His performance was also urgent and desperate, a welcome change from the tepid, adult contemporary schmaltz of the previous Bond theme, Rita Coolidge’s “All Time High.” Moreover, Rhodes’ keyboard parts ended up being the most prominent, magnetic aspects of “A View To A Kill”: Dense synth programming zigs and zags high in the song’s mix, while ice-pick-sharp keyboard stabs and futuristic stutters add dramatic flair. Le Bon’s vocal delivery was mysterious and cinematic, crucial elements for a Bond theme. The tension between the genteel Bond musical tradition and Duran Duran’s modern, youthful sound proved to be creatively fruitful, however. ‘I’ve worked with people like Shirley Bassey and Roger Moore, and this is my gig, young man.’” ‘You can say all you want, but I know what I am talking about and at this time, you don’t,’ said Barry in his posh voice. Andy Taylor elaborated on the friction in Wild Boy, describing that Rhodes especially bristled when Barry confronted him about musical matters: “‘I’m fucking not doing that,’ Nick would say flatly. Things weren’t so collegial between Barry and keyboardist Nick Rhodes: The pair clashed, often contentiously, because “they were both stubborn and had very specific visions of how things should get done,” John Taylor wrote in his memoir. There was a great little pub just down the mews street from where was based, and we would all disappear there for long afternoons.” In his memoir, Wild Boy: My Life In Duran Duran, former guitarist Andy Taylor recalls that he and John Taylor “were both heavily into booze ourselves at the time” and corrupted Barry by “heavily leading him astray with more drink. When the band gathered with Barry in November 1984 to start work on the song, things didn’t come together quite so easily. “John didn’t sound particularly overjoyed,” Taylor wrote, “but Cubby was firm about it. Taylor met up with Broccoli the next day and spoke with Bond composer John Barry via phone, who agreed to the pairing, albeit perhaps reluctantly. “He said, ‘Well, do you want to write the next one?’” The answer was a resounding yes. “I said, ‘When are you going to have a decent theme song again?’” John Taylor wrote in his memoir, In The Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, And Duran Duran. Taylor jumped at the chance to brazenly volunteer Duran Duran to record a Bond theme. Taylor’s then-girlfriend, Janine Andrews, who had appeared in 1983’s Octopussy, introduced the two men. By his recollection, he was drunk at a party thrown to celebrate the end of Wimbledon (hosted by Michael Caine, no less), and spotted Cubby Broccoli, who had produced several seminal Bond films. The band’s involvement with A View To A Kill’s theme was instigated by John Taylor-or, more specifically, Taylor’s inebriated bravado. During that same GMA appearance, Le Bon noted he saw Thunderball on his sixth birthday with a group of friends. In a 1985 Good Morning America appearance to promote the tune, Bond fanatic John Taylor called himself a “total maniac, bit of a trivia freak” where Bond was concerned, and recalled seeing a formative double bill of From Russia With Love and Goldfinger on his fifth birthday. For the band, doing the song was a dream come true. What kept the five members of Duran Duran united-at least for a little while longer-was James Bond: The quintet provided the titular theme song to 1985’s A View To A Kill, the 14th movie in the Bond franchise, which starred Roger Moore, Grace Jones, and Christopher Walken. Bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor paired off in the funk-inspired The Power Station, while vocalist Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, and drummer Roger Taylor teamed up in the sleek synthpop group Arcadia. In fact, the members of Duran Duran had decided to explore divergent musical interests, in two separate groups. Internally, however, the band was fracturing: Inflated egos and chemically enhanced debauchery were causing issues, and fatigue had set in from their whirlwind rise to fame. with 1984’s “The Reflex,” while their most recent single, “The Wild Boys,” had peaked at No. On the charts, things were also going well: The band hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 beginning July 13, 1985.īy 1985, Duran Duran were jetsetting global superstars, MTV darlings, and popular enough to have sold out two nights at Madison Square Garden the previous year. In this installment, we cover Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill,” which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the charts to get to the heart of what it means to be popular in pop music, and how that has changed over the years. Club examines an album or single that went to No.
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