John Taylor Duran Duran

What's Hot
2»

Comments

  • Philly_QPhilly_Q Frets: 22516
    HCDavies said:
    Have to say a the time, the press presentation of DD meant I didn't even listen to them, the beeb bracketing them with Human League and Culture Club. However the tune they did with John Barry for View To A Kill did impress me. If only John had stopped the keyboard player dominating they could of been so much better.

    Learnt a few of their songs, also was very impressed with the Powerstation album which really shows John and Andy's abilities far better than DD. 
    I remember reading an early live review pointing out that they were, essentially, a rock band.  It said something like "if you close your eyes, Andy Taylor could easily be a Tyger of Pan Tang".

    And entirely due to that, I always quite liked them. :)
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Philly_Q said:
    HCDavies said:
    Have to say a the time, the press presentation of DD meant I didn't even listen to them, the beeb bracketing them with Human League and Culture Club. However the tune they did with John Barry for View To A Kill did impress me. If only John had stopped the keyboard player dominating they could of been so much better.

    Learnt a few of their songs, also was very impressed with the Powerstation album which really shows John and Andy's abilities far better than DD. 
    I remember reading an early live review pointing out that they were, essentially, a rock band.  It said something like "if you close your eyes, Andy Taylor could easily be a Tyger of Pan Tang".

    And entirely due to that, I always quite liked them. :)
    I don’t know the Duranies very well but their live stuff seems to be more guitar/ rock oriented whereas in the studio they were trying to craft pop hits. Hasn’t done their career any harm. 
    The Power Station stuff I liked ( if it’s a bit limited in scope) and maybe that’s closer to what a ‘rock’ Duran Duran would have sounded like. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    ICBM said:
    Le Bon does have some issues with accurate pitching, it has to be said... which would now be simply fixed with AutoTune before it saw the light of day. But still a great frontman, and (at least most of) his lyrics aren’t bad. There’s certainly a lot more of a proper band writing and performing their own music than a large amount of what passes for mainstream pop these days...

    [/Isoundlikemydad] :)
    Actually, I take exception to the Le Bon comment... his pitching is highly consistent. His harmonies are very cleverly constructed and massively intricate - and close. He also used discord to create tension in some harmonies. He is also big on microtonal construction - much like Lydon (another much underrated vocalist - his parts are almost impossible to get 'right').

    Example: Girls on Film. The main high vocal part to the chorus is "off" in the traditional sense but if pitched 'perfectly', it becomes polite, dull and doesn't sit with the keyboard parts that underpin it in the same way. Its a deliberate thing. 

    Don't forget, Le Bon is a classically trained chorister (who before puberty actually recorded as a soloist).

    I didn't get DD 'in period'... but now, I have a massive respect for how clever the music actually is/was.


    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994

    (See also: Nick Beggs)
    To be fair, I wasn't  into pop music in those days. I was more punk and proto-goth.

    His constant smile and hair put me off more to be fair.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71955
    impmann said:

    Actually, I take exception to the Le Bon comment... his pitching is highly consistent. His harmonies are very cleverly constructed and massively intricate - and close. He also used discord to create tension in some harmonies. He is also big on microtonal construction - much like Lydon (another much underrated vocalist - his parts are almost impossible to get 'right').

    Example: Girls on Film. The main high vocal part to the chorus is "off" in the traditional sense but if pitched 'perfectly', it becomes polite, dull and doesn't sit with the keyboard parts that underpin it in the same way. Its a deliberate thing. 

    Don't forget, Le Bon is a classically trained chorister (who before puberty actually recorded as a soloist).

    I didn't get DD 'in period'... but now, I have a massive respect for how clever the music actually is/was.
    You're probably right! It's somewhat ironic that I hear some of his pitching as a bit off, when I've just commented in another thread that I love the slide part at the end of Layla because it's so expressive, whereas I know some people just hear it as out of tune.

    I certainly agree it's a part of why Le Bon's vocals are so distinctive, and I wouldn't want to hear the records any other way.

    Maybe it's been staring me in the face for forty years... as he said himself, "Straddle the line, in discord and rhyme". :)

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    I have Rio nailed I reckon. a cracking bass workout for sure.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • jaymenonjaymenon Frets: 804
    ICBM said:
    You're probably right! It's somewhat ironic that I hear some of his pitching as a bit off, when I've just commented in another thread that I love the slide part at the end of Layla because it's so expressive, whereas I know some people just hear it as out of tune.

    That's interesting John @ICBM ;

    I absolutely loathe the slide part in Layla - its so horribly out of tune, the guitarist (Duane Allman) obviously didn't bother to tune his guitar - so for me it ends there.

    Unlike Hendrix - who, when he was out of tune, at least had the excuse that his tremolo drifted out of tune. Hendrix was obviously someone who refused to accept the limitations of his instrument. Poetically speaking, that was 'heroic'...

    Yet I struggle to keep listening when he's out of tune.  

    Also on reflection - had he been a surgeon, accountant etc and adopted the same approach to his work. he would have lost his professional registration and license to practice very quickly indeed. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • DdiggerDdigger Frets: 2335
    pintspiller said:

     I was more punk and proto-goth.

    What's proto-goth? 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    jaymenon said:

    I absolutely loathe the slide part in Layla - its so horribly out of tune, the guitarist (Duane Allman) obviously didn't bother to tune his guitar - so for me it ends there.
    But... it's a slide part, so tuning doesn't really come into it (unless playing across multiple strings). Any "out-of-tune" is because that's how DA played it.

    R.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • robinbowesrobinbowes Frets: 3021
    DannyP said:

    As for Nick Beggs - anyone who's played bass for John Paul Jones can't be bad!
    ...and Steven Wilson.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BorkBork Frets: 252
    edited July 2021
    Kebabkid said:
    A pro bassist mate of mine, Mike Brooks, has a channel and he interviewed John Taylor back in 2015 if anyone's interested


    I reckon in the 80s, John Taylor was responsible for more people picking up the bass than a lot of other bassists. If you listen to his basslines in isolation, they're real work outs and quite involved.

    I know Mike as well, he used to dep for me.  I remember John made an appearance at the London Bass Guitar Show in 2015 and there was a queue at least 100m long waiting for him to sign stuff after his talk.  At least 50% of those waiting were lady bass players or girlfriends of bass players! 

    [This space for rent]

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.