This Day in Music Spotlight: Duran Duran Lose Their Guitaris

[CrazyFan]

This Day in Music Spotlight: Duran Duran Lose Their Guitarist, Again!
OCTOBER 26, 2006


On this day in 2006, the Duran Duran fan club issued the following statement on guitarist Andy Taylor quitting the band for a second time.

“The four of us have dissolved our partnership and will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together,” read the letter, signed “Simon, John, Nick and Roger.”

It was the second time the Duran Duran guitarist had split from Simon Le Bon and Co. Taylor, who played guitar on the band’s first three studio albums in the ’80s, originally left Duran Duran after the release of 1986’s Notorious. He rejoined the group in 2001, following a spell with ’80s supergroup Power Station.

The classic early ’80s lineup of Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor and Nick Rhodes saw a Duran Duran renaissance in 2001 but Andy Taylor’s second departure in 2006 threw some question marks over the band’s future. But, a few years on, they continue to tour and record and have a very successful 30-year anniversary under their belts.

Keyboardist Rhodes and bassist John Taylor started the band in Birmingham, England, in 1978, and named themselves after a character in Roger Vadim’s sci-fi movie Barbarella. After several successful gigs with different musicians, they secured a residency at Birmingham music venue, the Rum Runner.

Guitarist Andy Taylor answered an ad in Melody Maker and singer Le Bon joined last. Le Bon was a Londoner, studying drama at Birmingham University. A national tour supporting Hazel O’Connor put the band in the shop window and after a hectic bidding war, Duran Duran were signed by EMI. Their self-titled debut album, with hit single “Planet Earth” sold by the millions and sat in the U.K. charts for a staggering 118 weeks.

This was the MTV generation and when MTV and the BBC banned the original saucy video for “Girls on Film,” the band became international superstars. Their video nouse and MTV’s explosion in the early ’80s went hand in hand. Hit songs like “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Rio” and “Save a Prayer” turned Duran Duran’s second album Rio into a multi-platinum success worldwide. They were now the favorite band of not just Princess Diana but Andy Warhol as well.

The band's third album, 1984’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, gave Duran Duran their first American #1, “The Reflex.” The next year they were invited to write and perform the A View to a Kill James Bond theme – another #1.

Success took its toll however, and the band members started taking on outside projects.

John and Andy teamed up with Robert Palmer to form Power Station. Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor worked on their own project Arcadia, with guest performers Grace Jones, Sting, David Gilmour and Herbie Hancock.

In July 1985, the five members of Duran Duran reunited to play in Philadelphia at the historic Live Aid concert, but the glory days were over. The next year Roger Taylor pulled out, preferring to rest at his country farm and then Andy Taylor also departed. It looked as if Duran Duran were all over.

In 2001, after several individual projects, the classic five went back into the studio to embark on writing together for their first album with all the original members in almost 18 years. Astronaut sold more than 2 million copies, an international tour sold out everywhere, and Duran Duran were rightly recognized for their work, picking awards from the MTV Video Music Awards, the Brits, the Ivor Novello Awards, the Spanish music industry Ondas and Q magazine’s Q Awards.
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/lifestyle/f ... 1026-2010/