Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - www.ddttrh.info

'Stole a Leopard' Testimonials 1

2012-02-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

For those of you not aware, DDTTRH debuted stuffed snow leopards in New York City at the end of last year (our very own Christian Helwig was there!). These stuffed snow leopards are the results of a partnership with the Snow Leopard Trust (snowleopardtrust.org) which is an organization dedicated to the protection of snow leopards and their native habitats in Mongolia. 100% of the money you pay for the leopard (less the shipping and collars we make for them) goes towards saving these amazing animals.

Here is the first edition of testimonials from our fans (with pictures). We hope you enjoy them and that you will purchase a leopard for yourself...not because we want you to, but because you are willing to give to save these animals. Savings these leopards goes beyond any kind of trivial things related to Duran Duran or the Rock Hall...its about giving life to animals struggling to keep it. 'It begins and ends with you' to be 'the one who stole a leopard'. ~DDTTRH

Alex Jokubaitis, United States

I love my snow leopards! I kept one for myself, and gave the other to a fellow Duranie who wasn't aware of DDTTRH. She really appreciated it, and got to learn more about the cause. I keep mine (aptly named Simon LeCat) on my desk, and he serves as a daily reminder of Duran Duran. I think the leopards are perfect for any Duran Duran fan. They are a unique reference to a great, current Duran Duran song. They help to also raise awareness of the band and all of their accomplishments, and the cost of purchase goes to a wonderful cause. And on top of that, they are so darn cute!

Terri Simpkin, Australia

When I saw that DDTTRH had very cleverly linked one of the most amazing Duran songs with a most worthy cause I had to investigate. As I now know, not only are the plush snow leopards incredibly cute in their own right, they play a big part in providing assistance to keep the real Snow Leopards off the extinct list. Currently classified as endangered, there are less than 7 000 left in the wild and need all the help they can get. Way down here in Tasmania (no, it’s not the end of the Earth, but I can see it from here!) there’s not much opportunity to see a real Snow Leopard so purchasing a very friendly plush one was the next best thing. And, the clever people at DDTTRH will provide you with a very stylish little collar which you can have personalised (to five letters). In the spirit of the latest album, mine proudly wears AYNIN on his collar.

I urge all Duran fans to consider supporting DDTTRH drive to raise funds for the Snow Leopard Trust. Not only will you be able to connect with Duran’s “Leopard” but you’ll be helping a great cause and, did I mention they are incredibly cute??!!! (BTW mine is currently travelling to the UK as part of my relocation to the other side of the world; too cute to leave behind.) – Dr Terri Simpkin, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Maria Sbrocco, United States

Seeing the AYNIN Duran Duran concert was the greatest night of my life!! It took over 30 years and it was well worth the wait!! I also want to thank you for the opportunity to purchase the stuffed snow leopard animals with the collars through your web site. I have one with a collar that says 'I Simon Le Bon' and another that says 'I Duran Duran'. It is an important cause to save the snow leopards and they are the cutest souvenirs to a Duran Duran concert that I waited all my life for. "The Man Who Stole A Leopard" has a greater meaning than just a song.

To steal your leopard, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info, Enter the Site, and click 'Be the One Who Stole a Leopard'.

Demographic Report, DDTTRH Fans

2012-02-04T05:59:00.000-08:00

So I was perusing statistics that Facebook provides on our site and found many that were demographic in nature. So what do we look like as Duran Duran fans (specifically to followers of this effort, DDTTRH?). Here is all about you [: [:

Here's a look by Country...Not surprising, the highest percentages are in the US, Great Britain, Canada, and Italy...

Here is a list of all the represented countries...
United States 52.56%
Italy 11.66%
Great Britain 9.24%
Canada 4.46%
Argentina 4.42%
Australia 2.41%
Chile 2.74%
Greece 2.00%
Serbia 0.49%
Peru 0.90%
Germany 0.98%
France 1.35%
Portugal 0.49%
Spain 0.98%
Netherlands 1.19%
Philipines 0.45%
Mexico 1.68%
Brazil 1.35%
Indonesia 0.65%

Looking at age and gender, most of our fans are women (I wonder why?) and in the age ranges of 35-44...

Looking at the percentages 'within' age ranges, that gap between male and female remains similar, except in the 45 and up range...

Finally, looking at language, its no surprise that English (US and Great Britain and Italian are the highest percentages). It is great that Latin American Spanish ranks high as well!!!!

2011 DDTTRH Petition Report

2012-01-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

Duran Duran to the Rock Hall
Petition Report for 2011
By Kandice Purpura, the 'Petition Duchess'

• Signatures from 929 – 1486

• We have 558 signatures this year compared to last year’s 928. Total signatures to date: 1,486

• There are a lot of nice statements. Here are a few that I adore! Please note: I did not fix spelling and grammar. They are printed “as is”. Also, I try to avoid signatures that put down other artists (i.e. use statements like: “they’re better than”, “they’re more deserving than” etc…) Yes, I agree that there are some artists more deserving of the Rock Hall than others. Because lets face it, everyone thinks his or her band is better than your band. To me, that is all a matter of perspective. Enjoy!

1. #1484 Name not displayed, NM
I love Duran Duran. I’ve been a fan of theirs for years and their songs and music videos were and still are amazing. They deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

2. #1470, Name not displayed, AZ
Duran Duran’s career started in the late ‘70s and they are still going strong. They have a string of hits that are immensely popular, and a music catalog that is very deep and wide – super creative! They have a worldwide fan following. Their music and videos have been influential in starting other bands such as The Killers, The Dandy Warhols, The Bravery, and many others. There is an entire generation of graphic designers and artists who have been influenced by their creative music videos. Personally, I see the influence Duran Duran has had on my life in my professional life as a graphic designer and photographer, and in my personal life as an avid music listener. Duran Duran were the “Beatles” of the 80s… they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame without a doubt!

3. #1436, Erica Aguirre, CA
My older sister popped in a VHS cassette to the VCR in my parents bedroom. I sat with her awaiting for something to appear on the 19-inch tv screen. A Woody Wood Pecker cartoon perhaps? Was it ET again? Then, there it appeared, without sound. A smile so perfect and with red lips. Eyes, alluring. The face of a woman, her head tilted back with a gaping mouth in laughter and delight. And then, finally, sound – indescribable. A sound that let me know something big was coming. This was the music video for Rio. Little did I know then, at the age of 3, that this was the music I would take with me for the rest of my life. Singer Simon Le Bon once said “I feel that we do something which brings people together, makes people feel good about themselves, makes people feel that they’re not alone. Making people feel not alone, I feel we’re providing a very useful service.” This is what Duran Duran has done for us since 1978.

4. #1374, Deena Roth, QC
Duran Duran have had more of an impact on my life than any other band ever had and that’s saying a lot, because I’ve listened to and admired an eclectic and vast mix of musical artists over the years. They were the first band I ever loved. They opened a portal to a world that I longed to embrace; a world where riveting melodies collided with surrealist lyrics, a world of boundless joy that soothed my teenage soul. Here we are 30 years later and they are still just as fresh and unique as they were back then. They need to be recognized for all that they have achieved!

5. #1,353, Scottland Jacobson, WA
Duran Duran DEFINED the music and the video experience of the 80s – and they have endured for over 30 years. They deserve to be in the Hall of Fame!

6. #1336, Shelley Seguin, ON
If anyone deserves a place in the Rock & Roll hall of fame, it’s definitely Duran Dura. They have pushed the envelope in so many ways… inspired other artists… been on the cutting edge… and yet this honor eludes them. It isn’t right.

7. #1309 Name not displayed, Argentina
I have been a Duran Duran fan since I was a child in the 1980s. Once branded the New Romantics, they are true rock legends who have stood the test of time. They helped to develop the video industry and have directly or subtly influenced many bands of today. Duran Duran have always been a synonym for avant-garde and their music is the key to understanding the spirit of the 80s… more than that – its’s the ultimate soundtrack. Do music history a favour… induct them now!!!

8. #1251, Erica Williston, Tx
After 30 years this band should be recognized for their influence in music AND videos on today’s band’s. It is about time to honor their commitment to the music industry.

9. #1227 Jeran Swift, Ky
Duran Duran inspired me to be me, through a song, it changed my personal view’s on things, and gave me hope to carry on when I thought I couldn’t bare anymore, a special thank you to you Simon, I look up to him as a hero, and I respect everything you do. Thank you Duran Duran for keeping me sane in this crazy Ordinary World.

10. #1,112 Name not Displayed, RI
For 30 +years Duran Duran have been pushing boundaries & redefining pop music, they don’t play for the critics, they play for their fans! They captivated a generation & provided an escape into far off exotic lands, singing of lost loves, desires, the humility of just being a little sorrowed talk, sunrises, & new beginnings. Duran songs are not just danceable, its poetry. Poetry with a beat, heart & soul. They’ve influenced modern artists & despite the eluded critical acclaim, they’ve sold millions and have millions of adoring fans. Rock ‘N Roll is about the fans & music, not the critical acclaim, no one personifies that better than Duran Duran & that is why they deserve to be there!
Signature totals for the United States:

• Alabama - 6
• Alaska
• Arizona - 13
• Arkansas - 4
• California – 144
• Colorado - 9
• Connecticut - 14
• Delaware - 2
• Florida - 69
• Georgia - 18
• Hawaii
• Idaho - 1
• Illinois - 41
• Indiana - 19
• Iowa - 5
• Kansas - 4
• Kentucky - 18
• Louisiana - 5
• Maine - 4
• Maryland / DC - 11
• Massachusetts - 38
• Michigan - 17
• Minnesota - 7
• Mississippi - 4
• Missouri - 21
• Montana - 7
• Nebraska - 7
• Nevada - 6
• New Hampshire - 5
• New Jersey - 22
• New Mexico - 5
• New York - 58
• North Carolina - 13
• North Dakota
• Ohio - 97
• Oklahoma - 7
• Oregon - 11
• Pennsylvania - 26
• Rhode Island - 7
• South Carolina - 9
• South Dakota - 2
• Tennessee - 19
• Texas - 55
• Utah - 3
• Vermont -
• Virginia - 13
• Washington - 24
• West Virginia - 7
• Wisconsin – 13
• Wyoming -

Signatures totals for Around the World

• Argentina - 32
• Australia – 34
• Austria - 2
• Belgium - 2
• Brazil - 34
• Canada - 64
• Chile - 8
• China - 1
• Columbia - 2
• Costa Rica - 2
• Czech Republic - 2
• Denmark - 1
• Finland - 5
• France - 17
• Germany - 15
• Greece - 7
• Hungary - 1
• Iceland - 1
• Indonesia - 1
• Ireland - 7
• Israel - 1
• Italy - 124
• Jordan - 1
• Kazakhstan - 2
• Malta - 1
• Mauritius - 1
• Mexico - 17
• Netherlands - 11
• New Zealand – 5
• Nicaragua – 1
• Norway - 2
• Palestine – 1
• Paraguay - 2
• Peru - 4
• Philippines - 1
• Poland - 8
• Portugal - 13
• Puerto Rico - 4
• Romania - 1
• Russia - 6
• Serbia & Montg. – 2
• Solvakia - 2
• Slovenia - 1
• Spain - 7
• Sweden - 4
• Switzerland - 4
• Syrian Arab Rep. - 1
• Tanzania – 2
• Togo - 1
• Venezuela - 1
• Uruguay - 2
• Ukraine – 3
• United Kingdom – 117
• Yugoslav (Former Rep) - 5

Annual Review Exclusive! Kirk's first DD concert!

2012-01-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

ANNUAL REVIEW EXCLUSIVE

Sights, Sounds and Feelings from my First Duran Duran Concert, by Kirk Harrington, DDTTRH

What many of you may not have known is that October 19th, 2011 in Cleveland was my first Duran Duran concert ever! I never had the means growing up to go and the circumstance never came together for me--the stars never aligned. This year though I determined not to let it pass by. It all started the night I was in New Jersey, the night before tickets were sold. I stayed up till midnight to make sure I was in right away for purchasing. I got great seats. I couldn't stop thinking about it as I toured the Statue of Liberty, went to the beach, and other places around the area in the next few days. The tickets came in the mail about a week later.

On the day of the concert, I had put on a turtleneck and was going to wear my DDTTRH shirt over it. My wife told me to wear a dress shirt...to look more cool, like 'them' (referring the Duran Duran). That excited me of course! I mean, who would not like to dress in style like Duran Duran!

I went early so I could pass out fliers for DDTTRH. I had printed them the night before. I chose pink because of the color of the new album.

It was raining wolves and leopards, I had my umbrella thank goodness. I first set up for passing out fliers in front of the wrong theater. Then someone told me the nice bus out front had Johnny Cash in it. So I moved closer to the State Theater. Two memorable things happened on this side. I got to meet Alec, one of our fans of DDTTRH. He told me he had one of our t-shirts on under his suit which was cool. Then some inebriated man (that was pretty nice except for all the f-words he said) stood there for the longest time...trying to remember a Duran Duran song. He blocked my way till I politely asked him to move so I could pass out fliers and he was nice about it. Then he finally remembered a song and he sung me 'Come Undone'to me...lol!

Then I moved to the other side of the State Theater as more people were coming in from that way. I got to meet Maria (another one of our fans who volunteered to pass out fliers). I gave her a t-shirt and some pink fliers and she did a fantastic job passing them out...she came back several times to ask for more (Thanks Maria!!) I think she passed out more than me actually.

It was on this side that News Channel 5 started interviewing me. I think it was by this time that people really got that I was passing out fliers for a good cause instead of selling tickets like the other fine chaps trying to do so by me. The see the News 5 clips of this, go to:
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/local-duran-duran-fan-feels-80%27s-pop-band-needs-to-be-inducted-in-rock-hall-

Then it was about 20 till the show that my lovely wife stopped by and took my daughter inside the theater. I stayed till quarter of 8 and Maria and I agreed to stop.

Then began my magical journey to my first Duran Duran concert. Here are the sights, sounds, and feelings I experienced...

Sights
**The people crowded around the t-shirt and concert merchandise vendors
**The reds, golds, and browns of the theater decor
**My friend Justin chaperoning at the show in his red chaperone's jacket
**The seats that were SO good and so close to the stage (only 100 rows back!)--I could see everything!
**The 4 faces that I thought were part of the theater decor that later I learned were part of the concert
**The Neon Trees' lead singer and his moves all over the stage...like when he kicked his legs in the air, twirled and spinned around, and acted like he fell asleep in front of one of the speakers
**The twirling microphone of the lead singer of Neon Trees
**Duran Duran coming on stage and everyone standing up
**Simon in a black shirt first then Simon in a much nicer blue shirt (my wife agreed this shirt looked better on him)
**Nick's blond hair and prowess on the keyboard
**Roger's confidence and power on the drums
**John's grace with the bass
**Dom and his guitar--though he made me think about Andy
**The really cool lady on the bongos
**Simon with the tamberine
**The lights and smoke from the stage, the images from the video screens...images of machines, a woman scratching, The No No No's during Notorious, the images of the band's faces mouthing 'Ta Na Na Na' during 'Reflex', images of immodestly dressed women that looked to be from Second Life
**The band leaving and coming back
**John's Tatoo
**Cellphones and lighters raised in the air during 'Leave a Light On'
**My wife dancing next to me...the joy on her face
**The arms above the head waving during Reach Up for the Sunrise
**My teenage daughter trying to get into it, but perhaps being uncomfortable with all the older people in the room
**The women dancing and some reaching for Simon as he sang

Sounds
**The great vocals of the Neon Trees' lead singer and the fabulous drum sounds from the Neon Trees' drummer
**The screams and cheers when Duran Duran first came on stage
**The saxophone during Rio
**Simon's right-on amazing voice
**Roger's fluid beating on the drums
**The dulcet notes flowing from Nick's keyboard

Feelings
**Disappointment when my Twitter wouldn't work because my service was not connected (my friend Justin tried to loan me his phone but by that time it was too late)...what I wanted to Tweet was 'The Rock Hall does not deserve you ~DDTTRH'
**The electricity that filled the room when Duran Duran first came on stage
**Thats such a nice blue shirt on Simon...I want a shirt like that
**They sound so much better live than on their albums
**Excitement when they played my favorite song, 'Ordinary World'
**The soft feel of my wife's lower back
**The strong desire from the crowd to have Duran Duran come back after they left...feeling the same strong desire from the urging crowd
**Disappointment and feeling a bit like a kid when I went looking for Duran Duran after the show...even wandering back behind the theater to get a look at their buses to see if I could catch them
**Elation, joy, and adrenaline rush that lasted for several days after the concert--simply amazing...

This concert was truly a milestone in my life and I am EXTREMELY happy after all this time to have finally seen them in concert. Its thanks to this concert that I was inspired with the 'Epiphany' which many of you have read. If you haven't read it, you can find it in October 2011's blogs.

As has happened to many of you after seeing them in concert, this event truly inspired me and touched my life in a special way to makes me want to live it better.

I just want to say...thank you Duran Duran...for everything. Thanks to all those that have joined our little adventure at DDTTRH...exciting things are to come, I promise!

Kirk, DDTTRH

PLEASE TAKE OUR POLL!!!!

2012-01-14T10:30:00.000-08:00

PLEASE TAKE OUR POLL ----------------------------------------------------------->

While you're listening to the GREAT music player on our site, PLEASE take our current poll! Its in the upper right corner of the blog page! Thanks!!!!

DDTTRH

Au Revoir and Merci to DDTTRH's old mission

2011-12-31T08:07:00.000-08:00

I have thought about what would be the best way to end the year at DDTTRH. My thoughts go to the ‘Epiphany’ and the dying of our old mission to ‘just get Duran Duran to the Rock Hall’ and the ringing in of the new one of promoting Duran Duran in bold and exciting new ways. So in this spirit…to give our old mission a formal send-off…to thank it for getting us this far…parting ways with it, understanding it will never return…not to apologize for it, but to send it off gracefully into the New Years night…I thought it fitting to share the answer to that one question that was at its core…and the answer to it from all the bands and supporters that have interviewed with us…Does Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock Hall of Fame?

Reading through these touched me (as I hope it does you). I want to give special thanks to all the bands, artists, Duran fans, and business owners who gave of their time and inspiring words to our original mission of getting Duran Duran to the Rock Hall of Fame. These words will always be a part of us and we are proud of them.

Special thanks and admiration goes out to our very own LadyAslan (Anitra DeLorenzo) as well, whose dedication and commitment have been a prized jewel to our effort (and who did most of the interviews listed below). I cannot say enough about LadyA who has graced DDTTRH with her talent and leadership, who I hope will do so for years to come (and hoping she will stand with us at the Rock Hall when Duran Duran is finally inducted).

I cannot forget to mention and give thanks for the efforts of our Petition Duchess, Kandice Purpura, who helped lead many of the artists to our signature Rock Hall petition and showed amazing commitment to it. The Rock Hall petition, as you may or may not know, will not go away...it will be just one of the many things we promote Duran Duran to. Kandice will we 'powered up' next year as we find new and exciting ways to promote Duran Duran.

And of course there's Christian Helwig...BIG THING thanks to him as well. He created our amazing hubsite ddttrh.info and has made key relationships with supportive and relative internet sites across the world wide web. Many of you may have met Christian at Gimme a Wristband's party in New York. You may have also noticed Christian's promotional material 'touch' on our effort with fliers, business cards, site logos, etc. I am extremely grateful to him for stepping up when we needed it on the graphic artist front.

Finally...special thanks to all those who made or are still making DDTTRH's journey special. Special mention goes out to Josie Beadoin (our editor), Mr Mystere (you know who you are), The Amazing Andy Golub, Nabeel Shahid (who created our first, now nostalgic, logo), Nuno (for the great fliers), Salvo from Duranasty (for the periodic translations to Italian), Jason Henry, and many others.

With that...Au Revoir and Merci to DDTTRH's old mission...and Bienvenue to the new...

Patrick Doval (musician):
Absolutely!

Nathan Stack (musician, AutoHypnosis):
Absolutely. The post-punk/new romantic era was an important period in pop music history, and Duran Duran was one of the most significant bands to emerge during that time. They deserve a place in the Hall alongside contemporaries U2 and The Police, who have already been inducted, as well as Depeche Mode.

Stephane Leclair (Singer, Composer, multi-instrumentalist, Producer):
Of course they do,they are one of the most successful bands in music history. I mean ,they owned most of the eighties, setting the standard of that decade for many other acts, and of course were pioneers of the new, then, video era. But to me,the main reason why Duran made it so big is because they had such great songs.

Like I commented on your facebook page,you can’t erase history,and like it or not,get it or don’t...these guys are part of music history,and they certainly belong into the Hall Of Fame. They even influenced Madonna who was inducted into The Hall a few years ago.
Sure they had a very strong image...but so did Prince,Michael Jackson,Madonna,Bowie,Elvis,and The Beatles.

Neil Carlill (Musician, Chcanery):
One could argue that there was no band that defined that particular era than DD. Certainly they are important for perfectly capturing video, fashion and dance/rock into something new and sustainable for a very long time....They've sold 100 million albums and have weathered the storm. I think all of those elements combined make them one of the most relevant bands of their generation on several counts. So, worthy, they continue to record new material and tour that material (not just the hits), and that is a credit.

Pride and the Vanities:
I’m surprised their not already in the Rock n Roll Hall of fame. They are pioneers of the 80's new wave and pop revolution. They were the 2nd British Invasion with a unique new sound for 'New Wave' and Pop that captured the world... Their sound is like no other with top billboard songs, Grammy's and American Music Awards. They sold more than 100 million records, so absolutely they deserve to be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

RJ (the Poet):
Absolutely. I was in my 20's when they came out. As well, I witnessed the birth of MTV. They were a big hit and all of their songs and videos were being played so they were widely known. Also I think that 100 million or so in record sales speaks for itself.

Tyrone Lee Needham (Musician, Ty King of Trash):
Bloody right, in fact those boys deserves knighthoods, for their musical contributions ,and the revenue they have brought to the UK over the past 30 years, give ‘em their Hall of Fame honour ya buggers…or we will send in the dogs!! hahahaha (joke)

Alex Thorn (Musician and songwriter, In City):
Of course! And also in the world catalog of GREAT synth New Wave bands (if such could be) of top 10 or 15 most popular synth/pop bands in the world they have great music, arrangements, promo campaigns as far back as 80’s and certainly original voices and visual perception.

Mystic Lady (Poetess):
I think they deserve to get in for old time sake for friends and family and all those who where Duranies many eons ago and still are. I was a Japany, gutter heart and baby Banshee, but my cousin was a Duranie and I remember doing her make up for a Duran concert and her coming back from the gig and going on and on about how much John Taylor fancied her...........Yeah right! If Lady Aslan thinks they deserve the hall of fame who I am to disagree?............scoff scoff :)

Mortuary Mary (Poetess, Artist):
Of course DD deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….way OVER DUE!

Uru (Singer/Songwriter):
Actually, the question should be, “Why are they not already”?!Obviously they were pioneers of a great sound and style that has influenced the music industry up till today.

Aerial, front man for Lunar Dusk (dark wave Electro band out of London):
To be fair, I can’t believe they haven’t been inducted already! Their music has had an immeasurable influence on so many artists. I feel they have contributed a distinct feel, atmosphere and sound to music, attracting fans of many alternative genres. They are true musical innovators, and their legacy will go on to inspire countless generations of musicians to come.

Your Vegas:
Yes definitely. They are without doubt one of the most influential bands of the of the last 30 years and their sound and influence is still clearly heard in many different genres of music today.

James Nights, Scarlet Soho:
YES I THINK THEY DO. FOR A BAND THAT WERE PROBABLY INITIALLY SEEN AS A FASHION STATEMENT I THINK THEY HAVE SHAPED THE SOUND OF A LOT OF CURRENT ELECTRONIC BANDS. THEY HAVE ALWAYS HAD A GOOD POP SENSIBILITY AND GREAT SENSE OF STYLE. I THINK ENOUGH TIME HAS PASSED FOR PEOPLE TO REALISE THAT THEY HAVE WRITTEN SOME GREAT SONGS THAT HAVE HAD A HUGE EFFECT ON POP CULTURE.

Nigel John, Orlando DJ:
I think Duran Duran should be inducted to the hall of fame. They have been around for more than 20 years. They have been a strong presence in the both the 80's and 90s music scene. And they have made some very good quality pop songs.

Gretchen Morganstern, Business owner, Adirondack Aromatherapy:
Absolutely; and I am confident it will only be a matter of time before they are inducted - but the sooner the better! I consider Duran Duran as creative visionaries & pioneers in the music field, forever fearless in their willingness to try new approaches to their music - and their impact on the music & culture of the 1980's and beyond goes without saying. They have been recording & creating without ceasing for nearly 30 years and never stagnate - every new album is a work of art in it's own right.

Jake Niemi (musician):
Yes beyond the shadow of a doubt; their contribution to the sound of pop music over the past 3 decades in particular has been immeasurable.

The Zips (Punk Rock band, UK based):
Yea, why not. They had a time and place on the rock n' roll time-line, even if it was more pop orientated.

Oliver Gerling, Neongrau:
Why not? And that is definitely all I can say. To be true, I don’t mind this subject very much, do they (Duran Duran) actually?

alexP, Twitchcraft (Electronic musician):
For all of the contributions they have made, not just too pop music, but for helping to make the modern day synthesizer much more approachable within that form of music, they definitely deserve it. They were one of the first stadium bands that weren’t progressive rock, to utilize synths and sampling technology in most if not all of their songs. So yes, they definitely deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

D’Edwin (musician):
Well, certainly a ten times more than Bruce Springsteen!

Tenek (Pete Steer and Geoff Pinckney):
Absolutely! They've been around for about 30 years and have contributed to the world wide music scene in a big way. The innovative use of video in the early part of their career was particularly ground breaking.

Fred McNeil (Writer, poet, activist):
Ye for sure there contribution to the music business has played a big part in many Folk’s lives’ influencing many bands up & down the country

Jeremiah Saint (Industrial—death rock—dark wave—horror music):
Yes, very much so. I am surprised that they are not in it already. They are a band that has inspired and touched many and not just with the music that has been written but the style they wore and what they stood for.

Lady Parasyte (Electro Rock band, trio of Kim K, Mark B, and Miss Angela):

Kim K: Sure. They have so many songs that are sort of preserved in people's minds. Even if someone thinks they don’t know a Duran Duran song all you got to do is sing one of their tunes and people are like, “Oh yeah, I know that song!”

Mark B: Duran Duran have spanned 4 decades, sold record numbers of albums, and spawned countless copy cat bands as well as influenced fashion, video and music. Yes, Duran Duran should definitely be inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame.

Miss Angela: I do agree that they should be included in the RNR hall of fame! They’re a band who, like Mark said, has influenced not only fashion but music itself. They have stood the test of time, and they deserve to be recognized for that.

Calabrese (Horror, Punk Bank):

Jimmy – 'Cause it’s been years since I’ve heard their music and I still can’t get that “Hungry Like the Wolf” song out of my head!

Bobby -- One word - YES!

J.S. Stoddard, Roughhausen (musician):
Absolutely, their contribution to Popular/electronic music has been immense. Everybody knows their name and at least one song, which in itself speak volumes about the size of their impact on popular culture and music. Additionally, “Hungry like the Wolf” has become a common usage term for horny. Love them or hate them you know who they are, and you know their songs.

Adam Absinthe (musician):
Absolutely. I have never owned an album of theirs, but their impact on the music scene has affected a handful of my favorite artists. They are the quintessential 80’s band, therefore everyone knows who they are and it’d be a shame to see them denied being inducted to the Hall of Fame. I mean how many hits do you need to have before you’re considered famous enough for a hall of Fame?

Chris Richards, T1 Music Australia:
Not only the Rock Hall of Fame, but also the Electro Music Hall of Fame, the Greatest Haircuts Hall of Fame, and of course the Greatest Girls on Film Hall of Fame

Ron Yousha (actor, singer, guitar player):
Yes, definitely! You couldn’t get away from Duran Duran in the 80′s. They were everywhere, MTV, radio, on t-shirts, and posters. They were the band that brought the new sound to the mainstream and made it popular. More importantly than that, their music was a mix of many different influences. They had rock 'n' roll riffs within their music; especially Bass and Guitar.

Blue October (UK Electro synth pop band):
Definitely, Duran Duran is pioneering bands that have over the years have influenced many bands not only with their music but also the work with videos as well.

David Jonson (musician):
Definitely, Duran Duran have stood the test of time so should definitely be in there, There are not many bands around today with the fashion sense and music styling that could last the way Duran Duran have.

Shapes of Race Cars (indie rock bank):
Dylan Champion: Hungry Like the Wolf changed modern music. I'm serious. It was the first song to combine primal, animal elements and imagery with the shinny, yachting world of modern glam-pop.

That is seriously and important change - animals were always the exclusive territory of earthy, rootsy, loud rock bands like Led Zep, The Stones and Warren Zevon. Le Bon and co. married the two. If Adam Ant paved the way with tribal drums and war paint, Duran Duran took it all the way into the steamy, post-imperialist wilds of the jungle.

Bigfix music (independent record label):
without a doubt!

80’s Underground (radio):
Yes.

Enochian Sun:
Absolutely. Duran Duran had a huge relevant impact on music in the 80's and without a doubt they stood out. I really believe that they have the staying power to continue to be relevant today. Their music has longevity for sure. You can't say that about most bands from the 80's.

Nylon Pink (pop/punk band):
Kaila Yu: Yes Hungry like a wolf! They are one of the greatest bands of all time!

Kitt.E.Katt: Definitely! They are a legend!

DJ Shy: Yes. They made the 80s fun

Marc Massive, vocals for Massive Ego (Electro Pop New Wave band):
I do think they get overlooked far too often for these kinds of accolades, although they did get a star on the Hollywood walk of fame and a lifetime achievement at the Brits. I’m sure their mantelpiece at home is bowing under the strain of all those awards that have quite deservedly been bestowed on them.

Amber Ghosh, photographer:
Absolutely! To be quite honest, when you approached me for this interview and I read about your petition, I was shocked they weren't already in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How could such a thing be true?!

The Unquiet Void, Jason Wallach:
There's no doubt in my mind about that! I certainly feel that their first three albums were genius. I guess I'm a little surprised to hear that they're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Eric Alexandrakis (composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist):
Well they do meet the requirements, and considering how much of an impact on music and pop culture they have had, it’s a no brainer.

Engines of Necessity (industrial rock project by Jake Borman):
Absolutely! I feel like rock and roll music has always been an ever-evolving mutant of various genres and influences, grabbing onto new ideas when needed and discarding the old in kind. If it weren’t, we'd still just call it the blues!

Jagged (electro/dark wave/rock band):
Absolutely, Duran Duran was probably the most dominant band in the 80’s, their music and videos were inspirational and a household name.

Evokateur (electronic pop band):
Definitely, they’ve had a very long and successful international career both live and in the studio with so many top ten singles and almost all of their albums went gold.

Blair (Electro Rock music):
Yes, they are a great band who's done a lot for music and the music video. I definitely think they deserve to be in it.

TAWk:
yes why not they’ve paid their dues.

e-gens (Russian Synthpop band, Eugene Titkov & Eugene Komarov ):

Eugene Titkov: Yes, of course. Like other legendary explorers and guides the neo-Romantic culture a

new wave - Visage, Ultravox, Soft Cell. We believe that all these artists undeservedly forgotten,

although their musical work is still heard in the originals, remixes and cover songs at various venues

around the world.

Jan Dark (multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter):
They've had tremendous success most anywhere in the world, and they've been in the business for over 25 years, so I suppose the answer should be yes. On the other hand, the concept of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just makes me shrug and go “why?” I understand everybody can't be inducted the same year, but did they really have to wait until 2010 for the Stooges? What about George Clinton and Alice Cooper?

I suggest Duran Duran be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their foray into brainwave manipulation.

