British rockers Duran Duran will be headlining the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival on February 21, when they take to the stage at the Dubai Media City Amphitheatre.
With a career spanning four decades, the boys from Birmingham have 14 studio albums to their name and are expected to perform their biggest hits on the first day of the three-day festival.
Ahead of their latest Dubai gig (the band performed here in 2012), Gulf News tabloid! takes a trip down memory lane to discover 11 things about one of the greatest British rock bands.
1. The band chose their name from a character in Roger Vadim’s 1958 French science-fiction cult classic film Barbarella — Dr Durand Durand. They would drop the ‘D’ at the end of the name to give it their own interpretation. Jane Fonda was the star in the film.
2. Lead singer Simon Le Bon earned the reputation of being one of the “prettiest boys in rock” due to his runway-inspired image. Birmingham-born Le Bon is known for being stylish, elegant and sharp.
3. The line-up featured two Taylors — Andy and Roger — who, contrary to popular belief, are not related. Roger Taylor is also not to be confused with Queen’s drummer, who has the same name. Taylor was a common name during the ‘80s.
4. Girls On Film, a top 10 hit for the band in 1981, whose promotional video featured nudity and sexual undertones, was banned by the BBC, while a heavy edited version was aired by MTV. The video was directed by ex-10cc members Godley & Creme and was filmed just weeks before MTV was launched in the US.
5. In 2003, the band was booked as presenters at the MTV Video Music Awards only to be surprised with a Lifetime Achievement Award. They also received a Lifetime Achievement award from Q music magazine and the equivalent Outstanding Contribution award at the Brit Awards in 2004.
6. Duran Duran were considered the prototype manufactured pop group, a remark was the strong refuted. The Sunday Herald strongly defended the band and wrote an editorial in their newspaper: “To describe them, as some have, as the first boy band, misrepresents their appeal. Their weapons were never just their looks, but self-penned songs.”
7. The band has been a big influence to some of music’s biggest artists such as Justin Timberlake, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Beck and Barenaked Ladies. American producer and rapper Timbaland has even admitted to being one of their biggest fans.
8. The MTV cable channel and Duran Duran were launched at about the same time, and each had a hand in propelling the other to greater heights — MTV needed to showcase videos with charismatic performers, which was found in Duran Duran.
9. Duran Duran were among the first bands to have videos shot with a professional movie camera on 35mm film, rather than on videotape, making them look superior to many of the quickly shot videos, which had been MTV staples until then.
10. The MTV 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made featured Hungry Like the Wolf at No 11 and Girls on Film at No 68, and the VH1: 100 Greatest Videos listed Hungry Like the Wolf at No 31 and Rio at No 60. MTV named Hungry Like the Wolf the 15th of their most-played videos of all time.
11. The video for Girl Power, a single from the band’s 2010 album, All You Need is Now, featured some of the world’s biggest supermodels like Yasmin Le Bon, lead singer Le Bon’s wife, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova and Helena Chrisensen.
Don’t miss it!
Duran Duran will perform at the Emirates Airline Dubai Jazz Festival on February 21. The festival runs from February 21-23. Early bird tickets wil be on sale from noon at December 6 until noon, December 8 on the festival website.
