Dear Cherry Lipstick: Your Letters

What a great Fanzine Week! An amazing response and you all now have a print-out-and-keep issue of Cherry Lipstick!

Fanzine Week was brought to you by:

Jon Woodhouse, Notoriousaurus Rex (Michael!), Fliss, Ruth Galvin, Barbie-Rella (Anita!), Austin T, Baranduin Briggs, AW, Geronimo and JR Kiss.

Huge thanks for all the likes, comments and retweets - especially @GuyFansOfDuran and @DuranDuranInfo

***

Every issue of Cherry Lipstick finished with the readers' letter's page. This issue is no different.

You've all been commenting on the articles published by Cherry Lipstick on FaceBook, Twitter and on the web page.

Here's a reminder of what you've been part of over the past 3 months:

3 Album Reviews

11 Polls

2 Lost Treasures

2 Forgotten Horrors

7 Best Of articles from the CL archives

5 posts in Fanzine Week

and also 12 other posts by 7 different writers - Morgan Richter, Ruth Galvin, JR Kiss, Fliss, Barnaduin Briggs, AW and CK Shortell

Thank you for sticking with Cherry Lipstick

You are indeed a Discerning Duran Fan

On the Red Carpet Massacre Album review

"Emphasising intimacy rather than ecstacy." That's a great way to look at Skin Divers, which is my anthem. Great review!

@notoriousaurus

Skin Divers is my guilty pleasure - it feels like I shouldn't like it and it's wrong on so many levels, but it's the one track where the Timberlake / Timbaland collaboration seems to work.

Manon Wortel

Excellent review. As fate would have it, this album soundtracked an amazing time in my life, so I'll forever hold it in high regard.

@tendraftsdeep

The Valley is an amazing song & I don't see why more people don't realize it. Top 2 DD song for me.

@CmichelleRay

Poll: Which is the best song to have sex to?

I would probably put Rio, Notorious, Big Thing, Wedding Album and Astronaut on and hit shuffle. If I had to pick one, it'd be Hungry Like The Wolf.

Suzanne RaNee Drury

Poll: Which non-Rio song should close the show?

I pondered this a while. Realistically I think it has to be a crowd favourite AND a hit single, otherwise you alienate the half of the crowd who don't know the B sides. In the poll, I went for Last Chance On The Stairway, a great uplifting song, but it was 50/50 with Late Bar. In reality I think Rio, Girls On Film and Wild Boys are the only show closers. Give the crowd a hit to sing on the train home.

Paul Nicholson

I chose Late Bar, but would be really pleased to hear any of those songs at a concert. Makes me think I would like it if they did play any of the first three albums live, as I was too young to go to concerts at the time so have never heard most of those early songs live.

Adrian Head

On the Wedding Album review

"The Wedding Album is gloriously flawed (perhaps an apt description of the band themselves)" The line of the review, perfect.

Maybe None of the Above deserved another star?

Jon Woodhouse

On Bedroom Toys as a Lost Treasure

I agree with every word of this post. It's long been a favorite of mine, given how playful it is. Not to mention it's dripping with sex!

@notoriousaurus

On The Power Station Tour story (Fanzine Week)

This brought back so many memories! I saw Power Station in 1985 in Oakland, CA! I was a year younger than you!

Jen W @diadexxus

On whether bonus tracks should be considered full album tracks

Great write up and I agree with where you set the album boundaries. For my two cents, Fallen Angel is an album worthy track that belongs on TWA (it’s one my favourite all time tracks).

@TheRobClements

Don't forget that All You Need Is Now had two actual album releases: the original 9 track download album (December 2010) and then the 14 track physical release (March 2011) with Other People's Lives, Too Bad You're So Beautiful, Mediterranea and the two Owen Pallet bites, added. This elongation caused me a bit of a dilemma. For me AYNIN was the 9 track album that we had for 3 months and that we all (most of us anyway) loved. I didn't need a few extra tracks chucked in to make me love it anymore, they kind of didn't belong to the 40 minute album that had been delivered and which flowed perfectly well. My opinion at the time was that they could have been saved towards the next album. So in my book these are extra tracks that I know belong to the album phase, they rank above bonus tracks, but I'd have been quite happy with the punchier and more focussed 9 track version.

Paul Nicholson

On 90s album title tracks

Simon spoke about how Red Carpet Massacre came about and so the song was before the album title. I do not think it was just Nick who was so gung ho about the concept. Simon seems to have really enjoyed that one in particular. I also rather love the song and the attitude it shows. It also maintains a more raw feel than most of their songs. It has a lot of the appeal some of their demos have had before they were reworked and mixed over and over. I love Liberty, as well as the whole album and think it is misunderstood and far underrated.As for the rest of the title tracks, I REALLY love Paper Gods. I also think it is so very fitting in the current political climate, but will also hold up over time.

MissNovemberTuesday

On We Need You as a Forgotten Horror

Ooooh I like your courage. ..however I must confess to liking We Need You. Simon pleading? Yes please. On his knees.

@csjenson68

On Yo Bad Azizi as a Lost Treasure

After reading the article I listened to 'Yo Bad Azizi' for the first time in about 25 years. I won't be doing that again..

Adrian Head

On why Duran have so many songs that fade-out

I'd never thought about fade out versus ending, a good topic CL! I think the DJ / radio thing is a good answer. From a radio side they don't always have the perfect time to play the whole song so a 'repeat to fade' on the chorus is a good way out. And I know from my DJing days I'd get caught out if a new track I wasn't familiar with cut to dead air and the next track started with a slower or quieter introduction that I was expecting to fade in over the previous one. DJs don't like surprises! Perhaps another point in favour of a 'repeat to fade' track is that the listener takes that chorus away with them, still repeating it in their mind. As opposed to the very defined closure of a crash bang wallop ending. There's a place for both.

Paul Nicholson

On the Notorious album review

Great to read this review of Notorious - might even make me listen to the album again, haven't done so in a while. And I really feel I *must* write in defence of American Science, surely a Duran classic and one of those songs loved by many? Surely?! I love how smoothly it flows along after the slightly harder/harsher Nile Rodgers sound of Notorious and before Skin Trade ups the tempo again. At the time I liked how much more grown up it sounded than the band's previous work and the song showcases Simon's transition to a slightly lower register than much of the '81-'85 vocals. Thank you for the trip down memory lane!

Pink Disguise

Fun fact: Hold Me was picked up by the most popular radio DJ in my country (Hungary) and was a huge success. Back then I was positive the killer guitar riff was Andy's last gift to the band. With that in mind... I think the song is awesome.

Zsolt

Coming soon to Cherry Lipstick:

The 4th Album Review