Johnny Daggers (horror model, actor, director):
Without a doubt. Be it their distant sound, look or artwork by Patrick Nagel, Duran Duran left an impression that you could not help but remember.

Owen Paul McGee (Ex Simple Minds):
Yes, without a show of a doubt. After their initial success in the eighties and their continuing success almost two decades later as well as their influence with a host of other bands and singers, there is no doubt in my mind they should be recognised.

Oneness Darkness (band):
Fuck yeah, these guys made some really fucking dope ass music over the years.

Special mention…the Sex Presley’s..although they did not answer th question about the Rock Hall, their answer to this question (What contributions and influences do you feel Duran Duran contributed to the world of music and fashion and social awareness over the past 30 yrs?) was fun…

they got girls horny over guy bands. And that's a good thing.

Lotus Song Productions (band, label, production studio):
Yes, when you think early 80s pop / new wave, you think of Duran Duran.

Rubin Riley, Pump Tha Flava, Music Production
of course they deserve it! They had a sound that

I respected! I have played & listened to all types of music in my

life!

NUNO, graphic designer:
Yes. Duran Duran during all this years proved that they are more than a generation hymn … they are a happiness hymn. A band that, since the 1980s have placed 14 singles in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100 and have sold more than 100 million records, deserves a place at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Daniel Richter, Music mixer, blogger
I was talking about the uniqueness of the band. I think this is the reason Duran Duran should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Along with the ability to write hit songs and reach number ones even after 30 years, release 13 studio albums and not repeat themselves at the same time.

Syclima, composer from Japan:
of course "Yes".

Strap on Halo (gothic, dark wave band):
Absolutely, we thing that anyone who can influence others and sustain a career in music definitely deserves that honor.

Andy Golub (aka ‘Durandy), Duran Duran Archivist:
My association with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame remains a cherished milestone in my archival 'career'. For five years, I loaned an assortment of memorabilia to the Hall for an exhibit. The loaned artifacts included 20 posters, the Milton Bradley board game, a selection of magazines, fan club materials and other ephemera. While a small percentage of the items actually made it into the exhibit, they ended up on display alongside vintage outfits contributed by John and Nick. It was a proud moment.

Working with the Hall introduced me to the people behind this magnificent historical showcase and I understood how committed they are to recognizing the legends we love. I think it's great to see you going above and beyond with your efforts, raising awareness of not only Duran's credentials, but also the extent of band support out there. It's easy to miss the gravity of how many people an artist has touched when the focus is on sales and statistics. Duran are one of the most enduring, prolific bands ever to emerge from the 80's, transcending decades of diverse musical landscapes and making an indelible mark in pop history. Duran deserves nothing less than having someone go out of their way to rally for the band's induction into such a celebrated, prestigious institution as the Rock Hall.

Drype, Portuguese Alternative Rock Band:
We think so; it’s a band that has earned his way to the Hall of Fame like many others. We have a song called ‘Hall of shame’, but I don’t think Duran Duran is included on that category.

Symbiotik (UK band duo, Rob & Rowe):
ABSOLUTELY!!

Greg Method, Make the Rock Hall Weird Campaign:
I think Duran Duran is definitely deserving of a Rock Hall induction. They came into prominence at a very unique time in popular music. By the early 1980s rock and roll was quickly evolving past the quirky new wave style that had defined the end of the '70s; it was maturing. Duran Duran is a perfect representation of this era of rock and roll, this--for lack of a better description--mature new wave sound.

And it doesn't hurt that Simon Le Bon looked like a young Malcolm McDowell. That alone should qualify them.

CCU - Clitherow and Collins, united (band):
Ian Collins (vocals): Yeah, why not? I think there are lesser names in there ahead of them. And you're certainly doing your bit to get them in there! But with respect … y'know, Duran Duran mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people, and whether they're inducted or not, nothing will detract from that.

Axxe (electronic music), Members…
Douglas Chow [programming] + Stina Agustsdottir [vocals] /// Live AXXE: Andrew Ward aka DJ F.U.N.K. [decks, electro percussion] + Pamela Brottes [backing vocals] + Sylvie Riendeau [bass] + Emmanuel Lagrange Paquet [visuals] + Andrew Larbi [MC] + A.J. Kandy [branding]:

YES!!!!!

Derek Sumisu, Duran Duran in Review Podcast:
Of course they do! A career that spans over 30 years, stacks of hits all over the planet, millions of records sold and innovation after innovation in technology, music and video seems to be deserving of such an honour, doesn’t it?? But that being said, apparently some music industry honchos don’t agree with my point of view? A bit of a shock really, isn’t it? ;-)

Whispers in the Shadow, Epic Gothic Rock Band:
First of all I have to confess that I’m not such a Duran Duran fan as you and your readers might be, but having said that I really do like what I know of them, so therefore yeah they deserve that. Even though I’m really not sure if I get that whole Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame concept. The music is good enough without such a thing, but if it makes them and the fans happy of course!

Steve Spears, St. Petersberg Times:
It absolutely KILLS me that they're not there now and acts like
Madonna and U2 are. Seriously, you gotta wonder what brand of glue they're
stiffing up in Cleveland. But in a way, not being in the hall is almost a
badge of honor these days. Look at some of the other acts that aren't
there: Journey, Rush, Kiss, Weird Al Yankovic. Okay, maybe not Weird Al.
But our beloved DD will make it sooner than later.

Salvo, Duranasty:
Of course I think it would be great to add this great recognition to the others they’ve already collected over the years. Duran Duran are among some of the most prolific recording artists and their influence and significance to the development of pop-rock and electro music can’t be ignored.

They have inspired three generations of musicians who continue citing the band as the reason why they are into music. Moreover, Duran Duran have influenced the music industry in a major way. No need to remember all the awards and lifetime achievements they got, their 85 million records sold, they’re pioneers finding a new way to present and sell music, their visual art, their sense of style which starts from the notes of their songs and it propagates to all the aspects of the band’s trademark.

I would give them the special mention for being the precursors of the Art ‘n Roll, Duran Duran is the very first Art ‘n Roll band, a great source of entertainment, inspiration and joy, musically and visually. With Duran Duran it’s a 360° experience, and their latest multimedia project with David Lynch is just the nth demonstration of their avantgardness.

Nick Rhodes said recently “At heart, we remain an art school project, we are driven by exploration and curiosity!” I think that’s the secret of this band and what keeps it so relevant, fresh and appealing.

NoPlacez (upcoming Rock band):
Yes, DD is one of the greatest role models of the generation…While in my journey of music, I come up with so many bands wants to be like DD but the fake is never as valuable as the original… they were the pioneers…

Pink Narcissus, UK based band combining elements of alternative, glam, punk, cabaret and metal with echoes of eastern European inspired Yiddish and gypsy music:
Cookie:
Yeah

Cod:
Hell yeah

Spleen:
They wouldn’t be number one on my list, but sure.

Cod:
They’d probably be in my top 5.

Protea, Serena Toxicat, music experimental project in the electronic medium:

Well, yeah. I’m surprised they aren’t already. At this rate Kajagoogoo will beat ‘em to it. J

Pete Ross and the Paesanos (band):
If it’s good enough for ABBA then it’s good enough for DD

Julie Ann Rhodes (former model and actress):
I sincerely hope the Hall takes recognition. They really do deserve it.

Diverje (Electro/Inustrial music):
Tommy Rapisardi: HELL YEAH!! They totally do! Such an influential band for the early days of new wave/ electronic/ rock!! They made a huge impact in the 80's for sure!!

Robert Sherer, Green Star Produce (business owner):
Getting them into the Hall of Fame is just a stamp of approval that they meant something to so many people. If it fails, they didn't, I did. They are more deserving than some that are in there now.
DNR, Eurovisual band, Ash (drums), Sieg (guitar), Mantis (voice), Delord (keyboard):
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognize how important an artist has been for history of music regardless to his influences, and yes, Duran Duran definitely fits the category.

Tenboy, band, formed by singer/songwriter/drummer Dean Cook (formed in Birmingham):
yeh absolutely!...why not...it’s the duranies....they have been around a looooooong time now! And they have definitely had an influence on pop music as a whole....so yeh what's not to like!

E-men (synth, techno, electric band):
Of course they deserve being part of that selected group. Either for their music contribution to music, or their Sci Fi videos. I remember someone said as Pink Floyd over abused stereo, Duran Duran did the same with audio and vision.

Elliot Avnon, Discovering Arts Group:
I don't understand how DD have not yet received the spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A band that added a massive mark in the 80's and 90's i am sure if you will ask any person in the world to name few bands from the 80s Duran Duran will be one of them.

Special Mention, M. Douglas Silverstein, Producer, Director, recently released Duran fan documentary ‘Something You Should Know’. M also was not directly asked about the Rock Hall, however he did answer the question ‘How do you feel Duran Duran has made music history and are legendary?’:

I think that its absolutely clear that almost no other band was as instantly recognizable for their videos, their fashion, their flair and their looks. At some level there are people who keep them in that 80’s box. Or they dismiss them in the 80s as being too good looking and didn’t concentrate on the music. But when I listened to the first three albums in particular I think that stuff is still incredibly interesting…relevant…its so clear how much they’ve…I think almost in the way that they’ve influenced so many other artists and bands…they were early sponges to what was happening around them and their scene. They have created such…I mean god…so many bands whether they even realize it or not owe them a sliver of their career to the inspiration of Duran Duran. I mean you could say in Something You Should Know alone, in the documentary, you got people like Moby and Barenaked ladies talking about how they were sitting out in the snow and in the rain begging to get in…couldn’t get in…Moby bragged his way (I think he said he used the term ‘bragged’ his way in)…he actually forced his way in to getting a ticket. And so these are people who…Johnathon Davis of Korn, just like them…these are people who grew up to have very substantial music careers…chart toppers and trend setters in their own respective genres and they were HUGE fans of the band. And not just like ‘Yeah, they were good’…’ I like that Rio song’ or ‘I like the Hungry like the Wolf’ they were substantial fans who made investment like what we remember being so turned on to them as young music fans. And they still dig them so they’re just like you and I and all the people covered in the film.

'Something You Should Know' about M Interview!

2011-11-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

(Cover of Something You Should Know--The Duran Duran Fan Documentary)

M Douglas Silverstein is a producer, director, and recently released the Duran Duran Fan Documentary, Something You Should Know. He has interviewed hundreds of artists, many very famous, and has found joy and bliss in doing what he does best...film. Kirk from DDTTRH had the pleasure and honor to interview M (as he is also called) in a phone call between Cleveland and Los Angeles.

'Something You Should Know' about M, that Kirk learned in this interview, is that M is not just a talented film artist but is also guided as a a person by passion, a love for people, by ethics and moral principle. I hope you will enjoy this interview with M as much as I did. DDTTRH proudly presents...the 'Something You Should Know' about M interview....

It was Saturday morning...that the call came in from Los Angeles to Kirk (K) in Cleveland...

K: Hello? Is this M?

M: Yes it is, how are you?

K: Good...good...you having your coffee?

M: I'm trying.

K: Thank you for interviewing with us. I feel so honored. I watched your documentary and I just love it.

The First question is…did you make it out to a concert this year and what did you think of their new material?

M: I did not get to a concert this year, it was really sort of funny my schedule. Every time I thought I would be going to a certain location for example LA, for example New York among others…it just…with my production schedule, it was always a day before or a day after that I would be able to do it. And its not to say that I wouldn’t love to see them again. I’ve seen them probably 60-80 times or something based on all the travelling around the world for so many years with them. Now…what do I think of the new material? I think its pretty damn good.

K: Yeah—Mark Ronson’s great…

M: Yeah but I just I think a lot of people they look back retrospectively and sort of slam other stuff like of the more recent albums…I thought there were great tracks on Astronaut and I thought there were great tracks on Red Carpet Massacre….now it doesn’t mean that the public as a whole really embraced them and that’s why people have had negative feedback within the fan community.

I think it was valuable stuff…I think they still have a tremendous amount of energy, creativity and desire to consistently aspire to relevancy. I know that that’s individually really important to the members…that they don’t want to just be a play the hits band and maybe that’s what they’ll wind up doing when they feel satiated with it, but you know…you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They’re still doing it they’re still going for it. I think they deserve a lot of credit not just from Duran Duran fans but from the music community in itself.

K: Right! They take great care…

M: They’re fighting for it….you know what I mean? They’re really fighting for it…to put their stamp in music history. I think it proves how much they love doing this. I’m sure their bank accounts are fluffy enough where they don’t need to go through the rigors of the road but its clear that they love it…they should be lauded for that.

K: Right….right…what I appreciate about them is that they take their time and do something really meaningful. This album has been a long time coming and just the fact that they took the time to do it right..to me they put it off a couple of times and they told their fans this but I think the end product is just fantastic.
Did you see the ‘Girl Panic’ video…did you like it?

M: I think its fantastic. I think its really well done. I think its interesting. I feel honestly that John is a little underserved visually. I feel like he’s like always the reporter or the limo driver but Simon, Nick, and Roger have charming cameos…as the hotel staff and so forth and you know John is more serious than people realize. And maybe that what they were more comfortable with when they were discussing it with Jonas the director but I mean its really cool…I’m curious if they’re going to do a short version for commercial applications as opposed to the extended version, but they have all the tools to make a phenomenal short form video of it as well.

K: Right…right…I’ve been thinking that too…that a short version would be really good. I probably told you this, I sent you a link about it…here at DDTTRH we are changing our direction and mission and we’re going to be less focused on just ‘getting Duran Duran to the Rock Hall’, though we are still supporting our petition, we want to build more awareness…we want to show the world that they’ve made music history…we plan to continue to interview bands, artists, and organizations and people like yourself. We want to reach out to music historians, industry specialists, do some research and data analysis in the next coming years. I mean you…you’ve listened to the band for a long time. How do you feel Duran Duran has made music history and are legendary?

M: I think that its absolutely clear that almost no other band was as instantly recognizable for their videos, their fashion, their flair and their looks. At some level there are people who keep them in that 80’s box. Or they dismiss them in the 80s as being too good looking and didn’t concentrate on the music. But when I listened to the first three albums in particular I think that stuff is still incredibly interesting…relevant…its so clear how much they’ve…I think almost in the way that they’ve influenced so many other artists and bands…they were early sponges to what was happening around them and their scene. They have created such…I mean god…so many bands whether they even realize it or not owe them a sliver of their career to the inspiration of Duran Duran. I mean you could say in Something You Should Know alone, in the documentary, you got people like Moby and Barenaked ladies talking about how they were sitting out in the snow and in the rain begging to get in…couldn’t get in…Moby bragged his way (I think he said he used the term ‘bragged’ his way in)…he actually forced his way in to getting a ticket. And so these are people who…Johnathon Davis of Korn, just like them…these are people who grew up to have very substantial music careers…chart toppers and trend setters in their own respective genres and they were HUGE fans of the band. And not just like ‘Yeah, they were good’…’ I like that Rio song’ or ‘I like the Hungry like the Wolf’ they were substantial fans who made investment like what we remember being so turned on to them as young music fans. And they still dig them so they’re just like you and I and all the people covered in the film.

K: Certainly the effect they’ve had on fans is big! I can’t believe how many fans just come in to our site from all over the world and I don’t know if you’ve read through the petition, but its pretty amazing what fans say about them.

M: Yeah I mean I know that while we document 800 fans being interviewed in the film…that’s how many we have signed clearances from….meaning that they give us a permission legally to put them on film (that they should make the cut)…but we posted many many more and there are still people just finding out about the film from…I forget the last count…but I think it was 84 or 87 countries…unique countries who said ‘Oh my god I just found out about this…is there any way I can be in it…is there going to be a second one…oh my god please…’

K: Actually that was one of my questions…because we’re actually excited to promote this documentary to our fans. I was really excited that Andy…I saw Andy (I’ve been talking to him) and also Salvo from Duranasty…we’ve interviewed them and they’re very strong supporters of us.
Do you plan on expanding this documentary? I was thinking you could make it something like ‘Something You Should Know Too’…like its ‘T-O-O’…some play like that.

M: Do I have your permission to use that name?

K: Sure! If you like!

M: I don’t have any current plans to do that. I would be interested to hear what fans would want from the next one. There are some subject matters…that ah man it was so difficult to make the cut… with over 250 hours spanning…of filming over 5 years and a couple years of post…it was really really difficult. There are things that I wanted to make it that couldn’t make it. There are fans I wanted to make it that couldn’t make it. It was arduous…it was emotionally devastating and painful to make the cuts in order to make it…you know, because my first earliest cut was 5 hours or so.

K: Oh really? Wow!

M: And no one can watch a 5 hour documentary. And I think that as long and as perfect as it is now…there are…because of timing there are some additions that we had clearance to interview…there were some super models we had cleared to interview that we didn’t have worked out…

K: Ah, that’s too bad….

M: So there are things like that I’d like to put into another one. I guess if I would do another one I would definitely like to follow up on how the band feels everything has gone since the reunion but I’d like it to be a more intimate ‘at their homes’ look as opposed to during their big promo period. I actually would like to film the band during a down period when they’re not promoting so it would be more intimate and I would like to catch up with the fans…I would like to do some sort of Duranie convention…these are things I’d like to cover in the second movie that…I went to great fan parties and that’s cool…I mean maybe there’s life at 40 if you know what I mean…Life begins at 40 as they say. So maybe we’ll do it like the 7up series so every seven years I create another 7 year project (laughs)…

K: Yeah…why not? You know I think there’s a convention coming up in the UK…someone was talking about it…

M: Yeah, I saw that…I know that there was some in the 80’s and early 90’s that had several hundred people and I think that these are limited to under 100 and it would be really amazing if there was a way to get…maybe do it on three continents…do one in the US with the band involved, one in the UK with the band involved, maybe one in Australia because I think they have a big fan base, Italy, Brazil, as far as big fan bases that respond to me a lot…

K: Right..Italy definitely…

M: Yeah! Salvo, so cool…

K: I know…he is…good guy…

M: (laughs) I hope I answered that…

K: You answered that perfectly!
Something you said in the Gimme a Wristband interview that I really liked that you said…and it says…and you’re speaking about the film, and I quote this…
“What some people would call an obsession or a wild fascination, or whatever, could be for anything — it could be for a church group, a sports team, or a family reunion. The film to me is all about people who are willing to do whatever it takes to be a part of something that is special and meaningful to them. They don’t care what people think or do around them because this innately brings them joy, happiness, meaning and purpose in their life.”
Would you call this a trademark of your work to try and discover people’s emotions, how they think and act…why is this meaningful to you?

M: What do you mean, in what context?

K: I mean for example have you done any other work in film where you’ve explored this kind of…people emotions…how they think and act…why is that meaningful to you…to explore that…as an artist…as a film artist?

M: You know…I can’t point to anything specifically, but in my work with 600 artists ranging from Madonna, Green Day, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Rihanna…I always try to…in fact…I think the reason I’ve been so successful or fortunate is because I always do more research…I think than anybody…I’m kind of famous for…with people who work with me who think I’m crazy…they think its crazy how much effort I put into it.

I’m really passionate about people in general and passionate to find out things that are different, unique to them…like when I worked with Rihanna I knew she grew up in Barbados. So I asked her things, you know, just as a starting off point…‘If I were in Barbados with you and we could go to your favorite place to eat…where would we go…what would we eat…who would pay the bill…and what would we do after that?’.

(Rihanna with M>)

K: …What did she answer?

M: Oh gosh—I don’t remember at all now…

K: That’s fine…that’s fine…

M: But she certainly got a kick out of it…and I often have artists say ‘How do you know that about me?’ And its not because I’m…I think I’m sort of going around what you’re asking…let me try to be more direct which is…I’m really really…I love people…and I love…I’m a very passionate and creative person…and I admire people who are individually or collectively passionate and creative and I just think its really inspiring to watch people take any lengths that they’re willing to do to be happy. I think in the end this comes down to being happy and finding eternal bliss, and yeah…I hope that answers it…I mean I just love people.

K: No…that perfect…that’s great…

M: It is also a mark or a trademark (to use…to coin your term) of what I will and want to be doing in my future projects about in anything which is to find the essential heart and soul. There were many opportunities to have huge commercial and film festival success at the risk of…with this project I mean..huge success that I was guaranteed…that I turned down because it wasn’t who I was to make a film…to change my own personal ethos…I was not willing to change the core of my mission and to turn the characters on themselves or have any exposition that would make them look you know cuckoo or something…because its not who I am…I’m not an asshole and I don’t think its fair…and I wanted to…as I do in life…in my art…I want to be about integrity…always being honest and I want to be sort of a pure heart, even if that’s a little whatever…a little esoteric to say…you know I’m just a sweet guy and I’m not going to make asshole films…it would be counterintuitive to my entire being to be ‘quote on quote’ ‘that guy’…its just not me.

K: Yeah…I read in the Gimme a Wristband interview how you left out some things because they explored sort of that negative side of fans…and I just want to say kudos to you for doing that…for standing up to the industry in a way I suppose…because you know the industry likes dirt and that’s great…

M: You have no idea. I was in the Sundance Film Festival and they were like this is too not enough lets see some other footage, what else do you have…and I explained the types of things that I had and they were like ‘Yes’...I knew though that once it was out there, it was out there and I would have compromised my integrity…and I would have been ‘quote-on-quote’ ‘that guy’ and in my life an asshole…I just like….you know what man…I sleep great at night…

K: Yeah…its not worth it…

M: I mean that’s…I’m supremely proud of that…

K: Good for you…good for you…
You were mentioning that…and I did read this too…that you’ve interviewed 100’s of artists and legends in politics and music and you’ve probably been asked this before, but who has been your favorite person to interview and why?

(M with Willie Nelson)

M: Hmmm…good questions

K: And I’m going to ask about Paul McCartney next…I’m really interested in that…

M: I guess there’s a couple of moments where like..oh my god…where I can’t believe I’m like here…and one of them is…when I worked with Madonna within 3 minutes of her accepting her…she got on stage to accept the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame award…she walked off the stage and onto my set to interview for me to interview her with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland…so like to be with Madonna at that seminole moment in her career was kind of fuckin neat..I was like..’oh shit…like who gets to do this..thats cool’. That was pretty amazing…

I’ve had the good fortune to work with or meet all of the Beatles (except for John Lennon)…and you know some of them were like quick handshake things or whatever and that was just one of those things that you don’t really tell a lot of people…there’s no reason to bring it up…and also to me its so deeply personal…like the time when I shook Paul McCartney’s hand and I was like ‘Oh my god’…

And I have a very intimate story (about BB King) that I don’t really like to tell people, but he’s embraced me in a very loving way held me in his chest and told me I was a good person and doing things right..and I just…you know…and I have a tie tack of theirs that he gave me…there’s just some moments that you can’t even explain them…you know…"

K: Were you able to interview Paul or was it just a meeting?

M: I worked for him.

K: Oh—you worked for him.

M: I did…I was in-between school…I had gone to music school in the early 90’s and had injured myself on a play and like five bands at once I injured myself so…I literally needed something to do…and a buddy of mine called and said..’hey dude, I’m working on the Paul McCartney tour…you want to come?’…and I’m like ‘uh huh’

K: I would say yes too…

M: It was just…it wasn’t hard to say yes…and you know..I’ll tell you a really neat story…and just a fact about Paul that not everyone knows that I just think is super classy and really neat…Paul McCartney is incredibly aware of the effect he has on other people…so literally he can spot it like 10seconds before anyone else…he can see someone walking up towards him and they go ‘oh-mi-gosh-oh-mi-gosh-oh mi-gosh’

K:

M: ‘Its Paul McCartney!’ right? Like they can’t even speak…’oh…oh…oh…P-P-Paul’ or they scream..but because he’s like a mellow gentleman and he just doesn’t want to deal and that’s like when ‘from when you’re 20’ so before anyone can freak out…like before their internal software registers ‘Holy shit that’s Paul McCartney’ he says ‘Hi, how ya doin?’…and everyone is like…’P-P-P-P

K:

M: …That just freaked me out that Paul McCartney said hello to me’…you know what I mean…they don’t know what to do…it gives him that few seconds to be the good guy and walk away and not have to sign an autograph cause that really not what he wants to do. He’s trying to have a normal life…and its so fuckin funny…I have seen him do that so many times…and I’ve heard other people I know say the same thing (who hang outside with me or whatever you know)

K:

M: And I was like…when I worked with Paul I was the low guy on the totem pole…I I worked on the tour as a roadie…as a tech…so…anything else?

K: Yeah…I’ve probably got probably two more questions, is that ok?

M: Sure!

K: How have you been adapting your art to the new media spaces out there? I mean we have Twitter and Youtube and the ‘digital revolution’ with the internet…

M: I don’t know…I think I’m like many people…I think I’m adapting to it…and I don’t know…like I’m not like someone who…because…there are a lot of people who are new media ‘content generators’ who aren’t ‘quote’on-quote’ professional, and they’re trying to create buzz for advertising, but I get paid for my work so I don’t need to focus going out to shoot and generate ad sales…also for me I know a couple of friends who do it…there’s not enough money to be made in my opinion…even with many millions of hits…so its not the kind of money that would be interesting for me to do. Now…I do have a social media adviser who sits me down and asks what kind of contests do you want to run, what kind of fun facts…Duranie polls…all the Duranie polls come from me…

K: I saw those…I saw those…those are great…

M: I think it’s a good way to have a conversation with people and…again…how…let me again see if I answered you on…how does the new media…how is the new media affecting my own art work…mostly its just that my clients need me and I’m aware that I have to shoot in certain…and I’m technically aware of the types of framing, angles, even down to the types of films, lenses that will be better for something that could be broadcast on a a film, a filmscreen, to a TV screen, to a mobile screen…so its complex…it can be very complex…you have to put a little thought into it…and sometimes because there are shrinking budgets out there and people want to spend less…you know…and if you think about it from their angle…if I could pay one guy to createe cool content and cut it up into different stand-alone segments and put it across our platform you know like from our mobile division to our cable division to onsite promotions…why wouldn’t they? I don’t blame them…I don’t blame them because they’ve got…an executive has to be responsible for their budgets in the end and in the long run.

K: Ok—one last one and that’s the fun question of the whole interview and I’ll let you choose which one you want to do...here we go…one is I read you were trying to adapt a book to movie form…and the other is about your part in a Law and order episode…which one would you rather talk about?

M: What book I’m adapting?

K: Yeah! I mean you don’t need to tell me ‘what book’…just like

M: I can tell you…I can give you a little brief about my background in voiceover and TV film stuff. So I have been on Law and Order, I’ve been on Law and Order Special Victims Unit, and I’ve been on Saturday Night Live…

K: Yes, I’ve read about Saturday Night Live too…

M: I’ve done really big voice-overs for national and global campaigns for Canon video cameras, Toyota, Kelloggs Raisin Bran, a bunch of other stuff…I have a funny story to talk about that I…so…

K: Oh! I want to hear the funny story!

M: I don’t think it will translate into the written word so much but I tell you when I was doing this Kellogs Raisin Bran it was…I had to say this line and I got it within like 4 or 5 minutes and it was “MMMMM those two scoops…two scoops strong, all morning long…its delicious’

K:

M: Right? And what I didn’t know going into it is was there was a producer who was a real asshole to me and he kept saying ‘oh no no’…he was british…and he was saying ’you’re saying da-licious…you’re not saying de-licious…you’re saying da-licious’ and like I kept doing it like over and over ‘MMMM…two scoops strong, all morning long…its de-licious’, Right? And what I didn’t know, and I was like in there an hour, an hour and a half is that he was the producer of the spot…he created a test spot with his voice and they said ‘We love it! But we don’t want a British accent’ so he couldn’t fill in the spot and he tried to be an American and they kept saying ‘You sound like a british guy trying to be an american’ so they asked me to be exactly like him…like the same kind of deep voice, whatever voice I have…and gravelly and like he hated me…

K: Because you were American

M: Oh no, not just that…he knew it was $100,000 or more for a big fucking campaign…

K: Yeah, Kelloggs, they’re big…

M: And you make a lot of money doing those kinds of spots…and he just put me through HELL…and he was like…I kept looking up at the engineer and up at the producer and they were lowering their heads, shaking, mouthing ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry’…but I didn’t know until the end why he was such an asshole…so they pulled me aside and said ‘Just so you know…he created the spot, he did the voiceover, he was supposed to get it and you know he lost it to me because he couldn’t do it with a convincg American accent. So that’s why he was a prick to you’. And I was like ‘Oh wonderful.’

K: That’s funny…

M: On law and order special victims unit…

K: Yeah—you were a judge or court clerk…

M: That was on Law and Order…but on Law and Order Special Victims unit I was a

K: Which is my favorite by the way of all of them…I love Law and Order special victims unit

M: Oh yeah? I was a head of the jury and like the whole angle was that I was the young guy and and I had all these great scenes and it was like my first real meaty role…boy…I called all my friends…and I had like you know…I had a star trailer…I got treated like a king…I’m a starring role on Special Victims unit…and I’m like ‘Holy Shit this is awesome!’…and everybody I knew, my family, my parents they’re a little older but they stayed up late to watch it and again…cut to watching it and all you see is like an exterior shot of the jury deliberation room and like me sticking my head out of the jury and like giving a ‘hmmm’ look…they cut the entire scene…

K: Are you kidding me?

M: It happens all the time…and someone would be like…I just saw you on the show and I saw you for a half second and I would be like ‘Fuck…fuck’

K: Oh well…

M: And not long after I was on Saturday night live and what happens with Saturday night live is that they shoot a pre-show…they shoot two shows back to back, one that’s like the rehearsal show and they determine whats going to make it to air and what isn’t. And then they shoot the live show…and for time…they’ll cut in…if theres a scene that does really well in the warm-up show…the first showing…then they just cut it in, or they’ll use it for the west coast feed, they’ll cut it in afterwards as well. So what happens…I had like a tiny one line…it was a scene on a Halloween special with Will Farrell and Drew Barrymore…

K: Oh..I love Drew Barrymore…

M: Yeah—shes a Duranie…

K: I’ve been trying to reach her but she won’t contact us, so…I know she’s really busy, but…

M: I don’t know her, otherwise I’d hook you up.

K: Can you hook us up? That would be awesome.

M: I don’t know her, I don’t know her.

K: Oh you don’t know her, oh darn…

M: No, but if I did I would. So yeah…it was the same kind of thing…which is…it made it to the rehearsel which they filmed and then it never made it to air and so I called all these people…and after that I just stopped calling people so when the Law and order came on that was just basically a couple of lines ..’oh the defendant…bla bla bla…de de da de de da…and the court case….bla bla bla…your honor’, you know it wasn’t really a big role but I’m still getting paid for it.

K: You’re getting paid for it, that’s what matters, huh? I mean when you’re doing something you love.

M: Not as much as you think. I’ve been very fortunate to do whatever I wanted…whatever I’ve wanted to do creatively and make a living doing it. And when I see other people and they ask me ‘How the fuck do you do it?’ And I have friends who…one of my best friends is fireman, another friends works in finance…and those are like real jobs…and I just tell them ‘I do it’…and that what I tell everyone else…’If you want to have a career…a creative career…work your ass off be honest about your talent and what you’re good at, what you’re not and just keep doing it. Keep doing it.

K: Yeah.

M: And do it because you love it, don’t do it because you expect to make money. I’ve been very very lucky and there are a lot of really talented people who can’t pay their bills doing what they love doing…and that’s really unfortunate, but that’s just sort of the odds game.

