All language subtitles for The Duran Duran There Something You Should Know

This programme contains
some strong language

What did I want to be when
I grew up? I wanted to be adored.

# Please, please tell me now

# Is there something
I should know? #

I was just, like,
perpetually excited.

1981, it was just so much fun.

That's what New Romantic was,
wearing that on the 50 bus.

What teenage girl
didn't have a crush

on every single guy in that band?

There's one person who
threw three bras onstage.

And two pairs of knickers,
I thought,

"She's definitely not
wearing any underwear now!"

Every time you tried to move,

there'd be 200 teenage girls
trying to rip you apart.

# Girls on film. #

Duran Duran is my life.

Waiting for them outside of BBC,
they never noticed me.

Nobody really wanted to give me
credit for the fact

that everybody
was a great musician.

I feel like Duran Duran
is my second band.

# Her name is Rio... #

The demands on us had become absurd.

It's like one of those
rat wheels isn't it?

And you've just got to be king rats
sometimes and say, "Bollocks,

I'm jumping off."

The atmosphere was completely toxic.

We just had a few years of,
"'80s band, '80s band."

I think they just saw the boat going
the other way down the river

with all their money on it.

Imagine to be in a band
like Duran Duran

and have the career
that they've had.

That's like the ultimate dream.

# No-no notorious. #

MUSIC: Planet Earth
by Duran Duran

For me, all of our albums define
different stages in our career.

The first album was our game plan.

# Only came outside to watch
the night fall with the rain... #

The way we are on that first album,

we're all playing
the best that we could play.

We're all just playing
every note we know.

Planet Earth was the energy
of rock music and punk.

And strong melody, we all
loved melodies, good songs,

that's what it was about.

Ooh, it smells odd.
Jesus!

Bit decrepit.

THEY LAUGH

Oh, come on, Roger.

Let's get cosy!
Snuggle up in the back.

Put your seat belt on.
Well, if you're driving, I will.

He's actually driving it? Oh, no.

That's what I said!
I'm in the danger seat.

You're fine there.
So it appears that in here,

our very first demo in Birmingham
for our first album.

MUSIC: Faster Than Light (Demo)
by Duran Duran

It's Faster Than Light!
It is.

# White light shining

# You're all alone...

# The light.

# Faster than light!

# Faster than light. #

I think last time we were
in a Citroen was probably,

together, maybe 1982.

I don't know how we came across
the first Citroen but it was like

the perfect car for Duran Duran.

It was super fast and it
was super comfortable.

I don't remember where we got
the first one from.

We bought the second one. Buying the
second one was a major commitment.

To success.

We don't know what else is on here.
Let's have a look.

MUSIC: Anyone Out There (Demo)
by Duran Duran

Andy's playing. Car's shaking!

Andy's playing was very economical,
wasn't it?

Yeah, but that was so great.

He played essential guitar.

# I never found out
what made you leave... #

That's a loud vocal. Wow, I hate it,
the vocal's horrible!

So loud! Horrible vocal!

Stop it!

MUSIC: White Riot
by The Clash

We really became brothers.

We were both single kids.
We didn't have any siblings.

We lived a few hundred metres away
from each other

in Hollywood, Birmingham.

There was a lot of other kids
at school that loved music.

Not as much as we did,
that's what we thought.

MUSIC: I'm The One
by Mick Ronson

Blondie, Talking Heads,
Patti Smith, Roxy Music.

We saw lots and lots of times.

I took John to his first concert.

It was in April, 1974.

And it was actually Mick Ronson
and cost us £1.35 each.

Every time we went to a show,

John and I used to count the trucks
outside at the back of the show

and figure out how
many lights they had

and how much sound and think
how many we needed

to make what
we were going to do happen.

MUSIC: Anyone Out There
by Duran Duran

My dad was a manual worker.
My dad worked at the Rover,

so it was very much expected that
I would remain a manual worker.

I didn't think it was
a great way of life.

I wanted to do something different.

I had this dream of being in a band.

Birmingham was a very small world
in those days.

And anybody who was kind of any
good, you know, you'd hear about.

So I think John and Nick
had heard about me.

And I'd heard about Duran Duran.

We were rehearsing
at this squat in Cheapside.

It was kind of like the armpit
of Birmingham down here,

this really is the spiritual home
of Duran Duran, right here.

Roger is the most likeable person
you'll ever meet in this business.

Right away, we clicked.

I just set my drums up
and started jamming.

And they said,
"Come back next week."

So I must have got the gig.

So this is really my...moment,

is just walking through that
door right there.

MUSIC CONTINUES

# Outside

# Is there anyone out there? #

You're 19 years old.

It's like walking
into a space rocket.

It took me all over the world.
Kind of everything I have,

really, that's good in life, is a
result of walking through that...

...through that door there.

# Look out of the window

# Maybe you can call by my name. #

Birmingham at that time

might as well have been
the centre of the world.

I don't feel like...
It WAS the centre of our world.

