Generally, I hate Duran Duran.  I think they're extremely cheesy, in a bad way, and have cringe-worthy lyrics and synths.  But I love the song "Girls on Film".

What's your opinion on Duran Duran?

They're cheesy in a bad way, and just about the worst of new wave, IMO.

They're cheesy in a bad way, and just about the worst of new wave, IMO.


I agree. They suck  ;D

Don't you think "Girls on Film" is a good song though? It's the only one of theirs I like.

IF you guys were alive during Duran's heyday, you'd have different opinions on them ;)

I've always liked their music...

Well, they were 'part of the furniture' during the 80s...and 'cheesy' or not, they were successful...

Mind you, most of their post-1986 efforts should be avoided!

Mind you, most of their post-1986 efforts should be avoided!


True...

The only post-1986 song of theirs that I really liked was 'Ordinary World'...

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Maybe, maybe not. I just think they were really untalented.


I think they were the epitome of "commercial, bubblegum, MTV" new wave. Bands like A Flock of Seagulls, a-ha, Thompson Twins, etc. managed to be appealing to MTV audiences and a bit bubblegum-y while maintaining musical quality and being interesting.

Well, they were 'part of the furniture' during the 80s...and 'cheesy' or not, they were successful...

Mind you, most of their post-1986 efforts should be avoided!


The "Notorious" album in 1986 wasn't bad, but "Big Thing" (1988), "Liberty" (1990) and "Thank You" (1995) were all albums that I didn't particularly like.  They were at their best as a 5 piece :)

They were OK, though I like several of their hits like "New Moon On Monday", "The Reflex", "Rio", "Girls On Film", and "Union Of The Snake"

I love Duran Duran!

Hi, I'm new.
The theme song from "A View To A Kill" is good. I also like "Hungry Like the Wolf," remember that in the video Simon Le Bon did not yet have the spiky hair he had in later years. And he had a beautiful interracial love interest . . . ahead of the times.

Insulting Chucky's favourite band? Boy, you're just dying to get banned from this site, aren't ya, Donnie?  ;D

Insulting Chucky's favourite band? Boy, you're just dying to get banned from this site, aren't ya, Donnie?  ;D


;D

Obviously I am biased because I grew up with Duran Duran.
To say they were untalented - c'mon!
The were dubbed "The Fab Five" and the leaders of the Second British Invasion!
They earned every single credit they received and still do to this day!
They formed themselves, therefore they were not Manufactured!.
Duran Duran mixed and remixed their own tracks and became the influence of many bands - even ones we here today!


I think they were the epitome of "commercial, bubblegum, MTV" new wave. Bands like A Flock of Seagulls, a-ha, Thompson Twins, etc. managed to be appealing to MTV audiences and a bit bubblegum-y while maintaining musical quality and being interesting.

This I would have to disagree with seen as how all bands listed and including D2 were deeply influenced by bands such as Roxy Music, New York Dolls and Velvet Underground. To go further, D2 released an album last year with all 5 original members and are currently in the studio recording another. Hmmm... 26 years and still going. Where are the other bands that were apparently "way better" than Duran Duran?

This is my humble opinion.

The evil Durand Durand has caputed Barbarella.  Whatever will we do?

http://barbarella.mon-oueb.com/machine/images/machine-01.jpg

I was and am a D2 fan.

Mind you, in my school Duran Duran was strictly a girls' band. Boys had to listen to metal, or get hurt in the halls. I defied the law with my shirts, buttons, stickers, textbook graffiti, and so forth, for AFOS, the Fixx, Duran Duran, Elvis Costello, B-52's, Talking Heads, Devo, and so forth! Paid the price too!*
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/02/bluegrab.gif

"Rio" was their best album, I liked all the songs on that one. My favorite then and now is "Save A Prayer," but another big favorite of mine is stuck way at the end of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, "The Seventh Stranger."

*If you were a Durannie, you might as well be a trannie!
Now they didn't hassle the fat kid known as "Jody X," who wore Plasmatics t-shirts. I mean, they ripped on him behind his back, but stayed out of his way in the halls, there were rumors, you know. "Jody X" was a Ricky Linderman figure, if you know what I mean!

