Tag Archives: Mark Ronson

➤ Duran reveal secrets behind their songs

Posted on 3 Apr 2021 | Leave a comment

Duran Duran, Simon Le Bon, pop music, anniversary, live concerts, Radio2,

Primed for action in 2021: Roger, John, Simon and Nick

15 APRIL UPDATE: These Duran40 shows were originally
planned for broadcast in April. They are now planned
for broadcast on Radio 2 at 9pm on Saturday 8 & 15 May.

40
YEARS
ON

❚ NEXT MONTH Duran Duran talk in depth to super-fan Claudia Winkleman about their biggest hits and best-loved tracks, to celebrate 40 years together as a band. Each member of the group reveals secrets about the songs and Simon Le Bon gives a rare insight behind the lyrics that he has penned. The guys take us through their catalogue along with chat from Mark Ronson, Nile Rodgers and more. Tune into BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 8 May at 9pm and again Saturday 15th for another hour’s worth.

Duran Duran was formed in Birmingham by keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor in 1978 and in 1980 happily joined the New Romantic Scene. The group have sold over 100 million records and have had over 14 singles in the UK Top 10. They recently dropped a tribute cover of David Bowie’s Five Years with Mike Garson on piano, none of them looking a day over whateva.

LIVE SHOWS THIS AUTUMN

➢ Duran Duran’s show at Scarborough Open Air Theatre has been rescheduled to Friday 17 September 2021. Original tickets remain valid for the new date and final tickets are on sale now.

➢ Duran Duran’s show at the Isle of Wight Festival has now been rescheduled to Sunday 19 September 2021. Tickets are on sale now. All existing tickets will remain valid for September so please keep hold of them. If you cannot make the new dates please contact your ticket provider for a refund.

➢ Previously at Shapers of the 80s: Celebrating 40 years since Duran’s debut single Planet Earth hit the charts

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2011 ➤ Relive Duran’s 30th-anniversary comeback with All You Need Is Now

Posted on 21 Mar 2021 | Leave a comment

10
YEARS
ON

❚ THIS WEEK IN 2011 Duran Duran’s album All You Need Is Now was released as a 14-song CD in Europe and North America. Shapers of the 80s gave extensive coverage to Duran’s glorious comeback tour of North America and their 30th anniversary party for the same week in 1981 when their debut single Planet Earth entered the UK Top 20 where it was to reach No 12. Relive these highlights on the album’s tenth anniversary…

Duran Duran, streaming, live concert, Amex,YouTube, Unstaged, David Lynch, Los Angeles

Duran live on YouTube, 2011: a choice of three camera streams and “Lynchian effects” smothering John Taylor’s performance on All You Need Is Now

➢ Previously at Shapersofthe80s: Crazee or crazed? David Lynch’s view of Duran from within his hellish cave…

❚ WHAT RUM NIGHTMARES DAVID LYNCH must have in bed at night, but then, he did direct Eraserhead after all. For the best part of two hours, today’s much vaunted Duran Duran live web concert in the Unstaged series kept making you want to hurl virtual cabbages at the screen, enraged by a director whose intent was to obscure the act from view with his relentlessly potty toy-box full of widgets. From 2am UK time till almost the dawn chorus, the band onstage in California had no idea what web audiences in 22 overseas territories (432,000 channel views by 6.30am) were enduring as they pushed on through 18 numbers… / Continued inside

Duran Duran, US tour, 2011, SXSW, interview, video

John Taylor and Nick Rhodes at SXSW in Texas, March 2011: Rhodes claimed to have 100,000 photos in his personal archive he’d like to get published somehow

➢ Previously at Shapers of the 80s:
Despite some sniffy critics, this is ultimately Duran’s best album since their glory years – Comprehensive round-up

Still hungry after all these years —
Adrian Thrills writes in the Daily Mail:
“ The band’s 13th album is much better than most of us could have anticipated. The nine new songs benefit from a diverse cast of special guests. Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters adds a seductive rap on Safe (In the Heat of the Moment). New York soul diva Kelis impresses on The Man Who Stole A Leopard. But if Mark Ronson’s input provides a creative spark, the most impressive thing is Duran Duran’s return to form as songwriters. The frontman, to his credit, also supplies some wonderful, multi-tracked vocal harmonies, superbly augmented by Rhodes’ clever electronic prompts and the urgent grooves of the rhythm section ” … / Much more inside

Spandau Ballet, 2009, press conference, HMS Belfast, pop music, free CD

Spandau Ballet answering my question at their own reunion press conference

➢ Previously at Shapers of the 80s: In 2011 Spandau and Duran square up for battle just like the old days

❚ EVEN AS A UNIQUE CD COMPILATION of Spandau Ballet’s landmark hits was set for massive free distribution with The Mail on Sunday, Duran Duran announced a global concert live online at YouTube, along with their own album release on CD. It could be the 80s all over again when the two arch-rival bands vied for the title of leaders of Britain’s New Romantics movement. So which veteran band scored the bigger hit in 2011?… / Continued inside

Duran Duran, 2011, All You Need Is Now, YouTube, live stream, pop music

Duran Duran earlier in 2011, a year of US and European tours, plus a streamed concert

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➤ Uh-oh! Vice lifts the lid on the untold dramality of Dalston Superstars

Posted on 28 Mar 2012 | Leave a comment

➢ Click the pic to view the new #Exposed video

➢ Vicedotcom exhumes its hipster tragicomedy — and just look at the tags: Mark Ronson, Grace Dent, billie jd porter, Paul Morley

“ Dalston Superstars #Exposed is the untold story of the web series that changed everything. Back in 2011, Dalston Superstars was launched on an unsuspecting internet, clocking up a record three million Facebook likes.

At first glance the show appeared to be just another dramality show in the vein of TOWIE or Jersey Shore, but, on closer inspection, was Dalston Superstars more than that? Was it in fact a searing satire, not only of reality television, but also of the mindless young hipsters who populate East London’s streets? ” / Er, discuss at Vice online

❏ Top Commenter and bad speller Guy Turner declares at Vicedotcom: “I think you started it as a reality TV spin-off with your cool hipster freinds [sic] then realised they were nobs [sic] so pretended it was satire as the abuse came in from all quarters.”

➢ Catch up on the whole darn dramality of the original Dalston Superstars as it unfolded — only at Shapersofthe80s

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