K: Please tell us a little about Extrovert and I understand you have locations in New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville, and we’d like to know what type of projects you typically work on…

M: Extrovert is my company and its really the production wing of what I do and sometime…so I have crews people that work for me on a regular basis, and sometimes on a semi-regular basis, and sometimes on a once in a while basis…but I have people that I know and trust…very good shooters and producers, sound people, writing people…in many cities including, as you mentioned, New York, LA, Nashville, London, Miami…I don’t keep fully staffed offices…that’s only New York and LA and we’re not a huge company, we’re you know…we keep the lights on

K: Yeah…we’re not huge either

M: …and we do everything from 15 camera HD concerts for television or film, documentaries to commercials to behind the scenes to…and its stuff from our earlier conversation, it’s a wide range of content, mostly in the Rock and Roll pop star world that gets distributed to…we also do a lot of stuff with really big brands, and again projects in and around the music space…we have Samsung, LG, Blackberry, Verizon, Google…so you’ve heard of some of those references

K: Right…of course…who hasn’t?

M: I don’t know? So Extrovert is really an extension of me and its named that not because I’m shy

K: Right, right Extrovert…it’s a great name!

M: Thanks, I appreciate it.

K: I like the big ‘M’ that’s next to your name on the front page…that’s very cool.

M: Yes, I’m very shy.

K: Well thanks so much for interviewing with us (and having your morning coffee with us) and I definitely look forward to promoting Something You Should Know on our site and we wish you luck and happiness on your future endeavors!

The first leap of leopards has arrived!!!

2011-11-09T17:52:00.000-08:00

Great news! The first LEAP of leopards has arrived at DDTTRH from their natural habitat at the Snow Leopard Trust in Seattle! Thanks to those who made orders with us! You will be invoiced soon! For those still wanting a leopard (by the way you can order the collars too--any 6 letter or less Duran acronym), just go to www.ddttrh.info, 'Enter the Site', and click 'Be the One Who Stole a Leopard'.

Please read the nice note from Marissa from the Snow Leopard Trust! And thank you for helping to save the Snow Leopards!

DO spill our secret!

~ Kirk, DDTTRH

The Epiphany - Shot gun Version

2011-11-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

Get it together...Thing is jumpin'...I wanna see your...Bullets pumpin'...
Shotgun...Itchy finger...On the trigger...Got to make the...Shooter bigger...
Shotgun

This is the Shotgun version of the Epiphany, that will change everything about DDTTRH and bring EXCITING THINGS TO COME!!!

Written by Kirk, one of the council members and founder of DDTTRH

**I went to my first Duran Duran concert live...and had this epiphany
**Realized that the Rock Hall may not deserve Duran Duran
**Duran Duran has already made history and no award, induction, or honor will change that
**With Duran Duran, its always been about making fans happy...and thats what life should be about...its 'the World' that focuses on such honors and recognition
**What is the point of beating on the Rock Hall's doors? Many groups have tried and have been left with bitterness and animosity towards the Rock Hall
**I've decided the following with this effort...
1--Our primary focus will no longer be to try and 'get Duran Duran into the Rock Hall'
2--We will continue to support the Rock Hall petition--this will not go away. There are beautiful things written on it...and how can we get rid of it? Nile signed it! We love you Nile!
3--We will promote Duran Duran in many other ways, including..
**pointing fans to other petitions
**building more awareness of the band
**more broad-reaching interviews with bands, artists, fans, music industry specialists, and many others.
**continued press releases, music history research and data analysis (the part I am most excited about)
4--I have kept this effort too close to myself (I am an only child--comes with the territory)..therefore I've decided to offer Anitra (Ladyaslan), Christian, and Kandice permanent member status (which they have accepted!).

It will take time to change things, but we know after we are done we will no longer be boxed in by our limited mission. Our imagination and vision will be enhanced and this effort will be on a higher plane...with a bold new direction...and together we will take this thing where no Duranie has gone before.

This is the symbol of the Epiphany that came to my mind...

DDTTRH Snow Leopards now available for order!

2011-10-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

DDTTRH Snow Leopards--the very leopards that recently made their debut at Gimme a Wristband's Party in New York City can now be ordered at www.ddttrh.info. Just click 'Enter the Site' and Click 'Be the One Who Stole a Leopard' and follow the instructions there! You can also email ddttrh@yahoo.com and we can send you an order form.

Once you send the order form, we will invoice you through Paypal! We will send Leopards ANYWHERE in the WORLD where you fine Duranies live...shipping cost may vary.

Yours in Duran,

The Staff at DDTTRH

P.S. We sell the collars too! They are on the order form! If you want letters other than DDTTRH (i.e. Simon, Nick, Roger, Andy, Rio, or any other Duran Duran 6 letter word) please let us know at time of ordering in the email!

ALL PROCEEDS, except for the collars (you just pay for materials) and shipping costs, go to help SAVE THE LEOPARDS in MONGOLIA through DDTTRH's special partnership with the Snow Leopard Trust (www.snowleopardtrust.org).

My Epiphany about DDTTRH

2011-10-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

Dictionary.com says an epiphany is "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something". I had that after my first Duran Duran concert on October 19, Playhouse Square Cleveland. I must say that it was quite overwhelming the feeling and I felt quite humbled afterward.

Here is the epiphany...

The Rock Hall may not really deserve Duran Duran and its not really necessary that Duran Duran be there. They are legends already, they have made music history already and no honor, induction, and award will make a difference.

I got to see the amazing and beautiful community of Duranies at this concert and I was overwhelmed by the love they had for Duran Duran and the love Duran Duran had for them. Something Simon said during the concert resonated with me. He said something like 'I see a bunch of happy people!'. Thats what its about, what its always been about for them...making people happy.

In life its not about the rewards you get or the 'recognition'...its about the people whose lives you touch, the love you show them, and the happiness you give them. Duran Duran has certainly showed this to their fans. If you think about it, its 'The World' that focuses on such honors...of making someone better than someone else. The lyric from All You Need is Now comes to mind..."Everybody's gunning for the VIP section...but you're better off in running in the other direction".

The words of Simon when he answered my question during the Heart Rock interview UK also come to mind...quoted from that interview...

Simon: "the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has imposed itself on the industry...and say 'Right! We are setting ourselves up as this body who decide who deserves to be in this Hall of Fame and who doesn't.' And I think its completely bogus. I really do. Especially when you've got you know when you've sold as many records as we have or had as many people come to concerts as the bands who are not mentioned on this list."

And then Roger's comment: "its not something that particularly feels important to us at this moment...like something we 'must have' you know."

I just want to tell Duran Duran and the fans that I get it now. I started this effort just wanting to give back to the band that meant so much to me growing up and means so much to me today. I am left feeling though that I've been giving back the wrong way.

I just want to say sorry to all of you, including Duran Duran, for not seeing it this way sooner. There was something about seeing this band live that has had a changing effect on me....like something awoke in me...a realization...a new happiness.

To be frank, this epiphany leaves me with an identity crisis. I mean what is the point of beating on the Rock Hall's door about Duran Duran? There are other campaigns out there that have done the same thing and they have gotten nowhere. They have focused so much on hating the Rock Hall...continued disappointment with them because their favorite band is snubbed. Even more silly is the notion that one band must get in 'before another'. I mean, its not a race is it? Especially if these bands have already made history, already are legendary, and no award in a Hall can change that.

So I've decided on a few things. One, to completely change the direction and focus of this effort. Who knows, we may even change its name...though it will take some time since we already have a logo, marketing materials, etc. The focus will no longer be on 'getting Duran Duran into the Rock Hall', but of promoting the band...getting people talking about them again...raising awareneness to them and how they've left an indelible impressions on music history and on the hearts and minds of their fans everywhere.

Further, the Rock Hall petition will not go away...there are many beautiful things written on it Duran Duran's loving fans. And since Nile signed it, I would definitely not want to take it down (love you Nile!). It will be though just one of the several things we promote for Duran Duran to to get people buzzing about them again. If you were on last night for example, DDTTRH supported Duran Duran for the People's Choice awards...this direction is consistent with this new direction.

I've also decided we need to focus on music history, understanding it, measuring it, and asking data to tell us how Duran Duran does with it. Don't be surprised if we bring on some data analysts and music researchers within the next year.

I also realized that I've been keeping this effort too close to me (I was an only child growing up...it comes with the territory [:) and that there are people who have served at DDTTRH that have shown amazing commitment, amazing support to the idea of DDTTRH and bringing this fabulous thing to light. I speak of Anitra Delorenzo (Ladyaslan), Kandice Purpura (Petition Duchess), and Christian Helwig. Without them this effort would not be what it is today.

To that note, with this epiphany I would like to officially offer Anitra, Christian, and Kandice permanent lifetime positions as a part of DDTTRH (or whatever name we change to, if we do). There is no one else that I can think of that I'd want to share this fantastic journey with. Of course they can leave at anytime, however I hope I will never behave in such a way that they would want to. I love each of them and consider them my 'friends in Duran', if you will.

The symbol that came to my mind from this epiphany harkens back to one of Duran Duran's albums, I Don't Want your Love...

Much love and respect to all the Duranie community and especially to Duran Duran.

Love,

Kirk Harrington
Currently a member of DDTTRH, maybe something better and above all the nonsense of the 'RH' later

P.S. Christian, Anitra, and Kandice...please let me know if you accept!

DDTTRH Snow Leopards to make their debut in NYC

2011-10-02T06:16:00.000-07:00

[Do you know where we are]

On October 24th, at a party in New York City hosted by G!mme a Wristband (for more information at that party go to http://gimmeawristband.com/gimme-a-wristband-party-in-nyc/) the first set of DDTTRH Snow Leopard cubs

[So elegant and sleek]

will make their appearance for the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit (go to http://www.teenagecancertrust.org/who-we-are/about-us/ for more information). There will also be DDTTRH t-shirts available.

[I thought that I could resist...But the leopard in you... silently... preyed on me]

These leopards represent the unique partnership between the Snow Leopard Trust and DDTTRH to honor the song 'The Man Who Stole a Leopard'. For more information about the Snow Leopard trust, go to http://www.snowleopard.org/about.

Here's a picture of the little guys...getting ready to depart in their box to New York city!!!

[Click on picture for a larger view]

[It begins and ends with you
Don't spill my secret.]

DDTTRH response to 2012 Rock Hall Nominees

2011-09-28T03:56:00.000-07:00

As you may already know, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced their 2012 nominees. Here they are...

Beastie Boys, The Cure, Donovan, Eric B. & Rakim, Guns N’ Roses, Heart, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, Freddie King, Laura Nyro, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rufus With Chaka Khan, The Small Faces/The Faces, The Spinners, Donna Summer, War
Source: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 2012 list of nominees...http://rockhall.com/pressroom/announcements/2012-nominees/

Here is DDTTRH's official response...from each of our leaders...

Kirk:
I think its promising to see a couple of 80's bands in here, like Joan Jett, The Cure, and Chaka Kahn. It seems a little too soon for Guns and Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Beastie Boys. Its great to see so many great women artists this time, especially Donna Summer and Heart. Some of these artists I have no clue who they are and not sure I'd pay to go to the Rock Hall and see them. This brings out an interesting debate of why the Rock Hall chooses who they choose...

Do they pick someone because of some obscure historical argument...how something they did particularly shaped a facet of Rock and Roll?

Do they pick an artist because of the indelible impact they've had on the hearts and minds of fans and artists for generations?

Is it how many records they sold and people they reached?

Or is it to get good numbers and revenue for their rewards dinner and donations afterward? Is it political?

Although I am disappointed that Duran Duran did not make the list this year, I do believe its only a matter of time. Duran Duran made an amazing contribution to music history and many bands playing today cite them as influence. They made great strides as artists not only in the 80's, but also in the 90's to today. I look forward to the day that they are recognized as the talented, brilliant, and legendary artists that they are. At DDTTRH we will continue to raise awareness of this band by getting fans, bands, and artists to talk about them. We look to collect enough voices that it would be embarrassing for the Rock Hall not to induct them.

Christian:
Although there are some noteworthy acts this time around, they are limited to only their genre, and there is only one band on this list (like Duran Duran) who has defined a genre (The Cure). Duran Duran not only defined a genre but also a decade, and still has been the only band over the past few years to meet AND surpass every Rock Hall qualification. Again this list falls short.

Ladyaslan:
Granted I am very disappointed that Duran Duran have yet again been over looked, I am very pleased to see the women of Rock being noticed especially Joan Jett and the BlackHearts, Heart, Donna Summer, and the talented Chaka Kahn, I am BEYOND THRILLED that The Cure have made the list, to have an INCREDIBLE and very talented Goth band to make the ranks just sends me over the moon.Its nice to see that bands that made an incredible DENT in the 80's music charts ( national and college radio stations ) make the list, it just shows that the 80's were more than cotton candy and neon flickers of yesterday, these people and bands still rock the house BETTER than any other corporate manufactured bands of the last decade including the over played so-called big acts we have today~ I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL....and 80's Goth and New Wave and Punk.

Here are some of our fans reactions after the nominations....

From our petition...

Ms. Michele Thorn, PA
The Cure BEFORE DuranDuran?!?!?!? They need to be inducted before the cure or it just shows what a joke and flawed this hall of fame is.

Mr. Russell Seibert, PA
The Cure before Duran Duran what is wrong with you people?

From Facebook...

Juliet Ives-Turnwald Yay for Joan Jett and the Cure!! But come on already, Duran Duran is long over due :/

Bret Callahan C'Mon imagine a ceremony with Duran, Cure & Depeche. Now that would be epic. Oh yeah which GNR will show up? That should be interesting?

Maria Sbrocco Are you kidding?? Yeah Joan Jett is good but Duran Duran are LEGENDS. I mean really, the Cure gets nominated and NOT Duran Duran?? Whom ever the nominators are, obviously haven't got a clue and that is sad. I live in Cleveland, 3 minutes from the Hall and for the first time, ever, I am ashamed of this "committee" in Cleveland.

Sandra Pilla ‎:-[[ Duran is long, LONG overdue this honor.

Interview with Discovering Arts Group

2011-09-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Discovering Arts Music Group is London based and is a company dedicated to music artists. They can act as a record company, a publishing medium, Management, help as a booking studio/production, and work with fashion merchandising, events and developing. On their website it says that DAMG 'promotes, supports, and develops the vision of artists nurturing their growth from zero to hero by driving actions and creating value wherever music is experienced.'

An exciting new development of DAMG is the monthly showcase which features new and promising artists and is held at the Under-Solo club in Camden, London.

I had the great pleasure of speaking with and interviewing Elliot Avnon (El) who is the Managing Director and CEO of Discovering Arts Music Group.

Kirk, DDTTRH: So when I was going through my fans for DDTTRH, I noticed your group and was intrigued. Do you think Duran Duran deserves a spot in the Rock and
> Roll Hall of Fame? Why? (By the way, if you haven't signed our petition, please do! Its at www.ddttrh.info; click on the 'sign petition' button.)

El: I don't understand how DD have not yet received the spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A band that added a massive mark in the 80's and 90's i am sure if you will ask any person in the world to name few bands from the 80s Duran Duran will be one of them.

Kirk, DDTTRH: What would you say to critics of Duran Duran that don't see them as serious artists?

El: show me serious artist and i will show you DD. its sound to me that the critics are or too OLD or have a bad taste in music. seriously DD shape my taste in music and i am sure they have done this to most of the world. There is no one person in the word that is not aware of their music and contribution.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I noticed that one of the areas that you assist artists with is fashion and merchandise. How do you think Duran Duran has inspired the fashion of today?

El: you can see DD music videos and you will understand that DD had created their own fashion style i remember me imitating Simon Le Bone clothes.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I'm sure being in London has given you exposure to many great bands like Duran Duran. What makes the city perfect for your business?

El: if you want to be in the movie business you go to Hollywood. if you want to be in the music business you go to London. THE love to music and culture in England is something I have never seen in any other countries in the world.

Kirk, DDTTRH: How long have you been in business? How do you enjoy it so far?

El: I have been in the music business since I am 13 starting as a DJ and moved to radio, TV, Music production, A&R. running my own successful labels and now DAMG. I even have few TOP 40 hits in the official charts. I enjoy it all with the new changes as its makes me more alert and the internet has changed it all for the best of course.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Tell us about your Showcase nights, held at the Under Solo club in Camden.

El: Discovering Arts Music Group (DAMG) are preparing a showcase of the UK’s most promising and exciting artists. Held at the prestigious venues in London, three artists who have been selected amongst hundreds of potentials will grace the stage, looking to provide incentive for a 360 deal (including record deal, management, publishing etc) to be offered their way. DAMG are specialists in the fields of Music Publishing, Label, Artist management, Record distribution, Production and Promotion and also book live tours and events. We are a one-stop-shop for artists, providing all the materials, advice and guidance an emerging artist will need to break into the music industry. The monthly music showcase is not only the chance for people to witness an exceptional and diverse array of talent, but also for the artists to establish their recognised star quality in a live arena.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Seems your company is involved with many parts of making an artist successful in music. How large is your staff and what motivates them in working with new and upcoming musicians?

El: We are 10 People in the office. Working hard in finding the next bit talent. Thats what motivate us all. it's not enough just finding the talent its also the commitment and the right way of doing it which involve a great team working together.

Kirk, DDTTRH: On your website, it says that DAMG is 'determined' not to be tied to one style or preconcieved ideas. but instead to embrace exceptional music across
the global spectrum. How have you accomplished this so far?

El: We are having artists from all genres such as hip hop , rock, pop, Indie, folk, ambient. we cant concentrate on one as we will effect our income. we have to do it all and do it great.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Tell us about a few major successes you have had so far as an organization?

El: Popularity is like the weather. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Kirk, DDTTRH: As you probably know, we interview new and upcoming artists as part of our effort to support the promotion of the induction of Duran Duran to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What would you like to say to these artists that might steer them towards you?

El: The best ornament is Humility. The richest wealth is Wisdom. The strongest weapon is Patience. The best security is Faith. The best tonic is Music’. Keep on listening and creating ;o)

Kirk, DDTTRH: Thanks so much for interviewing with us! I am excited that you are part of our fan base.

El: My pleasure as I am a big fan of DD. they influenced me a lot back in the 80s and 90s.

To learn more about Discovering Arts Group, please visit...
http://www.amusicgroup.eu

Or their Myspace page at:
http://www.myspace.com/musicchooseus

Or on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Discovering-Arts-Music-Group/164044373606300

For more about their monthly showcases...please read...
http://www.ilikemusic.com/music_news/DAMG_Launch_Unsigned_Talent_Showcase-11086

Here's a recent review of an artist by Discovering Arts Group:
http://www.livelovelondon.com/blog/?p=380

E-Men

2011-08-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

E-men have a new album out called Eye. Songs are already available on Itunes. Great synthesizers and techno beats make this album fresh and electric. The band discuses their creative journey with Ladyaslan and why they think Duran Duran should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

E-men comes from the ashes of Liebermen Has Jumped , psychedelic electronic rock band. It started as Rod Saez solo project.
Actually formed by Daniel Cartes on bari guitar, fretless bass, and Rodrigo Sáez on vocals, programming, and some guitars and basses, plus Cristian Acevedo on live drums and Rodrigo Sepúlveda on guitar.
They have performed since the end of the XXth century in different venue...yes all over Chile, The band has performed with artists such as Lacrimosa, 8MM, Edward Ka-Spel, Robin Guthrie, Hanin Elias, Pájaro de mal Agüero, Vigilante, Inverness, Un Festin Sagital, Intimate Strangers, Oxygene8, Luna in Caelo, among others. They have linked works between many enlightened souls all over the world.

The band recently released after 5 years EYE, their second official album, recorded during July 2005 with the divine guidance of the acclaimed producer Sean Beavan (NIN, Marilyn Manson, Guns N' Roses, Unwritten Law) and mixed by Pablo Navarrete (Hielo Negro, Electrozombies, Ganjas, etc).

The album artwork features a cover painting by Sven Geier, pictures by Natalia Araya, Anais George Nascimento, and design by Nami-ko Manriquez Kajisa.

EYE is available worldwide through Amazon, iTunes, Napster, Tower Records, etc. It will be distributed in Chile by Bolchevique Records.

Their first show as band was in Bal le Duc, Ñuñoa, back in 1999, after this, E-men has played in Santiago and other cities like Temuco, in Santiago E-men has played at Estación Mapocho, teatro Oriente, Teatro Teletón, Centro Arte Alameda, La Batuta, Teatro Esmeralda, Blondie and some other venues.
During 2006 E-men released the Aria EP that features remixes of artists such as Ari irikäinen, Flesh Eating Foundation, Reprodextruction among others. Most of E-men material has been digitally re released through Still Alive Records.

E-MEN, celebrating 10 years of their debut album Maithuna will release a free download compilation mix tape with remixes made by E-MEN to artists like Fire and Reason, Deathstrars, REM, Jane´s Addiction, HTDA, etc.

Ladyaslan Presents…E-MEN~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

E-MEN: Of course they deserve being part of that selected group. Either for their music contribution to music, or their Sci Fi videos. I remember someone said as Pink Floyd over abused stereo, Duran Duran did the same with audio and vision.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name E-MEN? Tell us about yourself…when did you decide music would be the path you chose to walk?

E-MEN: The name comes from many inspirations, first one element on windows 3.1 was named hymem.sys, second, the females hymen it self, a real fortress that opens with fragility, and the electronic men concept used at the end of 20th century talking abut e-business. So E-MEN means Electronic Men

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

E-MEN: That’s a hard question!!! Well, Dan likes as video “Save a prayer”, and as son “ Hold me”. My favorite one “Seventh Stranger” and “The chauffeur”.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your company Animusic Records and Promotions?

E-MEN: Well, that is more a brand name than real actually, but works,. Animusic was made as label so we could release our material with freedom, also does concert promo, hosting service, tour managing and distribution. We noticed many artists had no chance of releasing their music on iTunes, so we give them the chance of selling their music online.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

E-MEN: They took fashion as an anthem, they are very open mind and have artistic sensibility, not like the over reaction of Bono, but in a cool way.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

E-MEN: Daniel says Save a prayer, I would love to do seventh stranger or All she wants is

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of E-MEN to new fans who have never heard your music before?

E-MEN: somebody designed E-men as “designed to take the listener to a tantric journey”, we agree with that quote. E-MEN is not easy listening, but it is made for a few ones only.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds….How long have you ( all ) played in your band? What did you ( all ) do prior to E-MEN?

E-MENS:

Rod Sáez: I had a punk rock band and an electronic project before the band, I am one of the founders back in 1998

Daniel Cartes: Daniel had prior projects with Sepúlveda, and plays sounds capes live playing music scores for plays. Daniel has a solo album. He entered to E-men November 2002

Rodrigo Sepúlveda: Sepúlveda, Cartes and Sáez all met in collage. Sepúlveda had music projects with Daniel. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. Have side projects in Europe.

Cristian Acevedo: He plays in random plays also, sometimes with Daniel, had a metal project before.

Salty George + Diego Souto: Both Argentineans, George is member of the Buenos Aires Guitar Circle, Diego plays Chapman Stick and have awesome recordings under his label “Parasito de Luz”

Maria de Medeiros: Actress, Poet, Singer, Maria performs in major features and plays live jazzy versions of Latin and Brazilian songs.

Operador: Operador is actually a piano classical composer, he has played in very interesting bands in Chile, born in Azul, Argentina, moved to Chile and was part of El Hombre de la Atlantida, Total Mosh, Upa! and Industrial Company Inc.
He was recording assistant for our album, during that process made awesome songs for the band, usually does FOH for the band. Operador albums under Animusic Records.

Diego Sagredo: Diego has a side project, Industrial Company Inc, made with help of Rod and Operador. Also Diego made programming and some music for the EYE album; he is now focused on his new band The Reaction.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

E-MEN: Daniel says he would love t ask them about the early beginning, if was a hard duty work or Duran Duran has had to do charity or playing for free.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If E-MEN could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

E-MEN: Actually anyone is special, could be fun playing with Grace Jones.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the song November and how you came to work with New York Artist Eve Alacu?

E-MEN: November was in the Maithuna album of 2001, and changed a lot until the 2003 remixes EP. After we released the November EP, and started working on the new album idea we became good friends, and she asked for recording vocals for a duet, so we send her the master and she added her voice, you can see the results.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What prompted the remix of A Drowning ( How to Destroy Angels*a side project by Nine Inch Nails front man; Trent Reznor )?

E-MEN: Actually it was some sort of a challenge of making something different for the songs.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Upcoming tour dates…merchandise…the secrets to life (ha-ha)?

E-MEN: We actually released a free download remixes album, available le on our Facebook and Myspace profiles. Planning new record, also promo tours overseas, everybody who likes our music are welcome to become friends on both platforms and stay aware of our new dates. Also, for the interested ones in our work, EYE and all our previous albums are available on iTunes.

To Follow E-Men:
Facebook

"To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, please visit us at

TenBoy

2011-08-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Birmingham England is the most populous city outside of London in the UK. Birmingham has beautiful scenery and many attractions that bring in tourist from around the world. Birmingham has also given the world great musicians. Some bands that have come from Birmingham are: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Dexys Midnight Runners and of course Duran Duran. Out on the scene now is Dean Cook who started out as singer songwriter and drummer has formed the band TenBoy. They not only share a hometown with Duran Duran but were influenced by their style musically and in their work ethic with videos and creating a style unique to the band.

Dean started out as a drummer and has worked with such people as Bruce Dickenson, Lemmy, Ozzy Osborne to name but a few.

Dean aka TenBoy is featured on several international albums & singles and various TV & radio shows. Dean has played with various bands in many top venues such as the Hammersmith Marquee & Ronnie Scotts.

TenBoy releases appear on the UK indie label The Shotgun Charlie Label…

TenBoy material has been likened to David Gray, Beck, Wilco, and Neil Finn, he has also recorded various acoustic sets showcasing tenboy songs in stripped down versions.

TenBoy have been doing solo acoustic shows and has made many live acoustic appearances on such TV shows as the Big Breakfast (c4), Nickelodeon (Sky), BBC (1&2) & Central plus many cable networks.

Dean's other 'PET' project is electronica idm in the shape of MachineBoy which has gained him placements in the game, TV & film soundtrack department.

Recent releases by TenBoy have gained much radio & TV airplay plus placements in a number of worldwide TV shows, such as Real World & Rad on various MTV & terrestrial TV stations.

TenBoy releases are now available from iTunes, Amazon & most other top download websites worldwide.

Ladyaslan now presents TenBoy~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Tenboy: yeh absolutely!...why not...it’s the duranies....they have been around a looooooong time now! And they have definitely had an influence on pop music as a whole....so yeh what's not to like!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Tenboy? Tell us about yourself and the band?

Tenboy: well it’s pretty simple really my band at one time was called TEN, we’d put out a few albums etc and then a hard rock band turned up with the name TEN and basically they were signed to a bigger record label than we were at the time, and stuff like that always gets nasty
legally so although we had already released a couple of albums on a small indie label to save
all the legal rubbish that could have happened, I just changed it to tenboy, wasn’t worth
the headache....I already had an electronic/dance project going called Machine Boy, so
I just tagged 'boy' on the end of 'ten'!...to kind of give them a little link! ;-)

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was it like to work with Ozzy Osborne and Lemmy Kilmister? How did that collaboration get set up?

Tenboy: Ozzy was totally brilliant!...he’s a brummie (ie from Birmingham, UK) where I live
so there was a cool link he was happy to help another brummie band out!...it was kind of just
like meeting an old mate really!..he’s very easy to get on with!...top bloke....Lemmy was an
absolute scream just full of jokes and silly on tour stories and we also got Bruce Dickenson
from Iron Maiden who also got involved with our video at the time too and again he was a top bloke.....they
got involved with the band I was in at the time thru our management they just wanted to help a
new band out it was a cool time in my life!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Tenboy: The Chauffeur....totally amazing track!.....I always liked their video work ethic...get loads of scantily clad women showing loads of flesh and make a video...there's something hugely appealing abut that simple idea...and they generally got them shown on TV as well...which was amazing for the 80's! Having said that I totally love White Lines, great simple song and video....although I love the original too.....it’s just a brilliant track!........

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What's your ultimate direction for your music? What areas can your music be heard in ( TV/commercials etc )

Tenboy: direction for the music! That’s a good one!...erm...I suppose I am kind of directionless,
...I know that may sound bad! But I create what I do, kind of because I have to! ideas pop
into my little brain and if I don't do something with them...they just swill around for ages not
doing anything...and I have this horrible reoccurring dream my head will burst with all the
unused ideas in there ;-) so basically if I don't create something every day! Maybe come up
with a song idea, do some recording, create a bit of artwork I get restless & a little sad!....
I do this because I kind of have to, to keep myself sane!...so as far as direction for my music goes....
tenboy always starts off with me writing with an acoustic guitar....so there's an acoustic
(direction) feel running thru most of my tenboy tracks....whereas my other project Machine Boy
always starts with an idea on a synthesizer...or piece of software so that usually ends up
with an electronic vibe....and that’s my only creative direction in a little nutshell! as far as
direction FOR the actual finished music goes my music gets used placed a lot in documentaries,
short films, TV programmes and that was always something I aimed for from the beginning...it would be
nice to have a BIG selling track or an album for the financial rewards but that is and was
never something I aimed for, I create music basically for myself and thankfully there are a few
people who like my little tunes too! Which is always a nice thing!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is this new genre you speak of; acoustica with an alternative rawk'n'pop edge in a fantasy'land'eagles of death'metal esque kinda vibe ?

Tenboy: sorry it ISN'T it’s just my anti Genre....I understand why people pigeonhole music everything
has to be placed within some kind of box, is it pop, is it rock, is it dance....bla bla...but I think
that’s kinda bollox!....so I just made up something stoopid..Having said that looking at
that genre now it does sound quite apt...because my music is acoustic driven with a rock
pop vibe, its sometimes a little alternative and it is definitely in a fantasy land, it
has at times been compared with the eagles and although its far from death metal...yeh maybe
the death metal bit is the only really stupid part!....

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and
their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Tenboy: I'll be honest here I know nothing about Duran’s philanthropist efforts...sorry!....I listen
to music for the sake of the music and although I am a total believer that the thought of
somebody becoming successful & wealthy and NOT giving to (helping) charity and doing good things
with their money & time is totally OBSCENE!!, so I take it that most wealthy successful rock stars do
this....although I am not totally stupid and I know they all do not!....if Duran Duran are one of
the artists that do such things....more power to them!....we should all give something back to this
world....unfortunately there's too many people on this planet that have only one agenda...themselves!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Tenboy: again sorry this is probably a negative answer but none of them!....I like Duran doing their thing and I could never replicate (or would want to) one of their tracks in an interesting way! But on a better vibe The Chauffeur has influenced a few of my songs it’s just such an amazing vibe, I listen to that track and always get down to some creating!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the label you are working with: The Shotgun Charlie label?

Tenboy: Yeh that label is a small indie label run by a friend George Bond, it was set up for
a band I was in previously and it has just carried on from there...nowadays it is difficult
to get (find) a label who give a shit! and in fact with iTunes an all the download stuff, a label is kinda pointless...so I struggled for a long time trying to get a label so we started releasing
stuff ourselves and until (if) some label offers something else we will carry on doing
that!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Tenboy to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Tenboy: It’s quite atmospheric, its mostly acoustic based, interesting tunes, a good vibe...
hummable...that’s about it.....ACOUSTICA!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your background….How long have you played in your band? What did you do prior to Tenboy?

Tenboy: started playing drums at 14...joined a band that same year with school friends...left school went pro as a drummer did that for a lot of years!....signed to various labels, Sony A&M, etc in the early 90's I started doing more of my own stuff tenboy & Machine Boy plus doing a lot of drum sessions and playing with various 'bread & butter' bands (ie purely for the money)......
nowadays do my own thing....my own writing & shows, plus play drums in a bunch of bands...
because I still love playing drums!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Tenboy: erm....it would probably go something like this...ello U are in Duran Duran....fancy a cuppa! (That’s a cup of tea! for anybody who doesn't know)....sorry that’s all I can think of!, in
stressful times...I've never been good talking to 'celebs'!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your views on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Do you think they need some restructuring in how and who they pick to get an invite into their ( thus far ) infamous “hall of fame”?

