Your Cherry Lipstick favourites from 2018
For a year with no new recordings and only a handful of shows, 2018 still proved to be a busy year for Cherry Lipstick and its writers. You logged on, clicked and tapped on a variety of articles, and these turned out to your top 10.
The list is drawn up from the upticks on Twitter and Facebook, as well as good old Google Analytics. Well, in the old days you could see literally how many fanzines were posted out. Now the popularity is tracked via data clicks.
Cherry Lipstick is proud that is has a wide range of authors, and covers varied topics from the past and present, and hopefully with a bit of humour chucked in. This list seems to sum all that up.
The most popular tuned out to be those which were liked, shared and discussed the most. So if you like what you're reading, please spread the word.
Here's to many more articles to enjoy in 2019 at Cherry Lipstick
Adam
10. The Dutch Go Duran Interviews by Mandy Jones (October 2018)
These were reprints from The Dutch Go Duran fanzine of the 1990s. Mandy's 1994 interview with Simon proved to the most popular. Mandy's direct style drew approving comments. "The fans don't like Liberty much, why do you think that is?" asked Mandy. "Well, I don't like it much either," Simon replied.
9. Fanzine Week 3: Day 1 (January 2018)
Our popular Fanzine Week idea (% posts in 5 days to create your own print-out-and keep fanzine) featured a range of writers. This one included a Vegas live concert review and memories of the Duran Duran International Fan Club.
8. The Cherry Lipstick Album review of Reportage by C.K. Shortell (April 2018)
Yup, we got an exclusive listen to the great lost album and told you all about it. "This one could be a lead single. This sounds like an outtake from the Liberty sessions. Amazing." You can even listen to a snippet - just click the disclaimer.
7. Record Store Day Budokan Live LP by Ruth Galvin (April 2018_
So there was one official new record release this year, and we reviewed it for you. Amidst the bang and the clatter of queuing for the blessed thing, Ruth asked "Here’s a question... was anyone actually delighted with their purchase? Or just smug and relieved? How many actually listened to it? Was it all just a chance to promote your own brand of fandom?"
6. Las Vegas live by Baranduin Briggs (January 2018)
A classic live review written on adrelaline and coffee just hours after the show.
"The sonnet remains the same, coming to the same last few lines. Simon strumming on the guitar, singing about taking chances, then those iconic Patrick Nagel Lips. It never grows old. We never tire."
5. Worth Waiting For by AW (June 2018)
The rush-released review of the splendid BBC documentary, There's Something You Should Know. yup, it was written and ready for you just 72 minutes after the documentary finished. "This show was a deserved honour and a tender tribute to this band of ours." A highlight of the year.
4. The Cherry Lipstick Album Review of Pop Trash by C.K. Shortell and AW (July 2018)
It was very pleasing to see this album review get a large audience. As a co-author, I was really happy to reappraise this difficult album.
"There are diamonds in the rough to be found, in a sound and era when “the band” was perhaps more uncompromising and less risk averse than their post-reunion incarnation. Because it is important for us all to remember that things are never quite what they seem."
3. The Power Station Story - In Their Own Words (March 2018)
Told over 3 parts, this is the story of The Power Station from the conception of an idea in 1982 to the final show in 1997. The story, frankly, roars along, and there's even an exclusive-to-Cherry-Lipstick insight from Michael Des Barres.
2. The Simon le Bon Diaries by Geronimo (April 2018)
EXCLUSIVE to Cherry Lipstick, probably. They are DEFINATELY genuine.
"April 30 1984: I've been so excited I can't sleep. I've been badgering the Berrows to find out who this beauty is. Yesterday they told me. Her name is Yasmin and – how amazing – she's from Oxford!"
1. The Cherry Lipstick Album Review of So Red The Rose by Ruth Galvin (June 2018)
You can't argue with the punters, and this one is out of sight the most read article of the year.
"To worship Arcadia as a project is to lend some credibility to fandom. It has become the yardstick by which their creativity has been measured ever since and the go-to in defending the musicianship within Duran Duran."