I love their music.

I was and am a D2 fan.

Mind you, in my school Duran Duran was strictly a girls' band. Boys had to listen to metal, or get hurt in the halls. I defied the law with my shirts, buttons, stickers, textbook graffiti, and so forth, for AFOS, the Fixx, Duran Duran, Elvis Costello, B-52's, Talking Heads, Devo, and so forth! Paid the price too!*
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/02/bluegrab.gif

"Rio" was their best album, I liked all the songs on that one. My favorite then and now is "Save A Prayer," but another big favorite of mine is stuck way at the end of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, "The Seventh Stranger."

*If you were a Durannie, you might as well be a trannie!
Now they didn't hassle the fat kid known as "Jody X," who wore Plasmatics t-shirts. I mean, they ripped on him behind his back, but stayed out of his way in the halls, there were rumors, you know. "Jody X" was a Ricky Linderman figure, if you know what I mean!


Actually...since posting this, my opinion of Duran Duran has somewhat improved. I don't like all their songs, but "Notorious" and "Girls on Film" and "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" are great. I dislike "The Reflex", though.

IF you guys were alive during Duran's heyday, you'd have different opinions on them ;)


This is the difference between learning about an era, and living an era.

The most critical posts I read all tend to come from the generation that followed Duran-Duran.  They were really not around when they were big.  They do not understand 80's culture, or 80's music.  They do not understand what compelled us all to wear big hair, pastell colored clothes, and wear a permanent 3 day stubble.

Of course, this later generation often though other broups were "great", like Emenem, Vanilla Ice, and Christina Spears.  I can't wait until they try and defend their music choices to their children in another 15 years or so.

"Oh my god dad, you and mom used to like them?!?!?"

Unfortunately D2 aren't that original.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Duran Duran and have no problem with bands that take a formula and hone in on it but all this talk and no mention of Japan  ???

Unfortunately D2 aren't that original.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Duran Duran and have no problem with bands that take a formula and hone in on it but all this talk and no mention of Japan  ???


I don't see Japan and Duran Duran in the same way.  Duran Duran were commercially much more successful than Japan.  Not saying that that makes them better just that it means that 'oldies' radio programmes play more D2 than they ever play stuff by Japan

This is the difference between learning about an era, and living an era.

The most critical posts I read all tend to come from the generation that followed Duran-Duran.  They were really not around when they were big.  They do not understand 80's culture, or 80's music.  They do not understand what compelled us all to wear big hair, pastell colored clothes, and wear a permanent 3 day stubble.

Of course, this later generation often though other broups were "great", like Emenem, Vanilla Ice, and Christina Spears.  I can't wait until they try and defend their music choices to their children in another 15 years or so.

"Oh my god dad, you and mom used to like them?!?!?"


You can say somebody wasn't alive during the era and so therefore doesn't have the same perspective on it, but you can't say we don't "understand" '80s music and culture. Alot of people my age (like myself, I suppose) are '80s revivalists and are intrigued with it and trying to understand it. And most of us who are never thought "Christina Spears" (it's Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, by the way, like neither of 'em but I'm the right age group) was all that great anyway. I think my opinion of Duran Duran has changed from hearing more of their music. They were a stylish pop-disco group, not as good or as consistent as ABC or the Pet Shop Boys or New Order or Prince or Madonna by a long shot, but they had good tunes and they were masters of the video image game. Certainly a much better, more artful group than Wham!. "Notorious" is a great song that's reminiscent of Nile Rodgers' work with CHIC, and "Girls on Film" is similarly interesting. It's good party music. I do happen to think "The Reflex" is annoying and overly bubblegum-y, though. Part of it is that their voices can great.

Most people my age, born in the last half of the eighties and the early nineties, did not have parents who were all that heavily into '80s culture. Most of us had parents who were children of the '70s and liked stuff like disco and classic rock.