Tenboy: yeh that’s a difficult one! I tend to feel they have inducted a lot of artists who maybe haven't yet had any long-term influence on music as a whole!....that’s kinda why I understand they don't allow fans to have an influence on inductions!.....let’s be honest...if you allowed fans to induct artists....jeeeezuz it would be a free for all!.....there would be everyone from Cheryl Cole to the Teletubbies in there...I really feel that bands should only be inducted when they have had a big long-term influence on music as a whole, some of the inducted artists over the years I have not understood the reasons for at all! .....it’s just a difficult thing to understand....why one artist who has seemed to have a short career and as had no long-term influence over music in general has been inducted and there are still artists out there who have had huge influences how music in general sounds today have not been inducted! Who can understand....NOT ME!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Tenboy could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you pick?

Tenboy: Yeh....Robert Johnson or Nilsson but for obvious reasons they just aint gonna happen!.....

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American/EU Tour Dates?

Tenboy: Yes the new tenboy album 'searching from that time' is now available thru all the big download sites including iTunes, Amazon, play, HMV etc...And we always have lots of free music to check out at our website www.tenboy.co.uk and Facebook page!......spread the word...thanks Ladyaslan…you rock!

FOLLOW TENBOY:
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/themachineboy?sk=wall
http://www.facebook.com/pages/tenboy/121923521179893
Official Site:
http://www.shotguncharlie.co.uk/tenboy.html
iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/artist/tenboy/id202058553

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info

Ladyaslan and DNR

2011-08-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

Ladyaslan had an exclusive interview with the group DNR. They discuss "Eurovisual" and how Duran Duran influenced their style and music.

The project called DNR starts in 2005, when Kira, bass player, since ever artistically influenced by the Jrock/Visual Kei Japanese scene, decides to create a band that would be the perfect fusion between two opposite sounds: the European groove and the Asiatic melodic lines.

A mix between Orient and Occident, a new genre called "Eurovisual", which transport us in an avant garde universe where electronic and melody meet powerful riffs made in USA.

Along with Ash (drums), Sieg (guitar), Mantis (voice), Delord (keyboard), DNR project comes to life. The band records some songs including their first single Visual Evolution and the Ep Visual Reloaded. In 2009, due to artistic differences, the original trio and the singer comes to a split deciding to follow their own different ways.

During the same year, the band turns its name into Dreams Not Reality (DNR) and finally finds its definitive voice with Axia, which vocal qualities open new ways to the band's work. His dynamic and aggressive tone, heritage from his past cooperation's with hard rock cover bands, his scenic charisma acquired through his experience on foreign stages,
help DNR guys to get their uniqueness, the only band in its genre which focus attention in Italy and the rest of the world. Attention that will drive them to play live in their own country and in many other east European territories, filling venues and driving the crowd crazy.

In 2009 also comes an unexpected collaboration, "bizarre" we could call it. Luminor, Cinema Bizarre ex-keyboard player/second voice, gets interested in their project and record some track with them as special guest. He will also join the band performing live shows around Italy and Europe.

In 2011, after recording their first single/video "Beyond This World", the quartet decides to come back to 5 elements, definitely completing the line-up with the coming of the "quintessence", directly from Tokyo, Japan; actor, model singer and keyboarder, the amazing Sebastiano Serafini aka: SEBA on keys and vocals.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Dreams Not Reality: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognize how important an artist has been for history of music regardless to his influences, and yes, Duran Duran definitely fits the category.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Dreams Not Reality? Tell us about yourself and the band?

Dreams Not Reality:

*Axia-vocals: The name represents what our project means. With our crazy clothes and our bizarre style ( for western culture) we want bring our fans in a dream, something you would hardly find into your reality. But it also wants to remember that dreams are not reality and should be treated carefully sometimes.

*Kira-bass: I started to play the piano at 11years old and after 4years I've converted to the bass guitar-religion, because I found the Groove and "Low vibration" more close to my "way of life" . I'm the founder of DNR so I have to say "thank you God" for make me met other three guys almost crazy as me!

*Sieg-guitar: I started to play guitar at 17, just for fun in my bedroom...I took
part in several rock projects, but nothing really "new". One day I met Kira who involved me in this great project and I found my real addiction, DNR!

*Ash-drums: I started playing drums at 16 and I joined DNR since the beginning of their journey, helping the founder of the band Kira in the research for the other members.

As for the rest, I'm just a simple guy, nothing special... like to party, having fun with friends. I love U.S.A., junk food, movies, live concerts and listening to cool music, my favorites musical genre are glam, sleaze and hair metal from the 80's until now.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Dreams Not Reality: Oh, favorite song ever from Duran Duran is for sure "Wild Boys". For videos, absolutely "Wild Boys", "Save a Prayer" and "Girls on Film"!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the way you and the band have fused the gap between two opposite sounds: the European groove and the Asiatic melodic lines…

Dreams Not Reality: What we always had in common was the passion for western rock and Japanese culture and music. When we write songs we try to use both of these influences and this mix come out naturally probably because I and Ash are more influenced by western music, instead of Sieg and Kira who have more J-rock and Visual Kei.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Dreams Not Reality: We always loved their style and attitude. We've been kids in the 80's so we used to know Duran Duran and to listen to their music along with other cool stuff from that time.

They've been a true inspiration and a wonderful example for every other band from the 80's 'till today, amazing killer look and great songs! The world of pop music and its fashion style wouldn't be the same if they would never existed.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Dreams Not Reality: "Wild Boys" without a doubt!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Dreams Not Reality to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Dreams Not Reality: In one word : EUROVISUAL

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds….How long have you played in your band? What did you all do prior to Art Versus Industry?

Dreams Not Reality:

*Axia-vocals : Well I played in many bands before joining DNR and with one of them I've also been in USA for a period. I am happy to have joined this amazing band and have the sensation that we're building something new.

*Kira-bass: I play in rock bands since I was 14… so as every guy in this band I had many experiences in my past. In fact, since the beginning of my music career I always wanted to create a Visual band but it was impossible to find people who want do this. Then I met Sieg who got my same passion for J-Rock and from here all is started.

*Sieg-guitar: I had few band too but as Kira, I always dreamed to build a band just like DNR. Thanks God that I met him!

*Ash-drums: I started listening to Queen when I was 15... joined drums at 16 and had lessons for 5 or 6 years. My first band ever was a Queen tribute band, and then I played in many other bands, including a Poison tribute band. Then I met Kira and we started together the project called DNR. The rest is history.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Dreams Not Reality: Definitely with Simon LeBon!! To ask him to reveal us all his secrets about that amazing hair-style he used to have back in the 80's!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Dreams Not Reality could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Dreams Not Reality: I think we all agree saying that could be just amazing to have the opportunity to write a love song with the help of Mr.Yoshiki from X Japan! As solo artist, of course Myavi is doing something great and we'd be more than honored to have his crazy guitar lines in one of our songs.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American/EU Tour Dates?

Dreams Not Reality: Well we can just say that 20th Of January will be an historic day for this band. Just put a note in the calendar and you will see why I said this.
Stay Dreamer!

TO FOLLOW DNR:

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dnrofficial

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kiraDNRofficial?sk=wall

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/kiraDNRofficial

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info

Interview with Robert Sherer, Green Star Produce

2011-07-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Robert Sherer is one of our supporters and represents Green Star Produce which is a family owned produce company in the Salinas Valley, California. He and his parents, Bill and Faye Sherer founded the company in 1994. I recently visited their site and I can tell you that the produce they sell looks amazing...from the typical Basil, Parsley, Green Cabbage, and Watermelons to more unique produce like Daikon, Chard, Dandelion Greens, and Kohlorabi. Another unique feature of their business is that once their produce is harvested in the field, it is loaded seasonally out of Yuma, Arizona and Salinas, California. Great care is taken to make sure the produce is cooled on its way to the consumer. Also, if you go to their contact page, you will see a picture of Nick Rhodes next to Robert's name...and clear sign that there is 'Something You Should Know' about him....that he is an avid Duran Duran fan.

Robert, thanks for taking the time to interview with us. You are actually engaging in our first 'dynamic interview' experiment which means (to those who are reading) that I will send you questions and I will build off your answers. Sounds fun? Here's your first question...

Kirk, DDTTRH: So Robert, when I first spoke with you about our cause, you seemed very excited. You were also our first business to come out as a supporter of us. I remember sending you our flier and you were excited about distributing it to your customers. How has that gone and what makes you want to support Duran Duran at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Robert, Green Star: It went really well, customers as well as local business were very open to the fliers. To most it may have been a joke, but to those who knew me, knew how serious I was. After all I gave my kids non family middle names (apparently a 250 year old tradition), Taylor and Simon (pronounced Simone). Supporting Duran Duran in this manor is just something I can do to support the band that gave me my own soundtrack in life. Getting them into the Hall of Fame is just a stamp of approval that they meant something to so many people. If it fails, they didn't, I did. They are more deserving than some that are in there now.

Kirk, DDTTRH: How have you introduced Duran Duran to your kids and do they like their music?

Robert, Green Star: Yes I have introduced Duran Duran to them. There was a time that they would have said that Duran Duran was their favorite. Lack of a Pop exposure has pushed them to the back in their minds, but they do listen to them on their own. They don't complain when they are on in the car. They do LOVE them in concert and ALWAYS say yes when I plan on attending a concert. My son's first Concert was WAY back in 1998? We lived in New Jersey. They wife and I saw them and I took my son to see them at Jones Beach on Long Island a few days later. He hasn't missed a tour since (yes even the Club/House of Blues tours). My daughter's first was in Santa Barbara May of 2008 and her short stature, got her and her mother moved up 6 rows right in front of John (Attached Picture) and was able to get a coveted set list (other attachment)... not bad for her first concert.

Kirk, DDTTRH: What has inspired you about the band over the years and why do you think their contribution to music is so integral?

Robert, Green Star: Just enjoying the music from different aspects... Almost as needed in a sort.. Sometimes its just the instrumentation whether a studio or live recording. The lyrics, if they fit a current mood or just enjoying the sound of Simon's voice. Every event that matters to me they were there. I wanted them there or they just fit in the situation. You've heard "they have and app for that?" I always have a Duran Duran for that! They are so integral to music.. they way they experiment yet always come out Duran Duran. Maybe if they "sell out" over promote and over produce they would be vaulted up there with U2. I have nothing against U2, I just think they are more famous than they should be.

Favorite song is hard.. it really depends on the time of year.... Serious off of the Liberty Album (Actually the Live performance on MTV's Unplugged)... The Chauffeur (Live) .. Late Bar... really Guys, we love this one live...really enjoying Safe and Leave the light on off of AYNN... Box full of Honey, (I just like it)... and Dirty Great Monster. What happens tomorrow and Chains... you see its hard to nail it down, I have favorites off of each Album.. I'll have a favorite singled out when they stop writing new music and I'm dead. Maybe you should have asked what my favorite was off of each album.

Rio - Hold back the Rain
DD - Friends of Mine
Seventh and the Ragged Tiger - Reflex (I was at the Oakland Coliseum, my first concert)/ New Moon on Monday
Arena - The Chauffeur
Notorious - Meet El Presidente/Hold Me
Big Thing - Drug and flute interlude/the Edge of America/Lake Shore Driving (which was awesome Live)
Decade - well nothing new, but enjoyed the Remix off the vinyl.
Liberty - Serious and First Impression
Wedding Album - Breath after Breath and None of the above
Thank You - White Lines (Extremely entertaining Live) Lay Lady Lay
Medzzaland - Out of my Mind and So Long Suicide, Sinner and Saint of "b" side of remix
Night Versions - My own way
Greatest- View to a Kill
Strange Behaviour.. Skin Trade
Pop Trash - Last Day on Earth, Hallucinating Elvis
The Encore - July 16th... Disk (I was there) Still Breathing
Astronaut - What Happens tomorrow, and Chains
Live from London DVD live CD... Sunrise... GREAT INTRO
Red Carpet Massacre - Box full of Honey and Dirty Great Monster
All you need is now - Safe and Leave the light on

Kirk, DDTTRH: You picked some great songs! Thanks for sharing! We have similar taste when it comes songs on these albums. Leave a Light on is my favorite song from the new album.

I thought it was interesting what you said about U2. As you know, U2 was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What do you think Duran Duran could do more to become more recognized in the music community and among the generations of people today? I don't know about you, but I am real disappointed I have not heard more of their newer songs on the radio...its almost as if everyone is stuck on Duran Duran in the 80's and have not embraced as much their 90's to NOW.

Robert, Green Star: I think what would have helped is all in the timing. I admire John Melloncamps career, but why is he in? I think he deserves to be in, but how many people only know "Jack and Diane"? What was his timing? Maybe we get the process going after an event like they had with Astronaut. All 5 members coming back together. Just something to bring them to the frontal lobe of the thought process. I am disappointed too in the lack of radio play. I've "sold" people on the new album, all they had to do was listen. I understand the pop culture and what is "in" but think there are other influences jamming Lady GaGa down my throat on SirisXM's channel The Pulse. I know a there are a lot of fans that are stuck with Duran Duran in the 80's... I see them at the concerts, but those fans don't slow down when the band shifts from Hungry Like the Wolf to Red Carpet Massacre! The fan base is broad and we support, we just need to support a little more. I've got my mental ticket booked to Cleveland when that announcement is made.

Kirk, DDTTRH: So, please tell us about Green Star Produce! I read some about your company and it seems that some things that make you special are the logistics that keeps your produce fresh through their travels and the interesting assortment of locally grown vegetables you carry. Please tell us more about this and anything else you would like to highlight.

Robert, Green Star: Well to start… Green Star Produce was started by my father and in 1993. It was a temporary set up for me because I had already took a job in Chicago. I eventually did come back. Our website was actually set up to be tongue in cheek kind of funny… a customer said we couldn’t be big enough for them unless we had one, so we had a guy from New Zealand (friend of my brother) set up the whole thing from his perspective. He was sure to match our personalities with unique icons… Such as my father’s Alana Alda’s persona of Hawkeye from MASH.

We specialize in the specialties. Logistics is very critical in produce industry. So sourcing shipping close to the product is key in our industry. What is not unique about our items is of them, if not all, are organic. We don’t market them as such because it requires so much certification and regulation. Most is unnecessary double work and fees and no one wants to pay for it. (We’re about as anti-Wal-Mart as you can get) Always like the word of mouth business we get.

Just a side note… My daughter has started a music journal and listed “She’s too Much” as her 2nd favorite song…. Damn that Miley Cyrus!

Kirk, DDTTRH: Thats interesting about the New Zealand connection. Well, I hope your daughter's first favorite song is a Duran Duran one...lol! So, I tried reaching out to your father, your brother, and one of your co-workers about you, but I haven't heard back from them. Are your family and friends supportive of you being a 'Duranie', or do they sometimes treat you like an alien? Do you do anything to 'get your Duranie' on at work or home that gets peoples attention?

Robert, Green Star: I’m not sure I’m supported or treated like an alien. I’m definitely recognized as a fan ... I think it was 2 years ago Duran Duran came to the Mountain View Winery in Saratoga, CA. I got emails from everybody at work as soon as it was announced on the Winery web site. I had already known they would be there, but it was nice that I was thought of. Well it happened again this past month, same announcement same emails being forwarded to me. I already have my tickets. If you ever get a chance to see them in a very intimate setting as the Mountain view winery, I highly recommend spending a little more for the chance. In a previous job, it was known that Duran Duran was coming to town, my boss gave me the day off the day after the concert, I didn’t even have to ask.

I’ve missed some family functions because of concerts and no one was ever upset.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Thanks so much Robert for taking the time to interview with us at DDTTRH...and thanks so much for supporting us. Any advice for us as we continue to push for Duran Duran's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? What advice would you give to the Rock Hall as they continue to make decisions on who to induct?

Robert Sherer, Green Star: The best advice is to just keep pushing. There are more of us out there. The littlest things will matter. Go after the business that support Rock http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifand Roll Hall of Fame functions. Let them know we will be there when the time comes. I will be. To the Hall of Fame…. Get off your rocker! Duran Duran has given you more than the minimum requirement to get in. They have something that several of the bands you’ve let in don’t have…. FANS that have stood the test of time… We are still breathing!

To visit Green Star Produce's website to see their out-of-this-world produce selection, go to: http://greenstarproduce.com/

-->if you click on the 'Contact' link, you can see Nick Rhodes' picture next to Robert's name

Picture of Robert and his family...

Donna, Robert, Zachary Taylor Sherer
Lily Sherer, Zoe Simon Sherer

Some base, eyeliner, powder, and lipstick

2011-07-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Nick Rhodes...wish you could see this. I (Kirk) am involved in a musical production, performed here in Ohio, and I must say that I love putting on makeup (besides the singing and dancing I do). So much so that I thought I'd share with you so pictures of myself in the makeup room...getting ready for the show. As you can see, I'm wearing my DDTTRH t-shirt to advertise the effort. Oh, and I never have my hair this long...and I must say that I dig the sideburns.

First, I needed the base and eyeliner...

I'm actually getting good at eyeliner...

After the base and eyeliner, the powder...

And finally, the lipstick...

Too bad you don't get to see the picture where I used the wrong lipstick and my lips turned out a bright shade of pink...lol.

And here I am after all is done...

And this is me in my full 1800's garb, once my make-up is on...

Hope you enjoyed this!

Kirk, DDTTRH

4 new DDTTRH Reps!!!

2011-07-07T04:16:00.001-07:00

DDTTRH is pleased to announce 4 new DDTTRH reps who have recently joined us. Here's a little about each of them (I asked them each to say something about themselves)...

Pranav Chandrasekhar, Chicago Illinois Rep

--picture pending--

Pranav runs Radio Creme Brulee, an internet radio station which services Boston, Massachusetts. Pranav currently lives in Chicago. To listen to Radio Creme Brulee (which plays a lot of Duran Duran by the way, visit radiocremebrulee.com.

Michael Meter Los Angeles, CA DDTTRH Rep

"Growing up in the early 1980s in rural Wyoming, Michael felt far away from the excitement and glamour that he saw on tv and in magazines reflecting the lifestyles of people in New York and Los Angeles. At the time, Sheridan Wyoming was heavily influenced by Heavy Metal music, which wasn't Michael's style. However, in the summer of 1984 a change in the music being played on the radio and in music videos began. At his time Michael saw "The Reflex" video by Duran Duran for the first time. In that instant, his enthusiasm and excitement for music was altered and would change his life; becoming a very important escape to him and taking him away to "some far destinations, undiscovered, never mentioned" in his mind.

In 1985 Michael relocated to Los Angeles. With this move came the opportunity to see Duran Duran play live in July 1987 at the L.A. Forum on their "Strange Behavior Tour." Watching such an amazing display of music, lights, video and fashion, Michael was swept away and decided he wanted to meet the idols that were helping him form his musical tastes. On Easter Sunday 1989 this dream became a reality when he was finally able to meet Simon LeBon, John Taylor and Nick Taylor. It was an unforgettable and exciting experience! One of many to follow over the next two decades.

Over the past 27 years of being a Duran Duran fan, love of the band and their music has helped Michael establish lifelong friendships and given him the opportunity to meet many wonderful and talented people surrounding the band. Being part of this team, and doing what he can to help get Duran Duran inducted into the Rock 'N Roll Hall Of Fame, is Michael's small way of giving back to a band that has given him, and milions of others around the world, something very "Nice."

In addition to being an avid music lover and Duran Duran fan, Michael is also involved in extreme sports that inlcudes bungee jumping and skydiving. Always up for an adventure, he also enjoys surfing, roller coasters, theme parks, and long drives that allow him to listen to music on his journeys."

Luciana De Simone, Sao Paulo, Brazil Rep

"I am 39 years-old, I was born in São Paulo/SP, married and mother of a 8 years-old little girl, and I am a Duran Duran fan since 1984 (when I was 12!). I missed 1988´s Duran Duran´s concert in São Paulo, but in 2008, Nov 22, I was in São Paulo to attend the best concert of my life, together to another 6,000 people: Duran Duran at Via Funchal Music Hall."

Paula Dobbs, Rio De Janeiro Rep

"I actually 'met' Duran Duran in 1983 when I was living in Maryland. My father is a retired navy officer...

When I returned to Brazil and barely no one knew them, I started to spread the word. I never had problems sharing things... lending records so people could tape them or VHSs. Here 7" were rare and 12" were inexistent, so sharing didn't seem like a bad thing.

I wanted as many people as possible to know the band!

Anyway, I've seen them live in 84, 88, 99, 03 and 08. I traveled to the US in 99 and 03 to watch them... yes, crazy hm? ehehe!

I am now a travel agent. I work with incoming tourism. On my spare time I like photography, cooking, writing and doing patchwork. Yes, i'm very eclectic! I love music and I can carry a tune pretty well. I have even recorded about 5 songs about 10 years ago...

Honestly, Duran Duran had been dormant in my life for the past years... I have the albums and videos, but after RCM I really thought that things could only get worse... Luckily, I was wrong and now I feel like 1984 all over again, except we have things from across the globe in our hands within seconds of it happening!

Back in the 80's I had a fan-club with a friend called Lonely Satellite. When Duran Duran came to Brazil in 08 I reactivated part of it doing a blog : http://lonelysatellitebr.blogspot.com/

And then just recently after talking to a friend who I've known for years we decided to create the Duran Duran Brasil group / page so we could share with the Brazilian fans things we were finding everywhere. Sure, the news is out there, but having it all 'concentrated' in just one place, seems nice... Plus we write it all in Portuguese. We don't translate the stories or links...

Apart from Duran Duran I also like The Pet Shop Boys, Keane, Robbie Williams... I also enjoy Depeche Mode, Erasure, George Michael and most 80's acts that are still alive today."

Interview with Diverje

2011-06-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

Diverje is Electro/industrial music with diversity, with a flow and an aggressive energetic edge! We lead... we do not follow! Our LIVE Show kixx major ass too!!
Diverje was started by Tommy T, front-man of DSBP Records, in 1996. The band started as a metal/industrial hybrid and has mutated since to create a powerful Industrial/electronic hybrid unlike those currently found in the popular music circuit. In the Studio, Tommy T creates the many layers of Industrial and electronic rhythms and melodies, as well as providing vocals, programming and production for Diverje’s many releases. On the stage, Diverje is brought to life by Brian botkiller (Stand up electronic drums/ Live Programming), Chris Cannon (guitars), and Krissy Straub (bass). Diverje aims to provide one of the most energetic and entertaining live performances of Industrial music seen on a stage, and delivers on all fronts, having shared the stage with Chemlab, Skinny Puppy, Armageddon Dildos, Imperative Reaction, Hocico, and many other staples of the Industrial and Electronic music world.

Diverje has many releases to its name, including the 2002 release “On Skin”, which was met with great acclaim by the Industrial community, featuring a wealth of dance and harsh industrial tracks to get dance floors moving in songs such as the titular track “On Skin” and the opening “Regret”. The next album, “2:40AM”, features a number of remixes from “On Skin” by some of Industrial’s most well-known acts, including Razed In Black. 2003’s “Amphibian” explores some of the darker and more ambient textures of Industrial as a concept album built around industrial frogs (indeed!). Songs such as “Stronger” and “In2thetrap” explore political and emotionally charged lyrics and sounds unlike that of many Industrial records.
Ladyaslan presents Diverje~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: HELL YEAH!! They totally do! Such an influential band for the early days of new wave/ electronic/ rock!! They made a huge impact in the 80's for sure!!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Diverje? Tell us about yourself and the band?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: the name comes from the desire to diverge from the normal life and what most people do....we do our own thing here, and never follow any rhyme or reason with it...we just do what feels good..
We diverge from the typical path!!

The band was formed by me in 1996.....the lineup changes from album to album with ME as the constant in there, doing vocals, lyrics, programming, and sampling..
on the new album "BURN AWAY' Adam Lane joins me as he did the programming on half the album, and wrote some great collaborations with me..

Vince Pujol, and Josh Wood have both been with me writing songs with DIVERJE for the last few albums and they are both on this one as well as special guests - IVAN(VIGILANTE), BEE(MANGADRIVE), and JESS(COLD DRIVE)..

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: My favorite Duran Duran songs - "THE CHAUFFEUR",
"SAVE A PRAYER", "GIRLS ON FILM"....those songs were among the first I heard from them and stand out as my faves!!

For a favorite video of theirs -"HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF", + "UNION OF THE SNAKE"..great videos, and very influential band!!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What's your ultimate direction for your band?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: DIVERJE plans to change up our sounds and styles each release, but with a lot of common ground in there as well..we won't be doing any rap or country music anytime soon, but we like to mix the electronic/ industrial/ rock/ wave/ metal, and noize styles into new combinations often, and we will keep evolving for each release.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is / was The Distortion Chamber?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi:"The DISTORTION CHAMBER" is the place we escape to when all else fails...when things go bad, relationships end, friendships
dissolve, ...u lock yourself in, turn up the music, and rock the fuck out!!!
We Released "THE DISTORTION CHAMBER" CD in 2005!!it was a very aggressive industrial/metal/ ebm/ dark album which was setting the stage for this album 5 years later....we also released the very popular "STITCHED" CD in 2007 and that album was also very diverse, but featured a good chunk of HARSH EBM/ DANCE INDUSTRIAL songs...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: I would say that DURAN DURAN has a good and original style that combined rock songwriting with electronic/new wave sounds, emotion,
and attitude and released some infectious songs and solid albums, especially their first 3 albums. They had a "new romantic" fashion approach and it definitely influenced a generation in the 80's..
New Wave owes a lot to DD for making it a well known style of music.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: "Careless memories" or "friends of mine" would be my faves to cover versions for DIVERJE!
I would do those tracks because they were dark and electronic and I could see them translating well into the ebm/industrial scene...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about working with the French industrial/electro act E.S.R. Vince Pujol. How did you meet and what was it like to work together?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: Me and Vince met up in the late 90's as his ELECTRO SYNTHETIC REBELLION was a great project and he turned me onto it for CYBERAGE RADIO and for DSBP RECORDS....when DSBP signed him we became close and started working together a lot for his band and DIVERJE as well.
It is great working with him, and we also released another album together..
BIO-MECHANICAL DEGENERATION - "exoskeleton" about 5 years ago..that album is real interesting and we call it SCI-FI ELECTRO MUSIC..

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Diverje to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: I would say we are a DIVERSE MIX OF HARSH EBM/ ELECTRO-INDUSTRIAL/DOSES OF METAL/ MACHINE ROCK/ NEW WAVE/NOIZE...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds. How long have you played in your band? What did you do prior to Diverje?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi DIVERJE has been going strong since 1996...we have collaborated with many other great artists / bands here and hundreds of Live shows...
I was playing in METAL/ DEATH METAL bands for most of my teen and early 20's...then DIVERJE soon after...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: I would talk with Nick Rhodes...about keyboards, programming and what he thinks of today’s electronic/industrial/experimental scene..I would love to work with him on an original song or remix..that would be kick ass!! He seems to the quiet one and less appreciated member of DURAN DURAN, but I think he MAKES the band different from most.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about Evil Never Dies what was the genesis of this incredible musical gem?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: EVIL NEVER DIES is a song we wrote with a style of old school industrial with lots of guitar, and metal influenced, and then the chorus goes all electro and hardcore sounding...I love how the transitions go in this song, it has a great sound and hard aggressive approach..
the song and video are dedicated to the horror movie characters that are truly sick and evil!!!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Diverje could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: I would have to say DAVID BOWIE, or CLAUS LARSEN...2 of my favorite and most influential artists!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American/EU Tour Dates?

Diverje:
Tommy Rapisardi: we will be doing more LIVE SHOWS in the spring and summer..no tours http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifplanned now, that’s a little harder in this day and age when sales for music and shows are down badly..
check out our new CD "BURN AWAY" ONLY $12.00!!
ORDER DIRECTLY FROM THE BAND @
http://www.dsbp.cx
and check out more songs and remixes, and downloads at...
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
http://www.vampirefreaks.com/DIVERJE
http://www.reverbnation.com/diverje
http://www.facebook.com/diverje
http://www.myspace.com
http://www.dsbp.cx/diverje
http://soundcloud.com/tommy-t-diverje

thanks for your support Ladyaslan! We wish you the best!!

---TommyT---

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

From DDTTRH fans #1

2011-06-17T04:34:00.000-07:00

We have been receiving letters and photos from fans, which we SO appreciate at DDTTRH. We thought--why not share the Duranie love? Here's a couple of recent samples...We ROCK because of YOU...

Email from Steven in New York:

Hey,

Nice site! Good luck with all your efforts. I’m a huge Duran Duran fan – seen them live like 12 times and have ALL their music. In case you missed it there is a Duran Duran reference on GLEE. The one gay kid (Kirt I think his name is) who leaves to school because he’d being bullied transfers to an all boys school. At that school, as the new kid, he suggests they sound sing Duran Duran’s ‘Hungy Like The Wolf” in their singing group (The Worblers). The D2 reference occured this season (season 2) though not sure the episode name or date.

Hope that helps. I totally remember the Silver Spoons reference and waiting up late to see them perform on LIVE AIDE in 1985. That was the year I started loving Duran. I just got tickets to see them in London in May (a birthday gift to me!)

Enjoy~

Stevenhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
New York, NY

Here's a photo of Cat from Azle, Texas in her new shirt...

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

Julie Ann Rhodes supports DDTTRH!!!!

2011-06-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

Once married to Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes, a former model and actress, loved by Duranies everywhere, and now owner of the multi-award winning Roving Stove Personal Chef Service in Los Angeles, CA...Julie Ann Rhodes has voiced her support for our effort at DDTTRH! You will now see her name as part of our supporters list under 'Celebrities' at www.ddttrh.info. Go there and see...she is there!

It all happened when Michael, our new DDTTRH representative for Los Angeles, California reached out to Julie Ann and she said she would sign the petition if the introduction was more positive. I (Kirk) changed the intro (as you see it today) and Michael followed up with her. This was her reply...

"From:
Subject: Re: Email for Julie Ann
To: "Michael"
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 1:14 PM

Hi Michael - much better, Yes, do add my name . I tried to submit, but it would not allow me to without giving my address . Best of luck with it, and I sincerely hope the Hall takes recognition. They really do deserve it.

Sincerely,

Jewels"

At DDTTRH we feel honored that Julie Ann has blessed our petition with positiveness and that she supports our cause to promote the induction of Duran Duran to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Here is a nice blog by Julie Ann:
http:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif//julieannerhodes.com/the-personal-chef-approach/abouthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

To learn more about the Roving Stove:
http://www.therovingstove.com/

A recent article about Julie Ann in the LA Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/07/hungry-like-the-wolf-julie-ann-rhodes-goes-from-rock-wife-to-food-fame.html

Julie Ann's interview with half hour meals:
http://www.halfhourmeals.com/food-for-thought/julie-anne-rhodes-get-cooks-organized/

To learn more about DDTTRH and to sign our petition, please visit www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with Pete Ross and the Paesanos

2011-06-11T04:39:00.000-07:00

Midnight Show is the new album from Australian born singer- songwriter Pete Ross and the follow-up to his 2009 debut release Six String Suicide. Whereas the latter delivered a somewhat simple narrative in a well-produced package, Midnight Show offers a stark contrast with a comparatively structured message and compelling song writing, offset by a very raw and dynamic sound.

The album was conceived when Beast Records suggested recording an acoustic album for their label. However, in a spiritual sense, the birth of the album could well be attributed to the passing of Pete’s brother Ross, over 10 years ago; the loss of his mother, Josephine, 40 years ago; or perhaps the connection of his new found love and co-writer, Michelle Ward and her recently lost, adopted mother who coincidentally was also named Josephine.