I don't feel like we ever thought,

"Oh, man,
I wish we lived in London."

MUSIC: Shadows On Your Side
by Duran Duran

The Rum Runner was sort of like
the premiere New Romantic club

in Birmingham where everybody went.

It had this really
big kind of entrance.

It was like a big corridor
that was almost like a catwalk.

It really was just
about showing off.

It was about going out,
getting your photo taken.

It was just about getting attention.

This is where we found
somewhere to rehearse,

this is where we found
our management,

this is where we found Andy.

This is where we found Simon.

This was like our Cavern, in a way.

So I guess within about a month
of having gone to the Rum Runner,

suddenly it's Nick, me and Rog.

And now we're planning
world domination,

although we don't have
a guitar player and a singer,

but we've still got...
This is like, this is the core.

We were looking for a guitar player

that could play like
Nile Rodgers funk

but could play like Mick Ronson lead

and there weren't that many
who could do that.

Andy came down from Newcastle.

We joke about his style, you know,

cos that wasn't his thing but
he'd thought about music

and he just right away brought a...
He took us to another level.

MUSIC: Astronaut
by Duran Duran

# Groovin' out to X-Ray Spex... #

We all had jobs here.

Doing different things. Nick got the
DJ job, John worked on the door,

I worked behind the bar

and I remember Simon comes
walking down one day

and that was our first meeting.

And he said his name
was Simon Le Bon.

We sort of didn't believe
that was his real name

but anyway,
it turned out it was.

And he has a lyric book with him.

Well, this was the Holy Grail.

There were things in there, we
started reading through it, "Wow."

"This would be perfect
if only he can sing."

# All alone ain't much fun

# So you're looking
for the thrill. #

When he started singing,
it was crazy.

It was just one of those
fantastic eureka moments.

# Don't say a prayer for me now

# Save it till the morning after

# No, don't say a prayer for me now

# Save it til the morning after. #

I thought, "This guy's a star."

He was tall, he was well put
together and he was really smart.

And he's a poet, Simon, you know,
so at that time, particularly,

he was always writing words.

The gold dust of the music business
is words on paper,

whatever anybody else will tell
you about grooves or notes,

it's all about those lyrics.

# Any other day and you
might have gone walking by

# Without a second look

# Any other way

# But I'm still mystified

# I'm just trying
to change my luck. #

I'm going to take you to the church

because we're going to go
and see Mr Turvey.

My old choirmaster.

# And nobody knows

# What's going to happen tomorrow. #

This is the beautiful Church of
Saint John the Baptist, Pinner.

This is where I was
a choir boy for four years.

This place had a huge effect
on my musical development.

I grew to love church music
and the intricacies of it,

and the harmonies.

So this is where I spent a lot
of time, sitting right here.

Yep. There'd be somebody there
who was better than me.

Until for a very brief time,
I became the one who sat here.

So this is myself
and you, performing

O For The Wings Of A Dove.
In this particular place.

Yes, right, right here.

# O, for the wings,

# For the wings of a dove

HIGH NOTE: # Far away... #

Yeah.
# Far away would I roam... #

I didn't quite get my
breathing right there. No.

I was running out of breath.
Yes, there's a long note coming up.

Yeah, oh, totally out of breath.

That's it.

# Far away

# Far away... #

I'm a little bit ahead
of the beat as well.

Just a fraction.
That's something that I've worked

for decades to try and overcome,
actually. Yeah.

MUSIC CONTINUES

HIGH NOTE
That's my favourite
note in it, that one.

You got it right that time. Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

# And remain there for ever. #

MUSIC: Friends Of Mine
by Duran Duran

We thought we were so great,
didn't we?

We thought that we were going
to take over the world.

I don't think we were arrogant,
though. Well, at the time,

we were young.
We were teenagers. I was 17.

We were a lot more alike then.

We were really birds of a feather.
And we had a...

And our dress really, I think,
helped define us, in a way.

Charlie, you had some
theatrical things,

there was like some grey velvet
thing that you had.

Grey velvet with purple slashing.

It was right out of A Midsummer
Night's Dream, really. Yeah, it was.

Oh, my goodness. With the bells?

It had bells on it. You'd see him
coming down the corridor with bells.

Well, that was one of the things
that was great about that period,

actually, none of us were afraid of
colour. Except Roger. Except Roger!

He just used to wear black.

I was completely afraid of it.

MUSIC: Skin Trade
by Duran Duran

Yeah, punk rock.

You look like you
should be in Wham!

Very nice, Roger!

Baby, I'm your man!

I dread to think what mine is. Oh!

# Come fly with me! #

There you go, I don't think we'd
better go any deeper into here.

Music at that time
was kind of androgynous.

There was this crossover between
girls and boys wearing the same.

There were clothes that crossed over
and we kind of bought into that.

We found them. Yeah, we did.

We used to trawl the streets
of Birmingham, trying to find...

bits of clothing...
Ladies' clothes that would fit us.

Yes! Well, we...
Then it was easier, right?

I could see you working
the bumper cars in that.

