Over the weekend, I attended the Duran Duran concert at BayFest in Mobile, Al as part of their social media campaign for the tour for their current album titled All You Need Is Now. If you follow me on twitter, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been using the hashtag #DuranSocial quite a bit. You can follow the #DuranSocial hashtag to be a part of all of the excitement surrounding their current tour. Also, check out their website to see if Duran Duran is coming to a town near you. Click here to purchase All You Need Is Now.

A Discovery Of British Hotties

I discovered Duran Duran (with a little help from my mom) in third grade. The year was 1984 and my favorite singer was Prince. One day I was playing innocently in my room. You know, the way most nine year olds do: I was standing in front of my bedroom mirror performing a dance I had carefully choreographed to the song “Darling Nikki,” my favorite song off of the Purple Rain soundtrack. Oh and I was singing it at the top of my little voice, I knew a girl named Nikki. I guess you could say she was a sex fiend… I’m sure most of you know how the rest of that little ditty goes. My mom was walking by my bedroom door when she got an earful and the next thing I knew I was standing by the garbage can in the kitchen pantry crying while my mom made me pull the tape out of the cassette. Mom felt bad, because I clearly had no idea the song was inappropriate for a nine year old. So, she took me to K-mart (?) to purchase a more wholesome music alternative, and I came home with a shiny, new Duran Duran cassette. I have no idea how my mom came to determine that the fab five were more wholesome than Prince. Maybe she watched the “Girls on Film” video and thought That. Right there. That’s what Mandy should be listening to! All I know is I am so thankful I got that Duran Duran cassette. I think the tape I got that day was Seven and The Ragged Tiger. It contained hits like “The Reflex”, “New Moon On Monday”, and “Union of The Snake”, but I loved every single song on it. More importantly, my affection for the band would shape my life in many ways…

Before R-Patz, There Was John Taylor

Duran Duran lead the “second British invasion,” and for me the commander of that invasion was clearly Duran Duran’s bass player, John Taylor. By the end of third grade my room was wallpapered with pictures of John Taylor (and a few of Simon Le Bon too).  Every week I would scour magazines like Bop, Teen Beat, and Tiger Beat for pictures of Duran Duran. (Wait a sec! Were Teen Beat and Tiger Beat the same thing? Someone enlighten me in the comments section. Also, while I’m on the topic of teen mags from the 80s, does anyone remember those crazy tampon ads with the “Will I Still Be A Virgin?” headline?)

Duran Duran had the most awesome videos of any music artist in the 80s. They usually told some kind of story and were very high quality compared to the videos of other artists. My favorite Duran Duran video was “Hungry Like The Wolf”. I loved the part where Simon flips the table (maybe this is where Teresa got her inspiration?), and I uhmm… I really enjoyed John Taylor’s ensemble in the video (white blazer with no shirt under it and an inexplicable Rambo style bandanna around his hot mullet – it was all kinds of awesome). Every hot guy should be required to walk around in music videos wearing a sensible blazer with no shirt and a Rambo bandanna. Last night I watched the video for the first time in years as “research” for this post and my thoughts were something like Simon Flipping table. Yes! Simon’s awesome sunglasses. Yes! John Taylor. Yes! Yes! Yes! Nick’s wearing a Colonel Sanders tie? Yes! and then my thoughts drifted to Post Colonialism? Damn that English degree! My mind automatically started interpreting the video as a statement on Post Colonialism. (I’ll include a Youtube clip of “Hungry Like The Wolf” at the bottom of this post.)

Because my Duran Duran fascination started at such a young age, the band shaped my life in many other ways as well. For example, I assumed everything awesome must come from England. I had a pen pal in England named Charlotte. We wrote back and forth for years (from fourth grade all the way through high school). I would quiz Charlotte on all things England related and she would respond back with queries of her own. I found the letters a few years back and they were both hysterical and super cute.

Duran Duran also shaped my taste in music. I loved the New Wave sound and enjoyed the well crafted lyrics that made up the band’s many songs. Bands that I would enjoy in addition to Duran Duran through my teenage years (namely The Cure and REM) were a direct result of musical tastes developed during my obsession with Duran Duran during my formative years.

Finally, my oldest son is named British. This is a result of my fascination with England and my English/Scottish/Irish or British Isles heritage. I would have never been as obsessed with all of those things if not for my love for Duran Duran. Also, my husband and I envision British one day telling someone his name is “Boles. British Boles.” and that he likes his sippy cup “shaken not stirred”. (Yes. We’re crazy yuppies.)

A Call From The Mother Ship

So recently, when I received an email with the subject line: Duran Duran Opportunity, it took me about two seconds to respond yes. Yes, I would love free tickets to a Duran Duran concert in exchange for writing and tweeting about the show. It was like the mother ship had finally called me home. It occurred to me if my nine year old self could travel in a time machine to that moment she would probably think I had somehow gotten the coolest job in the world. She would also probably be pretty confused by the smart phone I was showing her the email on and about the concept of email and the internet in general. But other than all of that she’d be totally psyched!

I was lucky enough to score a photo pass for the show. This allowed me to be in the photo pit in front of the stage for the first three songs (including A View To A Kill one of my all time favorites!!!) and I managed to somehow end up sitting in the VIP seats on the side of the stage. To be fair, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be in the VIP area, but no one told me to leave sooooo…. The concert was an awesome experience. Duran Duran puts on an excellent show. Their set was part of a music festival called BayFest in Mobile, AL and they played from 10:30 at night until midnight. Their current album is called All You Need Is Now and it was produced by the innovative and legendary in his own right Mark Ronson. Mark produced Amy Winehouse’s album Back To Black (this is also a staple in my car cd player and my iPod). All You Need Is Now is such a great song. It’s inspiring and uplifting and everything I have come to expect from the band that gave us hits like “Come Undone,” “Ordinary World,” “Rio,” and “The Reflex.”

Duran Duran has changed and evolved over the years. They have stayed ahead of the curve in all aspects of music. Whether it’s the technology they use in their music and shows or the social media techniques they use to promote their shows, Duran Duran has stayed as thoroughly modern as the New Wave sound they helped introduce in the 80s. One of the best parts about participating in the Duran Duran social media campaign was the Mighty Bell experience I participated in along with other fans of the band. It made attending the concert an event that I will remember for a long time, because Mighty Bell provided an area for fans to reminisce their favorite Duran Duran memories and share their thoughts on the upcoming concert.

I want to thank Duran Duran for making one of my childhood dreams come true! Check out my Flickr feed from the show and the video for “Hungry Like The Wolf” below.

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