Pneumatised!

1. Duran Duran got the name from the sci-fi movie, Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. The band would later produce the hit song, “Electric Barbarella”. (Hey cool… they like sci-fi too!)

2. In 1982, Princess Diana would declare Duran Duran her favourite band. The band was summoned to perform live before the Princess and the Queen. (If they were good enough for the Princess, they are good enough for me!)

3. The videos for “Save a Prayer”, “Hungry Like the Wolf”, and “Lonely in Your Nightmare” were filmed in Sri Lanka. “Rio” was filmed in Antigua. Russell Mulcahy was the director. He directed at least the pilot of the sci-fi TV series, Jeremiah, which stars Luke Perry, of 90210 fame. (I’ve only seen one of the episodes of Jeremiah, Mulcahy’s influence isn’t hard to miss.)

4. Nick Rhodes produced the song “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo. (I liked this song too when it first came out. I have to say that Nick is a music genius and his name pops up in association with a few others.)

5. Linkin Park and Duran Duran have the same producer, Don Gilmore. He was one of the producers on Duran Duran’s new album and he also produced “Collision Course” featuring Jay-Z and Linkin Park. (Linkin Park is also a band I really like. The band mixes two different styles of music extremely well – and it doesn’t hurt that both singers are really good.)

6. Duran Duran appears on Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “Feed the World”. The songs were made as a charity relief effort for those starving in Ethiopia at the time. The artists involved with Band-Aid include Sting, U2, George Michael, Boy George, Bananarama and many others. Band-Aid would perform a live show called Live-Aid as an additional fundraiser. After this, Bob Geldof (formerly of Boomtown Rats) would be knighted for his humanitarian role as organizer of Band-Aid and Live-Aid. He is properly known as Sir Bob Geldof. (Sorry, I got side-tracked from Duran Duran, but thought it was important to point out this fact of music history).

7. Duran Duran’s song “A View to a Kill” is the only James Bond theme song to reach #1. (Since Simon couldn’t live his dream of starring as James Bond in the movies, I guess getting to make the theme song was the next best thing for him. Note the boyish smile on his face at the end of the video when the girl asks him, “Aren’t you…?” and he replies, “Bon, Simon LeBon”)

8. Grace Jones and Sting are featured on the Arcadia album. (Roger, Nick, and Simon were part of Arcadia while John and Andy got to work with Robert Palmer on Power Station and produced hits “Some Like it Hot” and “Get It On (Bang a Gong)”)

9. Duran Duran is the first band to upload a song for sale on the internet. The song was “Electric Barbarella”. (Duran Duran is a strong supporter of new technology. At the same time, they hate to see some of the old habits go away, like browsing through a music store listening to new tunes and chatting with the staff about new music. Source: MuchMoreMusic interview April 4, 2005.)

10. Nick Rhodes was a good friend with artist Andy Warhol. (Note the similar fashion sense!)

11. In 1998, Simon LeBon performed with the Smashing Pumpkins in London. (I liked the Smashing Pumpkins too once I realized who they were. I heard the song 1979 many times but didn’t know it was a Pumpkins song until my boyfriend at the time mentioned it, as he was a Pumpkins fan.)

12. On August 11, 1985, Simon LeBon’s yacht capsized off the English coast during a boat race. He was trapped for 40 minutes in an underwater air pocket until the Royal Navy rescued him. (One of my cats happens to be born on August 11. Also on August 11, 1995, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) experienced their first crash on the subway line. However, the TTC is still considered to be one of the safest public transit systems.)

13. In 2001, NASA plays Duran Duran’s song “Hold Back the Rain” for the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis hoping to ward off the rain so the shuttle can land. It worked and the crew landed safely at Cape Canaveral. (Duran Duran’s obsession with sci-fi seems to draw them to similar folks. Is it a coincidence that astronauts like Duran Duran?)

14. In 2004, again a Duran Duran song is used by NASA. This time during a Mars mission where NASA sends up a second Mars Exploration Rover called Opportunity. Opportunity is woken up each morning to the song, “Is There Something I should Know?” It was thought this would encourage the rover to find some more answers whether or not Mars ever had environments that sustained life. (Go Rover go!)

15. Duran Duran’s first singer was Stephen (“Tin Tin”) Duffy. However, they never produced anything with Duffy as he decided to pursue his musical interests elsewhere. Nick would later produce music with Duffy as the Devils. (I really liked Duffy’s song “Kiss Me”. However, I haven’t heard anything by The Devils.)

This list compiled by Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and Duranie
http://www.brigidsflame.com/