SÉANCE MACABRE
THEIR GAME IS RIO
HELLO DOLLY
GET IT ON AGAIN?
WHAT BEGAN AS A KNOCKABOUT WAY TO TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF BEING INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME HAS BECOME DURAN DURAN’S QUICKEST ALBUM SINCE THEIR DEBUT. FAR MORE THAN A SIMPLE HALLOWEEN-THEMED COVERS RECORD, DANSE MACABRE ALSO REINVENTS OLD DURAN FAVOURITES AND HAS THREE STUNNING NEW TUNES, TOO. IN THE EXCLUSIVE STORY BEHIND STUDIO LP 16, THE BAND TELL CLASSIC POP: “TYPICALLY, WE LABOUR OVER ALBUMS. THIS FELL INTO PLACE VERY EASILY.”
During the promotion of his new solo album Man’s A Wolf To Man, Andy Taylor said he didn’t want to rejoin Duran Duran on a full-time basis – but he’d love to do a tour with them to play their first two albums from start to finish, Duran Duran and Rio.
In addition to Danse Macabre, Simon Le Bon is about to feature on Dolly Parton’s new LP Rockstar (reviewed this issue on page 79). On an album that also features Debbie Harry and Sting, Simon duets with Dolly on a sublime version of her 1971 song My Blue Tears.
As well as revealing his desire to tour Duran Duran’s first two albums in full, Andy Taylor has stated he would like to start up The Power Station again with John Taylor.
The wild cover art of Danse Macabre depicts a séance in London in the late 1940s, with a primitive version of Photoshop showing one of the participants being possessed. Nick Rhodes bought the photo in question at auction, after a friend spotted it in an auction catalogue. “Most of the auction lot was of undeveloped negatives,” explains Nick. “That was very intriguing in itself: what else is on there?
“Never say never,” considers Nick Rhodes. “As a guitarist, Andy’s contribution to Duran Duran was enormous for two five-year periods. The idea of playing Rio in full has come up a dozen times in the band. The last time, I said: ‘Let’s pick the most unusual venue and do all of Rio as the encore.’ We just haven’t got round to it.”
They first met at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony last November. “Who doesn’t love Dolly Parton?” smiles Le Bon. “She’s just a good person.
Following the deaths of Robert Palmer, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson from the original line-up, Andy says he’d love Prince And The New Power Generation’s Michael Bland to take over on drums – with Paolo Nutini the ideal replacement as frontman.
Graveyard shift: Duran Duran’s spookily-themed 16th studio album sees the band covering artists such as Billie Eilish, The Rolling Stones, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Rick James and Talking Heads
© Stephanie Pistel
“A lot of the photos were on glass plates, including the cover shot. Looking at the auction catalogue, I immediately thought: ‘That would make a great cover.’ The whole series of photos is extraordinary – I’d love to make a book of them one day. The levels the photographers went to in trying to make the fakery look convincing is just remarkable. There’s something so authentic about that fakery, weirdly: if you tried to recreate it now, it wouldn’t feel the same.”
As a fan himself, Rhodes is aware why such a tour would be rapturously received. When David Bowie curated the Meltdown festival at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2002, Nick was among the fortunate 2,700 fans who saw Low performed in full, alongside his new album, Heathen. “That was an extraordinary, special show,” rhapsodises Rhodes. “So was seeing Pink Floyd do The Dark Side Of The Moon. There’s definitely a case to be made by fans of our first two albums for such a show.”
The high point of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony was singing a couple of lines of Jolene next to someone so extraordinarily wonderful.”
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