Recorded in Italy, Midnight Show, as reflected in the striking photography of Parisian Demis Courquet-Lesaulnier, concentrates on dark and at times quirky images, such as the opening title track, Midnight Show, suggesting that love is not altruistic; XXXV and Josephine which are both eulogies for their departed; and the hauntingly dramatic, Maybe There Is Love, written by Ross (la prima). Fans of Johnny Cash (American Recordings) and Nick Cave, will undoubtedly be intrigued by this latest work, as will existing lovers of the more country-esque Pete Ross.

Pete, a former guitarist with Dan Brodie & The Broken Arrows, relocated to Europe in 2008 and has been on the road ever since including tours of USA, Europe and Australia. It seems Pete has inherited his wandering spirit from his Italian father, Peter Ciani, who in 1963 immigrated to Australia and made history when he released the first Australian disc sung in Italian and exported through EMI. Pete completed the passage back to Italy and released his debut album through Halidon Music (IT).

In July 2010 he performed at Mirande, one of France's largest country music festivals and in 2009 he made 3 appearances on RAI TV. In 2008 at the Tamworth Country Music Festival (AUS) he was runner-up Aristocrat Country Entertainer of the Year, as well as a finalist at the CCMA song-writing awards.

LADYASLAN PRESENTS PETE ROSS & THE PAESANOS~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: If it’s good enough for ABBA then it’s good enough for DD

LadyaslanDDTTRH: WOW…so tell us how an Australian born singer records his first solo country / rock album in Milan then mixed in LA and then released soon of a French label (Beast Records ) what was the genesis of this album? Seems quite the surreal and epic journey….

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Hmm…strange huh. Maybe it would have been better if it was recorded in Australia, mixed in France and released on a Milanese label in the USA. Well actually it was recorded in Australia and released in Italy but that is the first album , Six String Suicide that we are talking about.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Girls on film. Nice video.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How have you evolved as an artist and how are you paving your own different road per-say by following in the similar footsteps of your father, Peter Ciani. An iconic 1950s pop star, your father, Ciani, immigrated to Australia in 1963 and made history when he released the first Australian disc sung in Italian and exported worldwide through EMI records. How are you similar to your dad and how do you differ?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: I recall my Dad advising me not to pursue a career in music and it’s possible he may be right. Maybe in 20 years or so I’ll be wishing I had taken his advice. We have fundamentally different musical influences but our need to express ourselves through music is the same. It is the main way we communicate now, through sharing musical ideas.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion in the past 30 yrs?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Colourful fashion.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Hungry like the wolf … I love the do-doo-do, do-doo-dos

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your debut album Sing String Suicide? How did you come to choose that name for your album and why? Please tell us about the upcoming release of your solo album that shows a darker side of you and your music….and please tell us about the more country-esque second album you plan to release with The Paesanos…quite the busy bee you are*smiles*

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Six String Suicide was recorded in Melbourne and first released in Italy in 2009. A friend of mine in Kuala Lumpur came up with the name and was going to use it for his album and I told him I was going to beat him to it, and I did. I thought the title was quite apt for my first album.

The upcoming release of the solo album is through Beast Records in France and will be out in January 2011 on a special edition vinyl, and later on CD. My partner Michelle collaborated on writing the album.

When I went back to Australia last year to release Six String Suicide I toured with a 9-piece band, and from that came the idea to record a big band country rock and roll album. We begin recording the album straight after the current northern Europe tour, with a planned release for early next year, after the solo album comes out.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the music/melody involved in the song A Thousands Miles Away ( sang in Italian and English )? *GREAT song by the way~one of MANY FAVES for Ladyaslan!

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: The song is a story about a father thinking he knows best and trying to give advice to his son, and the son wanting to go his own way. Dad and I wrote and recorded the song when he came to visit one Christmas. At the time I had a studio out the back of the house and with the help of some friends we laid the song down, actually four years before I recorded the album.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Not sure so many to choose from

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was it like to play in Nashville; a short set at the French Quarter Café in East Nashville? What was your experience in Huntsville at the Voodoo Lounge? Who is Dylan LeBlanc? Would you do a show with him again in the future?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Nashville was great as were most of the cities we played. Dylan’s a great singer/songwriter and yes it could happen.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could sing a duet with one band and one solo artist; who would you pick?

Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Tenacious D and Tom Jones…at the same time!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with your fans?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
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Pete Ross & The Paesanos: Sorry this took so long to finish J

TO FOLLOW PETE ROSS & THE PAESANOS:
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Proteamusic?sk=wall#!/PeteRossAndThePaesanos and the

NEW FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pete-Ross/188976734483721

Web Page: http://www.peterosslive.com/PeteRoss.html

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/peterosslive
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To discover more about DDTTRH and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with Protea

2011-06-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Protea is Serena Toxicat's thorny, sharp-clawed, 21st century brainchild. She recommends that you enjoy a tincture of this mysterious flower in a cozy dungeon with a crystal divinatory pendulum and a cup of catnip tea.
This intensely personal, dark experimental project has grown to include a small constellation of guest musicians in the electronic idiom, including Tara Ntula of Static Reflex, ARP drone artist Matt Azevedo of Retribution Body, thereminist Joey D'Kaye (once-bassist for Crime, the early American punk band from San Francisco), and Toxicat's divine felines.
Its manifestation into form has come about through technologies of varying strata, from low budget to high end, and has never included any stock loops or sounds, rather sounds capes crafted from found aural sources.
A priestess of Bast, Sekhmet and Isinephthys ordained in the Fellowship of Isis at Isis Oasis temple and ocelot sanctuary, Serena celebrates the Ancient Egyptian pantheon with gnosis and devotion in a matrix of ether and artful noise.
Since the release of The Osiris Tree one winter solstice, Protea has been featured on several compilations and has just released a second full-length album, Going Forth by Night.
Sa Sakhem Sahu. Ama Iset. Em hotep. Mau Bast! Mau Bast! Mau Bast!
Discography:
Dec 21, 2006 - final version of The Osiris Tree, Protea's debut album
Aug 12, 2008 - Protea's 'Little Drummer Boy' came out on machineKUNT's compilation, Extreme Women in the Dark Future.
Oct 27, 2009 - Out on Two Gods (UK) and Wax Trax II (US): Wrapped in the Guise of My Friend, an Attrition cover album. Protea contributed, 'Into the Waves.
July 1, 2010 - Out on Shinto's experimental compilation, Torture Garden, is Protea's song, 'Mau Bast.
October 29, 2010 - Out on machineKUNT's compilation, Sanity Is Slavery (DISC 3, digital), is Protea's track, 'Anansi.'
Coming out soon on a CD that will be published as a companion to Spider's Web magazine: Protea's track, 'Pet the Manul, Bitch!'
A track on the 'Music for the Rising Sun' Japan relief compilation will be coming out shortly.
Coming out soon on a compilation called SEPTEM-THE SEVEN LUMINARIES, a track in conjunction with Verney 1826. TBA
Due for release at some auspicious date this year: Night of the Teardrop, Protea's third full-length album
Serena is (or has been) involved in other projects and collaborations which are not necessarily listed under the name, Protea. (See: STARCHASM, Catbox Theory, Knwell/Casa De Orates, Attrition, Crimson Ivy, Mourning for the Disease, Static Reflex, and more)
Festivals:
How to Destroy the Universe 2009
Skronkathon 2009
Conflux Dark Arts 2008 and 2009
Influences:
Toxicat's kitties, the deities of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon, the multiverse, The Harmonic Convergence, Unity Consciousness, the Buddha’s, Bodhisattvas, Ferocious Deities, Devas, Dharma Protectors, Dakas and Dakinis, Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Edie Sedgwick, peak experiences, various dark experimental legends in human form, including Diamanda Galas, Nick Cave, Duran Duran, Kate Bush, Liz Fraser, Leonard Cohen, Blixa Bargeld, Siouxsie, Exene Cervenka, Bjork, Shirley Manson, Joy Division, New Order, Nina Hagen, Issa, Buffy Sainte-Marie, David Bowie, Meredith Monk, Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Legendary Pink Dots, Nico, Edith Piaf, Antony, Tim Buckley, This Mortal Coil, Klaus Nomi, Dave Byrne, throat singers of Tuva, so many of the CMI, Projekt, Wax Trax and 4AD label artists, and countless other living channels of the divine aural element~*

Ladyaslan PrESenTs PROTEA~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: Well, yeah. I’m surprised they aren’t already. At this rate Kajagoogoo will beat ‘em to it. J

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Protea? Tell us about yourself and your affiliation with MachineKUNT? ( I have interviewed quite a few artists from machineKUNT )

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: I come from a family of florists and it is my absolute favorite flower - velvety, monstrous, unpredictable and sort of hungry looking. The Greek god Proteus, for whom it is named, could change his appearance at will. Proteas also take very different forms and are indigenous to many regions. My project reflects this musical metamorphism.

I knew Rachel Haywire from another website and saw an open call she put out for the first machineKUNT compilation, Extreme Women in the Dark Future. I submitted The Osiris Tree to her for review and she selected Little Drummer Boy to kick off the comp, as she liked its martial feel.

A track from our latest release, Going Forth by Night, is on the digital companion to MK’s latest comp, Sanity Is Slavery.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: Song - Save A Prayer.

Video - Girls on Film, and I can appreciate it so much more now than I could then!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about being ordained with ordained in the Fellowship of Isis at Isis Oasis temple and the Ocelot sanctuary…

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: I was introduced to Isis Oasis about 15 years ago through a Sekhmet priestess who loved cats as much as I do. About ten years after I met Loreon, her ocelots, servals and other felines, her priestesses and a few priests, I decided I was ready to serve the F.O.I. community. It seemed like Bast and Sekhmet felt that way, too. Cats tried to nurse from me for a while after my ordination, which transpired with an ocelot in my arms. I was so touched and humbled when a girl decided to become a priestess after she read our MySpace and saw me perform at Conflux. Now I have a Bast temple in Oakland.

Tara Ntula: how would I know

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat:

Style, panache, innovation... Compare them with the boy bands of the 90’s and the answer becomes evident. They certainly changed my life in high school. I would have sold my left nut to go out for coffee with them had I a pair. When Simon's voice cracked the stadium went wild.

While they were no Adam Ant, new-romantically speaking, I’d totally still rock the military epaulette and striped shirt look. And that hair? Shut. Up! Neon recently came back in fashion. Hell, even the baffling parachute pant made a quick return. Who else has had that kind of influence on a society? Jesus Christ? Michael Jackson? As far as the philanthropist efforts, I think many would be surprised to learn that it’s not all high profile awareness-raising concerts in exotic places filmed for prime time. They donate Tsunami relief funds to reputable foundations. The more of that the better, imo, and...way to set the example!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: I’m going to have to go with Save a Prayer again. It’s just really Protea - a metaphysical ballad I could totally Bast up.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Protea to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: Aw, jeez, do ya have to go and ask that? It's probably within the framework of ritual ambient. I call it Black Catwave.

Tara Ntula: catatonic

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your background….How long have you been playing? What did you do prior to Protea?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: I was in a Spanish house band called Gypsy Caravan 15 years ago, then a crazy gypsy Goth touring cult thing called Apocalypse Theatre, then a strings outfit called Ephemeral Orchestra I headed with an ex-Nuns member... I’ve done all kinds of art and performance from acting to playwriting and poetry readings to fashion modeling to painting to dancing in SF and Paris. Tara played bass in a band called Vague, among others.

Tara Ntula: I was born on a mountain, raised in a cave...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: I’m going to say Nick. And it may be a cop-out, but I’d let him pick the subject. He’s the legend. I might ask this binary question, though: Diamanda Galas or Nina Hagen? And hopefully exchange a few words on cool female theoretical physicists like Lisa Randall.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Protea could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: Diamanda Galas, Autarky

Tara Ntula: Madonna, jack dangers

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American/EU Tour Dates?

Protea aka Serena Toxicat: It’s been pretty much gig-to-gig at this point. 3 scheduled shows at a time, max. I so want to tour again. Have done a couple cross-country ones here in the US. The tour with Switchblade Symphony kicked ass! My novella, Evangeline and the Drama Wheel, would probably give you a decent impression of how it went down. The head of a well established UK act proposed a tour many months back, but it was more like an idea he’d thrown out with no follow-up. As far as bands from that side of the pond, I wouldn’t mind a tour with Imprint. Here? Laurie Anderson. (Yeah, I can dream big.) Not too long a stint, though. My Siamese would not stand for it.
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TO FOLLOW PROTEA:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Proteamusic?sk=wall

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/proteamusic

ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/protea

The Leopards are here!!!!

2011-06-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

Leopards are here at DDTTRH! In a partnership we've created with the Snow Leopard Trust which helps endangered snow leopards in Mongolia, we are offering you the chance to help us invade the Rock Hall with leopards! Go to 'www.ddttrh.info' and click the 'Send a Leopard to the Rock Hall' link to learn more! 100% of proceeds goes towards the saving of leopards.

NOW spill our secret!

in conjunction with the...

Ladyaslan (DDTTRH) and her chat with Pink Narcissus

2011-05-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

Pink Narcissus have been wowing audiences in Brighton, London and Hastings since 2009 with their unique take on flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll. Combining elements of alternative, glam, punk, cabaret and metal with echoes of eastern European inspired Yiddish and gypsy music.

Though Pink Narcissus are a band of the moment who sound unlike any one else, they are very much part of a creative lineage that stretches back to acts such as The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Bowie, Jane's Addiction The New York Dolls, The Doors and beyond into Brel, Brecht and Weil.

In the short time since they formed they have headlined gigs for Brighton Live and performed all over London and Brighton including a set on the main stage of Brighton’s Komedia, Brighton's Pavilion Theatre and Standon Calling Festival.
The band took its name from a cult 60’s art / porn film, continuing a tradition of bands named after films that includes, among others, Black Sabbath, Mudhoney, The Misfits and White Zombie.

In 2010 they released their debut EP. They are currently working on 2 music videos and 5 new tracks for release in summer of 2011.
Ladyaslan presents: PinK NarCiSSus

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
Yeah

Cod:
Hell yeah

Spleen:
They wouldn’t be number one on my list, but sure.

Cod:
They’d probably be in my top 5.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Pink Narcissus? Tell us about yourself and the band members?

Pink Narcissus:
Spleen:

I had a book on underground cinema and I saw the name of this cult art / porn film from 1970 and liked it. It’s a great film too. Other bands named after films include Black Sabbath and Mudhoney. I thought the reference to narcissism was appropriate as well; I used to masturbate to my reflection.

Cookie:
Well I’m Cookie and I’m a man with a vagina, Pink Narcissus is awesome, we’re like a family.

Cod:
I’m Cod I’m from Daventry, I came down here to go to go to BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music) I shared a house with Paddy and joined the band when their old bassist left.

Spleen:
A mutual friend Dan was our bassist for a time. He introduced me to Paddy but left soon after before the band had even got off the ground so that’s when we found Cod.

I never went to BIMM I moved to Brighton as a refugee …from Hastings.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Pink Narcissus:

Spleen:
I like Wild Boys because it was based on a William Burroughs story and I love Burroughs. I remember the video with them strapped to a windmill when I was a kid, I found it strangely arousing. Duran Duran were more my sisters thing, though she was a big influence on me.

Cod:
Rio ‘cause it takes the piss out of the video’s of the time.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about The Pig in Paradise show coming up on the 3rd of Dec

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
We’re playing a night called the Blowhole in Hastings and it looks like it’s going to be snowing.

Spleen:
If we can make it there, we’ve had many feet of snow fall last night and most of the UK shuts down when there is snow, apparently the venue has a snow machine booked too.

Cod:
It’s going to be wintery.

Paddy:
It’s going to be cold.

Cod:
And we’re going to be playing two new songs.

Spleen:
Last time we played Hastings the venue was packed out which felt great as it’s my home town. It’s a strange place and I have a love / hate relationship with it. Last Christmas a bouncer there severely injured my arm because I was dancing topless.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Pink Narcissus:
Cookie:

Well they invented orange juice but then they invented a kind of grape juice but loads of kids got high off it because it had extract of heroin in it.

Cod:
They are always striving forward with their pop sound working with new people like Mark Ronson to keep things fresh. When they started they spearheaded the New Romantic thing and they’ve influenced so many people like Chino Moreno from The Deftones who are a big influence on our sound.

Spleen:
I think allot of the 80’s New Romantic look was influenced by Bowie’s mid 70’s ‘plastic soul’ phase, though I can see the influence Duran Duran had on the Deftones and the orange juice market as a whole.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
The song with the one and the two in it.

Cod:
Either Chauffeur or Planet Earth, with Chauffer we could tear it up …or erm, Hold Back the Rain.

Spleen:
I’ve always liked Hungry Like The Wolf.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Pink Narcissus to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
I would describe it as David Bowie meets Rage Against The Machine meets Cookie and Pink Narcissus.

Cod:
David Bowie meets Rage Against The Machine

Spleen:
That was what a DJ called us on BBC Introducing, we were all happy with that.

Paddy:
That’s the best genre, though it’s not even a genre, it’s the only way to describe the mental…

Cod:
…Freak Rock.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds….How long have you played in your band? What did you all do prior to Pink Narcissus?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
I was in a kinda bluesy band I’d say.

Spleen:
And you worked for that evil clown who pushes burgers on children.

We formed as a four piece in January 2009. Before That I was in a band called The Flesh Happening and before that I used to do poetry and spoken word and had a book called Depravikazi published. I went to Art College; I haven’t had a proper job in years.

Cod:
I lived in a town called Daventry, was in a band called Hand of Blood. Gigged round the UK played with Hatebreed in Northampton, that was very funny, a take the piss comedy Grindcore band. Then I got fed up with it all and said farewell and moved down to Brighton.

Paddy:
I wasn’t even human. I was in a band called Dungeon of Funk.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
Paul McCartney.

Cod:
John Taylor and how he became an epic bass player.

Paddy:
Cod’s the big fan, he does them karaoke.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Pink Narcissus could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Pink Narcissus:

Cookie:
Oh I wonder, it would obviously be David Bowie wouldn’t it?

Cod:
Bowie

Paddy:
Bowie, Dave Grohl.

Spleen:
We’d all be more than happy with Bowie, though I’d like to do a duet with a female artist; Kate Bush would be top of my list, also Marianne Faithfull , Nina Hagen, Patti Smith, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono or Ronnie Spector. My favorite songwriter is Leonard Cohen.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American/EU Tour Dates?

Pink Narcissus:

Cod:
The world tour hasn’t been worked out yet. We’re currently working on new songs.
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Paddy:
And learning to drive.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Spleen:
We have two music videos in the pipeline one is scheduled for next Tuesday weather permitting. As for touring we’re just trying to get our roots down locally for now, at this stage any touring would leave us at a great financial loss.

To Follow Pink Narcissus:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pink-Narcissus/79095593848

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pinknarcissusband

Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/pinknarcissus

DDTTRH Exclusive interview with NoPlacez

2011-05-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Ladyaslan presents NoPlacez! A new up and coming rock band with a bio that simply states….this: onemanhomemadness…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

NoPlacez!: Yes, DD is one of the greatest role models of the generation…While in my journey of music, I come up with so many bands wants to be like DD but the fake is never as valuable as the original… they were the pioneers…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: In your profile on MySpace there is no information about the band or who you all are…tell us about yourselves?

NoPlacez!: This is actually a one-man show…Noplacez is the mysterious and dark side of who I am and what I have been living through…I have been into music for all my life, and for years there were melodies and words playing endlessly and persistently in my head….noplacez is just the messenger of what I have inside…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

NoPlacez!: Absolutely “Come undone” …the song is so fascinating and charming with every melody inside it…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Where is the band NoPlacez! from? How did you come up with the band name?

NoPlacez!: There are many unknowns of how a song comes into existence….something inspires you, feelings arise, you start hearing voices, words settles slowly on the melody… and when the song comes to flesh&bone, you never really know what initiates the song, for why I believe songs are unowned and coming from Noplacez!…that’s where the name comes from…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion in the past 30 yrs?

NoPlacez!: The sharp and elegant image is always one step ahead of the music they made…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

NoPlacez!: A dark Noplacez! version of “ordinary world” should be interesting I guess….ı loved the melody, but also there is so much pain inside it….

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans when we could expect a full length album? Where can fans purchase NoPlacez! Songs?

NoPlacez!:For the time being, fans can always reach the songs in my MySpace profile…www.myspace.com/noplacez…they can find the new single “ told you” which is currently released with a lot of attention in its first week..For an album, time is coming…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the music/melody involved in the song Town? *GREAT song by the way~Ladyaslan’s FAVE!

NoPlacez!: When I recorded Town, it was a time I was really changing where I lived, I was leaving a life behind me…it was a sad but these experiences affect the lyrics and the melodies of Town…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

NoPlacez!: I guess it will be with Simon Le Bon, and the topic will be on how to survive this much in a fast changing world…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could sing a duet with one band and one solo artist; who would you pick?

NoPlacez!: Not for singing but for making the music, Alan Wilder (Recoil) is definitely the one I d like to work with…His touch on Depeche Mode songs were massive and I am really a fan of the mood he adds to his works… and also it may be a pleasure for me if in the future I have the chance to work with Anton Corbjn for any video shoot..

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with your fans?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
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NoPlacez!: I have a good feeling with what’s coming in the future…and with every songhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif written and shared I saw people behind me is much more passionate to listen to the next one…so “better is next to come..Love.

FOLLOW THEM AT:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/NoPlacez/54626984736

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/noplacezhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Reverbnation: http://www.reverbnation.com/noplacez

To learn more about DDTTRH and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

SPECIAL NEWS REPORT!!!!! LEOPARDS SPOTTED!!!

2011-05-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

This just in....leopards, yes leopards have been spotted near and some say they are headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and New York. Sources at DDTTRH report that they will be highly visible on May 21st for a special event.

Caution! Leopards may be sneaking around DDTTRH before their big appearance. Stay close to your children...lock your doors...for when the leopards prowl, there may be no stopping them...Rock Hall BEWARE!!!!

Don't spill our secret.

DDTTRH

Interview with Salvo of Duranasty, Part 2

2011-04-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

Kirk, DDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Why?

Salvo: Of course I think it would be great to add this great recognition to the others they’ve already collected over the years. Duran Duran are among some of the most prolific recording artists and their influence and significance to the development of pop-rock and electro music can’t be ignored.

They have inspired three generations of musicians who continue citing the band as the reason why they are into music. Moreover, Duran Duran have influenced the music industry in a major way. No need to remember all the awards and lifetime achievements they got, their 85 million records sold, they’re pioneers finding a new way to present and sell music, their visual art, their sense of style which starts from the notes of their songs and it propagates to all the aspects of the band’s trademark.

I would give them the special mention for being the precursors of the Art ‘n Roll, Duran Duran is the very first Art ‘n Roll band, a great source of entertainment, inspiration and joy, musically and visually. With Duran Duran it’s a 360° experience, and their latest multimedia project with David Lynch is just the nth demonstration of their avantgardness.

Nick Rhodes said recently “At heart, we remain an art school project, we are driven by exploration and curiosity!” I think that’s the secret of this band and what keeps it so relevant, fresh and appealing.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Recently at DDTTRH, we've added an edge...to invite the Rock Hall to change how it inducts artists. We believe it needs some New Romantic flavoring. Do you think the Rock Hall needs to change how it does things? Simon LeBon recently commented that he does not agree with the black tie ceremonies and the pompous nature that the Rock Hall has created for itself, how it has imposed itself on the industry and its choices for nominees are too subjective. Do you think there's truth behind Simon's words? Do you think 'being in the Rock Hall' has lost any meaning? If you agree that the Rock Hall needs to change...what do you think needs to happen?

Salvo: Well, I have to agree with Simon. The nominating committee is composed of rock and roll historians who selects the names (which are then voted on by experts) so think that subjectivity plays a huge role in the whole process, especially in the first phase. In all honesty, I guess a Rock and Roll historian would hardly consider Duran Duran’s music pure rock and roll. They should open the inductees choice to a wider spectrum of musical genres, at least to pop-rock.

Duran would have a good chance then! Music shouldn’t have labels. In today’s music, genres are mixed, all the music we listen to nowadays is the result of musical-contamination, so why can’t an institution like the Rock Hall accept this and change the rules a bit?

I assume that won’t happen easily until the nomination process will be controlled by a few individuals who are not musicians, reflecting their tastes rather than the views of the music world. So how to disagree with Simon?

Kirk, DDTTRH: What advice would you give to DDTTRH as we continue to wend our way on this amazing journey of ours?

Salvo: All you are doing with the petition and the site is great, but Duran Duran are already in the olympus of music even without this specific recognition. Maybe you should contact all the other fan-clubs or Teams who are running a petition for their not so Rock ‘n Roll artist and unite all the forces to start a new petition, parallel to the Duran Duran one, to ask the inclusion of other genres and more ‘fle-fle-flexibility’ about music-contamination. This might open new roads to your very cool initiative which, since the beginning, has gotten my total support.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Tell us about what you do in your career, when you are not working on Duranasty?

Salvo: As one might assume visiting the website I’m into visual arts, I’m actually a graphic designer but I’m not practicing the profession anymore. I teach graphic design and advertising in a secondary school.

I love my job, it’s all I wanted to do. I have been doing this for 15 years now, I started very young, when I was just twenty-five. My daily job is doing lessons about photoshop, illustrator, indesign, dreamweaver, communication, marketing, advertising and so on.

I enjoy a very good relationship with my students and I can actually say that I’m never bored with what I do for a living. Every day is a new experience since it’s a very creative field of study and lessons are never the same as also students are never the same.

This job is also a way to keep me young, at least mentally, as I’m in touch with teenagers every day. I get to know everything about the new trends and all their stuff. It’s great to help these guys growing up professionally and as human beings. One of the greatest satisfaction is when the students, years after graduation, come to school to pay a visit to their teachers and they let us know that they are actually working as graphic designers.

It can be also a difficoult job as you might find difficoult and fragile kids, with different kind of problems, and that happens often nowadays. Most of the times these problematic ones don’t have a solid family behind them. I’m sure that family is the key of many problems (maybe all). Being a good parent is the real job, and that’s what actually keeps me busy.

Being father of two little boys, (Angelo 4 and Nicolò 2), is a twenty-four hour a day job! I’m one of those new generation fathers: there’s nothing that mom does that daddy can’t do (well, except breastfeed! Lol). My wife and I both work so we have to help each other daily with the kids. It’s hard but it’s worth it because they are the real thing and the only thing that really matter to us.

Tangible Duran Duran products of Salvo’s work to promote the band. Rio Classic Album, Glam Pop Party front cover and his Duranasty.com

Kirk, DDTTRH: What kind of things have you done over the years to promote Duran Duran? What was before Duranasty? How exciting has that been?

Salvo: Well, I have done plenty of things as I have always been a very active fan. I used to write for Duran Duran fanzines and helped, through them, to keep the Duran flame alive during the 80’s and 90's. Some readers might remember my regular articles on ADLA (A Duranies Life Association) a very popular international fanzine based in Portugal and The Groove from USA (I was the Italian correspondent), but I also been writing and submitting fresh photographs from London for a number of other fanzines such as the glorious “The Icon,” and the glossy “Medazzaland” who later asked me to become an official correspondent and so on.

I loved those fanzines and the passion that was put behind them. Those photocopied pages were a real labour of love. I used to fly to London frequently during the 90s to get fresh news, reports and pics basically from their recording studios or other venues. Warren was great and he was always up to giving updates and recount stories about an album’s progress or even let me listen some of their new stuff at his home in Battersea. Nick was also always kind and available for a chat.

It was a time when the Duran news was mostly filtering and circulating through fanzines rather than teen mags which abandoned the band in the late 80's, it was too early for the internet and there was no official fanclub which closed in 1988.

Duran knew the importance of the ‘zines and they were a lot less secretive than now, they used to collaborate more with fans running or working for fanzines as they knew that those poor photocopies were the only way to stay in touch with their fan-base. It was a great time and I do have great memories of those years. It’s all so different now. The internet has changed it all, now we have all the news we want in real time. As soon as the internet started I got involved, it was a natural step, I just moved my interest from fanzines to fansites. I loved to contribute news to plasticgirl.co.uk, templeofsaintnick.com and minddilation.co.uk, those early sites were great and we all have to credit them for being the first fansites to support the band giving constant updates.

With sites like facebook it’s even easier now, everyone can post something and suddenly the news will make the tour of the Duran-world. Nowadays, beside duranasty.com I also enjoy posting on the duranduran message board and on duranasty’s facebook page.

In my opinion, with such a over-saturation of news, the risk is to lose sight of the most significant band news as we do tend to mix it all. On the site I try to keep things essential, no personal comments (everyone is entitled to his or her opinion in the various Duran forums and I just don’t wanna play the opinion leader) or irrelevant news, just things that might be of some interest for the fans, all the rest can be easily found online as we are all good at finding things on the web.

I think a fansite nowadays, with all the news circulating on the internet, only needs to exist if it provides some exclusive content, something different from the official sources to offer to its visitors. Otherwise it would be only a replica of the band’s official site but with a different layout. Having said that, I think I will keep doing the site until I will have time and energies to work on *that something different.* I never liked mediocrity so the day I will run out of those elements will be also the day that duranasty will leave the scene.

Over the years I’ve always tried to keep in touch with the media to promote the band, especially radios, just like many of the fans reading this, requesting their songs or just letting them know about the latest on the band.

I also enjoyed being involved as visual researcher and photograph-archivist in the official release Rio Classic Album (published in 2008 by Eagle Rock). Isis, the London-based production, contacted me spontaneously after visiting the website. They even offered me money for my job but of course I refused them (!). I offered my help and contribute to the project for free because it’s only passion for the band that drives my Duran activities, nothing else.

Another project I enjoyed to get involved in was working on the making of the front cover of the very interesting Italian Duran Duran book titled ‘Glam Pop Party’, written by my journalist friend and partner in crime Christian D’Antonio. The picture on the cover was in fact taken and edited by me (photography is another of my passions).

Strike a pose: Simon gave me tips on how to wear that hat and adjust it on my head before we took that funny picture. Simon is often very playful and affectionate but most of all he’s so genuine.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I noticed in looking at pictures on your site, that you have personally met the band. Tell us about how special that has been to you and what that has meant to your family.

Salvo: Well, as I already said it has been a long ride, when I first met the guys I was only seventeen, which was also the first time that I was allowed to travel alone from southern Italy to England, since then I think I have seen them, in different occasions and places, constantly more than once a year, for twenty-two years. Some of the guys in the band know me quite well, not as a friend would know you of course, but as someone who has been there for a long time, a friendly face but also a name.

A 17 year old Salvo and John Taylor in London.

Family has always been very involved in the process, it couldn’t be otherwise. When someone has such a huge passion in the family every member is involved at different levels. My original family first, my beloved father was a huge supporter of my Duran passion, and now the family I created. Without the help of Claudia, my wife, I couldn’t have afforded all the travelling in the recent years with the kids still so young. How not to mention my sons, who enjoy the new Duran music so much, I guess Angelo has the potential to become a duranie, (I’m not doing anything to influence them, just playing the music in the car) as he sings in his very own Italianized English all the songs of All You Need Is Now, but he also keep requesting The Valley (heh heh...).

Every single encounter with the band is special to me and there are actually too many special ones to mention just one, but I guess the closest to my heart are the ones when we got to chat not only about the band but I could also talk about things happening in my life.
Just some flashbacks as they comes to mind in no particular chronological order: the day when I told Simon I was becoming father, when Nick mentioned my name on tv, when I shared my table with Simon for a lunch, when I was introduced to Roger, when Nick revealed about the upcoming reunion (pre-official announcement), when I assisted their tour rehearsal, the long chats with Warren in his living room, Simon’s spontaneous hugs, John taking my picture, the Devils at Harvey Nichols, Simon and Pavarotti, London, the studios… all their shows especially the London Forum one… I could go on and on and on. It would be like browsing the pages of one of those old fanzines with yellowed pages: so many smiles, adventures, laughs, friends. I loved every single moment and I wouldn’t change a bit.

