Fanzine Week 3: Day 1
Welcome to Cherry Lipstick’s third Fanzine Week!
Well, before we start, let's please offer our warmest wishes to Saffron on her announcement of her pregnancy. Congratulations to her and her partner. Photo and message from Saffron here.
As with the first two Fanzine Weeks, all material here is NEW for you from a variety of contributors. THANK YOU to them – perhaps you will see your name in lights alongside them next time?
So here we are in 2018 – what awaits us in the Duraning year ahead? Well, probably not as much as we’d hoped. As 2017 drew to a close, there was an growing feeling that the whole DD40 was more discussed by ourselves than the band. But now we’ve worked that out, it’s not all doom and gloom.
Firstly, the band are recording. We will get a new album. Maybe not this year, maybe not next, but some day, definitely. This is a pretty big announcement, because it comes at the same time as Nick talks about the 40th anniversary being ‘properly’ in 2020. So the band will also still be going then!
This is not another ‘are they still going?’ piece, but rather that Duran Duran will, presumably, be winding down and stopping operations at some point soon. All things come to an end, and yet these announcements show that we are not getting off this ride yet.
Secondly, us fans are still very active. The Daily Duranie are first out of the blocks with a Duran convention in Vegas over three days in August. Cherry Lipstick will have another meet up (or two) this year.
And thirdly there are also the usual Duraniversaries to commemorate. Time to dig out those old LPs / CDs / Spotify accounts. Noteworthy ones this year are for Seven and the Ragged Tiger (35), Big Thing (30), and most notably, the Wedding Album (25).
Some of you may also have noticed that 2018 is also the 25th anniversary of the first issue of Cherry Lipstick. To readers old and new – welcome again!
Adam Wilson, Editor
5 February 2018
Cherry Lipstick continues to gain new readers so there will be some links throughout this week pointing you to past articles on the website.
The website is having a slight re-design by collating the series we have been running over the past year in the static left-hand column.
Check it out at www.cherrylipstick.co.uk or download the app (Android compatible, not i-phones, unfortunately) which will take you straight to the home page so you can catch up on the latest articles.
WE START WITH SOME MORE MEMORIES OF THE 30 DECEMBER 2017 SHOW IN VEGAS BY OUR REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR, NOTORIOUSAURUS REX:
I decided to write about my experience in Vegas. I didn’t bother reviewing the show, since Baranduin knocked it out of the park with hers for Cherry Lipstick already.
When Duran Duran performed Ordinary World at the Vegas concert, I cried. I cried a lot. But the reason for my tears wasn’t because of Simon talking about how this year was tough for him (with him losing his mother and all), it was because during the song, I started reflecting on my time in Vegas, how it felt like my Ordinary World.
I never thought in a million years that I’d be able to visit Las Vegas, much less see my favourite band ever perform there - but it happened. With the help of an amazing friend (who shall be nameless for his/her sake), I was able to go and see the guys. But shockingly enough, meeting all the Duranies who had visited from all over the world was equivalent to the fun I had during the show.
I squealed with joy everytime someone asked “Hey, you’re the Big Thong guy huh?” Or “Hey man, I love your Twitter!”. It made all the trauma I endured this year worth it. But perhaps the greatest feeling was being amongst a group of friends who made me feel like I was part of the fandom. From strolling through the strip and taking pictures with Baranduin, to deciding at the last minute not to get the Big Meat from pin-up pizza with Scott, and taking some really great pictures with Duranies I thought I’d never meet, that entire weekend was without doubt the greatest weekend of my entire life.
The concert itself was definitely one to remember. Simon Le Bon is such an important person to me, in many ways a hero (and it works because he’s a real person! All my heroes usually exist in comic books!) so being able to see him up close was a very special moment for me.
But Ordinary World made me think back to that night 4 years ago when I decided to check out Duran Duran’s Big Thing album. “Let’s see if this is any good” was something I’d asked myself at the time. And now, 4 years later, I have memories and pictures that will stay with me for as long as I’m alive.
And here’s a few pictures that I took. I took A LOT but I’ll just leave the ones that I really liked.
You can follow the Big Thong guy on Twitter @notoriousaurus
Cherry Lipstick Catch Up #1:
From January 2018, Duran Live in Vegas, 30 December 2017 by Baranduin Briggs (with loads of great photos!)
Review of the Day: Girls On Film: (Record Mirror, 1981)
A positive review and a bold prediction!
This and other clippings from Record Mirror throughout this week is from Cherry Lipstick reader, Clare Shelford.
J.R. KISS WOULD LIKE TO SHOW OFF ABOUT HOW HE IS AN INTERNATIONAL BRIGHT YOUNG THING (OR WAS):
Now, try not to be envious… but how many other Cherry Lipstick readers have one of these. Possibly 83,743 of you although I suspect a few less.
Shortly before the fan club disappeared, I parted with some pocket money to join and was rewarded with this rather spiffing card – still in mint condition 30 years on - and a Duran Magazine. Somehow, after several house moves, not to mention country moves, this is still in my possession.
The magazine has a whole page and a half of JT writing from Paris in early 1988 talking about the upcoming album. At this point they had 12 songs but he confides that one of them ‘is gonna get the ceremonial chopping any moment now!’ Assuming we don’t count the interludes as songs, another one must have followed shortly after since there are actually only 10 songs on Big Thing.
Otherwise he gives a quick run through of a few of the songs. “I Don’t Want Your Love” has a ‘grooveworthy club sound’ that will almost certainly be a single. “Too Late Marlene” was the first song they finished, has ‘a cool soft Al Greenish back beat’ and is about ‘opium eating’. I may need to listen to this again.
“All She Wants Is” is a ‘personal favourite’ and "nods in the direction of The Normal’s 'Warm Leatherette'"’. I’ll happily admit I’d never heard of this at the time but a quick search on YouTube and, yeah, I get it now.
After a series of photos, which act as a plug for Duran Duran World, a book of photos taken on tour in 1987 by Virginia Liberatore (there’s very little on this out there except a couple of very expensive copies on eBay), we get the Duran planner from May 1988 through to January 1989. Seasoned Duran watchers will know how unreliable they can be… but credit where credit’s due.
The excellent live concert video “Working for the Skin Trade” was released, as promised, in June, the single did come out in September and the album followed right on schedule in October. In fact, the one change was in the touring schedule as they didn’t hit Asia till February when it was announced as being in January. The only thing I can’t find evidence of is the warm up concerts planned for the UK in September ’88 before ”I Don’t Want Your Love” was released.
All pretty impressive stuff. So, after that I don’t actually remember ever receiving anything from the fanclub. They probably don’t have my current address. On the other hand, as a fully paid up member, still in possession of the card, maybe I should drop them a line in case they fancy starting up the fan club again.
Cherry Lipstick Catch Up #2:
For the past 8 months, Cherry Lipstick has been working towards completing a full retrospective review of each Duran album. We have completed 8 so far.
From September 2017, this is Medazzaland, by C.K. Shortell