No-No-Notorious

In honor of desperate housewife, and to make a point out of someone who I think likes to mock me (*cough, cough* librarian *cough, cough*), I have decided to dedicate this blog to my all-time favorite band, DURAN DURAN.

I would like to start off by telling you how this love-affair began.... I was a pre-teen, living in Nowhereville. We only had about 3 or 4 channels, and that was with cable. In early 1982, in the middle of the night, I was watching TV, and for some reason, we were picking up this other channel from England. There they were, in the video "Planet Earth", with Simon LeBon dancing around with his knickers on. I froze, and I instantly fell in love.

Duran Duran wasn't popular in Nowhereville - in fact, I think my house was the only house that picked up the phantom television channel that night, because I was the only one who had heard of them.

Skip ahead to a few months later - I move across the country to a Blue Collar booming city...I met a girl who loved them as much as I did & we became great friends (I met kare around the same time - let's just say "opposites attracted" with our friendship)

I became the ultimate "Durannie" (lingo for Duran Duran stalker), I spent every dime I made in my summer jobs and part-time jobs buying posters, records, bootlegged albums, magazines with every article on them, and every biography (authorized or unauthorized) I could get my lace-gloved hands on.

We all had our favorite band member. Mine was Nick Rhodes. I loved him. Yeah, yeah, I know you're thinking to yourself, "Okay, we all loved band members at one point". But, I loved him with all my heart. I memorized everything about him, from his favorite color (magenta), to his favorite drink (Bolinger '75) - my girlfriend and fellow Durannie, even booted an old man outside a liquor store to buy me a bottle for my 16th birthday, and we drank every drop & sent pictures to the band, along with our monthly fan letter. Funny....I never got a reply.....

Much to my over-dramatic disappointment, Nick found another woman, named Julianne Friedman from DesMoines, Iowa, but for our sake and for this blog, we will lovingly refer to her as "the Tramp", okay? Anyways.....Nick & the Tramp married and my heart died.

They wore matching makeup and he had the most manly, pink tuxedo on. It was the summer - I took the day off work, drank Bolinger '75, watched Duran Duran videos all day and cried. In my high school yearbook, next to my graduation picture, my goal in life was to be their Personal Photographer. I haven't gotten around to getting that job yet, in case you were wondering.....

Let's skip ahead a bit - to when I was 19 - three members of the band had left, but the remaining were opening for David Bowie...I went, I enjoyed, but something wasn't right....I wasn't as gung-ho as I thought I would be.

Skip ahead, skip ahead....I now have an 18 year old daughter (This was winter of 2005), and I get a phone call from her at work. Duran Duran were back together, and were doing a reunion tour. Did I want to go? I instantly went online and reserved tickets.

She and I fly to the concert March, 2005. I was so proud that I was bringing her to this - not only was she a fan, but this was my childhood. I wanted her to see what I saw - see what I loved for 25 years. We check into the hotel and we start getting ready...All the while I'm thinking that this was crazy - I couldn't possibly be this excited...Just six months prior I had flown across the country with a girlfriend to see Madonna, and to her, that was her dream....To me, it was to see the original Duran Duran.

So, we're at the concert, and, in all the excitement, I purchased better tickets that were right next to the side of the stage - I figured if I were crazy enough to fly there for this, I was sure as heck going to have good seats.

The opening band comes out....And they suck. Not just a bit, but suck to the point that I'm thinking this was a bad idea. I mean, the lead singer was bouncing around the stage doing his coke-dance, and actually fell off. During the intermission, I started to contemplate leaving. "I am too damn old for this", I thought. It even got to a point that I was actually embarrassed to be there. Then the lights went out....And they walked onto the stage.

My whole body started to shake....I'm thinking it kinda started at my toes and gradually worked it's way up to my head until my whole body was flailing like I was convulsing. And I was screaming - Not your normal screaming, but more like this blood-curdling screech....I was crying uncontrollably to the point where I scared the lady that was sitting next to me and she moved to an unknown seat, and Amy was rubbing my arms and back trying to calm me down. This didn't go on for a few minutes.....This went on for the entire concert. I sang along to every song, I yelled "I LOVE YOU, NICK!!!!" about ten thousand times, and I was a teenager all over again.

After 3 encores, they left the stage, and I saw Simon - I yelled at him and he waved to me... Oh. My. God. I couldn't imagine sharing this night with anyone but my daughter. She saw me relive my childhood - and to think that my child loves them just about as much as I do makes me one proud Mom.

My life was complete...God Bless them. Long Live Duran Duran.

Peace.