Yeah, really?
Cheers for saying that.

I quite like that, though.
Yeah, so do I.

Italian Vogue. Old habit, you know.

HE LAUGHS

We were out at dinner
with Andy Warhol once,

and somebody asked Andy,

"Which do you think
is the coolest Vogue?"

And, at the time, I'd made it
as far as Paris Vogue,

and I was really into Paris Vogue.

He said, "Oh, Italian Vogue,
definitely."

And we were like, "Italian Vogue?

"Is there one?"

HE LAUGHS

Pictures of girls.

MUSIC: Careless Memories
by Duran Duran

I first met Duran Duran around 1980,
when they came into the shop.

We became very good friends.

They had the balls to whirl around
with all the make-up and hair.

This lot didn't give a damn.

And they'd worked out that
women quite liked it.

So, when they came along,
they were a breath of fresh air.

This is from the year dot.

Well, that's probably from...
Well, when you first started. 1981.

MUSIC: My Own Way
by Duran Duran

I think after the punk thing,
military was still very much...

Oh, military was very happening.

But you, of course,
broke the mould for that.

You lot went in waist-deep into it.

# I saw you at
the air race yesterday

# April showers

# Get out of my way. #

You obviously kept
all these over the years.

Well, funny... How many are there?
There's about 10,000 in all.

This was actually worn
in the Planet Earth video,

along with one of your suits.

The shirts were like this
because they had to be.

It's the low armholes and all
the rest of it, that easy wear.

It wasn't easy wear on the
number 50 bus from Birmingham!

Yeah, that's what New Romantic was,
wearing that on the 50 bus.

So this one was from 1983.

And that's from the front cover

of the Seven and the
Ragged Tiger album.

This fabric's happening now,
big time.

It's everywhere on the catwalk.

Oh, well, then only 37 years
ahead of our time.

I remember when you
came to the shop.

We came because we finally got
our advance from EMI Records.

Yeah. And part of it
was a clothing budget. Oh.

Which you insisted on, of course.
The first band to do that.

Of course. Now, the hard work
was writing the songs

and getting all of that right.

Yeah, we know that.

Finally, when you get to present it,
that's the fun,

sort of saying,
"How are we going to do this?"

Yeah, it ends up like this.

There you go.

MUSIC: My Own Way
by Duran Duran

Well, perfect for shopping on Oxford
Street.

Well, these are the epitome
of '80s over-the-top.

Really? You think so?
Oh, I think so, yeah.

I mean, they are quite panto-y now.

But, at the time, they were right,

because they fused
military with romance.

We have these corseted
back trousers here

that were all laced up the back,

and then these hanging jackets.

It's Matador-ish, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah. Somehow,
we managed to make it work,

because we all had such
individual and personal taste.

We could look at a rail
of clothes now and say,

"Roger's going to like that,
I'm going to have that one."

Yeah, you could do that.

Well, I think most of the band
could. You were pretty right,

because you knew all their tastes
even better than I did.

Any band... I mean,
if you think of any one you...

Anyone in history that's worth
remembering, they all have an image.

Elvis Presley, Madonna,
Prince, Duran Duran.

They were Birmingham's peacocks.

It was this Smash Hits magazine.

And suddenly nobody was reading
any of the weeklies any more,

there were these, like, coloured
magazines that came out every week.

And it was, like, perfect for Duran.

It was like, "There's a John cover,
it's a Roger cover,

"it's Simon and Nick."

It was like an explosion, and we
made ourselves very available to it.

SCREAMING

We went on tour behind Planet Earth,
and we played Nottingham.

And that show was reviewed in the
NME, and it was the meanest review.

"A ripple in a stagnant pool,"
was the headline.

I can still remember it to this day.

And the last line in it was,
"Duran Duran are going to be huge

"and they really don't
deserve any of it."

And I remember reading that,
thinking, "That's so mean!

"Why? Why don't...?"
You know, "Why?"

And then we kind of knew
that we were part of this.

And that was probably
after the Smash Hits cover,

and it was, like, so we were
a threat to that institution,

and they weren't going
to be nice to us.

So we just had to, like, swallow it.

But the NME never, never...

And it bothered me up until
about a year ago, I think.

HE LAUGHS

The first time I think
that we recognised

that something different
was happening

was when, out of nowhere,
it was if...

It was like a movie set,
and we got completely mobbed.

And we sensed that
something had changed.

Simon, I'm desperate to know what
it's like, being a pop star.

SIMON, AUDIENCE LAUGH

Do you think it's all full of fast
cars, fast women, fast living?

Well, that's probably part of it.

It is. Yeah. It's great.

MUSIC: Sound Of Thunder
by Duran Duran

I love boats. I do have about
a boat a bit similar to this.

It lives in a garage in Italy,
where she was built.

I think living the life
was very much a sort of...

a part of the rock star lifestyle.

MUSIC: Girls On Film
by Duran Duran

We were objects of desire.

And people wanted to have us
at their parties.

