By EMILY WATT
DURAN DURAN - was it their heady masculine charisma, their bouffants, or their philosophical lyrics ("Darken the city night is a wire, steam in the subway earth is afire do do do do do do do") that made them so appealing?
How we loved those boys, back in the days when our smiles were a glint of braces and we really believed puffa skirts were cool. Even now, when in the shower, or backed by a tinny karaoke machine, we might be found warbling Rio or Save a Prayer and reminiscing about those happy days.
So it is exciting that the band are visiting Auckland next month - for the first time. But there's a particular demographic who are especially over the moon. They didn't just like Duran Duran, they LOVED them. And on December 6, this group of 30-somethings will be in the moshpit in Western Springs well before the headline act hits the stage - they're not going to see Robbie; they're there to see the 'ran.
We contacted a few to ask what it was that made Simon, Nick, Andy, John and Roger so ... special.
Heather Gaye, a software developer in Kingsland, has loved Duran Duran through all their different incarnations. "I was taunted horribly for having this picture on my wall of [Nick Rhodes] wearing a tight pink satin suit - complete with top hat, if memory serves.
"I memorised entire FAQ sheets from music magazines - Nick's favourite food was strawberries, Simon had a bear called Shockermoler, Simon's grandmother (I think) was a member of a dance troupe called the Tiller Girls ... Simon, Nick and John's birthdays are forever etched in my memory ... "My friend and I were two of those girls who wrote pages and pages of 'please please please please please please play Duran Duran's The Reflex, The Wild Boys, A View To A Kill' letters to music programmes, trying to out-do the number of 'pleases' from other fans.
"And yup, I would make up elaborate jazzy dance routines in the driveway to their songs and I owned one of those great frilly white pirate-style tops."
Heather said she's been relearning all the songs for the upcoming show. "I've been waiting 18 years for this concert, and 15 years ago I gave up all hope (sigh). I've always loved their music, and I guess also it was great being part of the hype that they generated then, and it's really great being part of the hype they're recreating now."
Paul Hancox, 31, was president of the Australasian fan club in the 1980s and owns more than 300 Duran Duran CDs and three guitars signed by the band.
Paul's enthusiasm followed him to London in the 90s, where he hung around outside former guitarist Warren Cuccorollo's house with a group of Spanish girls.
"Because I was the only guy who was interested in the music, Warren used to come out and play me bits of the albums they were working on."
He also risked being arrested for trespass when he drove down Simon Le Bon's neighbour's driveway and stood on the car roof to peer over the fence at Yasmin Le Bon.
But he has never seen the band live before and is making up for it by following the band to Sydney after the gig to see them live there as well.
Why?
"I don't know. I'm pretty loyal. I've just always liked them since I was about 10, when I first saw their videos. And I've always stuck by them even in the 10 years when they were not very popular. I like a lot of different music, but they've always been my favourite."
Nicky Richardson, 31, a mother of two, recalls that at the age of 13, her bedroom walls and school books were covered in pictures of the band.
"It's very sad really, isn't it? Our Friday nights were taken up with watching videos about Duran Duran - not going to the movies or anything else - we were just Duran Duran mad."
Nick Rhodes was her favourite - "I suppose he was the campest of the lot" - and, like Heather, she can still recall random facts about the band - "I can remember the Jetsons was Nick's favourite show." And, like all true fans, it made her love the Jetsons more, too.
Nicky is planning to attend the concert with a friend who shared her love of Duran Duran all those Friday nights ago.
Her friend is now pregnant and she had worried that she might be too big to attend. "But my friend said, 'No, I will not be! We've got to see this together'."
Loyal to the wild boys
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