Fanzine Week 2: Day 3
Let's go back to May 2008 and Duran are in New York. A mere 23 years after making the front row at the Power Station, Barbie-Rella is there again roaring on her main man - and this time she's got a digital camera.
Duran are HUGE in New York and so it was really exciting when my friend Dan got tickets at the last minute for their Red Carpet Massacre show in Central Park.
It was a beautiful outdoor evening venue – very intimate. No pushing or shoving – no fighting for 'your space'. The night air was even more refreshing than the cold beer. [Dan’s a bit older than me and was definitely more into the beer]
It was outdoors under the trees. Just a smaller stage than Madison Square Gardens. Up close and personal.
The opening band 'Your Vegas' (now known as 'The Chevin') from the UK played as the sun set and we awaited Duran's appearance. They were a pretty good band (though John and Simon had to literally pick them up off of the hotel lobby floor the morning after the show... Really nice young fellows who got a bit carried away with the party I guess…)
Finally – as I stood at the left of the stage – 'John's Spot' – all was silent. All was dark. The show was about to begin!! I sang out the words to every song, dancing, clapping and all the while staring at John and snapping photos (with much better camera this time I might add!)
I swear that John and I had made eye contact several times – as if he were actually singing to ME! Okay – Yeah, everyone thinks that – however then he strips his head of his red ball cap and tosses it to me! Dan was too busy toting beer back and forth and chatting with people but I couldn't care less.
I'm not a 'bra tossing' type of lady but I threw John a long letter with a token of my appreciation and best wishes inside an envelope. The crew took it off stage for him.
After the concert crowd cleared I waited by the back of the stage. Everyone was convinced that 'the guys' had somehow disappeared and were on their way. As a drunk Dan and I waited we saw a few seemingly nice young gentlemen loading up a truck in plain clothing and asked them if they would take a photo of the two of us. They generously did but looked puzzled. 'Oh! I thought you wanted to take a picture with US! Haha!' We had no idea but we had just met the opening act – 'Your Vegas' with whom I would keep in contact over the years and attended their shows when they were playing on Long Island.
After our short photo shoot I noted a black Chevy with black tinted windows exiting the concert area. Yup, that was them. Some idiot of a stalker tried to jump into the closing door of their vehicle and bragged that she had gotten a photo of 'one of the band members’ knees – as well as a huge lump from the door being slammed on her due to the forward propulsion of the already moving vehicle.
Dan by now was pretty out of it by now so I basically had to carry him to Penn Station. Ungh. Finally we made it home on the Long Island Rail Road. Another successful Duraning day was done.
Photo of JT from the show by Barbie-Rella
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
it's always worrying when your parents describe a song you like as "catchy." Here is poor old Jean recounting (in 1984) about John's frilly shirts, and Jack about how his son would never, ever come home the worse for wear.
COMPETITION TIME!
Cherry Lipstick has ONE copy of this glossy heritage poster of Mr JT to give away to FOUR lucky readers.
That's right, you could win ONE QUARTER of this poster- and that's not all. Each poster is SIGNED* and will be lovingly hand-packaged by an authentic bar maid from the Rum Runner (or similar) before being delivered direct to your door.
This is a genuine competition - all you have to do is be one of the first four people to tweet @lipstick_cherry or leave a comment on the Cherry Lipstick FaceBook page with the answer to this question:
Ranker.com has a list of famous Nigels - what number Nigel is JT?
Remember, as this is a FREE competition, your prize may actually rise in value or become an integral part of your Duran collection. Or neither of things might happen. Good Luck Cherry Lipstickers!
*due to various misinterpretations and confusions on the internet relating to Cherry Lipstick's statements of apparent fact when recounting events from the past, CL understands that it is entirely possible that the statement above may seem to trusting souls that this poster has been signed by one or more members of Duran Duran. Whilst this MIGHT be true, it probably isn't.
Cherry Lipstick welcomes back to its pages Paul Nicholson. Paul was a regular contributor to CL in the fanzine days and has been a supporter via Facebook this time around. Paul was the reader who was able to claim that he had been the earliest to buy a record at the time it was released. And that is why this article is called...
My First... 7" Single : Girls On Film
The summer of 1981 in the UK. I was 13 and my most important possession was my radio. We had Radio 1 and Capital Radio supplying us the hits all day. We all watched Top of The Pops and read Smash Hits. New bands seemed to arrive weekly.
We found established bands from the late 70s, like The Jam and Blondie, weren’t as interesting as the new breed of band whose sound was more electronic. Synthesizers were the new guitars and New Romantic bands caught our attention and imagination.
This was the chart environment in early 1981 when Duran Duran parachuted in: John Lennon’s death in late 1980 led to him dominating the singles chart during the first quarter of the year. Vienna by Ultravox, a song that almost everybody liked, was held off the Number One slot by an awful novelty record, Shaddup You Face. Then Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest with Making Your Mind Up; an achievement and dance routine that totally captured the UK public’s interest. Stand out records for me of those early months of 1981 were Visage’s Fade To Grey and Adam & The Ants Stand & Deliver, the latter of which aside from being a fantastic pop song, came with a great video.
I totally missed Planet Earth; I’d heard the song but it hadn’t struck a chord with me. I don’t recall ever hearing Careless Memories. But Girls On Film was an instantly likeable new sound; fresh and modern; a sure fire hit. The radio stations picked up on it and placed it on their A-lists. On TV Duran Duran became in demand for appearances, and their image and visuals were as likeable as the sound. Girls On Film was the single that got Duran Duran noticed in the mainstream and alongside the music came stories about a video that was so outrageously sexy TV wasn’t allowed to show it.
I had my tape recorder; that was my music system. Like almost every other 13 year old, I held the microphone up to the radio speaker to make my own TDK C-90 compilation tapes. But physically buying a record was a big thing, a major use of scarce monetary funds, so the choice was important. Girls On Film was the first pop single that I bought. However by the time I purchased it after the summer holidays the stores had run out of the picture sleeve editions, my purchase in WHSmith was with a standard plain black paper sleeve which had a hole showing the record label.
The listening experience was a beautiful thing. Playing that piece of vinyl, putting the needle on the edge of the record and waiting for it to drop into the groove was an exciting moment. Hearing those camera clicks at the start of the song without a DJs voice talking over it; that’s what you paid your 99p for. The stereo sound that came from my Dad’s record player with its detachable lid that housed the second speaker. It was ten times as good as the sound that came from my small radio or tape player. The song itself was just fantastic, a polished verse and chorus with a drum break and guitar solo of the highest quality. Having enjoyed the A-side, flipping over to the B-side opened a new experience, an addition track for the fans. Faster Than Light was likable enough, definitely a B-side and not good enough for the album, nevertheless it was an important part of the Girls On Film experience.
Amongst my friends Girls On Film was certainly one of THE records of that summer. We were into 7” singles; pop records; the hits that the radio played. We weren’t too bothered with albums, our passion for those came later. This brand of ‘New Romantic’ music had an identity and newness that we loved. Girls On Film had left its mark. It was my first single. I looked out for appearances of them on TV and in the press. My Own Way was released a few months later which while I liked it I didn’t buy. Then came 1982.
1982 was seismic for the band and for me. A lifetime devotion was secured.