So there was a lot of that.

# See them walking hand in hand

# Across the bridge at midnight... #

Duran Duran were like...
It was glamourous.

It was, like, hot,
beautiful locations,

leggy blondes,
yachts and the limousines.

It was aspirational, I think.

You know, I think that's why people
liked it because it was like,

"You can come from Birmingham, you
can come from south-east London,

"but you can still have
a glamorous life."

I was just, like,
perpetually excited in 1981.

I mean, it was like, you know,
I don't think I slept all year.

I mean, it was just...
It was just...

It was just so much fun. It was
just... Just this crazy adventure.

And it never really stopped.

MUSIC: Save A Prayer
by Duran Duran

It did become the album
that was the most important

in launching our career.

# You saw me standing by the wall

# Corner of a main street. #

I remember really being worried,

just briefly, that it wouldn't be
as good as the first album.

And I couldn't... I used to lay in
my bed and listen to the album.

And I rationed myself to two entire
listens a night, because I knew...

I didn't want to wear it out.
But it was...

I just loved it,
I thought it was so great.

CROWD SINGS:
# Don't save a prayer for me now

# Save it till
the morning after... #

Everyone has THAT record, and
I think Rio was THAT record,

that was sort of the thing
that seals the deal.

I remember the sleeve.

You know, I remember hearing
the songs for the first time,

and I think that Rio was the
album that sort of established

Duran Duran as a kind of global
super force, because it was like,

"OK, they can write songs."

Rio was like a masterstroke.

The image on the cover of that album

so perfectly represents
the sounds in the music.

Whether you're Bowie or Kanye West,

it doesn't matter,
you're selling a fantasy.

CROWD CHEERS

Here, we have the
original Rio painting.

Yes. Still smiling
after all these years.

For our second album, we thought,

"Why don't we stick a beautiful
painting on the cover?"

And, actually, to the
credit of Paul Berrow,

one of our managers at the time,

who was an avid reader
of Playboy magazine...

he spotted these
beautiful illustrations

done by a Californian artist
called Patrick Nagel.

And brought them and said,
"Chaps, do you like these?"

And we looked and said,
"Actually, yeah,

"they've got a real energy
and a brightness."

And they represented
the period so well.

It's become a symbol
of that whole decade.

For us, she's got
a very lucky smile,

because that period was amazing

and the Rio album was really what
established us around the world.

MUSIC: My Own Way
by Duran Duran

This was the home
to Duran Duran in the '80s,

when we were in Los Angeles.

We've got all the Beatles, here.

We've got John, George,

Ringo, and then Paul McCartney.

I know I wouldn't be standing here
without those guys.

Then we go on to Buddy Holly.

But then they probably wouldn't be
there without Buddy Holly,

so that's cool. Moving on.

Tina Turner.
And Tina Turner's bicycle,

which is a permanent show here now.

I'm getting a warm feeling.

Capitol recording artists,
Duran Duran.

It's a big deal in terms of, like,
where you're from, I guess.

I don't think many of my
schoolmates have got one.

We got a lot of prizes in the early
'80s, and I took them for granted.

I was like... You know.
But, as I've gotten older,

I've come to sort
of appreciate them.

And display them, even.

And I think to know where you come
in the evolution of popular music,

you know, contemporary culture,
you know,

that we've got a place...
We've got a place in that.

It feels good.

MUSIC: The Chauffeur
by Duran Duran

They were such a seminal band
for me as a kid, you know?

Like, I really love them,
they had great pop songs,

great melodies, a great band.

There's a reason
that they sold 18 million records.

They were just attuned to writing
really universal, great songs.

What was your first memory
of being in this building?

Yeah, I'm not sure they ever
really knew what to do with us.

Right. EMI in London just kept
pressurising Capitol

into basically making
more effort to break the band,

and it was really
with Rio that they...

That they said, "Look, you've
got to make this happen."

To me, definitely the first album
had a lot of the seeds

of what became, like, the iconic.
early Duran Duran sound.

But Rio is probably...

And also just because of the level
of songwriting went like this.

Do you feel like Rio's where
you sort of forged the Duran sound?

Definitely. I mean... I mean, it was
a development from the first...

All the basic ideas... I mean,
you've just nailed it. You know,

it's like the funky rhythm
section, you know,

sort of, Moroder-esque synths,
you know, but also that kind of...

That chunky rock guitar.
Yeah, Steve Jones' guitars.

Yeah. And also the
other thing is, like,

probably because you're all pin-ups
and all this kind of thing at first,

nobody really wanted to give you
credit for the fact

that everybody was a great musician.

I mean, I think for all the
excitement of the punk rock era,

the post punk era was
really exciting too,

because you had kids saying,
"I want to be a bass player."

Roger and I were like,
"We want to be a rhythm section."

Cool. That sound that...

Like, when I play The Chauffeur in
my head, kind of Roger's drums,

like, on top, locked into the
sequence of whatever Nick was doing,

and then you with that,
is such an important part.

