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from the Eiffel Tower


By Deborah Law

Duran's cover had been blown apart, word was out, the group were filming a video in Paris to accompany their theme music for the latest James Bond spectacular - "A View to a Kill". It was a shrouded secret which had it's cover blown.
Who was that masked man in the dark glasses scaling inside the Eiffel Tower? "My name is Bond, Simon LeBond," went the joke. And the blind accordion player busking for centimes - Andy Taylor. The baker in the tatty old Citoen van for delivering patisserie - Roger Taylor.... Duran have had to get up early, 4:30 a.m. to film, which they are certainly not used to, as getting up in the morning means lunchtime to you and me! After several yawns, Simon starts talking, "The press keep telling us we are splitting up, let them! I know which side my bread is buttered, mate!
There is something magic about this group, you can't repeat that. Sometimes I've listened to The Power Station and thought I ought to be singing this, it's great, brilliant dance music. Our project is quite different much slower Troubadour music, beautiful music, I'm really proud of it. I believe in communication, pop music is entertainment and it's also art, if I'm proud it's for our achievement and not my ego. My best career moments were being on Band Aid and Live Aid, that's one of the best things you van do with your fame."
But why did they go their own ways? "We'd had four incredible years of non-stop adulation and it was time to say, 'Look, I'm not going to lose my marbles.' I've come close, after a four/five month world tour, everything starts changing and the edges get blurred. I felt like I'd been on a spaceship and it took me ages to cool down, now I'm looking forward to starting the next album in late summer and playing Britain in December. You miss the smell of 20,000 people sweating. That last world tour was so special. One day when I'm an old man living in Greece in a hut with a dog, drinking red wine, I can look back on the magic and naiveté of it all."
Duran's management is behind Simon all the way in his attempt to sail in the Whitbread Round-the World Yacht Race; they have financed the building of the 77-foot yacht, which is berthed at Moodys Marina in the Solent. Simon will join Skip Novak in an 18 man crew next February and Simon is very enthusiastic, "I'm doing the third and fourth legs, Auckland to Porte l'Este in Uruguay and from there to Southampton Water. It's a scary proposition, not that I'm scared of drowning, it's just the isolation. The rest of the group are a bit worried as they've seen me come off the rails before and they've been there to pull me back. That's the great thing about this group, we help each other, we are like a band of brothers."
John is the Duran who made their part in the film possible - "I went to a post-Wimbledon party thrown by actor Michael Caine. Chubby Broccoli was there and as I'm a big James Bond freak - I love all the trivia, I ended up giving him a real ear bashing, saying when are you going to have another decent theme tune, let us do it! Next day he called me up and I met all the production staff and gave them my sales pitch, I should have been a commercial salesman, I've got the mouth!"
John thought of buying the original customized Astin Martin DB5 with the revolving turrets as in 'Thunderball' and says, "It's on sale in Phoenix, Arizona, for $150,000. I've already got the DB5 gold, bought it cheap from a Bilston car wash, but I don't drive it anymore, it's too flash!"
And what is happening with the Power Station? "I knew Power Station wouldn't happen in England, but it's like before you get married you have to get all the perversions out of your system, it's no good spending 30 years with someone and always wanting to have sex with other women" - there is not a lot you can say to John Taylor after that statement!
With the video finished, the boys return to their different homes in New York, London, Shropshire and Paris but not before Simon, Nick and Roger finish their unnamed project, which you will be hearing very soon…

 



 

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