). And I'll never miss the "adult" version of the Girls on Film video. But why does everything else they do sound alike? (Remember, they're the band that made MTV a viable means of "breaking" bands in America...) Musician magazine reviewed their last album in the following manner: Adventure! Romance! New haircuts! -- You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Rich Rosen pyuxn!rlr
dvw@hopd3.UUCP (D. V. Wilkerson) (06/13/84)
Dee:
I know what you mean. I must admit I too like "Save A Prayer" and the Nile
Rodgers re-mix of "The Reflex" (the album original lacked a little spark).
I want to know why these media mavens created by MTV have invaded my home!
Probably because the music is so "lush" and catchy, it grows on you
(like fungus).
Why do the teeny-boppers wrinkle the pictures of Simon before I get to them??
Come on out there. There has got to be some band that YOU thought you would
die before you would go near their stuff, but now love ("guilty pleasures" is
the term).
Diane Wilkerson
..!hopd3!dvwgds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (06/13/84)
> Going back in time, I remember the first time I heard "Hungry Like A Wolf", > a really liked it. Then FM and the Clubs really started overplaying it, > "what else is new?". Long before the single was available in the U.S. (actually in the summer of '82) I heard "Hungry Like the Wolf" on Kiss-108 (WXKS) in Boston. I liked it more then than now. The video is pretty good though. > Well, I consider my self a music critic and am really into music, and > coming from a family of professional musicians. I don't know to > this day, what really interestes me about "DD". I think they have catchy tunes. > My favorites are "Hold back the Rain", "Save a Prayer" etc. > I know they sound so Roxy Music-ish, but I really think that > they are innovative. I never bought a Duran Duran album, so I don't know what they've done besides their pop hits, but my favorites are "Is There Something I Should Know", "The Reflex" and "Rio". -- Those who know me have no need for my name. Greg Skinner (gregbo) {decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, allegra!banyan, whuxle, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
merchant@dartvax.UUCP (Peter Merchant) (06/14/84)
{ Please please tell me now }
Yes, Duran Duran is catchy. Their music is good foot tapping music.
I wouldn't comprend Simon Le Bon's buns...I'm not into that sort of
thing.
My favourite, though, is a friend of mine who was a DJ. He was a bit
of a prude and always faded out "Hungry Like The Wolf" just before who-
ever the random female is who moans in the background start moaning.
I hear there were a few stations that got rather upset about this and
editted it similarly or refused to play it altogether.
Just shows to go you...
--
"Duran Duran mooning on a Monday morning Peter Merchant
here at music radio..."rpk@mit-vax.UUCP (Robert Krajewski) (06/19/84)
I also liked Duran Duran before they got big. I could see they they were already very image-conscious, but that there was actual substance and even musicianship to the songs they were doing. In spite of the Roxy Music influence, they do sound original when compared to all the mainstream American bands that were so popular when DD was unknown over here. Like Rich Rosen said, they are easy to make fun of, but the actual music is not so bad. I've got the first two albums, but I started liking them less recently because I felt the songs weren't as tight, and that the lyrics on ``Seven and the Ragged Tiger'' were getting more vague than ever. But I'm a real sucker for the dance remix of ``The Reflex'' and the ``Tiger Tiger'' instrumental on the new album. -- ``Bob'' (Robert P. Krajewski) ARPA: RpK@MC MIT Local: RpK@OZ UUCP: genradbo!miteddie!rpk or genradbo!miteddie!mitvax!rpk
andrew@inmet.UUCP (06/23/84)
#R:whuxi:-2400:inmet:6600175:000:578 inmet!andrew Jun 21 12:53:00 1984 > val: Well, I consider my self a music critic and am really into music, and > coming from a family of professional musicians. I don't know to > this day, what really interestes me about "DD". > > gds: I think they have catchy tunes. > > merchant: Yes, Duran Duran is catchy. Their music is good foot tapping music. Yeah, they're catchy all right... you can't forget their ditties/jingles even if you want to! With a little practice, Duran Duran could become the next Grass Roots or Guess Who! Andrew W. Rogers ...{harpo|ihnp4|ima|esquire}!inmet!andrew