I feel like the Chauffeur,
sonically and everything about it,

if it came out tomorrow
and you said, like,

"Oh, this is a new Killers' tune,"
you would believe it.

# And watching lovers part

# I feel you smiling

# What glass splinters lie
so deep in your mind

# To tear out from your eyes

# With a thought to stiffen
brooding lies

# And I'll only watch you
leave me further behind. #

When we first came to New York,
I remember our managers meeting

with these guys that were putting
MTV together, and they were like,

"Look, we can't play
Stairway To Heaven all day."

Right. "Like what
happens on the radio.

"We need to get more
into new music, you know,

"and it would be great if you could
give us something really...

"kind of like a James Bond film."
Right. Our manager went away,

and that's where the
Sri Lanka video idea came from.

# In touch with the ground

# I'm on the hunt
I'm after you

# Smell like I sound

# I'm lost in a crowd

# And I'm hungry like the wolf. #

MTV was, like, such a big part
of my teenage life.

I mean, that's how we got our music.

And I think Duran Duran
was such a...

perfect band for this new way

that people were getting music,
which was through television.

# Stalked through the forest,
too close to hide

# I'll be upon you
by the moonlight side... #

They were really, you know, some
of the pioneers in music videos.

I mean, that was just the age where
we didn't know what to expect

and anything could go.

# ..On your skin it's so tight

# You feel my heat
I'm just a moment behind... #

There was something about it
when we were there that we knew

that it was new ground.
It was very exotic.

We were very lucky to have
Russell Mulcahy directing,

because at that time,

he was THE guy - he'd just
done Vienna for Ultravox

and all the coolest things
that were out there, really.

With Duran, it was a bit like
being a tourist with a big camera.

I had very much a cinematic vision,

they had a vision with their music

and the manager
had a vision of, like,

"Let's make it big
and stand out from the rest."

We just wanted to raise the bar.

On first glance, it looks
like a guy chasing a girl.

It's slightly uncomfortable,
actually.

But it's us chasing our career,
trying to make it happen,

and we were so hungry,

we would chase and we would grab
and we would achieve.

And that is what that song's about.

Then, after that, the travelogue
continued and hence,

we ended up doing
the Rio video in Antigua.

MUSIC: Rio
by Duran Duran

That was wild. I mean,

that one we actually just
made up on the spot.

I would say in the morning,

"OK, I need a mirror, I need a bed,

"I want to put it on the beach."

# Moving on the floor now, babe

# You're a bird of paradise

# Cherry ice cream smile

# I suppose it's very nice... #

The closing shot eventually ended up

being Simon in front of the boat
with the boys hanging off.

And the cameraman was sitting
at the top of the boat

on the whatever-you-call-it.

With no harness, hand-held,

hanging on to a thing like that.

Song blasting away, boys were all
in their sort of tailored suits,

very expensive suits,

getting splashed with sea water
and ruining the suits, of course.

And we just had a lot of fun.

# ..down to the Rio Grande... #

The yacht was such a powerful image,

with us all with the coloured
Antony Price suits,

it really worked beautifully.

# Do do do-do do-do

# Do do do-do do-do... #

Rio was a very hard record
to follow, and in hindsight,

we'd made a classic album with Rio.

I think it was the first time
that we really felt the pressure

of having to follow something up.

The Ragged Tiger is that kind of...

..dirty but incredible...

..charismatic animal
that is success.

HELIUM VOICE: Hello, good evening
and welcome to our show.

LAUGHTER

SCREAMING

This is a dressing room.
By nature of the word dressing,

it means everyone has to change.

What we really want to tell you is
we're going to do this. goodnight.

The demands on us had become absurd

because I think a lot
of the businesspeople

had smelled the money everywhere
that they possibly could,

and they just wanted more
and more and more and more.

# The union of the snake
is on the climb... #

Our accountants were saying,

"You can't stay in England because
you're going to pay all this tax."

So we decamped to the south
of France and we end up

in this chateau in
the middle of nowhere.

It was wonderful.

The scenery was fantastic
and they had a swimming pool

and tennis courts

and we didn't get
a lot of work done.

I get up and have a bath
and a wee wee.

Have lunch. Play a bit of tennis.
And then I wake up.

I mean, I was all into the
swimming pool and the tennis courts.

John was bringing his girls down.

Andy was getting a bit high.

John and Andy were funding
South American countries

with their...
with their pocket money.

They were up very, very,
very late at night

but not in the studio so much.

It's, like, nobody was
a saint in that band.

I mean, why would you be?

With so much being served up,
being offered to us.

You've got drugs, you've got
alcohol, you know,

there's a whole load of things.

It's a minefield, really.

And even in amongst all of the
fraternal kind of fun and games,

there was loneliness as well.

So you know...

..I don't think anybody really
relished sleeping alone

if it could be avoided.

MUSIC: The Reflex
by Duran Duran

# You've gone too far this time

# And I'm dancing... #

The tour for that album, in '83-'84,

was the height of everything
coming together,

all the insanity
from every single place

just came to meet us in America.

