This is not the first time that Duran Duran has collaborated with the ex-Chic. Duran Duran even owes him a lot. If “The Reflex” enjoyed colossal success when it was released as a single in 1984, and earned the group the nickname Fab Five – a reference to the Fab Four that were the Beatles – it was because the guitarist and producer got my hands dirty. Not fully, satisfied with the version appearing on the album, it was Nile Rodgers who remixed the song released on 45 rpm. Nick Rhodes, the keyboardist for Duran Duran in the 80s, has never forgotten him. He explains it in the best of booklet Night Versions : The Essential Duran Duran (1988) : “‘The Reflex’ was still in draft form when we decided to make it the first single, and while the album version captured the essence of the song, it was the intervention high-tech by Nile Rodgers who made the song shine”.
Duran Duran collected successes in the 80s. We think of “Planet Earth”, their first single which immediately climbed into the British top 20, and “Girls on FIlm” which climbed to fifth place . Will follow “Hungry Like the Wolf”, “Save a Prayer”, “Rio”, “Is There Something I Should Know”, “The Wild Boys”, “Notorious” or even “A View to a Kill”, taken from the tape original of Dangerously yoursfilm from the James Bond saga and global number one! Duran Duran is on top of the music world but it won’t last. The rest comes in a wave of ups and downs…
It doesn’t matter that the radios don’t broadcast the group’s new songs, he hasn’t given up yet. He’s even started performing on stage again, boosted by his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years ago. As for the fans, they should not be disappointed by this Futur Past tour which, as its name suggests, even includes hits from previous decades, more recent songs. But overall, a quick look at the setlist reveals that all the essentials are there.
After 13 years of absence on our Belgian lands, Duran Duran returns on June 9 in Antwerp. Opening of the ticket office: this Friday January 24 at 10 a.m. on www.gracialive.be.