That’s probably the funniest pic I ever took with Simon, who literally threw himself on me with all his weight and I almost fell on the ground.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I have taken excerpts from a recent post I saw from your site...I'd like to share a couple of lines here...

"I always try my best to do it better and I'm glad you are enjoying it, it's important to me as I know that the time I spent on it is something that has value, at least for you and all the other fans like me.

When I do a new update I do it in first place thinking of what I would like to see and read on a fansite. I put the heart, the eye and the passion of a fan on it, that's it!

I deliberately want to stay away from banners and pop up adverts, duranasty.com promotes the band and their members only, not his creator, nor other companies and stuff, just the band and their activities."

I must say Salvo, when I read this I was very impressed. You should be proud with what you have accomplished with Duranasty.

Thank you Kirk, my pleasure to give my little contribution to keep the Duran flame burning. I love to bring a smile to the fans’ faces posting some interesting news or just some unseen pictures.

I often receive emails with compliments, I never post them but I want to take this occasion to thank everyone who has emailed me over the years, that’s the best thing I could have asked as you actually encourage me to continue and improve.

Back in the days Warren used to call me ‘Fashion Professional’ cos I loved jackets and ties.

But I want you all to know that duranasty.com is just the more visible aspect of my ‘duranity’. I do have some other projects in mind. I have been a huge Duran collector over the last three decades, my collection isn’t build around a specific item, only record or poster for example. It’s a very wide visual/audio collection. Lots of economic efforts and time have been dedicated to it over the years and I think sooner or later will become the main object of my interest as there’s a lot of archiving stuff to do. I could just direct energies to some new projects such as a Virtual Duran Duran Museum or a Virtual Duran Exhibition. Well, just another of my dreams. That would require lots of time and dedication, till then I’ll keep duranasty at its best and hope you’ll keep enjoying it.

Thank you twice Kirk, for this interview and for giving me a chance to go back down memory lane, it was great to remember those years and not only open the drawers of my mind but also the ones where these old pics were put away, some of them almost forgotten (I just picked up for your site some of the funniest and most unusual ones).

Kirk, DDTTRH: Thanks Salvo...a pleasure to interview you. Look forward to seeing what you have to say! Kirk

To visit Duranasty, please go to duranasty.com.

For more information about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort and to sign our petition, please visit our hub site at www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with Salvo of Duranasty, Part 1

2011-04-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

It’s not every day that you come across someone like Salvo, who runs duranasty.com, a website based in Italy but internationally known as one of the most up to date and interesting fan sites. I have had the pleasure of meeting Salvo (who was more than willing to support our effort) through one of our featured artists, Stephane Leclair. It is clear when you read about Salvo and visit his site that he has a passion for the band that spans the years, that his love for the band is timeless. He is truly an example for many in the Duranie community, as he has 'left the light on' for the band through all the ups and downs in their career, through his website Duranasty and many other amazing efforts he has been involved with to promote the band.

Salvo, it is truly an honor for us at DDTTRH to interview you. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy life to speak with us.

Salvo: My pleasure. I feel very honoured to do this for DDTTRH, and I have to admit that I’m quite embarrassed as I feel that a huge spotlight has been just pointed at me, and that’s not quite my due. I mean I do what I do with the site, the online presence in the Duran Duran message boards and other little activities to promote the band just to direct in a positive and concrete direction the great passion for this band that has been with me every single day of my life since I was a 12, not really to promote myself. So again, this is a real honour to me and I want to say that I’m just one of the many die-hard fans out there…

Yes, that sentence ‘every single day of my life’ might sound as a commonplace but that’s just the truth. I can’t actually remember a day in my life since I was a kid without doing something related to Duran Duran (listening to their music, organizing a trip to see them somewhere in Europe, collecting their stuff, writing an article for a fanzine, scrapbooking in the 80s and web-surfing to find some cool news today).

That has been a long, long, journey and I can’t actually remember a low period of ‘duranmania’ in my life, I was there when Wild boys was released and they were on the front cover of every single magazine and on every tv show but I was there also when Medazzaland was released, in Usa only, and you could barely see them in any media, in the band there were only two of the orginal fab five and they were even dropped by EMI.

When I try to look at myself from the outside I always get surprised realising how the passion has always been there, exactly the same, during the last 3 decades and was even the same, possibly stronger, during one of the lowest times of Duran Duran’s career, Pop Trash.

Someone Else Not Me! Salvo and the band reduced to a 3 piece in Milan during the Pop Trash promotion.

Almost 39 years old, father of two, in the last few years I have asked myself on more than one occasion why this passion has never abandoned me. I just think that it has never left me firstly because Duran Duran, their music, their vision, their art, immediately became part of me, just one of the aspects of my personality… it’s in my blood I guess, in my dna, or should I say DDna?

I always been very very critical of myself, even ruthless sometimes. I apply criticism to every aspect of my life so despite the loyalty and the passion, I have never permitted duranmania to drive my life. I always gave importance to many other things and interests, human relationship above all. So I guess the secret of the longevity of some die-hard fans over the years is just constancy, balance and love diluted in a long time, not only when a new album gets released, which is even easier when the album is successful.

I think I’ve lived these almost 30 years of duranmania with balance, no big excesses, (well maybe a bit when I was younger, but that was fun!), just a bit of Duran every day. It’s like a 30 years old marriage: Duran Duran a band for life!

That sounds more like a psychoanalysis session than a proper interview but I’m just opening myself to you trying to give you the most sincere and real portrait of me not only as a long time fan but as a person. I’m sure some fans out there will identify themselves in some aspects of my story because there are really many great loyal fans in the Duran Duran community. They may not run a fansite but they have been huge duranies every day of their lives, they have all my appreciation and I’m just glad to be part of this great community.

With Nick at the Albert Watson exhibition in Milan, 2004.

Kirk, DDTTRH: When did Duranasty officially start? Do you have people helping you?

Salvo: behind duranasty.com there’s only me, I do it all on my own, I do the writing, the interviews, the visuals and the webdesign… it’s a lot of work, believe me.

The site isn’t one of those easy preformatted websites, it’s all designed by me because I want flexibility from a visual point of view and to easily change the design of the page and adapt it to the content from time to time. The Duran Duran fans have eyes for visuals and they also have great taste, knowing that I always operate in that ‘artsy’ direction!

Of course fans help me a lot passing along news and pics, there are regular emailers whom send in updates and web research.

Old style, the beginning of Duranasty: the old version of the site. A screencap dated 2002.

The site started in february 2002. I was freaking out with the news of the Duran Duran reunion, one of the most exciting moments of the Duran Duran history so I had to do something concrete to let the love flow in something cool, an homage to my favourie band.

I had to communicate with the rest of the fan base so this little baby, duranasty, saw the light on february 2nd 2002, the same day Planet Earth was released back in 1981. Next year is gonna be duranasty.com’s 10th anniversary!

It had no claims, there were already plenty of cool DD fan sites, very professional ones, and mine was just a home-made website and it used a web public service, it was hosted on Geocities!

Geocities was free so it had bandwhith limits. I soon discovered that there was a lot of interest on the site from the fans because when it had too many connections it wasn’t available for some hours as it run out of bandwith.

So it started like a little tribute to Duran Duran and it soon became something bigger. Getting the domain name was a little success to me as it was the moment when I understood that duranasty became something more than what I had originally projected and expected.

“Posing with Simon who asked me to hold his helmet” London 1996

Kirk: Why did you name the site “Duranasty” and use the payoff “The Life and Times of Duranasty”?

Well, I explained this a couple of times on message boards and I like the fact that isn’t that obvious. The word duranasty is a neologism coined by the founding members Nick Rhodes and John Taylor. Nick used that word to describe Duran Duran’s long [and sometime troubled] history during a Duran tv special back in the late 90’s, one of those pre-reunion specials; He just compared the band’d history to a soap opera, Dynasty, I just loved the way he stared that sentence with that laugh: ‘The life and time of duranasty”, that’s where the site’s name comes from. Back in November 1997, when John was out of the band, he said to a journalist: “We used to say it was like ‘Duranasty’, Duran Duran is like this fucking soap opera.”

July 2010. With the founding members when he payed a visit to the band at their London recoding studio. The band guys putting final touches to All You Need Is Now.

That word says it all to me, it was the perfect name to give to the my webzine, a way to celebrate the history of the band. “Duranasty.com is a site with one step into the past, one in the present and eyes always looking to the future”, that’s the sentence I used in the splash page to celebrate the 30 anniversary of Planet Earth. I think it just declares duransty.com’s mission.
The site just celebrates the band’s deeds and it often provides stuff such as pictures, scans, all stuff that the fans loves to get, but its stronger aspect I guess are the special pages, the reports and the exclusive interviews, stuff that has been done regularly over the latest 5 years, especially when there was almost nothing to report about, in periods when the guys were slowly recording the album. The site, with its regular updates and its always positive and enthusiastic attitude toward the band has just contributed to keep the Duran flame burning.

Since the newest album has been released, thanks also go to the great promo jobs that Simon, John, Nick, Roger and their team are doing. We get daily updates from Duran Duran’s official sites, facebook and now even personal updates from John and Simon on twitter. They are doing such a great job and I just love this kind of instantaneous interaction, it’s just what the fan-base wants, we want to be part of the process and with internet now we are all part of the process and all authors in first person of Duran Duran’s success (just think what we all did with the iTunes release on december 21!). I hope they’ll keep this kind of connection and interaction also when things will be quieter and there won’t be much report about.

With Simon and Nick at the Milan Municipality the day they got ‘Style Icons of The 20th Century’ recognition back in February.

Kirk, DDTTRH: So I know you can't talk about Duran Duran and not mention the loyal fans in Italy. Why do you think Italy has become such a loyal country to the band?

Salvo: As you all know in late February Duran Duran came to Milan to receive the recognition ‘Style Icons of The 20th Century’ and launch the new album. During those days they often used the sentence “Italy loves Duran, Duran loves Italy” to describe the deep relationship that links the band to my country. I don’t know how it actually happened, why Duran Duran, but there’s a strong empathy between Italian fans, the general public and these guys.

That empathy started in the mid 80s, duranmania arrived here only in late 1984. Duran came a couple of times on promotional tour in ‘82 and ‘84 but the hysteria only exploded in late 84/early 85 (their presence at Sanermo Festival ‘85 was just the beginning of the Duran fandom which culminated in the Strange Behaviour Tour two years later). That’s incredible if you think that their first live Italian tour only arrived in 1987. You might ask why they connected so well and so deeply with the audience if they didn’t tour the nation in those years?

Maybe it was all emphasized by the fact that we couldn’t get them, they were the untouchable stars and their image passed only through a poster or the tv screen so they soon became a myth. The more the people wanted them the more couldn’t get them. In marketing this is called ‘Marketing of Deprivation’, the more you want a product and you desperately seek for it, the more you can’t get it as the company deliberately doesn’t distribute. They just want people to talk about the product, to generate the myth. It’s a strategy that increases the request for the product.

But that wasn’t the case with Duran Duran. There wasn’t any strategy behind the fact that we couldn’t get them live in Italy, and it wasn’t that they didn’t want to come. It just wasn’t possible. In fact, the years when duranmania exploded in Italy were also the years when the band split up into two bands, Arcadia and Power Station plus we had John and Andy Taylor’s solo projects.

This whole scenery helped to generate the myth of Duran Duran in Italy, they represented more than just great pop music and video clips, they became a social fact.

Laughs with Dom and John in the hot southern Italy during the Red Carpet Massacre Tour.

Simon Le Bon in the 80's would have had a laugh and dismissed this mass phenomenon. He once said “It’s just because of the blue eyes and the blond hair, having blue eyes and blond hair in Italy!” in answer to a journalist’s comment about the news (reported in a major newspaper) that 90% of the Italian students in 1987 knew who Simon Le Bon was but they didn’t actually know the name of the Italian President.

I guess the band captured with its music and its imagination an entire generation of dreaming Italian teenagers. It actually became something bigger then band itself and it involved not only the fans but also their families (we were all in our very early teens, and what was happening surprised everyone), the media (Duran were on the front cover of all kind of magazines every week from 85/87) and even some sociologists and psychologists were involved, as observers, in the process.

It wasn’t only about the music, they were icons, teenagers just identified their own dreams in Duran Duran’s music and in their videos.

I think it happened to Duran Duran not only because they were a great pop band, but also because Italy has never really lived a huge mass phenomenon like the Beatles or Elvis. Of course those myths and the fandom around them arrived here, but not with the same impact that those stars had in UK, USA and other parts of the world. Italy got its very first episode of mass phenomenon and fan-hysteria with Duran Duran, which became a social fact, unique in terms of fan-following, people and media involved in the process.

Everything happening with new bands after Duran Duran has always been considered a replica of those Duran years. Nothing as strong has actually happened again.

With Roger in London, early Astronaut sessions, June 2002.

Besides the social aspect of it I have to say that anything Duran have done over three decades, every time they had a new record to promote, there has always been great attention from the Italian media (even though back in the days some journalists had slagged them accusing ’em of being just a pop sensation for teenagers).

Nothing Duran-related has gone unnoticed, even a remix like Burning the Ground to launch their Decade, back in late ‘89, was something to talk about in the media or John Taylor’s involvement with Johnatan Elias’s Requiem for the Americas has led him on a popular prime time tv show. Where this would have happened in the 90s?

Duran Duran has always been considered a big act here and they still generate an awful lot of media attention. So if in 1990 in the UK the only way to be on the cover of a magazine and promote Liberty was posing with their wives and newborns in their beautiful houses, here in Italy they still had front covers of music magazines and they were interviewed about their records.

Love is mutual and has never ended, that’s why Italy was one of the first countries in the world where AYNIN reached #1 in December and now, with the physical release, the only country were they have touched the top ten.

Duran Duran here is a social fact, they are part of our lives, at least of everyone who has lived the 80s with young eyes. They are part of our collective imagination and this is a great base to start if the music you offer to your public continues to be top quality and always contemporary like Duran Duran’s music.

END OF PART 1

To visit Duranasty, please go to duranasty.com.

For more information about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort and to sign our petition, please visit our hub site at www.ddttrh.info.

Petition Blitz examples....4 more days!!!

2011-04-03T12:02:00.001-07:00

There's 4 more days to help with the DDTTRH AYNIN petition blitz! To help you out, here are a few examples of postings I (Kirk, DDTTRH) did, so you can see what we are asking you to do:

Check out these links:

http://music.ign.com/articles/115/1157267p1.html

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2011/02/25/_duran_duran_lands_style_honor_

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2011/03/15/duran_duran_david_lynch_team_up_for_c#Searchresult

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/twincities-pioneer-press/T5EC9LONOETBDITTH#lastPost

http://www.popeater.com/2011/03/31/the-beautiful-people-were-rocked-by-duran-duran/#comments

Something I learned is that while some of these forums require you to set up a login account, others may not. The nice thing is that for the ones where you need to set up a login, you can choose to receive or not receive emails from them. Some of these venues also offer multiple Duran Duran articles to post to.

Thanks everyone for all you are doing! Lets keep up the momentum! All you need is NOW to get the word out about our petition!

Kirk DDTTRH

Dedication to my wife of 15 years

2011-03-29T04:33:00.000-07:00

I will be married to my wife, Claudia, 15 years as of today the 30th of March. It has been a crazy ride! We have lived in 4 different cities (now Cleveland), been through some tough periods of unemployment, and lived through several harsh winters (in Cleveland and Buffalo).

In my first several years of marriage, it was very difficult for me. I had gone through a bad breakup and add to that that I was an 'only child' trying to learn to share my love with another person...it led to a period in our marriage that I was indifferent to my wife in many ways. I had forgot to do the little things for her that showed her how much I cared.

In the past year or two, my heart has been changing. I have come to see how wrong I was and I want to spend the rest of my life showing my wife the courtesy and love she so deserves.

There were moments when I was worried she would leave me (and looking back I would have deserved it). I did not realize I hurt her so badly. I was so caught up in myself, my pain, my problems...that I should have realized she was there all along for me (and I should have reciprocated that more).

I love her so much and hope she will 'leave a light on' for me as I go through this change of my heart. I beg her for patience with me...I want to make it worth it for her so badly. She has been so committed to me...always staying by my side...even in the most difficult of times.

I want her to know how much I appreciate her and I want to dedicate this song...Leave a Light On, by Duran Duran in honor of her and our 15 years together. The reason I chose this song is that when I heard it, it had the exact feelings I have now...pleading that my wife will 'leave a light on for me'. I hope those reading this story may change their hearts towards those around them that love them...who they may be overlooking.

Kirk, DDTTRH

Link to Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uheQI03MADU

Leave a Light On, by Duran Duran

So come the evening
I'm out on the dunes
Looking for a token, something to prove
All I remember, is more than a flame
In my fantasy fire

Whatever I've done to receive
Whatever I need to redeem
Whatever you say
Even if I wait a lifetime

CHORUS
I know, I swear
If you leave a light on, if you leave a light on for me
I'll come there
You can leave a light on for me

In comes the morning
I'm stirred in my track
Looking at the reasons for me to head back
So unexpected
The kindness you've shown
That I will not forget it

Whatever I've done to receive
Whatever I need to redeem
Whatever you say
Even if I wait a lifetime

CHORUS
I know, I swear
If you leave a light on, if you leave a light on for me
I'll come there
You can leave a light on for me

You breathe the will into the weak
And coax the caged bird to fly free. You ease the lost cause out of me
With your sweet hand to bring me home

I'm not alone

Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh
Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh
Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh
Oh, Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh

CHORUS
I know, I swear
If you leave a light on, if you leave a light on for me
I'll come there
You can leave a light on for me

REPEAT CHORUS
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/d/duran_duran/leave_a_light_on.html ]

Jason Henry's daughter in Independent Film

2011-03-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Hey DDTTRH fans! Our very own Jason Henry's daughter is starring in an independent film entitled 'Amy George' (and she plays Amy!). It is going to be featured at the Wisconsin film fest on April 3, 2011. For more information on the Film fest, go to:
http://filmguide.wifilmfest.org/tixSYS/2011/xslguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=3007

You can also watch the trailer at this website.

I received this message from him recently! Please show your support! Thanks! Kirk at DDTTRH

Hi folks! My daughter, Emily, is in her first independent film and needs your support. Please go to http://www.facebook.com/l/9f0843f2WFr-S7XFqkqYtXHMBOA/www.amygeorgemovie.com/. She plays Amy and the trailer looks great!! Please have a look, it may be in a theater near you soon!

Find the Facebook link on the website and "like" it!!!

Thanks!!!
Jason
Amy George
www.amygeorgemovie.com
Thirteen year old Jesse wants to be an artist, but believes that his mundane middle class Toronto life has left him unprepared. After reading a book on what it takes to be a "true-artist", he sets out looking for risk, ecstasy, wildness and women. Amy George is a microbudget independent drama about

All You Need is Now to Sign our Petition Promotion

2011-03-22T04:26:00.001-07:00

The All You Need is Now to sign our petition promotion starts today!!! If you missed the posting, click here to be taken there!

http://ddrockhall.blogspot.com/2011/03/all-you-need-is-now-to-sign-our.html

Kirk, DDTTRH

DDTTRH Q & A

2011-03-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all that are promoting DDTTRH. In an effort to help you promote us better, we've put together this Q&A that can be used to help those who don't know about us understand us better...

DDTTRH Q&A

When did this effort start...where did it start?

The idea for this effort happened in early 2009, in Cleveland, Ohio (home of the Rock Hall). Kirk, the Lead Effort Organizer and member of the DDTTRH council, was disturbed to learn that Duran Duran was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The effort did not really officially start happening till after November 2009. The first staff began being added in March 2010. Jason Henry, our Youtube guy, was the first staff member.

What else motivated Kirk to start this effort?

Kirk became unemployed in 2009. Instead of wallowing in misery and self-inflicted pity, he decided to give something back to the band that has meant so much to him over the years (and in about every phase of his life). This effort is dedicated to them and the amazing contributions they have made to the music world.

Does Duran Duran know about DDTTRH?

They know of us, however are not openly supporting us because of the nature of our effort. If you think about it, if the honor of being inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame comes to Duran Duran, they cannot be seen as influencing it in any way. It would not be cool or classy...as Duran Duran most definitely is.

I would say that the best 'bellweather' for how they feel has come from Duran Duran's media group and from Duran Duran's friends that support us. In our talks with them, Duran Duran's media group has expressed nothing but excitement and gratitude for our effort. Looking closely enough at the fans who support us, you will find names like Nathan Stack of Autohypnosis, Neil Carlill of Chicanery, Nile Rodgers, Stephane Leclair...prime examples of 'friends of the band' that work with the band or have worked with them at a given stage in their career. We have it on good word as well through Neil Carlill that Warren is 'cool' with our effort (you Rock Warren!).

Who is LadyAslan?

LadyAslan is the publicist that represents DDTTRH to the music community. She has interviewed for us over 70 bands and artists for the cause and has shown amazing commitment in 'getting people talking' about Duran Duran and their music (and fashion) contributions. She is also an award winning and published poet. You can read more about her at http://ladyaslan.com/index.htm.

Who leads DDTTRH?

DDTTRH is led by a council of 4 people. Four seemed like a good number because its also the number of band members in Duran Duran. The great thing about having a council is that the DDTTRH council members have a say (through vote) of how this effort proceeds and succeeds.

Who is on the DDTTRH Council? How long do they serve?

Currently, our members are LadyAslan, Kandice Purpura (also our 'Petition Duchess'), Christian Helwig (our internet sites liaison), and Kirk Harrington (the found of DDTTRH and only permanent member). All members of the council serve 9 months and may be re-elected.

Does the Rock Hall know about DDTTRH?

Kirk has been to the Rock Hall several times and dropped of flyers. They also follow our Tweets. We're pretty sure they know about us.

What are some amazing things going on at DDTTRH?

Besides the artist interviews, we are getting support from many Duran Duran premier fan sites. Plus, there are online radio and news outlets taking interest in us. We have released several press releases (so far with local newspapers). We have interviewed with Yahoo News, which is a national outlet. Our Youtube presence is growing as we are seeing releases of fan-made videos for our cause (which we are so appreciative of).

We are also doing ongoing research on the band, research which we present on our site and is intended for the decision makers in the Rock Hall committees.

Who are some of the big names that have lent their voice of support to DDTTRH?

In the music community: Nile Rodgers, Owen Paul Mcgee (Ex-Simple Minds), Scarlet Soho, Neil Carlill, Your Vegas, Scissor Sisters, Erik Alexandrakis.

In the fan community: Andy Golub (Durandy), Duranasty (Duran Duran Italy), Gimme a Wristband, NUNO

Online radio, news outlets: Radio Creme Brulee, Steve Spears (St. Petersburg Times)

Other: M. Douglas Silverstein (director/producer)

What do you mean that Duran Duran has not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...are you serious? What is the Rock Hall thinking?

Yes, sadly its true. A band that has delivered such a major contribution to the music industry, has not been inducted into the place where they should so naturally fit in. At DDTTRH, we are trying to raise awareness to this fact and we are inviting the Rock Hall to change its ways...to return to its former glories...to make more meaningful choices for inductees (that are not so led by politics, the sales of tickets for their posh and expensive induction ceremonies, and committee-led opinions). We at DDTTRH believe that the Rock Hall is doing an injustice to the music community and to the people, by not letting deserving bands in. And when we say deserving bands, we mean those that have made real historic contributions...that deserve to be written into the annals of music history.

All You Need is Now to 'Sign our Petition' Blitz Promotion

2011-03-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

All You Need is Now to Sign our Petition BLITZ Promotion!!!!

Right after the release of All You Need is Now on CD, we need your help to get the word out about our effort (and we will give out DDTTRH merchadise for your help)! Here's what we need you to do....

* Right after AYNIN is officially released in its CD form, for a period of 14 days (the number of songs on All You Need is Now), we need you to find news articles, radio/TV stations, and Major Duranie sites.....AND.....where there are places to comment at these venues...please comment about DDTTRH and our petition!

* Write down where you placed your comment (link is preferred) and at the end of 14 days, send an email to us with the information

Here's what you get for helping....

For everyone that helps, as long as you have taken good record of your posts with a link, you will get a free DDTTRH bumper sticker.

The one with the most recorded posts will get a DDTTRH T-shirt.

PROMOTION RULES, PLEASE READ! :

When the blitz promotion begins it will be announced on all our DDTTRH sites...so stay tuned! If you do anything prior to when we announce, it will not count.

Please use our hub website address in your posts and mention our petition!(www.ddttrh.info). There is a button on the main page that people can click to get to it.

We cannot just take your word for it that you helped, you must keep track of the places you posted and email those to us by the end of the promotion period.

No entries will be accepted 48 hours after the promotion period ends. Also, no entries will be accepted if the posts were done within this 48 hour period.

Posting places that COUNT:
*Comments to any news articles online.
*Comments on major Duranie/Duran Duran sites (i.e. over 5,000 fans)
*Radio and/or TV stations (for these, please provide a link to the radio's website and a contact where we can verify)

Posting places that DON'T COUNT:
*On your personal facebook page
*On your personal blogs
*Twitters to your friends

For questions and entries, please email Kirk through the link at ddttrh.info.

Here are some taglines you could use as an example....

On a news site comment (where they have an article about AYNIN)...

"Duran Duran's album is awsome! I love the song 'The Man Who Stole a Leopard'. If you think Duran Duran is legendary, please go to www.ddttrh.info and check out the Duran Duran to the Rock Hall petition!!!"

"Duran Duran is legendary. They have proven time and time again (and especially with the release of this new album) that they are amazing musicians worthy of record in the annals of time and history. If you think the same way, please go to www.ddttrh.info and click the 'sign petition' button."

Please hand out flyers!!!!

2011-03-10T18:18:00.000-08:00

Are you going to be at a Duran Duran concert soon? Please go to www.ddttrh.info under the 'Help Promote' section to print out our flyers to hand out!

If you can take a picture of yourself doing it...we will include you in a special blog!!!!

Kirk, DDTTRH

777 Visits!

2011-03-10T18:10:00.000-08:00

I just love the number 7, don't you?

Interview with Steve Spears, St. Petersburg Times

2011-03-05T02:47:00.001-08:00

Our petition Duchess, Kandice, knows Steve Spears (also from Florida). He
is the news editor for the entertainment section with the St. Petersburg
Times. If you go to his blog, which can be found at
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/80s/, you can tell that its all about the 80's...the era of breakdancing and parachute pants (oh my..I can't believe even I wore those things), Ronald Reagan, amazing 80's bands (like Duran Duran), Pee Wee Herman, Ghostbusters, and many other crazy things. He's on Facebook, he's on Twitter, he even has a podcast on iTunes.

Kirk from DDTTRH presents Steve Spears, from the St. Petersburg Times and Stuckinthe80's!!!

Kirk, DDTTTRH: So Steve...how do you know Kandice (our Petition Duchess)?

Steve: I am one with the Duraniverse, so fans like Kandice can't do the
Re-flex (flex-flex-flex-flex-flex) without me noticing. Plus, she's an
enthusiastic member of the Stuck in the '80s Nation.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Many people say that Duran Duran is just an 80's band. For
someone that is 'stuck in the 80's' as you are, what would you say to this?

Steve: They are the ultimate '80s band in most every way: the fashion, the
music, the videos. They represent everything that was truly great about the
decade. And much like the '80s themselves, they hit a speed bump right
after Live Aid. If they hadn't lost their momentum after that show, who
knows how much better my beloved decade could have been? But obviously they
continued to motor on through to today -- much like REM, U2, etc. So while
they are the ultimate '80s band, they're not "just" an '80s band.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Tell us about how 'Stuck in the 80's' began? What inspires
you about the 80's so much? I still can't believe I wore those parachute
pants when I was a kid...lol. I used to love going to the Skating rink
with them on and breakdancing with my friends (oh man...I may be giving
away 'Too Much Information' on that one [:)

Steve: Thankfully I never bought a pair of parachute pants. But
rollerskating, navy blue corduroys, concert jerseys and feathered hair? Oh
yeah, that's me. Or that "was" me. Stuck in the '80s started as a podcast
(and it's still a podcast on iTunes that people can listen to for free).
And then it expanded into a blog and Facebook group too. Basically, I began
it because I worked in the Web department of my newspaper (the great St.
Petersburg Times), and I wanted a way to do "work" that didn't seem like
work. Ta-dah! Let's just talk about the '80s! When I found out people
around the world were listening in, that was a huge rush. I think what
inspires me about the '80s is that it was our last true era of innocence
and safety. Plus, it's personal to me because I spent my formative years
there. I began high school in 81 and finished college in 89.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame? Why?

Steve: It absolutely KILLS me that they're not there now and acts like
Madonna and U2 are. Seriously, you gotta wonder what brand of glue they're
stiffing up in Cleveland. But in a way, not being in the hall is almost a
badge of honor these days. Look at some of the other acts that aren't
there: Journey, Rush, Kiss, Weird Al Yankovic. Okay, maybe not Weird Al.
But our beloved DD will make it sooner than later.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Recently at DDTTRH, we've added an edge...to invite the Rock
Hall to change how it inducts artists. We believe it needs some New
Romantic flavoring. Do you think the Rock Hall needs to change how it does
things? Simon LeBon recently commented that he does not agree with the
black tie ceremonies and the pompous nature that the Rock Hall has created
for itself....how it has imposed itself on the industry and its choices for
nominees are too subjective. Do you think there's truth behind Simon's
words? Do you think 'being in the Rock Hall' has lost any meaning? If you
agree that the Rock Hall needs to change...what do you think needs to
happen?

Steve: I absolutely agree with Simon. In fact, if Simon tells me to grow my
hair back out long enough to feather it again and to put on parachute
pants, I'd be headed to Chess King right now. The Hall is controlled by the
stuffed shirts at Rolling Stone magazine, and they lost their cool factor a
LONG time ago. That's what I say DD shouldn't be too upset about not being
included at this point.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Tell us more about what you do with the St. Petersburg
Times?

Steve: I'm the daily entertainment editor for the paper. If Lindsey Lohan
sneezes, I'm there with a tissue. I also get to interview celebs when they
come to town for the paper. Naturally I go for all the '80s acts. Among my
favorites to interview to date: AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Howard Jones, Human
League's Phil Oakey and Rick Springfield. All the interviews are available
on the podcast. They're great fun to listen to.

Kirk, DDTTRH: This is an off-the-wall question...hope you don't mind...so
you know that I'm from Cleveland, right? Its depressing up here without
Lebron James (well...and without the sun these days with all the
snow--please send us some!). I hope you guys in Florida are happy with him
(grrrrr) [: [:. How do you think Cleveland can hold onto something after
the departure of Lebron?

Steve: Let me let you in no a little secret. In Tampa Bay, where I live, we
absolutely HATE Miami and pro basketball in general. Trust me when I say
Lebron and Miami were meant for each other.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I am assuming you grew up in the 80's, right? What exciting
experiences have you had with 'Stuck in the 80's so far? Have you met any
of your idols?

Steve: Oh sure. Almost everyone I interview I also meet in person. Pete
Byrne of Naked Eyes sang a song for me backstage. And I e-mail back and
forth with Martha Quinn all the time. And during the worst breakup of my
life, Valley Girl's Debbie Foreman called me and helped me through it. It's
not a bad life being stuck in the '80s!

Kirk, DDTTRH: Thanks so much Steve for promoting our effort and our
petition. What wisdom would you impart to us at DDTTRH as we continue this
amazing journey?

Steve: Don't say a prayer for Duran Duran now. Save it for the morning
after they get inducted!

Thanks so much Steve for interviewing with us!

To follow Steve at his newspaper...go to this link!

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall and to sign our petition, please go to www.ddttrh.info and click 'Sign Petition'!

