My sister and I have had a lifelong love affair with Duran Duran. This love affair has been largely one-sided, as the band seems to not know we exist, but nevertheless, we still see our boys in concert whenever they come to New England. I have one friend (we’ll call him “Tony,” because his name is in fact Tony) who will sometimes ask: why Duran Duran?
Why, indeed?
It was 1983 when cable television came to the Longo farm. And by cable television, I mean MTV (the rest was irrelevant). This was a huge deal in our house. My sister had just entered her teenage years, and was patiently instructing me (a mere fifth grader, and therefore painfully uncool) how to tape hit songs off of the radio with a cassette recorder during Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 countdown every Sunday. (Honestly, I can’t thank her enough for this important lesson on how to be totally cool.) But with MTV, for the first time, we could see the musicians we were recording on staticky cassette tapes with the occasional sisterly spat (“Hey! What are you wearing? Give me back my leg warmers right now!”) also recorded in the background. Those musicians looked like this:
Why, indeed?
It was 1983 when cable television came to the Longo farm. And by cable television, I mean MTV (the rest was irrelevant). This was a huge deal in our house. My sister had just entered her teenage years, and was patiently instructing me (a mere fifth grader, and therefore painfully uncool) how to tape hit songs off of the radio with a cassette recorder during Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 countdown every Sunday. (Honestly, I can’t thank her enough for this important lesson on how to be totally cool.) But with MTV, for the first time, we could see the musicians we were recording on staticky cassette tapes with the occasional sisterly spat (“Hey! What are you wearing? Give me back my leg warmers right now!”) also recorded in the background. Those musicians looked like this:
Okay, yeah, they're pretty.
Now, if you were a pre-pubescent girl in the eighties, you would have taken one look at that picture and said Like, those hotties are totally tubular, because for some reason valley girl talk was popular for a good six months during the eighties. If you were me, you would have also thought That guy in the blue is gorgeous. Also, he looks like he could give me some sensible makeup tips. So it is entirely possible that my love of Nick Rhodes and Duran Duran is my mother’s fault, because she never wore makeup and therefore never taught Kim and me how to apply eyeliner without poking our own eyes out.
Thus, a love affair was born.
My memories of the eighties are a whirlwind of fluorescent shoelaces, jelly bracelets, big hair, and pop music. And most importantly, of my big sister. She wouldn’t always hang out with me, but by God, she would stay up with me ’til midnight to watch the video premiere of “Is There Something I Should Know?” She had a part-time job and a car and cool friends while I was still playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls, but she always made time for me, taking me for a ride in her Granada and blasting “The Reflex” when it came on the radio.
But, as everyone does, we grew older. Mom was sport enough to take us to see Duran Duran in concert in 1983, and again in 1985, but when the band broke up after Live Aid . . . we sort of just went our own way, too.
Thus, a love affair was born.
My memories of the eighties are a whirlwind of fluorescent shoelaces, jelly bracelets, big hair, and pop music. And most importantly, of my big sister. She wouldn’t always hang out with me, but by God, she would stay up with me ’til midnight to watch the video premiere of “Is There Something I Should Know?” She had a part-time job and a car and cool friends while I was still playing with Strawberry Shortcake dolls, but she always made time for me, taking me for a ride in her Granada and blasting “The Reflex” when it came on the radio.
But, as everyone does, we grew older. Mom was sport enough to take us to see Duran Duran in concert in 1983, and again in 1985, but when the band broke up after Live Aid . . . we sort of just went our own way, too.
This band is about to break up.
Fast forward to this phone call in 2007:
Kim: Duran Duran is coming to the Chevrolet Theatre. Do you want to go see them?
Me: Depends on how much the tickets are. I really don’t want pay more than, say, thirty-five bucks.
Luckily, my sister ignored my cheapness, got tickets, and then won backstage passes. Oh, have I not mentioned lately that Kim and I have met Duran Duran? Yes. Yes, we have.
When they came out to greet us backstage, my first thought was Hey, I know those guys. Like they were old friends. They were old friends. Our hot, aging, totally tubular old friends.
We have since seen them in concert in 2008, 2008 again, 2011, 2012, and we’re seeing them tonight at Mohegan Sun. So, Tony, back to your question: “Why Duran Duran?” The answer is simple. They remind me of some of the best days of childhood. It’s about nostalgia. And innocence. Felt fedoras and hungry wolves.
Good times.
Kim: Duran Duran is coming to the Chevrolet Theatre. Do you want to go see them?
Me: Depends on how much the tickets are. I really don’t want pay more than, say, thirty-five bucks.
Luckily, my sister ignored my cheapness, got tickets, and then won backstage passes. Oh, have I not mentioned lately that Kim and I have met Duran Duran? Yes. Yes, we have.
When they came out to greet us backstage, my first thought was Hey, I know those guys. Like they were old friends. They were old friends. Our hot, aging, totally tubular old friends.
We have since seen them in concert in 2008, 2008 again, 2011, 2012, and we’re seeing them tonight at Mohegan Sun. So, Tony, back to your question: “Why Duran Duran?” The answer is simple. They remind me of some of the best days of childhood. It’s about nostalgia. And innocence. Felt fedoras and hungry wolves.
Good times.
That's Kim with her boyfriend John, and me with my boyfriend Nick.
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