AUDIENCE SCREAM

We couldn't hear what we were
playing most of the time

because the noise of the audience
was just overwhelming.

And they were all teenage girls
so it was all this certain pitch.

It was like hitting very heavy
weather in an aeroplane.

And everybody was just
looking at each other going,

"Whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on!"

I have photograph upon photograph
of girls screaming and crying.

I wasn't prepared for the fact that
it was the Beatles, effectively.

It was madness, carnage,
everywhere we went.

We were hemmed into the hotels,
we couldn't move at that point.

Every time we tried
to leave the hotel,

there'd be 200 teenage girls
trying to rip you apart.

MUSIC CONTINUES

It's absolutely incredible,
there's tons of people here.

I think there's about 2,000.

3,000. 4 million, you never know.

Did you think they'd have to bring
in police horses to keep them quiet?

Have they got police horses out
there? Oh, God, where are they?

The fans had began to realise that
all they had to do was phone all the

top hotels, wait for my name and
they'd know the band were staying.

I'd get the phone call at two in the
morning asking how John was or the

fire alarm would go off and the
whole hotel then had to evacuate

and that's how fans
got to meet the band.

It was...wild.

I had somebody
in a wardrobe in my room.

I checked into my room and I opened
the wardrobe and was unpacking and

there was a girl in there.

It was like losing
your virginity, you know.

We were never the same again.

It was like... I mean, you know.

I think, by the end of the US tour,

we'd literally been deep-fried
daily for months on end.

Of course, the pettiness

and misunderstandings
had started to set in

within the band.

We really, for the first time...

had had enough of each other.

We all kind of went...

John and Andy wanted to be more
rock and they did Power Station.

Me and Nick decided we want to be
more arty and we started Arcadia.

Roger didn't know which bloody camp
to be in so he did a bit of both.

It was kind of like two boats were
sailing off in different directions

and I kind of had one leg on one
boat and one leg in the other.

And I got kind of stretched
in between, actually.

Which is a bit painful.

I know you've been here all day,

but if you've got any energy left,

we'd like to see you dancing!

When Bob Geldof calls you
and says, you know,

"I'm doing this project,

"it's going to save millions
of lives in Africa,"

you can't say,
"No, we're on a break."

When we got together
in Philadelphia,

we were really in two camps.

MUSIC: Save A Prayer
by Duran Duran

The atmosphere was completely toxic.

Nobody wanted to be together
at that point.

It's quite sad, really, because we'd
been so close a few years ago and

suddenly it was like we
could hardly bear to...

be in the same room as each other.

It just got to the point where
I couldn't deal with it any more.

I got up every morning feeling
unhappy with what I was doing.

I was sensible enough at the age
of 25, to think, you know,

I'm going to walk away from this.

I remember when Roger left the band,

just thinking,
"What a weird thing to do."

Just, who leaves a band when
they're that successful?

Because I sort of knew him, I just
thought he's obviously gone mad.

MUSIC: New Moon On Monday
by Duran Duran

MUSIC: Notorious
by Duran Duran

We were fighting for our lives.

You know, because the band
had had its moment.

We realised that this was
a real crisis, it was survival.

Andy kind of, you know,

dicked us around
for about six months, actually.

We didn't know whether
he was coming or going.

Maybe he wasn't getting
his rocks off,

the music wasn't speaking to him,

he was getting frustrated with the
style of the music and the direction

the music was taking.

The three of us came together
in such an insanely, like,

with our backs to the wall.

It was so galvanising,

the desire to prove ourselves
was more powerful

than it had been at the beginning,

whereas we were in
two camps at Live Aid.

Six, eight months later,

the three of us were in a new camp

and it was our camp
and it was the trio camp.

Things have always seemed
to happen with us,

as one door closed,
another door opened.

And standing in that doorway was
Sir Nile of Rodgers, who came in,

and really oversaw
the Notorious project.

As soon as we met each other,
it was...

Goddamn, like love at first sight.

We had so much fun, we were making
music the same way Chic makes music,

the say Luther Vandross makes music.

When you meet an artist...

..and there's that kind
of connection right away...

you know that big things
are going to happen.

Three, four...

He's fantastic to be round,
he has a great energy, a joy,

a joyfulness about the way
he plays and the way

he approaches song writing
and recording.

That sounds like music to me, man.

When we'd finished it
and we were all pretty pleased,

we were just doing
the mixes and we'd sent

an almost complete version
to the record label,

and they'd come back and they'd
said, "Oh, we've got a problem.

"We can't put this out,
it doesn't sound like Duran Duran,

"it's, it's... It's far too urban,"

but we just told them
we were changing direction

and that was that.
I think they just saw the boat

going the other way down the river,
with all their money on it.

When your record's not
as successful as the one before,

nobody wants to talk to you, the
press don't want to talk to you,

the music press aren't interested
because it's other things, you know,

you can't get on the radio, because,

"You're old stuff, man,
you're old news.

