Thank (you) it's Friday!

"We took all these great songs and pretended we wrote them," Nick Rhodes said. Hmmm...sounds familiar! Before (too many) people started covering Duran songs, the boys started the whole thing in motion by recording Thank You, their covers record. This clip from '95 from Entertainment Tonight not only spotlights the eerie, vampirically unchanging face of Mary Hart, but also the gem that was one of their least commercially successful, but most technically pristine albums.

Headwear: the difference between Athlete and Artist

Here's a clip that can be described as no less than charming (or maybe I mean "crazy"). Renee Simonsen was JT's girl through most of Duran's heyday, which meant you loved her or hated her if you were a fan (I refuse to commit to an answer!). This interview with style and mushroom-bobbed hair icon Elsa Klensch is somehow meant to show Renee's "day-to-day" life, but fails to convince me. A unitard fit for a routine for the late Marcel Marceau transforms from 'workout' wear to art smock with the addition of a headband and glasses. Ah, to be a Cover Girl! There's some "Skin Trade" in the soundtrack and a nice view of JT's infamous 80's apartment, where Boy George was his neighbor.

Blog Post (Night Version)

This is one of those "I-can't-believe-this-exists!" clips, a hidden bonus on the Greatest DVD: original footage from the Rum Runner, the Birmingham club where Duran got their start! Where Simon showed up in his infamous leopard pants, lyric book in hand, for the fateful lead singer audition. Where Nick DJ'ed (that's still weird to imagine--let's skip it). Where John invented the 'emo' look in his glasses, gaze turned shoe-ward.

"Happy Birthday to You" was created for...ME!

In honor of my birthday, here's the world's cutest clip (including the birthday song) on a BBC show of unknown origin to me. Stay around for Simon's parents, the prank they played on fans, and the ultimate in big 80's hair.

In Bed with JT?!?

Erm...on a bed, anyway. Here's the late Paula Yates interviewing Wedding Album-era John.

Long live Italian Goth Metal!

Sometimes I think I've heard it all, until I'm surprised by Italian Goth Metal covering Arcadia. And it's pretty awesome! The band is Novembre and the clip features some classic Arcadia footage as well. Awww...pretty Joan Collins-era Nick.

I would be remiss to not include this...

Many have already seen the infamous "Making Fun of Duran Duran (Especially Andy)" videos, but for those of you who haven't, you're missing out. Granted, I was a big Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan, but I think just being a Duran fan with a sense of humor is all you'll need to enjoy these quips. Here's part I:

Awards Night!

Tonight is the air date for the MTV Video Music Awards here in the US, so I wanted to find at least some sort of Duran-related awards clip. This oldie from the British Rock and Pop Awards does not disappoint. I'm sure John knows where St. Louis is now.

If Simon were any more animated, he'd be claymation.

I both love and fear this performance from German TV in 1993. Simon starts out with a sort of Steve Carell-like dance (if you're a junkie for the US version of The Office like I am, I'm referencing the "Basketball" episode from Season 1. Watch this clip now without hearing Simon say, "IN...YOUR...FACE!"). The actual performance isn't bad (but does get better when Lamya takes the high part in the chorus later in the song), and Simon proves over and over that he does in fact know the words to the song.

Duran Duran: warm, wonderful, and civilized human beings.

Is this the origin of Simon's famous, "whoosh"? Here's an interview from '95 about Thank You (basically). Diehard fans, try not too laugh to hard when they announce they'll have a new album out before the end of the year (that we now know didn't hit shelves until a full two years later).

RIP Pavarotti

This isn't quite the rarest video, but given that Luciano passed away today, I saw fit to spotlight it anyway. Here he is with Simon (hitting most of the notes!) performing "Ordinary World" live in 1995.

Hungry Like the Wolfhound.

In keeping with my off-kilter theme, here's a great video send up of "Hungry like the Wolf". The director doesn't let being 13 stand in the way of greatness, and no Botox was necessary!

Old Romantics.

Here's a two-for-one! A few post-reunion clips of the original five from 2003 are in the spotlight today. Look for Simon's longtime, supernaturally gorgeous wife Yasmin in the black dress towards the end of "Girls On Film". I've actually seen her in person, and can attest that she's even more stunning in the flesh.

Hold Back the Mash Up!

I love me some mash-ups, and this one doesn't disappoint. From one of the new live shows (Dom Brown is on guitar), here's "Sound of Thunder" and "Hold Back the Rain", combined as they always should have been.

And is it just me, or are Simon's live vocal performances about ten times better than they were ten years or so ago when they were doing casino shows?

Unlikely Royal Subjects

As you probably already know, this past week marked the tenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death. In tribute, here's some very sweet footage of her meeting with Duran way back in the day.

Eve's Plum's Save a Prayer

Here's a little melancholy for your weekend! Eve's Plum performs "Save a Prayer" on the original Duran Duran Tribute Album in 1997 (which is the album that would inspire fans to put Glue together--more on that in another post). It's set to the original video, but I'm not sure if that was done by a fan or released that way.