Duran Cliches
Clichés (plural noun):
1. a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought:
2. a very predictable or unoriginal thing or person:
Similar: commonplace, banality, truism
Last Saturday, four Duranie friends met up for pre-Christmas drinks and spent a very pleasant afternoon swapping war stories, memories and reflections on Danse Macabre. All was very enjoyable, but, as any of you who have met me must know, there needs to be an agenda at some point. To make sure the fun is organised and proper. Otherwise it is just chatting. You understand, I am sure.
And so I had a topic of conversation that I thought might be fun, and might provide an article for Cherry Lipstick. So you could join in.
The topic was Duran cliches – by the band, fans or those lovely people in the media. Things that grinded ones gears, things that really don’t need saying or doing. We came up with a list. And here it is.
By Taylor, Sam, Ben and Adam
(We also had a game to name a Duran song with every day of the week or month of the year in the lyrics – you can play yourself, and then check how we did below).
Ben: I don’t like the phrase used, often about Duran, as ‘cheesy 80s music’ or ‘guilty pleasures’. It’s like we have to be apologetic about what we like. I’ll wear Duran on my sleeve with no guilt at all.
Taylor: I hate it when they get called, “The band who did the video on the yacht.”
Sam: I don’t want to hear the band say, “This is our best album yet.” There’s no thought put into that phrase. I get it why they do it, and they do seem to have stopped recently.
Taylor: They do want to think the new one is better than the last one or the best yet. New stuff is always more exciting.
Adam: The earliest known use of this phrase* was when Nick said, at the time of Seven and the Ragged Tiger, that “Rio didn’t achieve anything.” Maybe they slagged off the first album in 1982?
*I checked later, and those who bought the Cherry Lipstick Rio40 fanzine will also have a transcript of an interview with Simon from May 1982 in which he said, “the first album isn’t very strong at all.”
Adam: It’s lazy reviewers who call the new album “their best since Rio / the 80s.”
Sam: A video cliché for me is young women in stockings. It’s a cliché for Duran and about women.
Ben: Duran’s setlist is a bit of a cliché – a few news ones, nothing (except Ordinary World and Come Undone) from the 90s and 2000s, and the rest are the hits from the 1980s. This is despite them insisting they are not an 80s band.
Adam: Simons’ introductions to Ordinary World are a cliché – who’s being bombed this week?
Ben: That song is just re-purposed to whatever is going on, whether it’s war, famine or a delayed train.
Sam: How about festival goers who slag the band of when they are announced, and then like them when they see them?
Ben: Duran’s media team trotting out that they have sold 100 million records. Maybe it’s 100,010,000 since Danse Macabre was released?
Adam: Rio being played last. It’s pretty boring and not needed.
Taylor: They started with it in 1982. They could finish with Girls On Film, like in 1984
Adam: Rio would be great as the last song before the encore.
Sam: American-centric marketing.
Taylor: The marketing for Whoosh is so non-inclusive. They call the rest of the world ex-North America. I’d like to say to Duran Duran, don’t be a xxxx in your communication with us.
Ben: Nick defending AI…
Adam: Or any new technology!
Ben: Yes – remember how much he loved NFTs in 2021!
Taylor: And Second Life!
Sam: It’s still a thing – we should go on it and meet up there.
Ben, Adam, Sam, Taylor: London 25th November 2023
And here’s how we did with the other game:
Monday: New Moon On Monday
Tuesday: Meet el Presidente
Thursday: Ordinary World
Sunday: Seventh Stranger
Wednesday, Friday, Saturday – nope!
April: My Own Way
July: Drive By
October: Secret Oktober
November: Meet el Presidente
Nothing on the rest! Do you know any more?