Duran Duran songs I've heard at places I've been

2011-03-05T02:26:00.000-08:00

Have you heard a Duran Duran song when you've been out? Isn't it inspiring to be shopping and that amazing song comes on? Every time I hear one, I get that good feeling inside...that motivation I need for my day.

It's becoming so common to me lately, that I thought it would be fun to track what I've heard and where ever I've heard it since I started this DDTTRH effort. Please comment if this has happened to you!

2011:
Walgreens (a pharmacy): Rio...on the store's radio when I bought copies of the Sun Press paper that was released in Cleveland.

Office Depot: Come Undone...when I was buying a new desk chair.

Giant Eagle (a supermarket): Electric Barbarella, What Happens Tomorrow
On one occasion I was in the bakery section and another on the way out at the cashier as I was buying ingredients to a White Lightning Chili recipe.

If this has happened to you...please share with us where and what you were doing as a comment to the blog!!!

Kirk, DDTTRH

First DDTTRH Poll Results

2011-03-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

The results of the first DDTTRH poll are in...we asked you what you thought was the greatest Duran Duran album of all time, and these were your answers...

All You Need is Now

66 (68%)

Rio

83 (85%)

Duran Duran

73 (75%)

Liberty

7 (7%)

Decade

2 (2%)

Greatest

10 (10%)

The Wedding Album

52 (53%)

Seven and the Ragged Tiger

52 (53%)

Medazzaland

15 (15%)

Thank you

6 (6%)

Pop Trash

8 (8%)

Notorious

44 (45%)

Big Thing

23 (23%)

Red Carpet Massacre

14 (14%)

So...the winners are Rio...Duran Duran...Seven and the Ragged Tiger tied with Wedding Album...and finally...All You Need is Now....their newest album!!!

Sorry for those who wanted to vote for Astronaut. Ask Christian sometime why he doesn't like that album. Thank you and Decade weren't that bad, were they???!!!

DDTTRH

Interview with Whispers in the Shadow

2011-02-26T02:58:00.000-08:00

Whispers in the Shadow can be described as an Epic Gothic Rock Band which is influenced by occult writings and themes.

"Whispers" was formed as a solo project by Ashley Dayour (Vocals, Guitars, also known as guitarist for L'Âme Immortelle & Veneno para las Hadas) in 1996.

They soon developed into a full line up and released the first album called "Laudanum" in 1997 followed by the second Album "November" in 1999. These first two records have been very influenced by the sound of early The Cure recordings such as "Pornography".

In 2000 they released the third album "A Taste of Decay" which was a departure to a more rock orientated sound. Followed only one year later by "Permanent Illusions" which was even more far away from the Gothic Rock origins of this band. Psychedelic and progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd had a major influence on the sound of this record.

After touring all across Europe in 2001 they released the first live album called "Everything you knew was wrong" in 2003, but several line up and record label changes forced them to take a break.

Whispers in the Shadow returned in 2007 with the live recorded "A-Cold-Night" followed by the re-releases of the first two albums "Laudanum" and "November" ,remastered with new cover artwork and unreleased bonus tracks.

In 2008 they finally released the fifth studio album, the first one in seven years, called "Into the arms of chaos". This album can be seen as a new beginning and is produced by John A.Rivers at Woodbine Street Recording Studios. He also worked with bands such as The Chameleons, Clan of Xymox, Love and Rockets, Dead can Dance or Sopor Aeternus and created a more harsh and powerful but still dark and psychedelic sound, which was described by the press now as "Goth-Floyd" a mixture of the traditional Gothic Rock sound like Fields of the Nephilim with the soundscapes of Pink Floyd The lyrics are inspired by Chaos Magic and Occult writers such as Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, but also writers from the Weird Fiction genre like Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen and the Cthulhu Mythos by H.P.Lovecraft.

Ladyaslan presents....Whispers in the Shadows

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Whispers in the Shadow:

First of all I have to confess that I’m not such a Duran Duran fan as you and your readers might be, but having said that I really do like what I know of them, so therefore yeah they deserve that. Even though I’m really not sure if I get that whole Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame concept. The music is good enough without such a thing, but if it makes them and the fans happy of course!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Whispers in the Shadow ( are you / band H.P. Lovecraft fans ). Tell us about the band members and how you all met.

Whispers in the Shadow:

Yeah indeed, our band name was inspired by the H.P.Lovecraft story “The Whisperer in the dark”.

I’m pretty much under the influence of the whole Lovecraft creation. There are a lot of references in the lyrics. Just take a song like “Down by the Sea” which is very inspired by a story called “The Shadow over Innsmouth” for example.

But there are other writers as well, also from an occult background such as the well known Aleister Crowley, Austin Osman Spare, Kenneth Grant or more post modern writers such as Peter Carroll and Thomas Karlsson.

*ASHLEY DAYOUR (Voice, Guitar)

Since I’m doing all the interviews alone I will just tell you how I meet the other guys.

I started the band back in 1996, as a solo project, but soon became a complete band.

*FORK (Bass)

I knew Fork long before he was in the band, in 1999 our first bass player left the band and me and Fork shared a house together at the country-side. We got along really well so I just asked him to join for a view shows we had ahead supporting HIM. After that he just stayed and I’m very happy he still does, even though he left the band from 2001-2005 to go to India for a while, but he came back and I’m very glad he joined us again at the right time.

*MARTIN ACID (Keyboards)

Was pretty much the same story with Martin, I knew him long before he was in the band. When I decided that we need a proper keyboard player I asked him and he stayed ever since. I did the keyboards until he came, and I’m far from being good at it, we needed someone who would contribute on another level.

*REINHARD SCHWARZINGER (Drums)

He just joined the band a couple of months ago and came to us when Curt Benes left the band because of private reasons. It was very hard to find a new drummer, we tested like 20 or so…and I was very relieved when Reinhard came into rehearsing room for an audition, just after one song I was sure, he’s the one.

*LAZY SCHULZ (Guitars)

I also knew him a long, long time before he actually joined the band; he really liked our stuff since the very first album and came to see us in Germany a couple of times. That’s where we first met. Then he did the support of one of our shows with his own band “The Eminence”, that’s where Fork and me realized if we ever need a 2nd guitar player he could be the one. About a year later or so he did a fantastic remix of an old track called “Train”, that’s when we decided to get him into the band. Playing with 2 guitars is so much more fun. It took us a while to meet the right guy who understands what “Whispers in the Shadow” guitars are all about, but he really does.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Whispers in the Shadow: Well very obvious choice, it must be The Wild Boys. Simply because it was the very first tune I ever heard from them. I still remember watching the video on telly when I was little on some Austrian chart show. I must confess I love these bombastic over the top 80’s videos.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about Whispers in the Shadow recorded cover version of the Leonard Cohen classic; “First We Take Manhattan ” with Miss Vic Alsemo on guest vocals?

Whispers in the Shadow: We don’t do a lot of cover versions; I rather tend to use the energy it takes to make a good one into one of our own songs. But “First we take Manhattan ” really works, it is part of our live set and I guess it was time to do a studio version of it. I really liked the idea of using female vocals on this track so I just asked Vic to join in; and she did an amazing job. BTW you really should check out her music, the debut album “Trapped in a dream” is out for a while and really worth a listen. One of the main reasons we choose to do “Manhattan” was, it is not a Gothic or Wave sort of song, and a rather commercial tune really. It would be boring to cover songs from the same genre if you know what I mean. Cover songs which have the same background are too easy, too obvious.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion in the past 30 yrs?

Whispers in the Shadow:

Again this is a difficult question since I’m not too familiar with their whole back catalog. There’ve been a lot of good bands in the 80’s and they changed the face of music and fashion in many ways, I would say Duran Duran was one of them, and one of the best ones!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Whispers in the Shadow:

As for cover version I already said my point before but let me think. The Chauffeur, and transform that one into a fast Goth Rock tunes, which could be nice. I really like the lyrics of this one too. When I think about it, this is my favorite song of Duran Duran.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Whispers of the Shadow to new fans who have never heard your music before ?

Whispers in the Shadow: The Press often calls us “Goth Floyd” or “Post Gothic Rock” that sounds fine to me.

I would call it Goth Rock but I mean Goth back at the time when it was still a great and epic genre, long before it became a silly thing all about skulls and coffins and how you dress. There were some great bands in the late 80’s early 90’s before Grunge really destroyed everything with this nihilistic anger against everything glamorous ;)

Nothing against grunge, actually it was necessary, like Punk was in the 70’s!

But, what we are trying to do is to bring that forgotten melodic guitar driven and somehow psychedelic, epic sound, combined with modern production techniques back into Gothic Rock.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your Producer, John A. Rivers whom you all worked with on the fifth studio album “Into the Arms of Chaos” at Woodbine Street Recording Studios. (He also worked with bands such as The Chameleons, Clan of Xymox, Love and Rockets, Dead can Dance or Sopor Aeternus).

Whispers in the Shadow: I knew John from another band I worked with in the past (L’ame Immortelle). We recorded 2 albums with him and since that time I knew I really want to make a WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW LP

with him. I would never have thought of someone better to mix “Into the Arms of Chaos”. He sees the studio the same way as I do, as another instrument, and of course he has a lot of experience. I mean some of the bands he worked with are my favorites. It was a very successful combination and it was the right album to do with him, I’m still very happy with that record.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Whispers in the Shadow: Hmm not really sure, I guess I would choose the drummer, because they are always the last people you think of, but in fact they hold it all together, so this way he won’t feel lonely anymore. Ha-ha..

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Whispers in the Shadow could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Whispers in the Shadow:

Difficult question, there is a lot of music out there I really like. Not really sure, I guess it would be David Bowie.

Yeah, we should do a cover version of “Heroes” with him doing some backing vocal parts hahaha…No seriously, actually I do not know.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was the inspiration behind your new track The Lost Souls?

Whispers in the Shadow:

The Lost Souls is one of my favorite tracks from or latest album THE ETERNAL ARCANE which came out in April. In the past we never really managed to get the depth and power we achieved with the more epic songs into the shorter, faster ones. This track stands out for me that way. I wanted to write a really basic guitar driven Gothic Rock tune I would love to listen to myself. The lyrics are about the ancient Sumerian culture, and the Anunnaki legend.

About the race of fallen angels who came down to earth to have intercourse with the human wife’s. It also deals with the question what happened with the offspring of those relations. Basic rock n’ roll lyrics I suppose: it has everything: Gods, Sex, and Drugs ;-)

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Ashley tell us about your stint as the guitarist in the band L’ame immortelle & Veneno para las Hadas.

Whispers in the Shadow:

Well L’ame Immortelle asked me to help them out as a guitar player when they discovered that a rock band needs such a thing. I said yes and until today we did about 3 or 4 albums together. Being on tour with them is a completely different thing,, I am only concentrating on the guitar playing and don’t have to care about much else, good fun really. As far as the Mexican project “Veneno para las hadas” goes, I did one album with them, wrote songs and played guitar on that one, after that our way’s departed, I’m actually not really sure if the album came out after all. But there is an EP with stuff from those sessions. It is far more experimental stuff, far more electronic, it came at the right time in my life when I was more into electronic sounds, which I really enjoyed exploring.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American Tour Dates?

Whispers of the Shadow:

Well touring the USA for a European band is not an easy thing to do; besides I’m aware that we are pretty unknown there at the moment, so there is not really a chance to see us somewhere in America in the near future, except someone invites us to come over and do some festivals shows or anything like that. But you’ll never know. Just spread the word and maybe one day we will make it over the great lake to rock the US .

To FOLLOW Whispers in the Shadow:

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/WHISPERS-IN-THE-SHADOW/71863231254

MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/whispersintheshadow

Official Website:

http://www.noizeart.com/

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, please visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with Derek Sumisu, Duran Duran - In Review

2011-02-26T02:42:00.000-08:00

This is the "Duran Duran - In Review" Podcast interview. The podcast is the very first Duran Duran specific podcast and it aired its first episode on October 2, 2005.

the show started out as very one sided but it soon became much more multi-dimensional. the listeners of the show have become producers as well. many listeners have taken the time to write and suggest ideas or merely offer their support for the show.

The podcast can be downloaded for free on iTunes or you can go directly to http://figital.libsyn.com and get the episodes directly from there.

The show also has a Facebook page. Do a search for DuranDuranPodcast and you'll find it!!

The podcast has touched on a range of topics related to Duran Duran. Among them: Arcadia, An Andy Taylor Special, A Planet Earth Special (a critical look at the legendary first single), collector's corner, Duran Duran Springboard (a look at the musical influences of the band members), demos, rare recordings and much more.

Come and give it a listen. If you love Duran Duran you can't go wrong!!

Ladyaslan presents Derek Sumisu Podcast KING~

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Derek Sumisu:

Of course they do! A career that spans over 30 years, stacks of hits all over the planet, millions of records sold and innovation after innovation in technology, music and video seems to be deserving of such an honour, doesn’t it?? But that being said, apparently some music industry honchos don’t agree with my point of view? A bit of a shock really, isn’t it? ;-)

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you decided to do Duran Duran-In Review Podcast ? When and where can it be heard, for those new to you and your podcast?

Derek Sumisu::

Well, it started out in October 2005. At that time I was living in Melbourne, Australia and working at a record label. Podcasting was just making its niche in the tech world and I thought it might be a good idea for our label (clananalogue.org) to engage in this new medium to see what it could offer us in terms of reaching out to our audience in a new way. The label manager, Nicholas Wilson, was (and is) a stickler for details and he didn’t want to just run hully gully into making a podcast, so he asked me if I could think of a way to prototype the idea so he could see it in action. My first thought was; ‘sure, I’ll just make a Duran Duran podcast. It’ll be easy.’ So within a day I had the first episode done and I had done all the little things to get it ready to make it public. That first episode was published on October 2nd, 2005. What caught me by surprise, and what drove me (and still does drive me) to continue was the immediate response from an audience. It was up literally less than 24 hours and I had already received emails from people who had heard it and who were keen to hear more.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Derek Sumisu:

I can’t actually just narrow it down to one and one! A band that has had such a long and distinguished career as Duran Duran is certainly worthy of some sort of list! So here’s today’s version, because like life itself, this list changes frequently!

Winter marches on

Khanada

Secret Oktober

New religion

My Antarctica

Planet earth

The chauffeur

Faster than light

Skin divers

Out of my mind

As for videos, same story. Here’s a few that I adore today:

The wild boys (long version)

Is there something I should know?

All she wants is

Girls on film (night version)

Do you believe in shame?

Plus I love going on YouTube and checking out the interviews and live clips from all around the world.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about some of the topics discussed on the DD show?

Derek Sumisu:

Wow, there’s been a really broad range of topics. On some episodes, I just bring the listeners up to date on the news and in others I could get more into how Duran Duran has affected me and my life. It’s really not defined or dictated by any rules or topic list. Many times in the history of the show a fan has written in with a question or idea for a topic and I love that. One of the things I said in the earliest ep's was that I wanted the whole thing to be more of a two way street. That the listeners could do more than just listen if they were motivated to do so. That’s worked out really great as I have a great audience who never lack in good ideas!! But to give people an idea, here’s a short list of things that have been covered. Arcadia, Japan (the country and the band), Spandau Ballet, (both seriously and in massive jest) how Planet earth was made, what JT thinks of nose hair and literally tons more…the shows are usually segment based, so really anything could be covered.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Derek Sumisu:

There’s an incredible amount of contributions made by the band as a unit and by the members individually. It’s easy to pick a few key ones though…

I think being involved with band aid and live aid made the band really aware of charity and how a public figure can help raise awareness of something that people need to know about and confront. As well, the relationship they had with Princess Diana certainly informs them in this regard. I think these events totally open the door for them and their philanthropic interests. It’s a smart thing to be able to use your brand recognition to help raise money or awareness of a good cause. Duran has never been super preachy or in your face about such things, but they’ve always been very kind about donating time and effort to help with worthy causes all over the world.

In terms of technology, Duran has always been on the cutting edge. Nick was one of the first synthesists to embrace sampling technology in 1983 when he bought a FAIRLIGHT CMI. Roger was an early adopter of Simmons electronic drums in 1982. Duran Duran was the first major touring act to use a massive screen to enhance the visual aspect of the concert experience in 1983. Duran Duran won the first ever Grammy award for a long form video (video album) in 1984. Duran Duran was the first band to sell a download on the internet in 1997. Duran Duran was the first band to make an entire music video in flash in 2000. Duran Duran was the first band to implement an augmented reality setup into their live shows in the early 2000s. So that in itself is a more than 25 year legacy of immense achievements. Any artist working today would be proud to be able to name one such achievement in their entire career, let alone a list of really impressive feats like Duran Duran has!

Regarding fashion, I am just thankful that they helped me!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the podcast to new fans who have never heard your show before? Does the show have any sponsors?

Derek Sumisu:

It’s like a radio show but it encourages the listeners to be move active in directing how the show could go. As well, it’s a lot more multimedia than a simple radio show. There have been lots of videos and the format is totally open, so there are really not any limitations to where it could go. As well, I would venture to say that no episode of the show has been the same as any other.

The show is sponsor free! I feel this is the best way to be, since I am beholden to no one except myself in terms of all the decisions made concerning the show.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us a little about yourself ….what made you a loyal Duran Duran fan? Why did you start the podcast?

Derek Sumisu:

I grew up in Toronto, Canada. I’ve lived in Paris, Osaka and Melbourne in the past 10 years. I have a son called Nicholas who will turn 4 next week. I studied music at college and have worked in the music industry in one way or another since I was 16 years old. I found Duran Duran at a time when I was a rudderless 13 year old teenage dope. Still being dressed by his mum. One day in 1982 I heard HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF on the radio and I was sold. Something about the sequencer cried out to me. I wasn’t really interested in what most of the other kids liked and I was happy to find my thing and not really too concerned with conformity. In the months after that I gradually got more into it and found out that this band had a lot more to offer me that just some songs. They had style and cool tastes and good clothes. I was reborn! A youngster who chose his own clothes, liked Chic, Roxy Music and Bowie and coloured his hair. The thing that really made me love them was their drive and motivation. They knew exactly what they wanted to achieve and they achieved it. They let nothing or no one stand in the way of their collective dreams and they went for them as hard as they could. Even in the face of great adversity, they never let up and never gave in.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion? Have you ever met any of the members of Duran Duran? If so what is your fondest memory?

Derek Sumisu:

I would always say Nick is my favourite and I never seem to get long enough when I see him to get into anything substantial in terms of a good chat. But I suppose that applies to all of them. Given the time and opportunity, I guess art, cinema, books and culture are always good topics. You know, the usual stuff you’d expect to be chatting with Nick Rhodes about. LOL. I’ve been really lucky. I’ve met them quite a lot. The first time was in 1988 on the BIG THING club caravan tour in Toronto and that stands out as a great memory for me. But every time I run into them, something great always happens. So I am just thankful that I get any time with them at all. I know how busy I am in my own life, so I couldn’t really imagine how busy the guys must be. When people ask about my relationship with them, I always compare it to the older cousins you see once every year or two for about 20 minutes at the family picnic. You like each other and wish you could see each other more, but the realities of life mean that you got to make the best of your 20 minutes every couple of years.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Since you are a fan (particularly ) of Nick Rhodes ( hope it’s safe to assume ) what is your take on the new song Nick collaborated on with Mark Ronson on his 3rd studio album titled Record Collection and yes the song I am referring to is “Sound of Plastic" ( Ladyaslan’s FAVE )

Derek Sumisu

Due to my having a background in dj’ing and music production, I’ve actually been a fan of Mark Ronson going back to his first record; HERE COMES THE FUZZ and when he started getting involved with Duran Duran, I was really happy. Mark’s an amazing producer and a really cool guy. He’s as big a Duran fan as any of us and I think that his promotion of them and the new album is really amazing. I absolutely adore RECORD COLLECTION and I’ve posted on Facebook a couple of times screaming my adoration of this record from the rooftops. I actually just got a copy of the SOUND OF PLASTIC limited edition 12 inch via piccadillyrecords.com where it was sold as a very limited edition to tie in with Mark’s UK record shop tour. It kicks ass!! I would also note that Ronson is going analog synth bonkers these days thanks to our Mr. Rhodes. As a lover and collector of analog synths myself, I whole heartedly encourage this sort of behaviour!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: In your bio it states that Nick Rhodes is your hero, what makes him your hero? ( I am rather partial to him as well *wink-wink*)

Derek Sumisu:

The essence of it is that he’s a goal oriented, self made go-getter who has pretty much achieved almost everything he has set out to do in his professional life. Plus he has great tastes that have informed and inspired me throughout my adult life. Plus he’s a really, really lovely person. I’ve never seen him ever have a cross word or bad attitude to a fan and that is the mark of a true and bona fide gentleman. I’m proud of the choice I’ve made and one of my fondest memories was telling Nick how much of an influence on me he’s been and how much I appreciate who he is and what’s he done for me and for millions of fans all over the world. You know, just getting the chance to tell him thanks. If it wasn’t for Nick, perhaps I’d be doing something far less inspiring that what I am now.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What are your plans for the future?

Derek Sumisu:

I want to continue to make the best Duran Duran – In review podcast I can make. I’d like to try and travel more and I plan to keep making/playing/producing music. I’d like to try and eat better as well!!

To FOLLOW Derek and his AWESOME DD Podcast:

MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/duranduranpodcast
Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/DuranDuranPodcast/18672053738iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/duran-duran-in-review/id81653096
Official Website:

http://figital.libsyn.com

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

Google Search under Scarlet Soho and Duran Duran

2011-02-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

What happens if you Google Search under 'Scarlet Soho and Duran Duran'...Besides seeing Ladyaslan's interview with them at the top of the list (http://ddrockhall.blogspot.com/2010/06/interview-with-scarlet-soho.html), here's some other interesting things I found....

One person, in a comment on a music forum said...
"Scarlet Soho sounds alot like Duran Duran who I love. The Soho Dolls are in the same sort of area as Ladytron, Client and Adult. All of which are fabulous."

Source: http://www.iamxinternational.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=11443
You can sample some of their music at last.fm...you might check out the title of the song 'Skin Trade' on the album 'Divisions of Decency'. That sounds like the name of a Duran Duran song, doesn't it?
Source: http://www.last.fm/music/Scarlet+Soho/Divisions+Of+Decency
You can also sample their songs from the album 'Warpaint' on Amazon. The one review of the album, from a Michael Spall 'Spally' says this..."I love Scarlet Soho. Like early, edgy Pet Shop Boys material romancing with a Depeche Mode track. Elements of Adam & The Ants dancing theatrically with the lean pop rock stylings of A-Ha; whilst banging club music in the style of Blue Monday spars with moments of dark, Trent Reznor soundscapes. All the while, the faint glimmer of 80's metal permeates throughout and the distinctly deliberate nod towards Duran Duran infused pop brilliance also becomes apparent."
Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Warpaint-Scarlet-Soho/dp/B001SNXHL2
At cdbaby.com, Scarlet Soho is recommended if you like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and Faith No More.
Source: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ScarletSoho1

So...if you haven't listened to Scarlet Soho...take some time this week as we appreciate them at DDTTRH...Duran Duran and Scarlet Soho just go so well together!!!

Kirk on special research assignment,
Artist Appreciation Week for Scarlet Soho,
DDTTRH

Interview with Axxe

2011-02-12T04:46:00.000-08:00

Ladyaslan presents....Axxe

# For their debut EP for Montreal house imprint Mile End Records, the provocatively entitled ‘Mainstream’, available on all major digital platforms, AXXE serve up an eclectic offering of remixes of their ‘double A-side’ Hard Candy b/w S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night. The group’s release spotlights the talents of eight top local and international electronic music acts: Geneva’s well-known Worship (Grum, Bestrack); sleazy Stockholm italo-disco king Neon Workout (Girlfriend Records); Portugal’s enigmatic Cavaliers of Fun (Dragonette, The Teenagers, Nightwaves); Swedish flame-haired electro artist Zakolski (Tokyoh Records, Gluteus Maximus); Chicago house acolyte Meroz (Solid Bump Records); and labelmates the deep-jazzy-funky Dave Allison (Kinjo Music); disco sirens Blond:ish & Stephan Hoffman; and trio UCP: Upperground Control Project. AXXE are represented by Barcelona’s Heartbeats Management (Fear of Tigers, Clancy). Please contact info@heartbeats.es for more information.
#
Members
Douglas Chow [programming] + Stina Agustsdottir [vocals] /// Live AXXE: Andrew Ward aka DJ F.U.N.K. [decks, electro percussion] + Pamela Brottes [backing vocals] + Sylvie Riendeau [bass] + Emmanuel Lagrange Paquet [visuals] + Andrew Larbi [MC] + A.J. Kandy [branding]

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

AXXE: YES!!!!!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name AXXE. Tell us about the AXXE duo and how you both met.

AXXE: AXXE is the name of a vintage synthesizer from the 70s. Plus people think we’re a heavy metal name with that name – nice to throw people off!

Douglas Chow (Programming )

Stina Agustsdottir (vocals )

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

AXXE: Fave song: Planet Earth, Fave video: Girls On Film

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion in the past 30 yrs?

AXXE: One of the first bands to fuse punk rock with disco

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

AXXE: Save A Prayer – we’re actually sampling the first bar (synth arpeggios) for an AXXE song!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of AXXE to fans who have never heard your music before ?

AXXE: It's 1980, you're wearing Armani and you're driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in your Mercedes-enz 450SL.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the Mile End Records EP launch party October 4 at Restaurant Atma, in Montreal.

AXXE: It was live performance to celebrate the upcoming launch of our EP in November on Mile End Records. We wanted to do it somewhere that was unique… Atma is one of Montreal’s most chic Indian restaurants. We turned into a disco.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

AXXE: Their influences… especially Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra. And Nick Rhodes’ eyeliner tips.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If AXXE could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you pick?

AXXE: Well if we could pick one group… it would be 10cc. I’m Not In Love is a big influence on us. We’re thinking of doing more ballads. Other than that, Olivia Newton-John… we love Xanadu!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How did AXXE get involved with the soundtrack to the "making of" video for the next cover of fashion glossy Elle Québec!

AXXE: The director is a DJ at a local club (Plan B) and one day I convinced her to spin the Neon Workout remix of S.A.T.U.R.D.A.Y. Night

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans?

AXXE: Buy our EP! And… why keep it real, when you can keep it pretend?

TO FOLLOW AXXE:
Website soundcloud.com/niceaxxe
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/AXXE/32051306552
http://www.myspace.com/niceaxxe#more

To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort and to sign our petition, visit us at www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with CCU

2011-02-12T04:41:00.000-08:00

CCU - Clitherow and Collins, united. Which we have been for over twenty years. Together we formed Elysian, who became Sideways. We wrote brilliant songs back then. We never stopped, really; we kept on doing our own things separately for a few years. But you know, if there's something special there, people always come back. Three years ago we did some more stuff together. It was blinding, the music we wanted to hear on the radio but never did. We remembered that there's no greater thrill than to create something wonderful out of nothing. In that time we've recorded two albums, A Quiet War (2007) and Emotion (2009), with the third in progress right now. We've gotten ourselves back into the live arena, and we want to do more. 'Cos we're really good. Do we have expectations of recognition? Not really, but the belief is still there that our music deserves it. That's why we're here on myspace. You could do worse than to have a listen. And then to be our friend. Because we'd like that...

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

CCU: Ian Collins (vocals): Yeah, why not? I think there are lesser names in there ahead of them. And you're certainly doing your bit to get them in there! But with respect … y'know, Duran Duran mean an awful lot to an awful lot of people, and whether they're inducted or not, nothing will detract from that.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name CCU? Tell us about the band members and how you all met.

Ian: That's an easy one! It stands for Clitherow Collins United. We like to keep things simple! I met Colin over twenty years ago when he was in a band called Heathcliffs, who I loved. I was writing reviews for the local paper at the time. I remember thinking, there's a guitarist I'd love to write with, never thinking it'd actually happen.

Colin Clitherow (guitars): I had the same idea.

Ian: So we formed our first band together ... and all these years later, we're still creating!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Colin: Planet Earth.

Ian: The Reflex.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the genesis of your third studio album you are working on now, what can the fans expect? When will it drop?

Ian: Well, it's called Fabric, and it's not far from completion now. We'll probably have it ready early next year. People can expect … more of the same, in the best possible way!

Colin: The direction is not an important thing to us. We just do what we do.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Ian: Some great singles! They had that '80s zeitgeist … and they carried on … and all these years later, they're still creating too.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Colin: If we had to, Save A Prayer. To see what would happen.

Ian: But we don't do covers.

Colin: Actually we should do it. Why don't we just try and do it?

Ian: You heard it here first, and so did I.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of CCU to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Ian: Um … dark soul.

Colin: It's about how we feel at the time and the sounds and colours we feel. I'm like a painter who can't paint. So I paint through my guitar. And this is my canvas.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds….you both are very competent and longstanding musicians, collectively spending over 20 yrs in the music business; give us a lil sample of all you have done. Tell us about the festivals you have played…I’ve heard you have played the same stage that Joy Division once stood on?? J

Ian: Yeah, we've played lots of gigs in our various incarnations … not so many as CCU. But we did play the Hope and Anchor in London a few times, where Joy Division did their first gig in the capital. We've only played local festivals, as I recall.

Colin: We've played loads of gigs but it's not about that. It's about now. It's about us still making the music we want people to hear. The reason we're still together is because we bring the best out of each other.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Ian: I think Roger Taylor … I'd just want to talk about all aspects of his life … the quiet ones tend to hold most within. If Roger's not up for it, I'd have a chat with John … and find out how he copes with being so good-looking.

Colin: I like Andy Taylor. Reminds me of one of my heroes.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If CCU could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Ian: I'd choose Colin above anyone.

Colin: And vice versa.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was the inspiration behind your track Disintegrating?* LOVE it~

Ian: Oh, bless ya! It's odd, that one, because I just turned to Colin and said, we should write a single. Not usually the way we work! Inspiration-wise … I never sit and decide to write a lyric about a particular subject …

Colin: No, that's not the way it works. It's of the moment. It just created itself.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American Tour Dates? Will your music be on iTunes?

Ian: I wish we had lots of exciting news but we don't … shall we make something up? No … our lives are plot-less. We wait and see what comes our way.

Colin: iTunes? Not at the moment. It's all there on MySpace.

Ian: We don't really think about selling. We're no good at selling ourselves … as you may have realised! We just want to get heard.

TO FOLLOW CCU:
MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/CCUtd
To learn more about Duran Duran to the Rock Hall - Official Effort and to sign our petition, go to www.ddttrh.info.

Interview with 'Make the Rock Hall Weird!'

2011-02-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

So, I am a huge Weird Al fan, but thats not how I found this campaign. I was searching under articles about the Rock Hall and was intrigued by someone wanting to make the Rock Hall 'Weird'. Little did I know that this was actually an organized
and amazing effort to promote Weird Al Yankovic's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I mean, why not, right?

I got a laugh too when I saw an invitation to supporters to send 'spatulas' to the Rock Hall with a card saying 'Induct Al'. I have seen UHF like a MILLION times...LOVE that movie. Then I thought...well what would we send...Wolves and Leapards with a sign around their neck to induct Duran Duran (reminiscent of course of the songs Hungry Like the Wolf and The Man Who Stole a Leapord)?

I really liked this tribute for Weird Al and this campaign (found on Make the Rock Hall Weird's website):
"Although Al has joked that his chances of getting in are about the same as Milli Vanili's, he is most certainly worthy of induction. He is the bestselling comedy artist in history, has the respect and admiration of many of the artists he's parodied, and with each new album he gets more and more popular (2006's Straight Outta Lynwood debuted in Billboard at #10, a record debut and chart position for him). He is also a superstar internationally, conquering countries such as Canada, Japan, and Australia.

