Please please tell me now The Duran Duran story

Stephen Davis, 1947-

Book - 2021

In 'Please Please Tell Me Now', bestselling rock biographer Stephen Davis tells the story of Duran Duran, the quintessential band of the 1980s. Featuring exclusive interviews with the band and never-before-published photos from personal archives, this book offers a definitive account of one of the last untold sagas in rock and roll history - a treat for diehard fans, new admirers, and music lovers of any age. From the author of 'Gold Dust Woman'.

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Subjects
Genres
Biographies
Published
New York : Hachette Books 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Stephen Davis, 1947- (-)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
ix, 353 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780306846069
  • Part 1.
  • Duran Duran
  • Nigel in Birmingham
  • Nights in White Satin
  • Shock Treatment
  • The Wasp
  • Blondie at Barbarella's
  • John Taylor: Dada in Birmingham
  • Art College Band
  • Nick Rhodes: Duran Duran's First Lineup
  • Part 2.
  • Early Girls on Film
  • Roger Taylor: Feel on the High-Hats
  • John Taylor: Moving Out of the Toy Shop
  • The Rum Runner
  • Dare to Win
  • Andy Taylor: The News from Cullercoats
  • Andy Taylor: Switchblades and Tire Irons
  • Andy Taylor: Stylish / Powerful / Inventive
  • Andy Taylor: Don't Bore Us
  • Part 3.
  • Simon Le Bon: A Magical Day
  • Tomorrow Belongs to Us
  • Breaking Glass
  • New Romantics
  • Part 4.
  • Unique Sound
  • Top of the Pops
  • Film on Girls
  • These Kids Looked Like Us
  • Duran Duran on the Road
  • The Prince of Pop
  • Part 5.
  • Call It Paradise
  • The Road To MTV
  • I'm Lost and I'm Found
  • The Road to Rio
  • Dancing on the Sand
  • Fate in the Marina
  • Bloody Munich
  • Sound of Thunder
  • Part 6.
  • Like Punk Never Happened
  • Riot in Times Square
  • Diana's Delight
  • The Mencap Fiasco
  • Ragged Tigers
  • Duran Duran into the Arena
  • "Lardo" Speaks
  • Part 7.
  • Middle Class Heroes
  • Shattered Glass
  • The Wild Boys
  • Not "Rio"
  • The Power Station
  • That Fatal Kiss
  • Arcadia vs. the Power Station
  • Live Aid
  • Part 8.
  • Drum
  • The Powder Station
  • Commercial Suicide
  • Burning the Ground
  • Duran Duran Fights for Life
  • Ordinary World
  • Dilate Your Mind
  • Most Wanted
  • Part 9.
  • Pop Trash in the Year 2000
  • Hollywood Goodbye
  • Old Romantics
  • Save a Prayer
  • The Kindness of History
  • Author's Notes
  • Index
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A history of the quintessential video band, from its New Romantic roots to the nostalgia circuit. Duran Duran came together in the late 1970s when the band mates were still teenagers, enchanted by Roxy Music's musical and sartorial style, Chic's disco-funk, and the nascent British synth-pop movement. Soon they became the house band at the Rum Runner, a dance club that was Birmingham's answer to London's New Romantic ground zero, the Blitz. Once singer Simon Le Bon arrived with a notebook stuffed with abstract, earnest lyrics, they developed a formula that got them halfway toward being the dominant dance-pop act of the early 1980s. The other main factor, of course, was MTV. Informed that the new cable channel was tired of rote performance videos, the band delivered ambitious clips filmed in far-flung locales ("Hungry Like the Wolf" in Sri Lanka, "Rio" in Antigua) and became superstars. Multiplatinum success brought them mansions and a glamorous social circle; keyboardist Nick Rhodes became close friends with Andy Warhol. But it also delivered a harsh backlash and cocaine habits that left the band in disarray for years to come. Veteran rock biographer Davis, best known for his 1985 Led Zeppelin biography, Hammer of the Gods, cobbled this book from interviews for a band autobiography that never came together. While he delivers some interesting details about band gossip and chart action, he rarely comes off as enthusiastic about his subject. Aside from some insights into the band's early songs and perfunctory attempts to braid the band's rise with Thatcherism, he's content to chronicle record releases, tours, breakups, and rehab stints, only more speedily after the band's mid-'80s peak. If the band's music deserves a critical reassessment, Davis isn't interested in exploring the matter. A disappointingly bloodless bio of a band all but defined by flash, color, and the "fervor" of their devoted fans. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.