"We've got new stuff we're
playing here on Radio 1."

So you sit there in your business
manager's office in New York City,

looking at pictures of all the other
acts he's working on and talking

about, "What can we do to save this,
what can we do to make it work?"

The first time it happens,
it's really scary,

because you thought
it would carry on forever,

but it happens.

You get through it. And the next
time it happens, it's not so bad,

and the next time it happens
it's not so bad.

Then you just get to a point
where you think, you know what,

let's just relax and do what we do.

Do we believe in the music we make?

Yes, we do. Can we go in
and write new stuff?

Have you still got stuff inside
you that you want to say?

Yes, I have. Yes, we can.

And you do it.

MUSIC: Come Undone
by Duran Duran

# Hey child... #

At that time we were looking to move

into a new phase of the band,
and what that band looked like.

We'd gotten away from
the early '80s and we were

looking to sort of redefine
ourselves.

MUSIC CONTINUES

You know, we knew there was
this guy, Nick Egan,

and he did lots of cool stuff.

He's got that same interest
in art and music, and fashion.

I've worked with the Clash,
I've worked with Bob Dylan,

I've worked with Malcolm McLaren.

My first cover I did
was for the Ramones.

The greatest achievement
and proudest achievement

of my working career is
actually working with Duran Duran,

because I find the fact they stay
relevant and keep ahead of the game,

there's not many bands
that can do that any more.

I think Nick was really
important at that moment,

to help us realise first the cover
and then the Ordinary World video.

MUSIC: Ordinary World
by Duran Duran

# Came in from a rainy Thursday
on the avenue

# Thought I heard you
talking softly... #

Ordinary World, the song itself,

the thing that was the catapult back
into phase two, if you like,

when I heard it I just thought
"This is a hit record,"

and you don't often think that.
How did you guys feel as a band?

We'd had the biggest flop of our
careers with the album before,

with Liberty. We were kind
of a bit lost, really,

but I remember hearing Ordinary
World on the radio, and thinking,

"Thank you, God," you know,
that we just like,

we'd got a foot into another
decade, because we were just,

we'd just had a few years of

"'80s band, '80s band,
they're done, they're done."

I think the success of the single

took an enormous amount of
pressure off us. Right.

So I think Simon's lyrics
were fantastic on that.

Most of Simon's lyrics
from the early albums

are kind of quite oblique. You know,
you're not quite sure what they are,

that's what make them
so interesting,

but it kind of felt
at this point,

like maybe we just need to start
writing songs about emotions,

and, and see how that works out.

# But I won't cry for yesterday

# There's an ordinary world

# Somehow I have to find... #

Ordinary World is a song
about trying to get over...

the...death of a best friend.

And putting it in words freed me,
absolutely, it really worked for me,

emotionally and mentally.

Everybody who heard it could apply
it to something in their life,

and it meant something to them
but for a totally different reason.

And it became such an
important song for us,

and I think it only had that
power to touch people,

because it meant so much to me.

MUSIC: Chains
by Duran Duran

We've got Andy Taylor
back as well tonight.

I spoke to somebody this morning

and they thought we'd got back
together to party.

Find another wife or whatever.

Fucking rockin' show, dude.

Simon, in the way
he came in the crowd,

I just wanted to lick you,
all over.

People had been asking us for
20 years by then, "Are you,

"when are you ever going to put
the original band back together?"

And we didn't know that we would.

But nobody had ever ruled it out.

MUSIC: Astronaut
by Duran Duran

LAUGHTER

I just thought if we ever
get a ball in a pocket,

this massive cheer's going to go up.

Apparently, it was 18 years
in between

the last show that we were
all on stage together

and the first show
of The Astronaut Project.

Wow. It was a gamble, you know,

we didn't have a record company
and we didn't have a manager.

I think we went in pretty much
with nothing to lose.

We've got this super hooky
vocal on the chorus.

D minor.

HE SINGS

# Does anybody know... #

I like that bit.
What's that chord?

It wasn't going to be all
about what happened in 1983,

this was going to be about
what we could do now.

Play it from that first chord.

I've got to say, getting the
different personalities to work

again was probably more challenging
than the music, I think.

That was the tough part.

OK, clear the room.
Including you. Out.

You guys sang it differently.
No, we didn't. Yeah, you did.

Absolutely you did
and we all noticed it.

You sang it, it was exactly the
conversation that we were having

in sound check.

You know you said that before, but
I can't figure out what you mean.

You go to the last...

No, no, no. You're wrong.
You are wrong.

I don't think ever
was there a more important

"lights!" than that first show
in Osaka on the Reunion tour,

because that was ultimate "shut
the fuck up and play your guitars."

SCREAMING

And that was really what we needed,
because then, all the politics,

just...shtum, and then we go out and
we play and we remind each other,

"Oh, when we do this together,
this is what we get."