You can say somebody wasn't alive during the era and so therefore doesn't have the same perspective on it, but you can't say we don't "understand" '80s music and culture. Alot of people my age (like myself, I suppose) are '80s revivalists and are intrigued with it and trying to understand it.


That may be, but it is still not the same as living in the era.

It is like people of my generation watching "Happy Days", and thinking that is what the 1950's were like.  Or watching "The Waltons", and thinking that is what the 1930's were like.

All of these are merely an amalgum of an era.  They may capture the trends of an era, but not the feeling of the era.  At best, they are nothing but whimsical looks back, through the eyes of nostalgia.

If anything, the early 1980's were similar to the late 1950's and early 1960's.  You had a period of growth after a recession, and had a youth culture rebelling against the culture that came before.  You also had a very real feeling of tension because of the Cold War, and a lot of people (especially the yourh) felt a sense of future doom, which often caused a "live for today" attitude.

Somebody of your generation enjoying New Wave music would be akin to somebody from my generation enjoying Elvis, Buddy Holly, or Diana Ross.  You can enjoy things the era produced, yet still not fully understand the times in which they were created.  We were the last generation that went though "Stop, Drop & Cover" drills at school.  Today the threats are guns in school, molestations, and terrorism.  Back then, we were all scared of the thought of Global Thermonuclear War.

That is one of the wonderful things about any nostalgia movement.  It tends to capture most of the "good" things about a generation, but glosses over or ignores the bad things.  When you talk about "80's Nostalgia", there is little talk of the bad things.  Widespread cocaine use, Crack,  herpes epidemic, the fear of AIDS because nobody knew what caused it, USA and USSR with their fingers on "The Button", gasoline rationing, no more then 3-4 TV channels, no "24 hour news" - just 30 minute news updates 4 times a day.  You can no more understand that then people of my generation can understand what it was like to literally live 10 minutes away from Armageddon (Cuban Missille Crisis), or living in a time where "man in space" was a fantasy reserved for B movies.

Do not think I am belitteling you, because I am not.  These are simply things that you have to experience to fully understand them.  It is like trying to explain what college or military life is like to somebody that never experienced either.  You can give the idea of the experience, but they will never fully understand what it is like.

That may be, but it is still not the same as living in the era.

It is like people of my generation watching "Happy Days", and thinking that is what the 1950's were like.  Or watching "The Waltons", and thinking that is what the 1930's were like.

All of these are merely an amalgum of an era.  They may capture the trends of an era, but not the feeling of the era.  At best, they are nothing but whimsical looks back, through the eyes of nostalgia.

If anything, the early 1980's were similar to the late 1950's and early 1960's.  You had a period of growth after a recession, and had a youth culture rebelling against the culture that came before.  You also had a very real feeling of tension because of the Cold War, and a lot of people (especially the yourh) felt a sense of future doom, which often caused a "live for today" attitude.

Somebody of your generation enjoying New Wave music would be akin to somebody from my generation enjoying Elvis, Buddy Holly, or Diana Ross.  You can enjoy things the era produced, yet still not fully understand the times in which they were created.  We were the last generation that went though "Stop, Drop & Cover" drills at school.  Today the threats are guns in school, molestations, and terrorism.  Back then, we were all scared of the thought of Global Thermonuclear War.

That is one of the wonderful things about any nostalgia movement.  It tends to capture most of the "good" things about a generation, but glosses over or ignores the bad things.  When you talk about "80's Nostalgia", there is little talk of the bad things.  Widespread cocaine use, Crack,  herpes epidemic, the fear of AIDS because nobody knew what caused it, USA and USSR with their fingers on "The Button", gasoline rationing, no more then 3-4 TV channels, no "24 hour news" - just 30 minute news updates 4 times a day.  You can no more understand that then people of my generation can understand what it was like to literally live 10 minutes away from Armageddon (Cuban Missille Crisis), or living in a time where "man in space" was a fantasy reserved for B movies.

Do not think I am belitteling you, because I am not.  These are simply things that you have to experience to fully understand them.  It is like trying to explain what college or military life is like to somebody that never experienced either.  You can give the idea of the experience, but they will never fully understand what it is like.


I know, I know.