Al has also done something that nobody else has been able to do successfully, rebel within rock and roll. Sure it's easy to bad-mouth another artist in a song, but Weird Al is able to parody the genre's own cliches and themes and deflate the pomposity of the genre in general, artists aside. If the spirit of rock and roll is
to rebel, then Weird Al is a shining example.

Al is rock and roll's class clown, and it's high time that the genre recognizes that."

Made up of Weird Al fans around the world. Also founded in Cleveland Ohio, I had the pleasure to talk with Greg Method, the founding member of the 'Make the Rock Hall Weird' Campaign....started July 9, 2004.

Kirk, DDTTRH: So Greg--I didn't know you were in Cleveland--we must get together sometime--I live on the East side! My first question is...do you think Duran Duran belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and why?

Greg, MTRHW: That is pretty funny that these two campaigns are in Cleveland, and they both have to do with arguably the city's biggest tourist spot. That can't be a coincidence...is it something in the water? Or maybe are we just so tired of hearing about this place that we feel the one thing that will make it tolerable would be if our favorite artists are inducted?

I think Duran Duran is definitely deserving of a Rock Hall induction. They came into prominence at a very unique time in popular music. By the early 1980s rock and roll was quickly evolving past the quirky new wave style that had defined the end of the '70s; it was maturing. Duran Duran is a perfect representation of this era of rock and roll, this--for lack of a better description--mature new wave sound.

And it doesn't hurt that Simon Le Bon looked like a young Malcolm McDowell. That alone should qualify them.

Kirk, DDTTRH: For fans of Duran Duran, please explain to us the connection between Duran Duran and Weird Al Yankovic.

Greg, MTRHW: Well, Weird Al seemed to have an affinity to "The Reflex." As you know, that was their first #1 hit in the U.S., so maybe the success just came at the right time for the group to show up on Al's proverbial radar. He added the song's chorus to his 1985 polka medley "Hooked on Polkas." Even before that, he poked fun at the video during one of his "Al-TV" specials, presenting it with the award for "Best Use of a Tidal Wave in Live Concert Footage."

The key thing to remember is that when Al parodies songs or adapts them into polkas, he's doing so with the full permission of the artists or the songwriters. So, Duran Duran should definitely be applauded for being good sports about their work.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Please tell us how you got the idea for this effort...how did it start...how is it organized today?

Greg, MTRHW: I think Weird Al fans in general are always seeking honors for him. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Al does genuinely deserve these accolades; he has become a greatly underrated artist. I think a lot of that drives fans into doing these kinds of efforts--we want Al to get these honors and awards simply because he is so underrated. For the longest time very few serious music outlets would regard Weird Al as any sort of "legitimate" artist. Thankfully that has changed greatly, and Al actually has some devoted fans at places like "Billboard" and NPR Music. I think Al is finally getting some of his due credit at long last, but still, it's not enough.

I had been wanting to launch some sort of campaign for the Rock Hall for a long time. This was around 2003, and some friends online had already launched a drive to raise funds to get Al a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, so the fan base as a whole was starting to aim high for things to pursue. A few people were looking in my direction to do something Rock Hall-related, probably because of the success my site had with the campaign to get "UHF" on DVD. I already had some ideas at that point, so I was more than happy to pick up the ball and run with it.

The one thing I wanted to insist upon was that this be done right. Every Rock Hall campaign I had seen online at that point were little more than an online petition or telling people to write to the Rock Hall museum itself--you know, just these passive, rather lazy efforts, done with very little research or accuracy behind them. I mean, the museum has nothing to do with the induction process; it never did. It would be like writing to Walt Disney World to ask why "Song of the South" hasn't been released on DVD. People were going to laugh at our suggestion that Weird Al be inducted, so this needed to be done correctly. Looking silly is one thing, but looking silly and unprepared AND unprofessional is just a disaster waiting to happen.

A lot of the organization is done online with volunteers across the country. There's a great deal of trust involved, of course, but it's become a fantastic way to coordinate efforts, especially when we do things such as petitions. I can upload a PDF file and a second later a fan in Canada or Australia is making copies to pass around. It's definitely made the campaign all-inclusive, allowing fans everywhere to participate.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I've read that you've already completed your petition goal for 10,000 signatures. What drove the successful completion of this goal...and any word from the Rock Hall about it?

Greg, MTRHW: The Rock Hall Foundation has yet to officially acknowledge any of our efforts. They are fully aware that we're out there, and at this point they've yet to send us any kind of restraining order or anything--I've heard stories of others getting their mailings to the foundation returned to them unopened--so I guess that's something.

Meanwhile, we were put on the Rock Hall museum's Christmas card list one year, and museum president Terry Stewart has been kind and respectful to us the rare times we had contacted him about this or that, so interpret that however you'd like.

I do think that fan efforts are wearing the nominating committee down a bit. Recently Kiss had been nominated for the first time ever after intense fan support, and Alice Cooper will soon be inducted after his first ever nomination. These things can't just be happening randomly. I do believe the foundation and the nominating committee are finally considering public opinion.

Kirk, DDTTRH: What has been your biggest obstacle in promoting Weird Al's induction to the Rock Hall of Fame?

Greg, MTRHW: I think the biggest obstacle is obvious in that it's been trying to get people, whether it's the press or possible participants, to take the idea seriously. Either someone will think that we're pulling their leg or simply that we're wasting our time because it's Weird Al--it can be tough. As you mentioned, we did this petition a couple of years ago...I had attempted to contact a number of artists that Al had parodied about signing on. Some managers simply refused to pass our request along, with one singer's rep saying something to the effect of, "We don't want them to sign it because we don't want it to hurt their chances of getting in themselves." I'm not kidding, I literally had to stalk a couple of artists after shows they were doing in town to get them to sign on only because they were otherwise impossible to get a hold of. I'd be like, "Um, excuse me, Mr. Blunt, but could you please do this thing for us? Oh, and, um, great show in there, yeah!"

But that lack of understanding or taking us seriously is just something I have to be ready for. I was doing a TV interview locally and before we started taping one of the hosts made a crack about the campaign, saying, "Give me half of the money you're going to spend on this and I'll tell you 'no' right now." Hardy-frickin'-har, you know? And then I have to bounce onto the stage and pretend that I'm having a great time with this guy that just tried to cut me down. But, you know, at least the message is out there. Whenever we send out a press release before a concert or something, I always fully expect to see it buried in some "Crazy People in the News" section, if anything at all. But I'm always amazed and grateful when a news outlet actually treats us with a little kindness. It tells me that there are a lot of Al fans out there; they're just in hiding.

Kirk, DDTTRH: What has been your biggest success (and/or amazing experience)?

Greg, MTRHW: I like to think the big petition drive was the campaign's biggest success in terms of visibility and legitimizing the idea. I mean, we had volunteers at a large percentage of stops on an international concert tour--we even had people camped out at a TV taping Al was doing in Australia--so before each concert we would alert the press of our presence and get a media mention or two. The campaign took on a very grassroots feel that way, virtually going city to city like that.

There was a show in Youngstown I was personally bringing the petition to, and I wanted to get us squared away with the venue first, mostly because I didn't know what the layout was like and I didn't want us to have to stand on the other side of a freeway or something. It was this rather large arena venue, a slightly smaller version of Gund Arena here at home, and every aspect of the operations there were either sponsored by a company or were being handled elsewhere--so I really didn't think I was going to get through to any living flesh-and-blood person that had any authority. I was expecting, "You'll have to clear it with Clear Channel and Ticketmaster and Don's Chevrolet and etc." But amazingly, everyone at this venue was not only on board but they also handled our press coverage for us for that show! That morning I did a call-in interview with whatever station was sponsoring the concert and then I drove down to Youngstown, and I was expecting mostly just the die-hard fans to come sign and little else. But there were people waiting in line for me and the radio station had a remote truck outside talking about us and people were asking me to pose for pictures and it was just insane. The fact that we were doing this there had become this mini-major news story.

Every once in a while a fan online somewhere will ask something to the effect of, "Well, he hasn't been inducted yet, so what's the point?" or whatever, and it's a fair question. But you know, I see things like the turnout in Youngstown or hear about some of the success the volunteers have had elsewhere and I can't just say, "Yeah, it's going nowhere. To heck with it." The message is getting out there, and the least I can do is be dedicated enough to see it through to the end.

But to me, the biggest success has just been that the idea is resonating with fans and the public in general. It's become a legitimate question as to why he has not even been nominated yet. The fact that Al has been snubbed for so long has sorta become a part of the press boilerplate whenever Al's doing an interview. It was never my intention for the issue to intrude on whatever Al is trying to promote or talk about, of course, but it's a good feeling that this campaign has turned the concept from "wouldn't this outside chance thing be cool" to "widely agreed robbed honor." Or maybe all these reporters are just lazy and are reading Wikipedia for their research, I don't know.

Kirk, DDTTRH: I also read that you are behind other Weird Al themed projects, like The "Weird Al" Yankovic Songography and the fan site All Things Yankovic. Tell us about these!

Greg, MTRHW: The Songography just grew from me having raging OCD. I had always been a fan one way or another, but I got into the collecting, etc. rather late in the game, around 1994. I knew there was a lot of unreleased songs and rarities out there, and I just needed something to have as a reference. It's just something I tend to do only because I'm always terrified of forgetting something or, worse, blowing time and money accidentally getting the same thing twice. So it just started off as a simple checklist and then grew into this complete worldwide discography, but really it was just meant to be a catalog so that I knew I wasn't missing something. Santayana once said that a fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts when he has forgotten his original goal, although he probably should have added "but it doesn't help if you need to list everything you own, either."

All Things Yankovic in a way grew from that. Like with collecting, I sort of got into the web site thing late in the game as well. It seemed as if everyone and their brother had a web page up already, and here I was on AOL which had just started offering, like, maybe a byte of web space per member or something ridiculous. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with a site just yet--I'm not really a photographer by any means, so I didn't have these umpteen portfolios of concert pics that everyone else had. The web site really just started out as a hub for my other Al-related things...this link goes to the Songography, this one goes to TV listings I had compiled, etc. Things didn't really gel, for me anyway, until I started doing the "This Day in Weird Al History" entries. I sort of unofficially decided to make the site about research and information. I knew I could do that well: You want to know what this one joke meant? Well, that's right here. Nobody else knows the date this one '80s album was released? Well, that's right here. And then after a short while I turned the focus to the causes; really, just things I wanted to see done and was hoping other fans felt the same way. That's where things like the letter-writing drive to get "UHF" on DVD came from, and then the one for "The Weird Al Show." Make the Rock Hall "Weird" is in essence just the ultimate example of that. "Here's something I'd like to see happen, so, um, does anyone else feel the same way?"

Kirk, DDTTRH: At DDTTRH we've been trying to expand our video presence...we first released an official Youtube video (with some stats research comparing Duran Duran and other inductees) and we have one fan-made one (which was based of a Duran Duran tribute video the fan had made). I read that you are actually doing a movie to chronicle and promote your effort. How is this going?

Greg, MTRHW: The movie, "Yankoheit 27," has been done since around Labor Day. Al, his drummer Bermuda, and a very special volunteer were the first ones to receive copies--and they were burned onto discs for them literally while I had people waiting in the car for me to go. It's really a one-hour, forty-five minute lecture about why Al should be inducted.

Performing and filmmaking have always been my passions, and I wanted to do something truly unique for this campaign. And really, we had done so much already--petitions, art contests, letters, postcards, spatulas--that there was very little else to do before we started lapping ourselves. I wanted to do something that showed that we were serious about this, that the fans were serious Al, and that Al should be regarded as a true legitimate rock star, content aside.

Of course I'm biased, but I like to think it turned out well. I really didn't want it to be this dry ordeal where people are merely talking into a camera and nothing else. We added a couple of humorous sequences, mostly quick parodies of actual famous documentaries, so there's a "Super Size Me" skit, a Ken Burns joke, me dressed as Michael Moore, etc. This way it sort of binds everything together: this is a documentary about "Weird Al" Yankovic, so why can't we have fun with the documentary genre?

As far as when it will be released formally, that I couldn't say. This is at the moment an entirely independent production. I've been submitting it to various film festivals across the country, and that's all coming out my back pocket. My fingers are crossed that we'll get an actual distribution deal for it. Again, it all goes back to getting the message out there the best way possible.

Kirk, DDTTRH: So, I love the movie UHF...seen it a million times (call me weird). I read about what you started to do in 2010 with sending spatulas to the Rock Hall...what a great idea! How is that going? Any funny stories about that? What other fun things are you doing to promote your effort? (Please also tell your favorite scene from UHF...I can't decide between when 'Stanley Spudowski was first discovered' or the 'Wheel of Fish' episode...lol!)

Greg, MTRHW: My favorite scene from "UHF," huh? I suppose I would have to go with the entire Rambo sequence toward the end. You get a nice mix of gags throughout: a Monty Python homage, some cartoon-like gags, and just a very well done spoof of the action genre in general.

I wish I could say the spatula project was a rousing success. I think maybe a handful of people sent one, if that. I was hoping it would have spurred some creativity, something everyone could really have some fun with. But I think ultimately everyone was just a little burnt out by then. Everyone spent two years circulating a petition around, and then additional years sending things like postcards and letters and whatnot. I think the fan base was just exhausted at that point. I can't blame anyone for that, but still, a campaign project is only going to be successful based on how many people participate.

Kirk, DDTTRH: This is something we hear about sometimes (and I'm sure you do too)...the Rock Hall haters. What would you say to those who dislike the Rock Hall so much that they are unwilling to support your effort?

Greg, MTRHW: I can certainly respect that attitude, but I would like to think--if we're talking about an actual Al fan, that is--that someone would want to show their support not because it's the Rock Hall but because it's Al. I mean, there's been an effort for a while now to get Al on "Saturday Night Live." Now, I personally hate "Saturday Night Live." I think it hasn't been anything close to entertaining for about fifteen years now, but I would most certainly want Al to get booked on it. It's still an important achievement for an entertainer.

The Rock Hall will always have its share of detractors. Some of the criticism is very valid--the story behind how it's funded is enough to make one puke in their soup--but a lot of it is sour grapes, too. It's never going to be a perfectly run organization. The nomination process is never going to be pure and fair and make sense. The real accomplishment in any of these kinds of campaigns is not to miraculously make the Rock Hall see the error of its ways and change how it does things. Instead the real trick is to, seeing the process and knowing exactly how depressingly subjective it is, nevertheless punch a hole through it and get your artist through. There is at least one web site out there that tries to mathematically predict inductees, as if there's some formula to it. There isn't. The nominating committee is made up of people, people making arbitrary decisions. It's like what Bill Paxton said in that horrible movie "Twister," "You can't explain it! You can't predict it!" There is no Rock Hall Konami code to crack. It all just boils down to persistence and making your voice heard and making your case crystal clear.

Kirk, DDTTRH: If there was a Duran Duran song (newer or older) that you think would be good parody material for Weird Al, which song would it be?

Greg, MTRHW: Gosh, well, it would have to be one of the BIG hits, especially if we're talking about if Al was to do a parody now in 2011. Something like "Rio" or "Hungry Like the Wolf" would be the obvious choices only because they have become so iconic. As far as what the subject matter for such a parody could be--well, Al does occasionally like to pair classic rock songs with retellings of blockbuster movies, so something like a "Hungry Like the Wolf" parody about, say, the "Twilight" franchise wouldn't be too far-fetched.

Kirk, DDTTRH: Greg...a pleasure to speak with you. I hope your campaign is successful! Any words of wisdom and advice you can give to DDTTRH
and its fans as we support Duran Duran and their induction?

Greg, MTRHW: Thanks, Kirk, it's been nice being able to talk shop with you. I guess if I have any words of wisdom it's to not be discouraged; don't ever let someone tell you that something CAN'T be done. You just have to persevere and keep at it.

Oh, and contrary to belief, it is in fact quite painful to dance into the fire. You may end up with third degree burns on your feet. It is not recommended, nor is actually watching the movie "A View to a Kill," for that matter, but that's not the band's fault.

To check out the 'Make the Rock Hall Weird Campaign' go to:
http://www.allthingsyank.com/rockhall/

For more information on Duran Duran to the Rock Hall (DDTTRH) and to sign our petition, go to www.ddttrh.info.

DDTTRH on recent Duran Duran comments about the Rock Hall

2011-02-03T11:52:00.001-08:00

Duran Duran's music has an 'edge', which is what makes it so special to so many of us...DDTTRH now has an 'edge' which is inviting the Rock Hall to change its ways. What better way to conduct an effort, than to emulate the idealogy of the band it seeks to honor. Read on!

In case you didn't know, Kirk (DDTTRH) gave Duran Duran a question during one of their recent web chats:

WebChat Interview, 1/25/10, Kirk's question at around 7:41
Heart, Click this link to access it: http://www.heart.co.uk/music/duran-duran-live-webchat/

Here is the script of that question and Duran Duran's answer:

"Simon: It's a long one, that can be your bit.

Roger: Kirk this is from...I know the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is political and one would question their choice of artists in many cases. However, there are amazing bands that have been inducted like U2, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson...that's not a band...'

Simon: Hmmm...

Roger: Madonna and REM, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for example. I'm reading this very badly (Roger laughs).

Simon: No, I like it, its quite Shakespearean actually.

Roger: In my mind, Duran Duran is legendary and many Duranies feel the same. If the Rock Hall called you and said they wanted to induct you, what would you say?

Simon: Ummm...I have to say personally I have a bit of a problem with it, I find its that whole kind of respectability...'inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame'...I find it all personally a little bit pompous...the idea of having to put on a black tie rock and roll event is just...seems all wrong to me.

Roger: I would agree, its not something that particularly feels important to us at this moment...like something we 'must have' you know.

Simon: Its funny how things like this can come along...people can...they impose themselves on...the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has imposed itself on the industry...and say 'Right! We are setting ourselves up as this body who decide who deserves to be in this Hall of Fame and who doesn't.' And I think its completely bogus. I really do. Especially when you've got you know when you've sold as many records as we have or had as many people come to concerts as the bands who are not mentioned on this list.

Roger: I'd agree...totally agree with that."

Here is DDTTRH's reply to this...

Kirk: Well, I'm so glad I was complimented on my 'Shakespearean' English. I knew I should have checked this question before I sent it. I really did not expect it to be read (so happy it was!). I do agree with Simon that the way the Rock Hall chooses musicians to be inducted is sometimes bogus. And, the black tie events are a bit pompous. And I also agree with Roger that being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not something they 'need to have'. Duran Duran is legendary as it is and being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will not change that at all.

Listening to Duran Duran's comments and pondering them as I have over the last week or so has really made me think about what this effort really is about.

Is it about just promoting their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? No, I don't think so.

Is it about building awareness of the band and energizing the Duranie community? Definitely YES.

Is it about getting bands and artists (thanks to Roger for pointing out to me the distinction...[:) to speak up about Duran Duran and how they've been inspired by them and how they think they are legendary? That would be another BIG THING YES.

That leads to the question then...why promote the Rock Hall? Well, where else on earth are artists and rock history celebrated in such a way? Here is the Rock Hall's mission statement:

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs."

Is it really an honor to be inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Many do think so. In a heartfelt speech in NY to induct his friend, John Lennon, Paul McCartney says: "Thank you. Thank you, New York. Thank you. It's a privilege for me to be able to do this tonight, and come here... So now, years on, here we are - all these people - here we are, assembled to thank you for everything that you mean to all of us. This letter comes with love from your friend Paul. John Lennon, you made it. Tonight you're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. God bless you. Yoko and Sean." Source: http://rockhall.com/inductees/john-lennon/transcript/paul-mccartney-inducts-john-le/

If being inducted was not an honor, imperfect organization as it is, I for one am not sure Paul would have said this. I agree that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not perfect and perhaps the way it works and inducts artists may be controversial, it still though is a unique and special place for bands and artists to be honored. If you haven't been, you should go. Its displays are great and it treats each artist it shows with respect and the dignity they deserve. At DDTTRH we strive to get Duran Duran noticed in the music community and in history, and in our minds, this is a good way to do it.

In fact, given what Duran Duran has said about the Rock Hall...

At DDTTRH, we officially invite the Rock Hall to return to its former glories, to really examine its way of inducting artists, and become even more meaningful than it is today. If you are going to impose yourselves on the industry, keep it real! You are for the world, not just the US...and you could use some 'New Romantic' flavoring.

Ladyaslan:
I think you had a good retort there Kirk.....but most ppl, bands, and artists would have said or have said similar salutations about the Rock Hall 'cause (referring to Sir Paul point you made...) well...they ( the bands / artists ) are a bit on the spot and usually would say some sugar sweet goodness about the Rock Hall....but then you had The Sex Pistols that told them where to go and how to get there and basically piss off...(that had radio play from terrestial to satellite radio and from the US to Russia) that was when the majority started to call into radio stations and e-mail ppl in a broadcasting arena to say 'yea the Rock Hall is pompous'.

I think Kirk is on to something with getting NEW flavours into the Rock Hall whether it be "New Romantic" or more Punk and even Goth and Industrial bands ( Siouxise and the Banshees-Goth....Skinny Puppy or Nitzer Ebb-Industrial, The Damned The Cramps-Punk, Human League, Roxy Music New Wave and lets not forget The Cure, Depeche Mode, Tori Amos and even Sinead O'Connor to drop some names ) look at KISS and Sonny & Cher-they have had the screw from day one...why they rocked the charts and arenas too and sold LOTS of merchandise and even lent their name to philanthropist efforts and they have yet to even get an invite as well.

The Rock Hall already has a shit load of "Rock" "Country" and "R&B" (we can throw old school hip hop and rap in that category cause they is how the Rock Hall has labeled past inductees LL Cool J ex)

So I think on top of "promoting" DD and their new album and past work we should also educate the Rock Hall that the 80's and bands and artists from the 80's were NOT cotton candy acts and they actually defined an era and gave the world lots of fun songs regardless if said band had 10 #1's or just one MOST of those songs are still faves among ppl going out to parties and bars and house bands....kids that were not even born in the 80's LOVE 80's music. There was something innocent yet a little naughty about the songs we love-look at Frankie Goes to Hollywood "Relax" LOL LOL we all know what that song is about now!!! But as kids ( if you're old enough lol ) we just loved the beat and the melody and it was NOT detrimental to our innocent little ears, we danced all night or roller skated to it. Unlike the music of the past 10-15 yrs where lil girls are dancing like 3 cent hookers on a pole and all the F*bombs and 'nigga' this and that in music of today......trust me I cuss like a sailor lol but even I am like DAMN what happened to music?!?!

Duran Duran, the 80's and ALL the other bands should get their moment where they are told by fans and record companies, and the quasi-like Jackasses at the Rock Hall that DAMN you did a bang up job in your prime and have grown and expanded your music with integrity and an ever growing talent.......

We should have our ppls and Duranies write up a letter or we provide a template and they can download it where we state the obvious.....something to the effect there are a great deal of genres out there and they are discriminating against bands that 'they' don't like or understand and ignoring the fact that there are still fans out there that support and drive miles upon miles to see these greats from the 80's.

There are more flavours of ice cream out there than just vanilla and chocolate....hence the Rock Hall needs some major change in attitude and perhaps a lil re-education in what music really is and what it means to the old and new fans. The world has enough Beyonce's and GreenDay's its time to say thanks to the bands and artists that paved the way....look how many bands have either 'borrowed or stole riffs and melodies from the 80's...did they ever say thank you?

Puff Daddy re-did and ripped a Led Zeppelin tune and Bone Thugs and Harmony jacked a Police/Sting song and yep ruined it as well....where was the thanks to the bands / thanks to the 80's era for providing them with the beat and melodies they "took or borrowed".....the Rock Hall needs a can of whoop ass opened and a new set of ppl either making decisions or at best pointing them in a new direction.....just saying lol. Well that is my 2 cents....discuss ( lol like coffee talk )

Kandice:
Wow to both of you... What more is there to really say?!? I think both you and Anitra hit "the nail on the head".

I def. like what Anitra said about using a template and having our ppls send in letters etc.. It is time for a Rock Hall change, how cool would it be for us to be behind it! :D

Dearest Anitra - Don't forget Puff Daddy aka Diddy and B.I.G. ripped our beloved DD as well! No-No-Notorious!!! LOL :D

Xoxo

Jason:
Puff talked shit about DD!!?? What did that no talent say?

Christian:
It almost seems like they don't want to be in or couldn't care less. I think it has all been covered by the previous emails.

Interview with Symbiotik

2011-01-31T04:25:00.000-08:00

Symbiotik is a UK based ambient, chill out duo made up of Rob (drummer, lyricist, and composer) and Rowe (keyboards, production, synthesis). They are in the studio writing their first album and have completed one track - 'A Million Angels'. Both are very competent and longstanding musicians, collectively spending over 20 yrs in the music business. Rob played in various rock groups and performed backing vocals; Rowe has been a recording artist, secessionist and composer (seriously) since 1998.

Ladyaslan presents…

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Symbiotik: ABSOLUTELY!!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Symbiotik. Tell us about the band members and how you all met.

Symbiotik: Well we are a duo and we are husband and wife, we met through our music and we share the same tastes and the same dreams

*Rob - Drums & Lyricist & Composer:

*Rowe – Keyboards, Music, Production, Synthesis:

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Symbiotik: Our favourite song is HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF, Rob loves wolves and I love Martin Adams (the darts player who has this as his walk on theme) our favourite video is COME UNDONE

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the genesis of your debut album you are working on now in the studio?

Symbiotik: It a deeply spiritual concept album that takes you on a journey from birth to death and cycles back through to reincarnation and birth, the concept is that you could loop the album forever because it would never end

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion and their philanthropist efforts in the past 30 yrs?

Symbiotik: They were style icons, they inspired many of our favourite artists and they changed the way people saw pop bands with their image- they were real individuals and inspired others to the same. Their charitable work has been extensive and they show how your fame can be used for great things – inspirational!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Symbiotik: We would love to remake hungry like the wolf – Rob would love to do the howling part and I would love to rework the bass-line because it’s PHAT

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music/sound of Symbiotik to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Symbiotik: We are new age chill, with lashings of world fusion, a sprinkling of rock and a dose of enigma!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about your backgrounds….you both are very competent and longstanding musicians, collectively spending over 20 yrs in the music business; give us a lil sample of all you have done.

Symbiotik: Rob played as a pro drummer throughout the 70s and 80s and now writes tons of lyrics! Rowe has worked producing for more than 20 acts including drum and bass, dance, trance, pop and rock styles, has released 3 solo albums and produced both of Rob’s solo albums

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Symbiotik: Simon le bon and we would talk about how to make hair stand on end because no amount of gel seems to work

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Symbiotik could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you all pick?

Symbiotik: We would have Michael Cretu from Enigma because he is the total inspiration for this and we would also choose Michael Jackson (RIP) because he has and always will be the KING of all grooves!
LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was the inspiration behind your new track A Million Angels?*so earthy and surreal LOVE it~

Symbiotik: It reassures you that even when you die it will be a beautiful experience and you will be taken home by angels – we are very spiritual it’s kind of about the afterlife and going to heaven

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you would like to share with the fans? Tour Dates/American Tour Dates? Will your music be on iTunes?

Symbiotik: Yes, we are still perfecting our album but we will be releasing it soon we hope – in time for Xmas and when it comes you will be able to get it on cd and download pretty much everywhere

To Follow Symbiotik:

MySpace:
http://www.myspace.com/symbiosisuk

Interview with Drype

2011-01-30T10:10:00.001-08:00

Drype is a Portuguese alternative rock band formed in Ermesinde, Oporto, in 2007 by Marcos Levy (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Pedro Eloi (drums) and Aires Meneses (bass guitar, backing vocals).

The three piece band was formed after the disbandment of N’cript, an Oporto grunge project; when Marcos and Pedro decided to go a different way and went on to form a new band with the provisory name ‘Infectious Greed’ that would be later named ‘Drype’, a fusion of many music genres, including alternative rock, heavy metal, grunge and progressive rock. Marcos Levy, former bassist on N’cript, changed from bass guitar to vocals, guitar, piano and with the arrival of a new member; Aires Meneses on bass, original songs are made and performed live in the Oporto area.

Since then the band has developed a solid path performing in distinguished Portuguese venues such as ‘Fabrica do Som’ (Oporto), ‘Festival Gaia em Peso’ (Gaia), ‘Festival Ilha do Ermal’, ‘Breyner 85 bar’ (Oporto), ‘Santiago Alquimista’ (Lisbon), ‘Plano B’ (Oporto), ‘Pin Up bar’ (OPorto) and many others, winning also a national contest to play in ‘Festival Secundário’ (Gouveia) for an attendance of 1500 people.

In 2010 the band changes the name to ‘Drype’ and records the first EP produced by Marcos Levy containing 4 songs of their set list, culminating into its original sound.

Marcos, Pedro and Aires, currently 19, 20 and 23 years old, are now looking forward to expand their fan base and to show their music to the world.

Ladyaslan presents Drype:

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Do you think Duran Duran deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Drype: We think so; it’s a band that has earned his way to the Hall of Fame like many others. We have a song called ‘Hall of shame’, but I don’t think Duran Duran is included on that category.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell the fans how you came up with the name Drype. Tell us about the members of Drype and how you all met.

Drype: It’s hard to find a name for any band, and it wasn’t different for us. We had a temporary name, ‘Infectious Greed’, but the name was too negative and we thought we could come up with something better, the name Drype stood out in the midlle of the crowd of names we had on our white board, and… voilla!

I (Marcos Levy) met Pedro and Ricardo on our first grunge band, they needed a bass player and I had a bass guitar in my house, so I went for it. The band ended and we moved on to a new project named Infectious Greed, when I moved on to be the vocalist, guitarist and pianist of the band. So we had a vacant spot and while looking for someone to fill it, Aires Meneses answered us and joined the band.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What is your favorite Duran Duran song and video?

Drype: It’s ‘Ordinary World’

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What was it like to play the Portuguese venues such as ‘Fabrica do Som’ (Oporto), ‘Festival Gaia em Peso’ (Gaia), ‘Festival Ilha do Ermal’, ‘Breyner 85 bar’ (Oporto), ‘Santiago Alquimista’ (Lisbon), ‘Plano B’ (Oporto), ‘Pin Up bar’ (OPorto)?

Drype: It was awesome; we met all kinds of people, the ones who loved the music, the ones that stood quietly looking at us, the ones that started the mosh pits… We love playing live and we hope we can raise the bar and play in some larger stages in the near future.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What contributions do you feel Duran Duran has made to the world of music and fashion in the past 30 yrs?

Drype: Keeping the 80’s pop alive! In fashion… well I don’t really know about that.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: What Duran Duran song would you like to remake if you could and why?

Drype: Well, ‘Ordinary World’ could be the one, it’s a catchy song!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: How would you describe the music and sound of Drype to new fans who have never heard your music before?

Drype: Drype is Rock, plain and simple!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Tell us about the single Discardable People; what was the genesis of this song?

Drype: Discardable People is a very personal song that tells you a story of someone who has discovered that someone that he/she likes is not what he was supposed to be, it’s a song about disappointment and about reacting to that.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If you could have a sit down with any member of Duran Duran today who would it be and what would be topic of discussion?

Drype: The topic would be, definitely, talking about how Duran Duran could help Drype getting more gigs!

LadyaslanDDTTRH: If Drype could have their pick of one solo artist and one song writer to collaborate with who would you pick?

Drype: Wow that’s hard, I can talk only for myself… maybe Trent Reznor, I guess we could put him in the ‘solo artist’ category, and perhaps Matthew Bellamy.

LadyaslanDDTTRH: Anything you want to share with the fans; new and old?

Drype: Join the mailing list on our MySpace page and I hope we can see you all on our gigs in the near future!

Rock on! Cheers!

FOLLOW DRYPE:

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drype/114802638535108?v=wall

MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/drype

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/drype_net