MUSIC: (Reach Up For The) Sunrise
by Duran Duran

# Put your hands into the big sky

# You can touch the sunrise

# Feel the new day enter your life

# Reach up for the sunrise

# Put your hands
into the big sky... #

After the Budokan shows, we decided
to do a tour to support Astronaut,

and I think it was planned to be
about three to six months,

but in reality it ended up
being around two years.

Tomorrow night
we'll do like tonight.

Tonight we'll do like last night.

And then tomorrow we'll do
like the night before.

We've got to shorten The Reflex.

Second show Tiger Tiger's out.

Right. What do we play
Bedroom Toys instead of?

We want to play that next
to Notorious, don't we?

We could play Night Boat,
then Chauffeur.

No!

# Her name is Rio and she
dances in the sand! #

Right?

SIMON CACKLES

That was a great song.

I'm feeling job insecurity!

The last time we were at the wheel,
we just drove it off the cliff,

you know and this time, you know,

wanting to make sure that
doesn't happen again, I mean,

we're all quite driven now.

I think what the time did,
was that it en...

We all dug back in,

our relationships with each other

and our feelings for the band,
you know.

That was classic.
That was worth the work.

That was worth a year.

That was. It was like
everything was set.

Do you know what?
Not a moment too fucking soon.

All the British gigs, all the gigs
we've done, to get here,

just the press the on button, boom.

Aren't we smug? Yeah.

I hit a horrific bum note
on the guitar in Astronaut.

Oh, someone had to spoil it,
didn't they?

Just when you thought
it was perfect.

MUSIC: Planet Earth
by Duran Duran

Then we started a pretty good
two-year run of working together.

It was difficult, though, you know,

because everybody'd had a different
experience and was carrying
different stuff, baggage,

there were sort of different
things in everybody's suitcases,

and honestly I didn't really want
know what was going on.

But it would just,
it would just come out.

It's a really big one for the fans.

It's a very exciting...

It is, and I think... Roger and I
were just saying that we thought you

watched the reaction plummet.
You're joking!

The front three, four rows,
watch it all the way back.

It just...

You're telling me you
can see people at the back?

Of course I can.

They were singing.

ALL TALK AT ONCE

This is really when it
all started

going wrong
for Andy on that project.

I remember just seeing how
much he put into a show,

or rather how much it took
out of him...

Well, Andy was all or nothing.

You kind of knew he wouldn't
be able to keep it up.

If I don't come off
and I haven't had a good show

or I haven't got enough,

I'm a bit burned, I get a bit
dark after ten weeks on tour.

I'm a performer, first and foremost,
and anything else for me,

is a secondary incident in life.

I think he really missed his
family as well.

I mean Andy was, and still is,
a real family man.

When you're younger,
you don't have a home to call.

When you're our age...

..home isn't just a house,

it's a family, it's
your children and so you know,

you can get stretched very thinly,

and those stresses can
also take their toll,

you can get very homesick,
in a nutshell.

We wanted to do everything.

We wanted to do more work,

and more shows and we were happy

with the way that the management was

working, and Andy wasn't.

It's like one of those rat wheels,
isn't it, and you've just...

got to be King Rat sometimes and
say, "Bollocks, I'm jumping off."

And finally, the guitarist
with the pop group Duran Duran

has left the band halfway
through a world tour.

Andy Taylor, one of
the original members,

rejoined the line-up five years ago
after a 15-year absence.

The rest of the band has described
the relationship with him

as "unworkable" and one
which couldn't be resolved.

We haven't been
on Radio 1 for decades.

And we do another album with
Nile Rodgers, with Mark Ronson,

and Ben Hudson and it goes top ten.

It's extraordinary.

# Everybody everywhere

# Feel it in the air

# Oh, yeah, it's time to take
the pressure off

# Oh-oh oh-oh oh oh oh
It's up to you... #

And it was such
an uplifting experience,

when you see Nile playing his guitar
like that and grinning,

there's nothing
quite like it in the world.

# It's time to take
the pressure off... #

And the four of us have this
extraordinary belief in ourselves,

you know, we still believe we've
got important music to make.

You know, when everybody else
is going, "They're done"

you know and we have this sense,

that there's a,
that staying together...

Because we've all worked apart from
each other, we've all tried that.

Meh, you know. There's something
that we have when we're together

that is worth showing up for.

We accept who we are as people now,

who we've grown into,

including everybody's...
faults, and quirks.

I don't even know what's... I don't
know what's in the future for us,

you know, I just know
it'll be interesting.

# Bow to the paper gods

# In a world that
is paper-thin... #

Getting to a 14th album
is a milestone.

That's a moment, you know,

it's not something you even think
about when you start your career.

Think about anyone now who's going
to like make a 14th album.

On one hand, maybe not, one finger.

I actually think we've proved the
detractors wrong in the last decade.

The fact that we're still here,

40 years after we started.

That, that's the real proof.

# Bow to the paper gods

# In a world that is paper-thin

# The fools in town

# Are ruling now

# Bleeding from paper cuts

# Money for head shots

# Fools leading

# Who needs it? #

Yes!

Charlie's first pot.